I found:
3-4 techno stations
1 station that plays a mix of top-40 USA stuff and Czech pop music
1 old school hip hop station
1 reggae station
3 talk radio stations in Czech
1 news station in English (yay!)
That's all I've got so far.
Right now I'm on the top-40 USA and Czech pop. Right now it's Czech pop :(
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Turn the dial to techno
After work today I went to Tesco and bought my smartest purchase yet: A CLOCK RADIO!! For one thing, my sad little cell phone alarm simply cannot wake me up anymore. For another - radio!! Hello!?!?
I came home and started dallying around with my things, trying to put things in some kind of order, when I got the idea to ask Petr (my handsome Czech neighbor who I met walking home at 5-something a.m.) if it's okay to put giant boxes out on the curb when it's not garbage day (this is a no-no in PGH). He was online and confirmed it was fine, and then asked if I needed help. With boxes, not so much, but I did still need my wireless, and he is an IT guy :) So I mentioned this and he came over about 15 mins later.
I tried to do this myself about 10x, and he did it in a matter of 5 minutes. Boys and their talents.. I love it. Anyway he sat and had some tea, and we chatted, and then he had to get home to see his favorite program :) Not before he helped me carry some big boxes downstairs (with ease, as I struggled:), and I broke the full-length mirror on my wall :( Oh well.
Now I'm here unpacking more and putting clothes into my wardrobe/drawers. I think once all the linens/clothes/shoes are put away, I'll have a lot less to deal with. After that, kitchen stuff is the next biggest. Then it's just odds and ends. I can totally finish all this by Sunday. :)
We're on our way to a Halloween party!!
I came home and started dallying around with my things, trying to put things in some kind of order, when I got the idea to ask Petr (my handsome Czech neighbor who I met walking home at 5-something a.m.) if it's okay to put giant boxes out on the curb when it's not garbage day (this is a no-no in PGH). He was online and confirmed it was fine, and then asked if I needed help. With boxes, not so much, but I did still need my wireless, and he is an IT guy :) So I mentioned this and he came over about 15 mins later.
I tried to do this myself about 10x, and he did it in a matter of 5 minutes. Boys and their talents.. I love it. Anyway he sat and had some tea, and we chatted, and then he had to get home to see his favorite program :) Not before he helped me carry some big boxes downstairs (with ease, as I struggled:), and I broke the full-length mirror on my wall :( Oh well.
Now I'm here unpacking more and putting clothes into my wardrobe/drawers. I think once all the linens/clothes/shoes are put away, I'll have a lot less to deal with. After that, kitchen stuff is the next biggest. Then it's just odds and ends. I can totally finish all this by Sunday. :)
We're on our way to a Halloween party!!
The Day That went wrong.
Back in 1st grade, I wrote a fictional story. Here it is, word for word, letter for letter:
The Day That went wrong.
One day My day was revulting! First I went to my car and got stuck behind a garbiggg truck The driver said: Hey Fred Theres another garbiggg can Theres to much garbiggg in the truck so we'll just have to dump it! are you shure? asked Fred. So lets do it and It did so I smelled like stale dog food!!! and so I WAS MIZERABLE
Yesterday was Part 2 (non-fiction) of "The Day That went wrong".
Things started out great. The landlord came on time (he brought his son for help), took everything out of the apartment that I didn't want, changed the lightbulb, took a bath. Wait, what? That's right. After the work was done, the landlord, an older (maybe in his 60s) Czech man made a washing hands motion and pointed toward the bathroom. I nodded and said, "Of course," thinking he wanted to wash his hands. I stood in the doorway talking to his son out in the hall, who I found out speaks Spanish and normally resides in the Dominican Republic! As we were chatting, I turned around to see my landlord in the bathroom (door open), without a shirt, leaned over the bathtub and washing. O...k.... so, ok, new experiences every day. He changed his shirt and they were on their way.
Next came the delivery guys. They were SO sweet - these poor guys had to carry my 20 or so heavy boxes up 3 flights of stairs. I offered to help carry some but they wouldn't let me. Right around the same time that the delivery guys got the boxes into the ground floor of my building, the guy from Ikea came to assemble things. That's right - one guy. For 3 pieces of furniture. And I had to be at work at 1pm to run a training.
So, up they went. Now, I was under the impression from some friends that the Ikea assembly person would have a partner, and also that he would work quickly and be done in about 2 hours. No such luck - at the end of 3 hours he only had the dresser built and nothing else. I started to panic, and got on IM to talk to someone at work.
After a lot of brainstorming, we decided that the best solution was for my boss, Alessio, to go to my apartment and work from there, and then I could go to the office to run the training as scheduled. So that's what we did. I left cookies and tea, gave him a run-down of everything, and got into work on time for the training.
The training went by, everything was okay, when Alessio called to say that the guys (around 12:45 a colleague arrived to help the guy) were done, and they were saying that I owed them another 1800Kc.
Now, the minimum to have Ikea come to your house and build for you is 1250 Kc. Then you calculate 9% of the price of the furniture THAT THEY ASSEMBLE. They were taking 9% of my total bill, which was insanely unfair - let's take it to another extreme and assume that I bought 100,000Kc worth of stuff, and I only have one thing to assemble. Do I pay 9% of my entire bill? No - that would be ridiculous. So, I argued and I put Elena on the phone with them, who speaks Czech.
After a lot of back-and-forth, she got it sorted out and we figure out that I, in fact, did not owe them anything more than what I already paid.
Then, I found out that the bed was missing a piece and I had to go back to Ikea. I bolted out of work and got there as quickly as possible. I was going to just buy that, but I figured while I was there, I should get what I need, so I got a pretty tablecloth for my kitchen table, a shower curtain liner, and a picture frame for my picture of my grandmother, in addition to the big metal pole that I needed for my bed. I got home on the metro, lugged the thing around managing not to hit anyone in the head with it, put it together, and let my eyes glaze over with wonder:
I had a bed. A complete and functional bed.
So while the day was a huge mess, it had a happy ending. Boy did I sleep well. :)
The Day That went wrong.
One day My day was revulting! First I went to my car and got stuck behind a garbiggg truck The driver said: Hey Fred Theres another garbiggg can Theres to much garbiggg in the truck so we'll just have to dump it! are you shure? asked Fred. So lets do it and It did so I smelled like stale dog food!!! and so I WAS MIZERABLE
Yesterday was Part 2 (non-fiction) of "The Day That went wrong".
Things started out great. The landlord came on time (he brought his son for help), took everything out of the apartment that I didn't want, changed the lightbulb, took a bath. Wait, what? That's right. After the work was done, the landlord, an older (maybe in his 60s) Czech man made a washing hands motion and pointed toward the bathroom. I nodded and said, "Of course," thinking he wanted to wash his hands. I stood in the doorway talking to his son out in the hall, who I found out speaks Spanish and normally resides in the Dominican Republic! As we were chatting, I turned around to see my landlord in the bathroom (door open), without a shirt, leaned over the bathtub and washing. O...k.... so, ok, new experiences every day. He changed his shirt and they were on their way.
Next came the delivery guys. They were SO sweet - these poor guys had to carry my 20 or so heavy boxes up 3 flights of stairs. I offered to help carry some but they wouldn't let me. Right around the same time that the delivery guys got the boxes into the ground floor of my building, the guy from Ikea came to assemble things. That's right - one guy. For 3 pieces of furniture. And I had to be at work at 1pm to run a training.
