Not all those who wander are lost, but we certainly were.

People put a lot of value in planning and foresight, for good reason, but there is also something to be said for just figuring it out as you go along.

This was my takeaway from getting locked outside of the gates to our hotel my first night in Prague.

Our first night started as planned.  We all arrived safely in Prague, went to our hotel, took naps as needed, and then went out to dinner fairly late into the evening, finishing after 10 pm. A group of four students and our fearless leader decided to head back to the hotel right after dinner rather than going out on the town with the rest of the group.  After many hours of travelling to get to the Czech Republic, an early, unadventurous night sounded like a great plan.

When we tried to return to the hotel through the front gate, we found it locked.  As it turns out, that gate is locked at night, and since it was after 10 pm, we were unable to get into the building that way. Not to be deterred for long, we tried having the tallest member of our group hop over the gate to let us in from the other side. Unfortunately, that did not gain us entry; however, it did earn a few strange looks from passersby.

We were aware of the existence of a mysterious alternate gate of undisclosed location that we were supposed to be able to get into afterhours. It became our quest to find it.

There was a set of gates a little bit further up the road, one of which was unlocked. Thinking we were triumphant, we entered through that gate, using our phone flashlights to light the path. We ventured further into the area and began to grow suspicious that we were in the wrong place when we realized that there was still a fence between us and the building we were trying to get to. We’re still not sure if we accidentally trespassed on private property or not.

Tired and a little desperate, we headed back the other way, and had almost walked past a second gate, that appeared to also be locked.  Maybe it was jet lag, maybe it was fatigue, but it took us a while before we noticed that there was a button next to the gate. The question now was whether pushing that button would get us into the gate or set off some kind of alarm and get us in trouble our first night in Prague. There was only one way to find out.  We pushed the button.

Fortunately, that was the right thing to do. We were able to get into the hotel and finally go to bed so we could be well rested for our tour of Prague the next day.

Traveling abroad is said to be a great way to learn about yourself and the world.  Over the course of the Czech Republic: Sustainability and Agricultural Policy in the EU program, we can look forward to structured, planned-out learning experiences in the form of classroom learning and arranged tours and outings. These will no doubt be invaluable experiences. However, I think all of the unplanned moments to come, where we just have to do our best to problem solve on the spot, will also be invaluable learning experiences. Or at the very least they will provide some funny stories to tell.

 

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