Author: jillianec516

Out of all the places I could have studied and lived in outside of the United States, I’m glad Brno was the first.

So, I want to acknowledge my favorite part of Brno. The people.

Many of the friends I made here are based in Europe, and their Erasmus programs do not end until February. My goodbye to them is premature to the ones that they’ll be sending each other off with. I do not think I’ve ever been this emotional to say goodbye to people in my life ever before, I think only saying goodbye to my dogs and cat has been this hard before.

Within the group of friends that we shared most of our time with, I was the only American, and most of us were solo in representing our country. I’m grateful that Erasmus let me have friends from so many countries, especially ones I hadn’t actually known about (so so sorry Valentina, I truly did not know about Slovenia before I met you (which just makes you the superior Slovenian)). It was comforting to have a friend from just across the border and not the ocean, Majo always gave me that feeling of home and I know that I can see her sooner than most of them after we leave. I loved that we celebrated an early Christmas together with a Secret Santa and that on Mekolajke (the Polish name for the Dec 6th Santa Claus holiday) we celebrated a little bit too. (Shout out to Akvile for a 10/10 gift that I can’t wait to put in my apartment)

I forced some of them to give me a sentence or two because I was tired of hearing my own words about how amazing and grateful and stupendous…. everything was.

“It’s funny cause… every person that I will cry about when this shit is over, once was a stranger from the other side of the world. And now it’s a wonderful friend from another part of the world” – Tiago R. (Portugal)

“Coming to study in Brno became the best decision I could ever make. I’ve met incredible people who I’ve shared many incredible moments with, people I’ll keep in my memory and heart forever.” -Carlos (Mexico)

“I’ll remember all the crazy people I meet, and I hope they will be my friends forever ” -Elsie (Belgium) ((thank you for the Belgian and Flemish music recommendations, I’ll always think of you now when any of them play))

Honestly, a super emotional couple of weeks for me that I did not expect, and I still haven’t even said goodbye yet.

There is something so special about experiencing pieces of the world with people you love. Especially when you are experiencing the world for the first time together. Having my mom here in Europe truly made that week the best week of my study abroad trip. Our week started in Vienna, moved to Budapest, took a pitstop in Brno, traveled to Prague, and came to a rest back in Brno. My mom had always wanted to visit Vienna, Budapest, and Prague so being able to have the memories of seeing these cities for the first time with her is always going to be significant to me. I’m blessed to be her daughter and was able to take her to these places (via Flixbus, but nonetheless.)

My mom is one of my best friends and I never saw us traveling together on this level. Juarez, Mexico really doesn’t count as international travel with the quick drive from El Paso. When growing up, my family would do road trips, but they stopped when my sisters and parents all became busy and went their own directions. My parents had both explored parts of the world while they served in the Military, and my mom traveled to Asia for her first international vacation before COVID. But this is the first year of my life owning a passport and having the privilege to go to new countries. Pieces of me always knew that in my family (out of my sisters and extended family) I was the one that was most likely to spend extended amounts of time in different countries, but I thought it would be later in life and not really with other family members. 

In Vienna, we started with Viennese coffee close to the city center. My mom prefers to sip tea, but it was important to me to taste the coffee as the city’s cafe culture is big. Our AirBnb in Vienna was the best, location-wise it was close to the center but in a quiet area and in general just well decorated with cute courtyards. Our time spent in Vienna included a lot of walking to sightseeing spots in the cold, popping into cafes and churches for warmth, and listening to the culture. Vienna is filled with the sounds of its creatives – like Mozart, Beethoven, or Strauss and we were able to enjoy a concert at the Schonbrunn Palace. 

My mom and I are the type of people who are obsessed with the architecture, design, and goldenness of Cathedrals in Europe – even though never having seen them beforehand. We love to see what we missed out on during our masses because of the lazy modern designs of a majority of churches in the US. During the entirety of this trip, we peeked into every church in sight until we were “church-ed” out. 

In Budapest, our Sunday night was greeted by champagne and a snack board on a river cruise between Buda and Pest. This tour’s views highlighted how beautiful Budapest is at night- the lights illuminating the Parliament building and Buda Castle in the darkness make the city seem so endearing. So many spots just felt so modern-day fairytale-like, especially when desserts (dobos cake) and hot chocolate were served (ordered) in excess. We visited one of the major thermal baths, which looked ethereal but felt grimy- I regretted not going to the one that was outdoors, but the cold was threatening to my mom and me. I was proud that I was able to get my mom out to the bars during our trip and I’m glad she also wanted to see what pieces of European nightlife was like. The ruins and bars in Budapest are appealing tourist spots and such a cool use of space, I would recommend anyone and everyone to visit. 

Prague provided us with artistic views and sights, with the Banksy Museum, the Museum of Illusions, The Lennon Freedom Wall, and mosaics from Cathedral windows reflecting on marble columns. I was able to take my mom to an absinthe bar that was across the street from our Hotel, which also was decorated with art to the heavens. While my mom was in the Czech Republic, we shared several traditional Czech dishes and talked about learning to make some of them at home to remember the trip. 

I’m blessed to have been able to go to these places and experience these pieces of the world with my mom. I’m even more grateful that I was able to watch her experience these cities for the first time. Having her come visit me during my time studying abroad only made my last year of undergrad more special and will forever be a core memory from my 20s. She is the reason I went to college, and went abroad, and also why I am able to function as a person most of the time.