Czech Republic: Model United Nations

Saturday morning we arrived to the city of Prague safe and sound! After our 8 hour flight to Germany we successfully caught our connecting flight to the Czech Republic. Upon arriving we met the Model United Nations representatives that would guide us. We also met the delegation from St. Petersburg University in Tampa, Florida, who will be representing China. After getting settled in our hotels we we got to walk around and have lunch at a Czech restaurant named the Mona Lisa. The food here as we've learned after our first couple of days is delicious! Traditional Czech food mainly consists of meat and potatoes, but they also have a variety of other options to choose from. The city of Prague was extremely beautiful. We were given a 3 hour tour of the city where we learned a lot about the history, culture, architecture, and the people of Prague. Cobblestones, which we learned were individually hammered into the ground, covers what seems to be all of the country. We visited several landmarks including the Municipal House, the Prague astronomical clock, and Prague Castle.

Prague Astronomical Clock (1410)

Prague Castle

Language hasn't been an issue for us thus far. Most people know English and when they don't, our Slovakian Jasper Simona, fills in the gaps. Before we left Prague for Olomouc, we got to tour the city on our own. We wandered around and discovered the convenience of international Ubers!

On Sunday morning we met up with the other NMUN delegates and took a train Dr. Chasek dubbed the Hogwartz Express to Olomouc. We met several students there from all over the states such as Georgia, Florida, Connecticut, and Arkansas. Our conference will be held in Olomouc where we'll be staying for the rest of the week. We got to the city just in time to join the towns Christmas tree lighting. There the tradition of announcing the name for this years tree took place and all the Christmas markets opened for the first time this year.

Today we took a trip to Poland where we visited the Auschwitz memorial and museum with the rest of the students. It was an extremely touching experience. We toured Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) and learned about the history, facts and conditions of the prisoners and the death camps. We saw a gas chamber, cell blocks, photographs and the belongings of those who were murdered. The most important we took away from this experience was that this tragedy could happen to any of us, which is why it's so important to share the the story and learn from it.

Tomorrow morning we'll be visiting caves and castles, we'll also be attending the opening ceremony for Model UN and our first committee session representing the Russian Federation.