So, up they went. Now, I was under the impression from some friends that the Ikea assembly person would have a partner, and also that he would work quickly and be done in about 2 hours. No such luck - at the end of 3 hours he only had the dresser built and nothing else. I started to panic, and got on IM to talk to someone at work.
After a lot of brainstorming, we decided that the best solution was for my boss, Alessio, to go to my apartment and work from there, and then I could go to the office to run the training as scheduled. So that's what we did. I left cookies and tea, gave him a run-down of everything, and got into work on time for the training.
The training went by, everything was okay, when Alessio called to say that the guys (around 12:45 a colleague arrived to help the guy) were done, and they were saying that I owed them another 1800Kc.
Now, the minimum to have Ikea come to your house and build for you is 1250 Kc. Then you calculate 9% of the price of the furniture THAT THEY ASSEMBLE. They were taking 9% of my total bill, which was insanely unfair - let's take it to another extreme and assume that I bought 100,000Kc worth of stuff, and I only have one thing to assemble. Do I pay 9% of my entire bill? No - that would be ridiculous. So, I argued and I put Elena on the phone with them, who speaks Czech.
After a lot of back-and-forth, she got it sorted out and we figure out that I, in fact, did not owe them anything more than what I already paid.
Then, I found out that the bed was missing a piece and I had to go back to Ikea. I bolted out of work and got there as quickly as possible. I was going to just buy that, but I figured while I was there, I should get what I need, so I got a pretty tablecloth for my kitchen table, a shower curtain liner, and a picture frame for my picture of my grandmother, in addition to the big metal pole that I needed for my bed. I got home on the metro, lugged the thing around managing not to hit anyone in the head with it, put it together, and let my eyes glaze over with wonder:
I had a bed. A complete and functional bed.
So while the day was a huge mess, it had a happy ending. Boy did I sleep well. :)
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Horario
I'd like to make a run-down of how effed up my schedule is this weekend.
Friday
3:30am: arrive home from dancing
6:30am: wake up for work
7:30pm: nap
10:00pm: wake up
11:30pm: go out dancing
Saturday
3:30am: go to sleep
7:30am: wake up to get ready and go to Ikea
4:00pm: go to sleep
5:30pm: wake up to let IKEA deliver things
Sunday
7:00am: go to sleep
1:00pm: wake up
2:30pm: go back to sleep
7:40pm: wake up
wtf am I supposed to do now?
I will play solitaire until I am tired.. :)
Friday
3:30am: arrive home from dancing
6:30am: wake up for work
7:30pm: nap
10:00pm: wake up
11:30pm: go out dancing
Saturday
3:30am: go to sleep
7:30am: wake up to get ready and go to Ikea
4:00pm: go to sleep
5:30pm: wake up to let IKEA deliver things
Sunday
7:00am: go to sleep
1:00pm: wake up
2:30pm: go back to sleep
7:40pm: wake up
wtf am I supposed to do now?
I will play solitaire until I am tired.. :)
Man on the Moon
The weekend has been productive and fun, a success for sure. :)
Friday I was exhausted from the craziness of Thursday, so the first thing I did when I got home from work was take a nap. I met up around midnight with the guy from Ecuador that I'd met the night before, but he went from nice guy friend to creeper overnight, apparently - he thought we were on some super-exclusive date and kept annoying me, so I just kindly declined to dance or talk to him unless he asked me something directly until he got bored and went home. Rincon wasn't so great that night anyway, so I went home around 2, watched the new episode of The Office, and talked to Maira online until around 3.
Saturday I met up with Jose, his wife Jolana, and their son Toby to go to IKEA. The trip was insanely exhausting (especially considering my lack of sleep), but man oh man was it productive. I got EVERYTHING I need, and in one fell swoop spent my entire referral bonus (thank you again, Miss Valerie).
I bought:
a couch
a chair (select "sivik tm.zelena" from the drop-down menu to see the color)
a mattress (140x200cm)
the thing to go under the mattress (I got the most expensive one for half the price!)
this thing to go on top of the mattress to make it firmer/more comfy
a bed
a wardrobe (the middle door is a mirror)
a chest of drawers
some shelves for the bathroom
a clothes-drying rack
Some other little things as well that I won't bother to find links for, like a mop and a cleaning brush and a pillow. It's all very exciting :) I can't wait to have everything set up and put pictures up for everyone to see. Thank you again, Jose and Jolana - I couldn't have figured all of that out without you!
They delivered the stuff yesterday around 6pm, carried everything upstairs, etc. The only thing I opened was the couch - the rest of it is still in boxes (even the chair) - no point, since they won't clear out the old furniture until Wednesday, so I don't want it to be too cramped in here.
During all this time, the Turkish guy I met on Wednesday, who lives in the US and left Prague as of this morning (Sunday), texted me to ask if I'd like to hang out. So I did - we agreed to meet at 10pm at Bombay. All of a sudden, just as we made that plan, Petr, the Czech guy I met walking home one night, called me to ask if I'd like to join him and his friend at the pub at the end of our street.
Now, Petr and I haven't talked much since we met, but I did like him and figured hey, why not. I didn't know what I'd walk into - would it be a big group of Czech guys? Girls? Would they speak English? Would I feel out of place? But I keep telling myself, 1. they wouldn't have invited me if they didn't want me to come, and 2. I can't be a chicken in these types of "unconventional" social situations. I have to get out there and be brave, so that's what I did. I got dressed for the night since it was about 7:30pm and I'd have to meet the Turk right after, and walked down to the corner.
It turned out to just be Petr and his very very very very drunk Czech friend named Aleš. They were hilarious - well, Petr was drunk but acting pretty normal, the other guy was just a riot. He did speak English and I could tell was just having a blast getting to speak to a native speaker. We'll see if I hang with them again, who knows how comfortable/uncomfortable they felt (they were both pretty self-conscious about speaking English) but either way it was fun. I had two drinks with them and left at 9:30 to go meet Emre (the Turkish guy).
I got lost trying to find Bombay but a street-Nigerian helped me get there. It's very close to another club where tons of Africans hang out, so when I saw him I knew he'd be the one to ask. Sure enough when I asked if he knew where Bombay was, he said, "I'm on my way to M1 and it's very close, I'll walk you there." Soooo predictable. :)
Emre was there waiting, due to my getting lost, I was pretty late. We had a few drinks, danced a bit, had a nice time. We went to a few other places then before we called it a night (well, morning). We ended up hanging out all night (Prague never sleeps), so due to heading home at such a strange hour, I decided to take a cab.
The driver was really nice, quoted me 200Kc for the ride which was definitely fair. I sat up front with him and he didn't speak much English, but when REM's "Man on the Moon" came on, I said, "Ohh, good song" and gave a thumbs-up. He laughed and said, "Yes, nice!"
At the end of the ride I handed him the money and got out of the car, and he yelled, "MOMENT!" I looked back inside and he said, "My mix. For you," and handed me the CD we'd been listening to.
Once I got inside I looked at it and noticed it was labeled, "My party".
I love Czech people. I can't believe I didn't like them at first. You really find some gems here.
I guess that's it - today I plan to be very lazy and not leave my apartment at all. :) MAYBE a walk to the park, but it looks chilly so probably not.. :)
Here's wishing a long, peaceful sleep to Petr and Aleš, a safe trip home to Emre, and a lifelong party to my taxi driver :)
Ciao, all.
Friday I was exhausted from the craziness of Thursday, so the first thing I did when I got home from work was take a nap. I met up around midnight with the guy from Ecuador that I'd met the night before, but he went from nice guy friend to creeper overnight, apparently - he thought we were on some super-exclusive date and kept annoying me, so I just kindly declined to dance or talk to him unless he asked me something directly until he got bored and went home. Rincon wasn't so great that night anyway, so I went home around 2, watched the new episode of The Office, and talked to Maira online until around 3.
