The sweet smell of cinnamon bread floats through the air, while the beat of a local jazz band plays in the distance. The shadow of a large medieval church casts upon a 15th century statue that is in the center of the Old Town Square. Senior Jake Cunningham looks on as other tourists snap pictures and gaze at the beauty of the colorful buildings surrounding them. Jake walks amongst them taking in the picturesque beauty of Prague in the Czechoslovakian Republic.
“I was able to take my graduation trip early and my grandma told me she would take me anywhere in the world,” Jake said. “So I chose Eastern Europe, because I wanted to do something [I’ve never done before].”
Jake said he selected Eastern Europe because he loves European history. He said he also chose it because he may never have the opportunity to go to some of those places again.
“We come from a place where if you don’t work hard you don’t succeed,” Jake said. “In Prague if you don’t work as hard then it doesn’t matter. They are a very relaxed, ‘hakuna matata’ kind of culture.”
Jake also visited Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, (both located in Slovenia) Croatia, Hungary and Poland.
“Each [city] was so different,” Jake said. “I’d have to say [my favorite] was a draw between Berlin, Prague, and Warsaw. Berlin was magnificent and the food was wonderful. Prague was so laid back and the town was beautiful. In Poland, the buildings were colorful and welcoming. Poland was also like a Europeanized Colorado.”
While in Poland, Jake attended a polka party which he described as one of his more favorable moments.
“They fed us tons of food and they danced and sang for us,” Jake said. “One of the dancers even asked me to dance with her. She was pretty [so] my eyes probably grew two sizes and my face was [probably] as red as my hair when she asked me. My main memories are of Auschwitz and the concentration camps, as well as visiting the Berlin Wall in Germany.”
Jake’s two sisters, sophomores Abby and Emma Cunningham, said Jake appreciated family and home more after his trip. He became more independent and they could tell how much he loves his family.
“[This experience] let me see the world in a million different points of view,” Jake said. “I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, because of this trip I’ve been blessed to go on, I’ve also been able to gain a more open mind about people in general. It leaves me with a hunger to travel.”
