Queen of the #9 Tram

Work was crazy again yesterday... some days I can feel myself ready to lose it, man. I won't, though... if I can just make it through these first two weeks, then I can put my full concentration into what I'm really here to do and it'll all be smooth sailing. I have a big project with a deadline of next Friday, along with a big presentation. If I really put in my time this weekend then I can really not stress next week. Rather, it will still be a lot, but it will be more centered, rather than how scattered my attention is now on a bunch of different things. It will all be okay.

Enough about work. :) Yesterday I went to lunch with Alessio, Rob, and Leila to another little Czech place where the menu was all in Czech, etc. I told them to get me whatever they were all getting, which ended up being a piece of deep fried breaded cheese and mashed potatoes, with a creamy sauce on the side. Food here is insane. I also tried the Czech version of Coca-Cola, called "Kofola". Kind of weird, but tasty. The entire meal, which was big, cost around $5 or so, maybe a little more including the Kofola. :) It's mad cheap to eat here.

The whole meal went very quickly and we had time afterward to go to a little coffee shop, where Leila and I both had a wonderful hot chocolate and Rob had a coffee. The rest of the day was uneventful.

After work I dropped my stuff off at the room and went with Leila to the mall (which is a 2 minute walk from work) to work out getting a cell phone here. I'm going nuts without one, especially with the weekend coming up. I want everyone to be able to reach me and to be able to reach them, since I know there are some plans for Saturday already and maybe Sunday, too. I already had a SIM card that Jasper gave me from Alan (thanks Alan!) so I just had to buy the phone itself. I got a nice simple one that even has Sudoku puzzles in it for 777 CZK, which is roughly $35. I figure, the company is paying for my flight, hotel, and meals - I can buy the cell phone myself. :)

So I officially have a Czech number!! I will probably donate the phone to Tiago after the trip is done.

After that I went with Naima, Leila, Tiago, and Marzio to a little coffee shop/bar in Staré Město. We had a couple of beers - I had two tall glasses of Bernard Mixed - light and dark. Very tasty, I really like Czech beer. I never really drank beer before coming here. Rather, I didn't enjoy it much except for a few kinds. Naima's friend came down as well and we had a nice time sitting around and talking.

Leila had ordered some nachos, which came with little bowls of salsa and sour cream. There were some kids playing with a balloon for a while, and then one of the kids came up and said in Czech, "We need this," and took the sour cream. He proceeded to stick his tongue in it and lick it out of the bowl. Well, until his mom came over and took it from him anyway. I ended up seeing him later with the same bowl and a spoon, though. :)

After some time, Naima's friend left and Marzio decided to go as well. The four remaining decided to go to a Georgian restaurant across the street. It was the best meal I've had here so far - we each picked something, plus one appetizer, and shared everything so we could all try it all. I even tried baršč (borscht), which Leila ordered. I went for the kebab with "Mama's potatoes", which ended up being kufta, which was probably the best I've had in any restaurant. We shared a bottle of Czech white wine, which wasn't the best wine I've ever had but suited the food well and tasted really nice.

The whole meal cost around $11/person. Keep in mind that's four entrees, an appetizer, and a bottle of wine.

I slept really well last night, and thankfully I have a cell phone now with an alarm in it so this morning I could snooze finally :) It really beat the obnoxious one-time wake-up call.

This morning at breakfast, a man in a suit came up to me and said, "Miss Douglas, are you enjoying your stay here?"
Surprised, I said, "Yes, I am, very much."
"You are leaving not until April, is it correct?"
"That is correct."
"Are you enjoying Prague?"
"Yes, very much. It's a beautiful city."
"And you are from the States? Where exactly?"
"I'm from Pennsylvania."
"Oh, from Pittsburgh?"
"Yes... how did you know that?"
"Oh nevermind. Well I will tell you, we have never had a guest stay as long as you, so please if there is anything we can provide to you to make you feel more at home, please let us know. Also if you grow tired of the breakfast here, please let us know and we can provide some other things that will be more to your liking."
"No.. that's not necessary, the breakfast is fine!"
"Well please do not hesitate. Please enjoy your breakfast and have a wonderful day."

Boy do I feel important. :-)