Saturday I met up with Jose, his wife Jolana, and their son Toby to go to IKEA. The trip was insanely exhausting (especially considering my lack of sleep), but man oh man was it productive. I got EVERYTHING I need, and in one fell swoop spent my entire referral bonus (thank you again, Miss Valerie).
I bought:
a couch
a chair (select "sivik tm.zelena" from the drop-down menu to see the color)
a mattress (140x200cm)
the thing to go under the mattress (I got the most expensive one for half the price!)
this thing to go on top of the mattress to make it firmer/more comfy
a bed
a wardrobe (the middle door is a mirror)
a chest of drawers
some shelves for the bathroom
a clothes-drying rack
Some other little things as well that I won't bother to find links for, like a mop and a cleaning brush and a pillow. It's all very exciting :) I can't wait to have everything set up and put pictures up for everyone to see. Thank you again, Jose and Jolana - I couldn't have figured all of that out without you!
They delivered the stuff yesterday around 6pm, carried everything upstairs, etc. The only thing I opened was the couch - the rest of it is still in boxes (even the chair) - no point, since they won't clear out the old furniture until Wednesday, so I don't want it to be too cramped in here.
During all this time, the Turkish guy I met on Wednesday, who lives in the US and left Prague as of this morning (Sunday), texted me to ask if I'd like to hang out. So I did - we agreed to meet at 10pm at Bombay. All of a sudden, just as we made that plan, Petr, the Czech guy I met walking home one night, called me to ask if I'd like to join him and his friend at the pub at the end of our street.
Now, Petr and I haven't talked much since we met, but I did like him and figured hey, why not. I didn't know what I'd walk into - would it be a big group of Czech guys? Girls? Would they speak English? Would I feel out of place? But I keep telling myself, 1. they wouldn't have invited me if they didn't want me to come, and 2. I can't be a chicken in these types of "unconventional" social situations. I have to get out there and be brave, so that's what I did. I got dressed for the night since it was about 7:30pm and I'd have to meet the Turk right after, and walked down to the corner.
It turned out to just be Petr and his very very very very drunk Czech friend named Aleš. They were hilarious - well, Petr was drunk but acting pretty normal, the other guy was just a riot. He did speak English and I could tell was just having a blast getting to speak to a native speaker. We'll see if I hang with them again, who knows how comfortable/uncomfortable they felt (they were both pretty self-conscious about speaking English) but either way it was fun. I had two drinks with them and left at 9:30 to go meet Emre (the Turkish guy).
I got lost trying to find Bombay but a street-Nigerian helped me get there. It's very close to another club where tons of Africans hang out, so when I saw him I knew he'd be the one to ask. Sure enough when I asked if he knew where Bombay was, he said, "I'm on my way to M1 and it's very close, I'll walk you there." Soooo predictable. :)
Emre was there waiting, due to my getting lost, I was pretty late. We had a few drinks, danced a bit, had a nice time. We went to a few other places then before we called it a night (well, morning). We ended up hanging out all night (Prague never sleeps), so due to heading home at such a strange hour, I decided to take a cab.
The driver was really nice, quoted me 200Kc for the ride which was definitely fair. I sat up front with him and he didn't speak much English, but when REM's "Man on the Moon" came on, I said, "Ohh, good song" and gave a thumbs-up. He laughed and said, "Yes, nice!"
At the end of the ride I handed him the money and got out of the car, and he yelled, "MOMENT!" I looked back inside and he said, "My mix. For you," and handed me the CD we'd been listening to.
Once I got inside I looked at it and noticed it was labeled, "My party".
I love Czech people. I can't believe I didn't like them at first. You really find some gems here.
I guess that's it - today I plan to be very lazy and not leave my apartment at all. :) MAYBE a walk to the park, but it looks chilly so probably not.. :)
Here's wishing a long, peaceful sleep to Petr and Aleš, a safe trip home to Emre, and a lifelong party to my taxi driver :)
Ciao, all.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Counting
It's been a good week but I'm thrilled it's winding down, and it's time for another amazing Prague weekend :)
What did I do this week?
-I saw The Hangover - it was HILARIOUS. I need to get that DVD for sure.
-I got my referral bonus - I'm going to Ikea tomorrow with Jose and his family to buy furniture - including a bed - FINALLY!!!
-I went to dinner at the Argentinian restaurant with Katy and Derrick. I worked on my Czech with her, and I ordered all our meals IN CZECH. The waitress, who we've had a lot of times because we go there so much and knows very well that I never attempt Czech with her, saw my beaming smile of pride and gave me a big smile back. When the whole table started laughing over how ecstatic I was to order for everyone in Czech, she laughed with us and was super extra nice the whole night. I like Czech people more and more every day.
-I learned how to count (more or less) to 1,000 in Czech! I only knew 1-10 before, but now I've expanded my number base. I still mess up some of them of course but at least I can get my point across.
Last night, I went with Katy, Derrick, and Dana to Chapeau Rouge for salsa night. There were two DJs, one from Guatemala and one from Mexico, so the music was great. I fell asleep after work and slept through the alarm I'd set to go meet her, and when she called me around 9:45pm, I didn't know if I should go - it was raining pretty hard and I felt sleepy. But I'd promised, and I'd been talking all week about how I was going to go, and it was Thursday. I'd only have to suffer through one day of work being tired until the weekend. So, I said "eff it" and got ready to go.
Here's where my night got super multi-cultural.
I left my building and walked with my umbrella. As I passed two buildings, a guy was coming out of his building and said something to me in Czech. I don't know how but I magically knew he was asking if he could share my umbrella (by some gesture I'm sure, I can't remember), and I said, "Sure" and we continued to walk. He tried to speak to me but I finally said I don't speak Czech, and he spoke English - turned out he was from Turkey. He was nice, so I've met another neighbor. Not my type for anything other than a friend (maybe not even that, he was kind of annoying to be honest:) but still nice to meet someone.
Once I got to Chapeau Rouge, I waited on the corner for Katy who was just a couple minutes away. I ran into a Venezuelan guy I'd met on my last trip to Prague, and we chatted for a few minutes. As soon as he left, an Algerian came up and spoke to me in French right off the bat, and periodically changed to Arabic. He was old and kind of a creeper though, so I was relieved when Katy and the others walked up and we went inside. Once inside, I ran into a Cuban guy I know from Rincon Latino, and another Mexican that I met there last week as well. They had a Guatemalan friend with them, who I talked to for some time (he was super adorable but unfortunately it ended there, because he only stayed about 15 mins total).
At that point I got a drink, stood around a bit, then danced a merengue with Dana, a Czech friend who was with us. I returned to my standing point and hung out with the Venezuelan again, but then he left as well. I went to sit with my friends for a bit, when I noticed an Arab guy looking my way a lot. He gestured that he'd like to buy me a drink, so I let him buy me a Coke. Turned out he was from Tunisia and spoke very little English, so we got by with French and Arabic. He was cool at first but then turned super creepy and possessive and kept blocking me from even talking to my friends. Then, out of his man-purse (satchel) he pulled out a necklace and put it on me. While it was pretty, I was even more creeped out, and after I avoided him the rest of the evening I politely returned it to him.
