Never wanna forget

 Right now I’m on a train to Prague and am amazed by the scenery outside. The hills are lined with orange cobblestone houses and tall narrow pine trees. It’s a world so far from anything else I’ve imagined. The elderly ladies sitting next to me are speaking some Slavic language. I don’t think they are Czech because they are also intrigued by landscape and did not speak the same language as the train vendor. Their attitude toward him makes me assume they are Russian but I’ll admit this is a stereotype. I wonder what they think of me. Maybe my stained sweatshirt tells them I’m an American. Our trip to Vienna made the style difference between America and Europe very clear. More people recognized me as a foreigner than in Bonn or Paris. Even though I’d like to blend in, my differences helped me make a friend while I was standing in line at Zara. She saw me fanning myself and pointed her own hand held fan at me and we started a conversation. She said she was from the northern caucus region and later explained that she was from Chechnya. Because some terrorists were from her region she has been reluctant to tell me because she assumed I would have a bad impression. I was amused that she assumed most Americans would even know it existed. But I was fascinated to have met someone from a place I had once thought of as so remote and oppressed. Being in europe makes so many global issues seem so much closer and complicated. I hope I can learn about the rest of the world as much as possible before I leave. I never want to forget.