Hannah Dirgins is a student at the University of South Dakota and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is currently studying abroad with ISA in Prague, Czech Republic.
I was lucky enough to meet Abby through a mutual friend. Abby traveled to Prague with the ISA program about six years ago, she found herself in love with the city and in love with a man from here. She moved to Prague to live with her now husband and has created a life of her own here. To learn more about her story, we met for coffee. I asked her about her experience abroad and her overseas life. It was comforting to talk to someone from The U.S (and the same state!) that understands the differences and how to embrace them. I gained knowledge about the area I live in, where to eat, to shop, and other places to check out through our discussions.
Later in the week, we met up again to grab dinner with her friends. Meeting locals made me realize we are not so different! Her friends grew up in Prague and had much to information about where to travel outside the Czech Republic, and neat things to do in the area. They listed many hidden gems in Europe, that I had no idea about.
While listening to their life stories, I realized that living in Europe has offered them many more opportunities for cultural experiences. It reminded me to participate in more events outside my comfort zone to enrich my experience while abroad.
If you have the chance it is definitely beneficial to befriend a local. I’ve only hung out with the Prague locals a couple times, and I already feel it’s enhanced my experience abroad! I will absolutely be hanging out with them more!
-Hannah
The world awaits…discover it.