I spent the rest of the evening dancing with a nice guy from Ecuador who was 42 and a really good dancer. He's just in town for a couple weeks just because he likes Prague and has a sister in Frankfurt. I might see him again, not as a date or anything but just for someone to go out with, since he doesn't know anybody here.
After all that, I texted with my favorite Mexican (Taquito:) the whole walk/cab ride home. Definitely a nice ending. I got to sleep around 3:30am and woke up around 6:50am... I feel surprisingly good (for now:).
I can't wait to see what goes down this weekend - I love this city, you really never know who you're going to meet.
What did I do this week?
-I saw The Hangover - it was HILARIOUS. I need to get that DVD for sure.
-I got my referral bonus - I'm going to Ikea tomorrow with Jose and his family to buy furniture - including a bed - FINALLY!!!
-I went to dinner at the Argentinian restaurant with Katy and Derrick. I worked on my Czech with her, and I ordered all our meals IN CZECH. The waitress, who we've had a lot of times because we go there so much and knows very well that I never attempt Czech with her, saw my beaming smile of pride and gave me a big smile back. When the whole table started laughing over how ecstatic I was to order for everyone in Czech, she laughed with us and was super extra nice the whole night. I like Czech people more and more every day.
-I learned how to count (more or less) to 1,000 in Czech! I only knew 1-10 before, but now I've expanded my number base. I still mess up some of them of course but at least I can get my point across.
Last night, I went with Katy, Derrick, and Dana to Chapeau Rouge for salsa night. There were two DJs, one from Guatemala and one from Mexico, so the music was great. I fell asleep after work and slept through the alarm I'd set to go meet her, and when she called me around 9:45pm, I didn't know if I should go - it was raining pretty hard and I felt sleepy. But I'd promised, and I'd been talking all week about how I was going to go, and it was Thursday. I'd only have to suffer through one day of work being tired until the weekend. So, I said "eff it" and got ready to go.
Here's where my night got super multi-cultural.
I left my building and walked with my umbrella. As I passed two buildings, a guy was coming out of his building and said something to me in Czech. I don't know how but I magically knew he was asking if he could share my umbrella (by some gesture I'm sure, I can't remember), and I said, "Sure" and we continued to walk. He tried to speak to me but I finally said I don't speak Czech, and he spoke English - turned out he was from Turkey. He was nice, so I've met another neighbor. Not my type for anything other than a friend (maybe not even that, he was kind of annoying to be honest:) but still nice to meet someone.
Once I got to Chapeau Rouge, I waited on the corner for Katy who was just a couple minutes away. I ran into a Venezuelan guy I'd met on my last trip to Prague, and we chatted for a few minutes. As soon as he left, an Algerian came up and spoke to me in French right off the bat, and periodically changed to Arabic. He was old and kind of a creeper though, so I was relieved when Katy and the others walked up and we went inside. Once inside, I ran into a Cuban guy I know from Rincon Latino, and another Mexican that I met there last week as well. They had a Guatemalan friend with them, who I talked to for some time (he was super adorable but unfortunately it ended there, because he only stayed about 15 mins total).
At that point I got a drink, stood around a bit, then danced a merengue with Dana, a Czech friend who was with us. I returned to my standing point and hung out with the Venezuelan again, but then he left as well. I went to sit with my friends for a bit, when I noticed an Arab guy looking my way a lot. He gestured that he'd like to buy me a drink, so I let him buy me a Coke. Turned out he was from Tunisia and spoke very little English, so we got by with French and Arabic. He was cool at first but then turned super creepy and possessive and kept blocking me from even talking to my friends. Then, out of his man-purse (satchel) he pulled out a necklace and put it on me. While it was pretty, I was even more creeped out, and after I avoided him the rest of the evening I politely returned it to him.
I spent the rest of the evening dancing with a nice guy from Ecuador who was 42 and a really good dancer. He's just in town for a couple weeks just because he likes Prague and has a sister in Frankfurt. I might see him again, not as a date or anything but just for someone to go out with, since he doesn't know anybody here.
After all that, I texted with my favorite Mexican (Taquito:) the whole walk/cab ride home. Definitely a nice ending. I got to sleep around 3:30am and woke up around 6:50am... I feel surprisingly good (for now:).
I can't wait to see what goes down this weekend - I love this city, you really never know who you're going to meet.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Lamento Boliviano
The Mexican Carnaval didn't happen.......again. This time we had the right night, and the right time, but when we arrived, there was nothing going on except for a DJ and a few tables worth of people at the riverside bar/restaurant. As I was walking there I ran into Adina and her French friend Adrian, who ended up being really fun to hang out with. The three of us got a table and had a drink anyway, despite the lack of carnaval, and Diana joined us shortly after. The four of us went for dinner at Luka Lu, one of my favorite restaurants in Prague (so far, because I know sooo many, ha:) and then to a small underground bar where they were playing very loud American music (good stuff, not crappy stuff). We sat awhile having a drink, and headed out around 12:30am.
Walking back toward Andel, Diana and I decided to stop into Rincon Latino and see how it was. We were at the bar having a drink when two guys came up and asked us to dance. Mine turned out to be from Bolivia. I'd seen him there before several times but we never spoke. I warned him that I'm really not that good at salsa, but we danced anyway and he turned out to be a really good lead. So we danced, and Diana danced with his friend Gabriel (mexicano), and then they invited us to their table where we met a couple more of their friends from Mexico. They were all really nice but slowly left one by one. At the end I was left with Rolando, the Bolivian. We danced quite a bit, and then while he was off dancing with other people and I took a break, I chatted/danced with my semi-new friend Sbendi from Macedonia. He's super nice and speaks about 500 languages (okay, 6), but is just a really nice guy. I'm trying to get him in at my company because I think he'd be really good for it. I also made up a great Ariba joke about him, which Diana loved:
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Sbendi.
Sbendi who?
Sbendi management!!
Hahahhaha, for you non-Aribians, that's a play on Spend Management. Man I love business humor.
Anyway, after some time, Rolando was hungry and I accompanied the borrachito to the walk-up window (because nobody has cars here, and something's got to be open 24 hours:) of KFC, then sat with him on a bench while he ate his chicken. We ended up talking, and talking, and talking, and talking, and talking, basically non-stop until about 7pm today. No funny stuff, really just truly hanging out and getting to know each other. It's not a romantic thing - we even talked about it and agreed that we just don't get that vibe from each other - but that we could see being really really good friends. He suggested one weekend soon that we go to Prague Castle because I haven't actually been there yet, and he said I really have to go before winter comes. He offered to help me build my Ikea furniture when it comes. We talked about all kinds of things we want to do - I feel like I really made a friend with none of the BS that usually comes with meeting a guy here. I really love it more every day here - you never know who you're going to meet or who's going to come into your life from one minute to the next.
Back to work tomorrow. Talked to Adina tonight, we might go see a movie tomorrow (hopefully Beliza can make it, too:).
Buenas noches, mi gente.
Walking back toward Andel, Diana and I decided to stop into Rincon Latino and see how it was. We were at the bar having a drink when two guys came up and asked us to dance. Mine turned out to be from Bolivia. I'd seen him there before several times but we never spoke. I warned him that I'm really not that good at salsa, but we danced anyway and he turned out to be a really good lead. So we danced, and Diana danced with his friend Gabriel (mexicano), and then they invited us to their table where we met a couple more of their friends from Mexico. They were all really nice but slowly left one by one. At the end I was left with Rolando, the Bolivian. We danced quite a bit, and then while he was off dancing with other people and I took a break, I chatted/danced with my semi-new friend Sbendi from Macedonia. He's super nice and speaks about 500 languages (okay, 6), but is just a really nice guy. I'm trying to get him in at my company because I think he'd be really good for it. I also made up a great Ariba joke about him, which Diana loved:
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Sbendi.
