So...you went canyoning?

This week marks our last week in Prague, and for myself, my last week in Europe. It’s hard to imagine that 7 weeks ago I was on a plane to London and now in 4 short days ill be on a plane back to the states. This past week I finally experienced all of the major sights and sounds of Prague in a whirlwind adventure, Prague Pursuit. I truly enjoyed running around the city with white tennis shoes on and a giant map (in true tourist fashion). The best part of the Prague pursuit was going up to Petrin Hill, easily one of the more beautiful places in Prague. By the time we were finished, myself, Taylor, and Tim looked like a train had hit us and at that point we were happy with how we did and all the amazing places we saw. The next day, Wednesday, I was reminded of what was supposed to happen that night at 6pm; a 10k race. I really never thought I was actually going to do it but then one thing led to another and there we were, at the starting line, of a 6.2 mile race atop Prague. Despite the ridiculous thunderstorm and getting lost, I was extremely proud of myself for running the entire time and for pushing through the race. It wasn’t pretty but I accomplished something I didn’t set out to do. Motivation was hard to come by at the beginning of the race, but by the halfway point and when the rain started coming down hard, I knew there was no stopping. It was great to see Ondre and John run out to me on the track and run the last few meters with me, that in itself was positive reinforcement. This past weekend a group of us traveled to Interlaken, Switzerland where once again, we faced an adventure. We all went canyonning in the challenging Canyon Grimsel. It was breathtakingly beautiful for two reasons; the scenary and the water was absolutely freezing. We all had an amazing time in the canyons and exploring the picturesque town of Interlaken. From an educational psychology point of view when I was standing on top of a 20m high cliff and was feeling nervous to jump, the entire group was shouting, “you can do it”, or “jump!”, or “you’ll do great!.” The words they were giving me can be considered praise because after I did jump, I was met by all of my friends saying, “great job” or “you did it!.” Alfie would not agree with these types of praise but I feel like they helped me to conquer my fear and feel good about myself. Now its on to beginning my last week in Prague, which will be filled with catching up on work and studying for finals!