New flat.

On Monday I left for a 6 week internship in Prague. Lucky for me, my boss managed to hook me up with a sweet apartment in addition to the stipend I'm getting. He said it was in a nice area, good neighborhood, etc. I was excited.

And then I got to thinking about what constitutes descriptions such as "nice" and "good" in Prague. As much as Prague is a beautiful city (for the most part), some things are just lost in translation.

I thought about the last time I was here. And how I saw this:


Lost in translation: in Prague they call this a hotel; in America they call this condemned.

Lucky for me, my apartment IS nicer. There are, however, a few quirks that one would simply not encounter - not even in Dracut.

1. A front door that looks like it's been barricaded for some war - which most likely it has been.


Please focus on the lock mechanism for a moment.


2. Artwork that predates the current government.


3. The need for some sort of dried produce on the wall in order to drive away evil spirits.


Who am I kidding, we're Greek - obviously we have that.

4. No need for a door to the shower room.


What's missing from this picture? Oh, that's right, privacy.

5. Modern electricity.

Upon arriving, I unpacked all my things - my laptop being one of the first. I plugged the adapter into the wall and my laptop to the adapter. A quick flicker of the LED light on the box and then - darkness. Within my first 2 hours in the country, I short circuited the apartment.

This is obviously EXACTLY the type of first impression I wanted to give my new roommates.

On top of all these lovely amenities, my roommates were gracious enough to give me the keys to the apartment so I don't have to rely on them during my comings and goings. I whip out my keychain in anticipation... only to be given a pair of skeleton keys. That's right, the type of keys they used during the Middle Ages.

Fancy.