Sbendi who?
Sbendi management!!
Hahahhaha, for you non-Aribians, that's a play on Spend Management. Man I love business humor.
Anyway, after some time, Rolando was hungry and I accompanied the borrachito to the walk-up window (because nobody has cars here, and something's got to be open 24 hours:) of KFC, then sat with him on a bench while he ate his chicken. We ended up talking, and talking, and talking, and talking, and talking, basically non-stop until about 7pm today. No funny stuff, really just truly hanging out and getting to know each other. It's not a romantic thing - we even talked about it and agreed that we just don't get that vibe from each other - but that we could see being really really good friends. He suggested one weekend soon that we go to Prague Castle because I haven't actually been there yet, and he said I really have to go before winter comes. He offered to help me build my Ikea furniture when it comes. We talked about all kinds of things we want to do - I feel like I really made a friend with none of the BS that usually comes with meeting a guy here. I really love it more every day here - you never know who you're going to meet or who's going to come into your life from one minute to the next.
Back to work tomorrow. Talked to Adina tonight, we might go see a movie tomorrow (hopefully Beliza can make it, too:).
Buenas noches, mi gente.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Pesadillas vol. 2
I just had the most terrible nightmare.... I don't want to write what it was, though, because I'm a bit superstitious that if you talk about these things then they might happen. (Kind of like if you use a made-up excuse like, "I can't come because my mom's in he hospital" she might really end up in the hospital or something).
The week hasn't really been an interesting one, except for one thing - I went to an amazing concert from Goran Bregovic in Old Town Square (for free!) on Thursday. Boy was it awesome - I'd never heard him - rather, never even heard OF him - until the night of the Portuguese dinner when everyone was talking about it. I went to the concert with the intention of meeting up with Beliza and her friends but the crowd was so huge that we didn't manage at all. I went with Adina and Diana and we had a blast.
On to the weekend...
Last night I went to a beer garden with Nora and Adina and some of Adina's friends. Nearly all of the friends were American. We started out in a nice small group and it got bigger and bigger. Now, I've met only two or three Americans since I've been here, and only one I see on a regular basis at work (the other two I just met in passing somewhere). I was really excited at first to be around them - when they asked where I was from, I didn't have to say, "The US", I could say, "Pittsburgh" without even saying Pennsylvania and they'd know exactly what I was talking about. There were people from Florida, from Buffalo, from Chicago, from Arizona, all over. And I felt like we were neighbors.
That is, until they all started drinking. And playing drinking games. And yelling. And laughing so loud that you could hear them from the other end of the place (it's a big place). I won't say for a second that all of them were like this; the ones who were Adina's friends were actually very very nice and chill. But these extras that came... they were the people who populate every Southside bar on a Friday night and then go puke in the street. And all of a sudden I wanted to leave... because even across the world, these people are no more appealing.
Now I see why people all over the world hate Americans - because we have these specimins EVERYWHERE.
Guy: So what do you girls do?
Me: We work for a software company.
Guy: Wow! So what do you actually do?
Me: We work in the customer support department.
Guy: Oh so you have to deal with idiots all day. I could never work there - I'd be the guy who's like, "FUUCKK YOOOOU!! NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS!!!" *click*, see, I could never work there.
Us: *nodding*
Guy: I'd be cussing out the customers all the time like, "YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS! GO FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!!"
Us: .......
Guy: I'd totally get fired for cussing out customers. Anyway so where are you from?
Nora: I'm from Hungary.
Guy: Oh AWESOME, I wanna go to Budapest so bad.
Nora: Oh, it's really not the best city to visit.
Guy: Well, that's the opposite of everything I've ever heard from anyone else. And where are you from?
Me: Pittsburgh.
Guy: Oh, so I guess you're a Steelers fan.
Me: You know it.
Guy: You guys didn't deserve the Superbowl last year. I'm a __something__ fan and we really should have won that game.
Me: Okay....but you didn't. And we did.
Guy: OHHHH!! OHHHH!! SO IT'S LIKE THAT NOW!!! Hahah, I'm just messin' with you.
It went on like this until I couldn't take anymore, and Nora and I politely excused ourselves and walked to where we could find some trams. We decided we wanted to dance so we went to Radost thinking it was going to be some good music for dancing, but it was some kind of electronic stuff. Worst part was that we paid 150Kc to get in, which I really couldn't afford to be throwing away right now (I'm being veeery careful until payday). We had one drink and left, and got on a tram to go to another club near old town square, but Nora suggested she'd like to try salsa dancing (which I'll never say no to) and we headed to Rincon instead. It was good, I didn't dance except for a little bit with some huge guy from Guinea, but I was just tired. After about an hour and a half we headed home, Nora in a cab and me on foot.
All in all a good start to the weekend, though. Tonight I'm going to the Mexican carnaval party with Diana and Adina, maybe dinner at some point, and then dancing. Should be a lot of fun :)
The week hasn't really been an interesting one, except for one thing - I went to an amazing concert from Goran Bregovic in Old Town Square (for free!) on Thursday. Boy was it awesome - I'd never heard him - rather, never even heard OF him - until the night of the Portuguese dinner when everyone was talking about it. I went to the concert with the intention of meeting up with Beliza and her friends but the crowd was so huge that we didn't manage at all. I went with Adina and Diana and we had a blast.
On to the weekend...
Last night I went to a beer garden with Nora and Adina and some of Adina's friends. Nearly all of the friends were American. We started out in a nice small group and it got bigger and bigger. Now, I've met only two or three Americans since I've been here, and only one I see on a regular basis at work (the other two I just met in passing somewhere). I was really excited at first to be around them - when they asked where I was from, I didn't have to say, "The US", I could say, "Pittsburgh" without even saying Pennsylvania and they'd know exactly what I was talking about. There were people from Florida, from Buffalo, from Chicago, from Arizona, all over. And I felt like we were neighbors.
That is, until they all started drinking. And playing drinking games. And yelling. And laughing so loud that you could hear them from the other end of the place (it's a big place). I won't say for a second that all of them were like this; the ones who were Adina's friends were actually very very nice and chill. But these extras that came... they were the people who populate every Southside bar on a Friday night and then go puke in the street. And all of a sudden I wanted to leave... because even across the world, these people are no more appealing.
Now I see why people all over the world hate Americans - because we have these specimins EVERYWHERE.
Guy: So what do you girls do?
Me: We work for a software company.
Guy: Wow! So what do you actually do?
Me: We work in the customer support department.
Guy: Oh so you have to deal with idiots all day. I could never work there - I'd be the guy who's like, "FUUCKK YOOOOU!! NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS!!!" *click*, see, I could never work there.
Us: *nodding*
Guy: I'd be cussing out the customers all the time like, "YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS! GO FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!!"
Us: .......
Guy: I'd totally get fired for cussing out customers. Anyway so where are you from?
Nora: I'm from Hungary.
Guy: Oh AWESOME, I wanna go to Budapest so bad.
Nora: Oh, it's really not the best city to visit.
Guy: Well, that's the opposite of everything I've ever heard from anyone else. And where are you from?
Me: Pittsburgh.
Guy: Oh, so I guess you're a Steelers fan.
Me: You know it.
Guy: You guys didn't deserve the Superbowl last year. I'm a __something__ fan and we really should have won that game.
Me: Okay....but you didn't. And we did.
