Pups & Pumps: I've Got Friends in {Foreign} Places

If you have never traveled internationally, I have one word for you: Go. I am not a world traveler by any means {and I mean ANY}, but the more I experience other cultures, the more I realize how very different and how very the same we really are. While I hate the vagueness of that previous statement {and I would tell all of my high school students the same}, it is beyond true. No matter the country, no matter the people, and no matter the language, we all yearn for community. I'm a firm believer in the fact that we were created this way; God lives in a community within Himself as the Trinity, and I believe we exist in that same community: connecting to ourselves, to Him and to those around us.

Prague is a beautiful city, but its beauty is reliant on our ability to connect to it. When Jordan and I set out on this expedition, we wanted a foreign experience within an informal set of guidelines, so we settled on a cruise through Europe, but we book ended the cruise with additional days in Prague, Paris & London to give us ample time {and freedom} to explore. On our four-hour layover in New York, we met an American who had married a Czech lady and lived in both New York and Prague. We gave him our hotel info and crossed our fingers that he would call and offer to show us around the countryside. Fortunately for us, it worked. After Jordan and I spent 30 minutes trying to figure out the Czech subway system, we bought two tickets to get us outside of the city. Our new friend, Peter, picked us up in his little blue VW Golf-like car, and we set off on our adventure. Peter took us to see castles, golf courses, and the best part, his home {as an added bonus, I proceeded to get car sick weaving through all the back roads, which have no lines and are extremely narrow}. We met his family {including his 2.5 year old daughter who was bilingual, and therefore, smarter than me} and we spent the second part of the afternoon walking around their small village and talking in the village's pubs. Then, we boarded the city train and made our way back to our hotel.

Just when we thought the day couldn't get any better, we started to stroll the city streets in search of pizza {yes, I know, but there are just some things this girl can't live without, and pizza is one of them}. We found an amazing spot on the second story of {yet another} amazing building, overlooking one of the squares. Ironically enough, we didn't end up getting pizza {to default of our waiter who spoke very broken English and misunderstood our order}, but yet again, we made great friends. Traveling to foreign countries where no one understands what you are saying is beyond frustrating, but it creates an immediate, intimate bond between you and other Americans {which can hardly be felt when going about our daily routines in the actual country}. From across the room, I heard a faint, "Can we get a box for this?", I glanced at her black canvas Keds, and I just knew we were in familiar territory. After much-needed English conversation, we stumbled into a pub with her and her boyfriend, sipped on cider and Czech beer, and for that moment, it was like we had known each other our whole lives {despite the fact that they lived 3,000 miles away from us in the United States}. We were, at that moment, four friends traveling together and fraternizing with our German, Irish and Swedish counterparts who were, in fact, doing the same. It's amazing how the simple act of meeting someone with whom you share a national pride, language and culture can create such a deeper appreciation within you for those very things. And, what's even more amazing is how connected you can feel to your country when you are so many thousands of miles away. Here's to making more {foreign} friends in the days to come. Cheers!