First big night out

I finally got to go OUT!! Boy did I miss it, and boy did I have a great time. And boy did I wake up at 2:30pm today.

Work yesterday was uneventful, except that it was Rob's birthday. Birthdays are always fun because we get cake, but every cake here seems to have a layer of mushy fruit inside crispy Jell-o, so so far I haven't enjoyed it too much :( But it was still nice. Happy birthday to you, Robby McGee :)

Tiago (as we were walking out for lunch): So Rob, how old are you today?
Rob: Oh, I'm 28.
Tiago: Shit...
Rob: Thanks.

:)

After work I went home and took a short nap, then went for Afghani food with Leila and Tiago. It was just as good as ever. I almost got to arm-wrestle one of the waiters for the cost of the meal, but he wouldn't agree to the terms :( Next time, maybe.

I went home and got ready in a hurry, then took a metro to Náměstí Republiky where I met Katy and Dana to go out. We were going to go to a place called TAT Bar because there was some kind of Panama Party going on with all latin music, but she stopped by there and told me that it was in face a strip club...so we didn't go. Instead, we went to a couple of clubs in old town called M1 and Bombay - they are a 30 second walk from each other with no cover, so you can go between them very easily.

We went to Bombay first and had a couple drinks. I was eyeing a boy that I thought must be Arab, but he was with friends so I didn't put in much effort. He turned to leave and came right to me and said, "Hi...my friends and I are going to another club, will you come with us?" I said I was with my friends so I couldn't, but asked where he was from in the meantime. He said he was from Egypt :) I told him I'm Palestinian and he said it's too loud in the club, and could I go outside for a minute to chat. I said sure, so we went outside.

He turned out to be very nice, and even though I couldn't go with him, we exchanged numbers and will probably hang out sometime soon. I've met my first Arab friend :) Yay. We'll see if he ends up being cool or lame.

After that we danced awhile, had a few drinks, and went over to M1. The music was great, lots of reggae, reggaeton, and hip hop. We danced and talked to some people, then went back to Bombay, back to M1, and so on about 10 more times through the night. Finally I started getting sleepy and bored, so around 3:30am or so I told Katy I was going to go home.

I had every intention of walking to Smichov from there, which would probably take a half hour or maybe a little more, but I like walking in Prague. So I said goodbye, and headed back the way we arrived.

At one small cobblestone intersection, nothing looked familiar. I stood in the middle of it, looking each way I could go, and finally recognized that one street would lead to Palladium. So I turned and heard a voice say, "How are you tonight?" It was an African guy who was just kind of hanging out on the sidewalk around some other people. I replied in my usual friendly manner, "Oh, a bit lost, but I'm okay now!" and kept walking.

He started walking with me and chatting. After a bit, I asked where he was from, and he replied, "Camaroon."

Rewind about 6 months:
It is February. I am walking around Mustek with Leila at night coming home from what was then called Tropison. A guy comes seemingly from out of nowhere and starts chatting to us. I asked where he was from. He said, "Camaroon." We had a friendly chat and that was that.

Fast-forward back to last night:
"Camaroon?"
"Yes."
"Did I meet you before?"
"You know, I was wondering the same thing."
"About six months ago, I was walking down the street and you walked with us, and we chatted to me then."
"Yes, I do remember!"
"So is this just what you do?"
"Huh?"
"You just randomly follow girls on the street and talk to them?"
"No.. no I don't!"
"So it's just me then? Twice?"
Ha.

Anyway we talked about Prague, how we ended up here, etc., and he said he was going to Bombay (the club) that night, and asked if I'd like to go back. So, I did.. then it started raining a lot.. so we made the run to M1. It was nice; it was nice to have someone I don't work with to chat with about random things. After not so long I went home. I got back around 6am, took a shower (it's still legal to smoke in clubs here), and fell right asleep until about 2:30pm today :)

I haven't done much, but it's after 4pm now and I really need to go to the office and get some work done.

Tonight I'm going to what used to be Tropison but is now called Club Palanca (I think) to see Son Caliente play, a live band that my acquaintance Mario plays in. After that we might go to Radost, we'll see how it ends up.


That's all for now!