Guy: OHHHH!! OHHHH!! SO IT'S LIKE THAT NOW!!! Hahah, I'm just messin' with you.
It went on like this until I couldn't take anymore, and Nora and I politely excused ourselves and walked to where we could find some trams. We decided we wanted to dance so we went to Radost thinking it was going to be some good music for dancing, but it was some kind of electronic stuff. Worst part was that we paid 150Kc to get in, which I really couldn't afford to be throwing away right now (I'm being veeery careful until payday). We had one drink and left, and got on a tram to go to another club near old town square, but Nora suggested she'd like to try salsa dancing (which I'll never say no to) and we headed to Rincon instead. It was good, I didn't dance except for a little bit with some huge guy from Guinea, but I was just tired. After about an hour and a half we headed home, Nora in a cab and me on foot.
All in all a good start to the weekend, though. Tonight I'm going to the Mexican carnaval party with Diana and Adina, maybe dinner at some point, and then dancing. Should be a lot of fun :)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Portuguese Night
What a lovely evening I had.
Beliza invited me to her house for dinner because she and her friend Pedro made feijoada (Portugal style, not Brazilian) the day before. After work we went to Tesco to pick out a bottle of wine (I wanted to contribute SOMETHING), and picked a nice shiraz from Argentina. We got to her apartment, she gave me the grand tour (very cute) and we sat around BSing awhile.
Pedro arrived shortly after and began to cook the rice and heat the feijoada, and then her Polish friend Iza arrived, then her roommate Cristiana (sorry if that's misspelled), and finally a Czech friend named Martin.
By the time everyone arrived, dinner was ready and we all gathered around the table to eat. The feijoada was amazing, her friends are delightful, and while I was a little nervous (I know, I know, but it's always hard to be the new one in a big group of people who are already friends), I was sooooo glad I went. Thank you Beli for a lovely night!!
Around 9:15pm or so, after we killed 3.5 bottles of red wine, I headed with Pedro and Iza to the tram stop. They got on one, and I continued to wait for the number 9. It came just a minute later, and as I was walking up to get on, a cute guy I'd noticed waiting a bit further down came to me and asked, "Are you taking the number 9?"
"Yes."
"Me too..."
"Ok..." (not knowing what to say here)
He sat by me and from the second I saw his face in the light I knew he was Arab. I asked where he was from, and he said, "Where do you think I'm from?"
"I think you're Arab."
"Really, why?"
"Well, are you Arab?"
"No."
"I am. I'm Palestinian."
"You're Palestinian??!?! I'm from Iraq!! I saw you and I knew you must be Arab too but I didn't want to say it!"
Turns out he's faced some issues with being Arab/muslim in this city so far, so he doesn't like to come out and say where he's from. He's 33, owns an Arabic restaurant (that also makes pizza, like every other restaurant in this city), which is there in Zizkov where I was waiting for the tram. We rode together and he started to get off. I noticed we were in Mustek and got up to go as well, since the metro makes it way easier for me to get home.
We ended up walking around a bit and chatting, finally stopping at Narodni Trida where we said good night. We exchanged numbers, so here's hoping that he's not 1. married (he said he wasn't but you never know in this city), 2. a jerk, or 3. skeezy.
We shall see, but he seemed as happy to make a new friend as I was.
All in all, a very good night.
On a final and most important note, I want to wish a happy 27th birthday to my bestestest friend Tara (a.k.a. Tarita, T, T-boz, T-bone, T-whiz, Gigi, Tarasius, Pinche Tara, Chichona, and many other things I've called her over the years). May you have the happiest birthday ever, even though I can't be with you. I love you x10000, and I'm sending you big hugs from across the sea.
Beliza invited me to her house for dinner because she and her friend Pedro made feijoada (Portugal style, not Brazilian) the day before. After work we went to Tesco to pick out a bottle of wine (I wanted to contribute SOMETHING), and picked a nice shiraz from Argentina. We got to her apartment, she gave me the grand tour (very cute) and we sat around BSing awhile.
Pedro arrived shortly after and began to cook the rice and heat the feijoada, and then her Polish friend Iza arrived, then her roommate Cristiana (sorry if that's misspelled), and finally a Czech friend named Martin.
By the time everyone arrived, dinner was ready and we all gathered around the table to eat. The feijoada was amazing, her friends are delightful, and while I was a little nervous (I know, I know, but it's always hard to be the new one in a big group of people who are already friends), I was sooooo glad I went. Thank you Beli for a lovely night!!
Around 9:15pm or so, after we killed 3.5 bottles of red wine, I headed with Pedro and Iza to the tram stop. They got on one, and I continued to wait for the number 9. It came just a minute later, and as I was walking up to get on, a cute guy I'd noticed waiting a bit further down came to me and asked, "Are you taking the number 9?"
"Yes."
"Me too..."
"Ok..." (not knowing what to say here)
He sat by me and from the second I saw his face in the light I knew he was Arab. I asked where he was from, and he said, "Where do you think I'm from?"
"I think you're Arab."
"Really, why?"
"Well, are you Arab?"
"No."
"I am. I'm Palestinian."
"You're Palestinian??!?! I'm from Iraq!! I saw you and I knew you must be Arab too but I didn't want to say it!"
Turns out he's faced some issues with being Arab/muslim in this city so far, so he doesn't like to come out and say where he's from. He's 33, owns an Arabic restaurant (that also makes pizza, like every other restaurant in this city), which is there in Zizkov where I was waiting for the tram. We rode together and he started to get off. I noticed we were in Mustek and got up to go as well, since the metro makes it way easier for me to get home.
We ended up walking around a bit and chatting, finally stopping at Narodni Trida where we said good night. We exchanged numbers, so here's hoping that he's not 1. married (he said he wasn't but you never know in this city), 2. a jerk, or 3. skeezy.
We shall see, but he seemed as happy to make a new friend as I was.
All in all, a very good night.
On a final and most important note, I want to wish a happy 27th birthday to my bestestest friend Tara (a.k.a. Tarita, T, T-boz, T-bone, T-whiz, Gigi, Tarasius, Pinche Tara, Chichona, and many other things I've called her over the years). May you have the happiest birthday ever, even though I can't be with you. I love you x10000, and I'm sending you big hugs from across the sea.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Mix-up
There was no Mexican carnaval party :( I was so excited. I met up with Diana, and Adina was coming too a bit later. Diana and I met up and walked together to the beach, but then saw on the sign that it was on the 19th, not the 13th :( Oh well.
I called Adina right away but she was already on her way. We ended up sitting at a riverside bar/restaurant and having a couple drinks, some nachos, and a lot of girl talk. :) So it was still fun.
And now I have something to look forward to next week, so it could be worse!
Back to work today - I'm getting Contracts training today (finally). Woohoo :)
I called Adina right away but she was already on her way. We ended up sitting at a riverside bar/restaurant and having a couple drinks, some nachos, and a lot of girl talk. :) So it was still fun.
And now I have something to look forward to next week, so it could be worse!
Back to work today - I'm getting Contracts training today (finally). Woohoo :)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
I wear my sunglasses at night
Yesterday ended up being pretty fun.
I woke up late (since I got home around 5:30am:) and kind of bummed around until 5pm. I met Diana around 6pm to go to support our fellow Aribians in a race they were running (5km for the girls, 10km for the guys). We took a very crowded metro, met up with everyone at Franz Kafka Cafe, then headed over to the race route. It was really fun to cheer everyone on and I think the group really appreciated the support.
