Adventures in Laundry and Other Things

My day out with Brent was nice. An American girl named Lindsey that I met on expats.cz also came along, and she turned out to be really nice and fun to hang out with. The three of us walked for about 5.5 hours with just a stop for lunch and then a drink at the very end, plus we went in a few shops here and there. All in all we saw probably the majority of the center, minus any touristy spots that Brent is saving for Megan (his wife) when she comes to visit soon. I'm glad I met Lindsey, we seem to get along well and have plans to go see a movie this week, and maybe do some other fun thing this weekend (zoo perhaps?). We'll see!

Just after I left them I got a call from my friend Alex, also from the Pittsburgh office, to say that he and Jarod (also from PGH) were at Jet Set. I said, I am literally walking by it this second, and went inside to join them :) They were out on the patio so I had a water and chatted with them for a bit, then mosied on home.

Part of me wanted to go out but part of me was exhausted with tired feet, so I ended up just staying in. I did word puzzles, watched a movie online, just chilled. I wish I had known that I would do exactly this for all of Sunday, or else I would have forced myself out of the apartment on Saturday night :) Sunday was spent VERY lazy - I didn't even change out of my pajamas. Though I don't feel tired part of me thinks I'm still adjusting, or maybe that's just my excuse for a day of laziness :)

Work today was normal, not especially busy or slow, and after work all I did was call my mom and go to Tesco. The lady asked me a question in Czech, and I had no idea what she asked. She said, "Frances?" I said, "Oui, un peu..." so she continued on in French. Thank goodness what I knew from college magically kicked in (fight or flight:) and I realized she was asking me for the 18 cents, if I had correct change, on the end of my total amount.

This is where I say a big WTF - who has 18 cents here? I have only seen one coin smaller than 1 crown, and that was a 50 cent piece, and I only have one and it's my favorite coin so I wasn't about to give it up. I just replied in French that no, I didn't have change, and she gave me the rest. She probably cheated me by a fraction of a crown but I don't care.

I hiked home carrying laundry detergent and some food items, plus nail polish remover and cotton pads because I am in desperate need (and want) of a pedicure :) When I got back I went through my clothes to decide what needed to be washed, and finally caved and decided all of it should be washed. I went downstairs to the building lobby where there are two washers that are completely different. There is no measurement for the detergent, just a giant hole where it should go - who knows how much to put? I just put "some". As for picking a setting, I just picked the coldest and fastest looking setting possible so as not to ruin my things....but one washer is now running for 4 hours and the other for 3 hours. To which I pray:



Dear God,
If you are reading this blog, please save my clothes. They are all I have in this country right now. I cannot read Czech and I do not know why it would take 4 hours to wash some shirts, underwear, and socks, but please just keep them safe.
Amen,
Alia



Since then, I made packaged pasta which was mediocre and not quite done (I think I mismeasured the 0,5 L again), but I also had a couple nectarines which were good. Anyone else would say they were bad; they were very hard and crispy and not sweet, but that's how I like them :)


Anyway, I'll let you know in 3 more hours how the laundry turned out...


Until then, besos. :)