After that, Diana and I were dying for Afghani food so we raced down there, praying it would still be open and serving dinner. We got there in time and ordered half the menu. Beliza called right after we ordered and asked if I wanted to go have a drink, and I said, "Are you hungry? Come meet us!" So she did, and we shared the big meal between three of us - thank goodness she came, it was way too much food for two.
Once we'd eaten, I casually mentioned that I didn't want to go home yet. Diana said, "Of course not! Let's go to Rincon!" Beli was in, too, so we three ladies headed over. It took a little while to get good, but once it filled up we had soooo much fun - dancing and drinking and just enjoying each other's company. I have fun when I go by myself, but it's way more fun with a couple of girlfriends. Beliza left around 2:45am or so, which really would have been plenty, but Diana and I ended up staying until nearly 5am :) What a great night. I've also learned that once I have a few cuba libres in me, I have the courage to ask random guys to dance, and you know what? They always say yes!
So it was a good day :) It's nearly 1pm now. I think I'll throw on some clothes, go to Tesco and do some shopping, come back, eat something (my cupboards and refrigerator are bare), then relax for the afternoon, maybe do some cleaning, and then go to the Mexican Carnaval party at Smichov Beach.
And, on a final note, a very happy birthday to my dear friend Jorge :)
I woke up late (since I got home around 5:30am:) and kind of bummed around until 5pm. I met Diana around 6pm to go to support our fellow Aribians in a race they were running (5km for the girls, 10km for the guys). We took a very crowded metro, met up with everyone at Franz Kafka Cafe, then headed over to the race route. It was really fun to cheer everyone on and I think the group really appreciated the support.
After that, Diana and I were dying for Afghani food so we raced down there, praying it would still be open and serving dinner. We got there in time and ordered half the menu. Beliza called right after we ordered and asked if I wanted to go have a drink, and I said, "Are you hungry? Come meet us!" So she did, and we shared the big meal between three of us - thank goodness she came, it was way too much food for two.
Once we'd eaten, I casually mentioned that I didn't want to go home yet. Diana said, "Of course not! Let's go to Rincon!" Beli was in, too, so we three ladies headed over. It took a little while to get good, but once it filled up we had soooo much fun - dancing and drinking and just enjoying each other's company. I have fun when I go by myself, but it's way more fun with a couple of girlfriends. Beliza left around 2:45am or so, which really would have been plenty, but Diana and I ended up staying until nearly 5am :) What a great night. I've also learned that once I have a few cuba libres in me, I have the courage to ask random guys to dance, and you know what? They always say yes!
So it was a good day :) It's nearly 1pm now. I think I'll throw on some clothes, go to Tesco and do some shopping, come back, eat something (my cupboards and refrigerator are bare), then relax for the afternoon, maybe do some cleaning, and then go to the Mexican Carnaval party at Smichov Beach.
And, on a final note, a very happy birthday to my dear friend Jorge :)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
No lo haga' otra ve', no me gu'ta
Rincon wasn't so bad, but I've had much better times.
I got there around 1:15am, had a couple cuba libres, and just watched people dance. The guy from last week, Pablito, was there. I saw him notice me and then get all clingy all over a woman, which of course didn't bother me in the least but he kept trying to do in front of me to "make me jealous". I forgot to mention that after last week and him trying to be all creepy, I didn't answer any of his text messages or phonecalls (yes, before he was creepy, I made the mistake of giving him my number). I ignored it and when he noticed I wouldn't look anymore, he came over.
To make a long story short, he gave me quite a lecture about what a horrible person I am to not return his calls/texts, then told me he wanted to be my boyfriend, then got f'realz angry when I said I had no interest because I "don't date people who yell at me like a father yells at a little girl." He ignored me after that. Mission accomplished :)
I did dance with one really nice cuban guy....who ended up having a girlfriend. Oh well, it's always nice to dance with anyone. I left around 4:30am, sufficiently tired and satisfied that I at least got out of the house.
I stood outside talking to a Macedonian guy for a while who I met the week before, who isn't any kind of interest but is just really nice. He told me how he's looking for a job now because he hates working in a pizza shop, and that he speaks about 5 languages. I asked of course, "Do you have any experience with computers?" He said, "Oh, yes, quite a bit - well, really just with the Internet, MS Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc." I said, "Send me your CV." :) Here's hoping he turns out not to be an idiot and gets hired and stays for 3 months. Hellooooo trip to Spain and Morocco!
And on my walk home, I noticed I was walking next to a guy who vaguely resembled my brother - shaved head, thick-ish framed glasses, handsome face. I tend to not pay much attention to Czechs, but we kept walking the same way. At every street we'd smile a bit because I think we were both wondering when one of us would turn in a different direction - it was a bit awkward because we didn't speak but were basically walking home together, and were the only people in the street.
Finally at Karla Englise, he turned a different way and we both laughed a little but still didn't speak. As it turned out, we just took different ways around the block - imagine a square - he went one direction and turned, I went the other, and we met at the diagonal opposite corner at the stoplight. Finally he looked at me and started to laugh, and I also laughed and said, "I swear I'm not following you." He smiled and said, "So where do you live, so I know if we live in the same apartment." :) I said, "Na Brezince." He said, "Me too.. which number?" I said, "15." He said, "24 - so we are neighbors!"
We had the nicest chat after that. He's 27, works in IT, and was just out with his friends celebrating a breakup from some horrible girlfriend.. ha. We stood outside our buildings talking for at least a half hour, finally exchanged numbers, and went home. As soon as I got in he texted me to ask if I had Facebook, added me, and to my delight, he is happily normal. He has pics of his family, his dog.
Looks like I've made my first real Czech friend :) I'm also his first foreign friend. So, yay for me and Petr.
I got there around 1:15am, had a couple cuba libres, and just watched people dance. The guy from last week, Pablito, was there. I saw him notice me and then get all clingy all over a woman, which of course didn't bother me in the least but he kept trying to do in front of me to "make me jealous". I forgot to mention that after last week and him trying to be all creepy, I didn't answer any of his text messages or phonecalls (yes, before he was creepy, I made the mistake of giving him my number). I ignored it and when he noticed I wouldn't look anymore, he came over.
To make a long story short, he gave me quite a lecture about what a horrible person I am to not return his calls/texts, then told me he wanted to be my boyfriend, then got f'realz angry when I said I had no interest because I "don't date people who yell at me like a father yells at a little girl." He ignored me after that. Mission accomplished :)
I did dance with one really nice cuban guy....who ended up having a girlfriend. Oh well, it's always nice to dance with anyone. I left around 4:30am, sufficiently tired and satisfied that I at least got out of the house.
I stood outside talking to a Macedonian guy for a while who I met the week before, who isn't any kind of interest but is just really nice. He told me how he's looking for a job now because he hates working in a pizza shop, and that he speaks about 5 languages. I asked of course, "Do you have any experience with computers?" He said, "Oh, yes, quite a bit - well, really just with the Internet, MS Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc." I said, "Send me your CV." :) Here's hoping he turns out not to be an idiot and gets hired and stays for 3 months. Hellooooo trip to Spain and Morocco!
And on my walk home, I noticed I was walking next to a guy who vaguely resembled my brother - shaved head, thick-ish framed glasses, handsome face. I tend to not pay much attention to Czechs, but we kept walking the same way. At every street we'd smile a bit because I think we were both wondering when one of us would turn in a different direction - it was a bit awkward because we didn't speak but were basically walking home together, and were the only people in the street.
Finally at Karla Englise, he turned a different way and we both laughed a little but still didn't speak. As it turned out, we just took different ways around the block - imagine a square - he went one direction and turned, I went the other, and we met at the diagonal opposite corner at the stoplight. Finally he looked at me and started to laugh, and I also laughed and said, "I swear I'm not following you." He smiled and said, "So where do you live, so I know if we live in the same apartment." :) I said, "Na Brezince." He said, "Me too.. which number?" I said, "15." He said, "24 - so we are neighbors!"
We had the nicest chat after that. He's 27, works in IT, and was just out with his friends celebrating a breakup from some horrible girlfriend.. ha. We stood outside our buildings talking for at least a half hour, finally exchanged numbers, and went home. As soon as I got in he texted me to ask if I had Facebook, added me, and to my delight, he is happily normal. He has pics of his family, his dog.
Looks like I've made my first real Czech friend :) I'm also his first foreign friend. So, yay for me and Petr.
You've always got a friend in Björk
Work was hectic today. I was all alone adminning a terrible series of auctions. How does one end up with a job he/she didn't apply for? It's beyond me. Nevertheless, there's an end in sight.
This end is called THE WEEKEND, and it's here. I had plans to come home after work, take a nap, primp, and go dancing. Instead I hung around the office a bit, called my mom, then walked around with Beliza. We went to the mall just to get phone credit for her, then to the center to buy movie tickets to see the new Almodovar film, "Los Abrazos Rotos". We met with her Portguese friend who was super cool and funny, had a nice dinner, then met Rob at the movie.
As it turns out, I don't speak Spanish after all; I understood about 40% of the movie. I know for a fact that this is due to the fact that they were speaking castellano, and I speak dirty street Spanish. Whatever, if we ever go see a Mexican movie, I'll be in the winner's seat, and they'll all sit there going, "What does 'no manches' mean?" So I guess one day the world will make sense again.
I thought of going with them for a beer after the movie but I felt a bit shaken from not understanding an entire movie in Spanish (keep in mind, the subtitles were in Czech, so I was really relying on Spanish only), and just wanted to walk alone for a while. I headed to the metro station.
Please make a note of today as an historical event: Today was the first day I was stopped by the transit police and asked for my pass. I pulled it out with a big smile on my face, he probably thought I was crazy. I guess I feel so good because it's nice to know there's an actual reason for paying 1500Kc for something (it's good for 3 months).
Anyway, it's 12:07am and I could easily go to sleep but I think by around 1am I'll head to Rincon for a while. I really want to go dancing and Friday nights are always better than Saturday nights there. I hate going alone but it's better than sitting in my apartment and wondering what fun I could be having. Besides, I went alone last week and had a great time. So there.
Adios, mi gente.
This end is called THE WEEKEND, and it's here. I had plans to come home after work, take a nap, primp, and go dancing. Instead I hung around the office a bit, called my mom, then walked around with Beliza. We went to the mall just to get phone credit for her, then to the center to buy movie tickets to see the new Almodovar film, "Los Abrazos Rotos". We met with her Portguese friend who was super cool and funny, had a nice dinner, then met Rob at the movie.
As it turns out, I don't speak Spanish after all; I understood about 40% of the movie. I know for a fact that this is due to the fact that they were speaking castellano, and I speak dirty street Spanish. Whatever, if we ever go see a Mexican movie, I'll be in the winner's seat, and they'll all sit there going, "What does 'no manches' mean?" So I guess one day the world will make sense again.
I thought of going with them for a beer after the movie but I felt a bit shaken from not understanding an entire movie in Spanish (keep in mind, the subtitles were in Czech, so I was really relying on Spanish only), and just wanted to walk alone for a while. I headed to the metro station.
Please make a note of today as an historical event: Today was the first day I was stopped by the transit police and asked for my pass. I pulled it out with a big smile on my face, he probably thought I was crazy. I guess I feel so good because it's nice to know there's an actual reason for paying 1500Kc for something (it's good for 3 months).
Anyway, it's 12:07am and I could easily go to sleep but I think by around 1am I'll head to Rincon for a while. I really want to go dancing and Friday nights are always better than Saturday nights there. I hate going alone but it's better than sitting in my apartment and wondering what fun I could be having. Besides, I went alone last week and had a great time. So there.
Adios, mi gente.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Does a body good
I can't stop drinking milk. I have this belief (of which I have no medical proof) that when we're craving something weird, it's our body's way of telling us we need it. This does not include things like, "Oh I want a candybar."
But there have been times that I had a really weird craving for, let's say, orange juice. I've never been much of a juice drinker, but all of a sudden I'd just be dying for it, and couldn't stop thinking about it until I had it.
Well for about 3 weeks now, I've been dying for milk. I *never* drink milk back home - but, thinking back, I do get calcium in a lot of other ways. For instance I'd frequently eat cereal in the morning, and have some that way. Or I'd have cheese in one way or another almost every day. And since I've been here, I don't eat cereal (because Czech cereal SUCKS, yeah, I said it), and I don't really eat cheese. And now this milk craving.
The milk craving is still going on, even though I've been through two boxes of it in the last two days. Tomorrow I'll do a good Tesco shopping because I'm out of nearly everything, and I'll buy another two or three. That should get me through the weekend. :)
In other news, after work today I went with Beliza and Adina to a festival with rock bands. Czech rock bands. There were tons of hippies and crazies, for example I saw one guy who had his hair in big spikes around his head, and then about 5 long dreadlocks in the back.
Beliza's friends (well, she just met some of them tonight, too, but she was connected to them in some other way) were super nice. They were very cool girls, and I'm kind of sad that they're done here in October - I could have seen hanging out with them again.
Adina and I sat together a lot and had some really nice conversation. All in all I had a great time.
Oh, and one band played Ozzy Osbourne's "Iron Man", but with Czech lyrics, and had accompaniment by clarinet and violin. Talk about a crazy train.
But there have been times that I had a really weird craving for, let's say, orange juice. I've never been much of a juice drinker, but all of a sudden I'd just be dying for it, and couldn't stop thinking about it until I had it.
Well for about 3 weeks now, I've been dying for milk. I *never* drink milk back home - but, thinking back, I do get calcium in a lot of other ways. For instance I'd frequently eat cereal in the morning, and have some that way. Or I'd have cheese in one way or another almost every day. And since I've been here, I don't eat cereal (because Czech cereal SUCKS, yeah, I said it), and I don't really eat cheese. And now this milk craving.
The milk craving is still going on, even though I've been through two boxes of it in the last two days. Tomorrow I'll do a good Tesco shopping because I'm out of nearly everything, and I'll buy another two or three. That should get me through the weekend. :)
In other news, after work today I went with Beliza and Adina to a festival with rock bands. Czech rock bands. There were tons of hippies and crazies, for example I saw one guy who had his hair in big spikes around his head, and then about 5 long dreadlocks in the back.
Beliza's friends (well, she just met some of them tonight, too, but she was connected to them in some other way) were super nice. They were very cool girls, and I'm kind of sad that they're done here in October - I could have seen hanging out with them again.
Adina and I sat together a lot and had some really nice conversation. All in all I had a great time.
Oh, and one band played Ozzy Osbourne's "Iron Man", but with Czech lyrics, and had accompaniment by clarinet and violin. Talk about a crazy train.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Two more quick notes
1. I just went to buy a sandwich at Arslan Kebab and met two Mexicans there. We chatted awhile and they were super nice. Then I took mine to go, because auctions must be monitored.
2. Crossing Radlicka is like a live game of Frogger.
2. Crossing Radlicka is like a live game of Frogger.
Quick Nothings
Not much has been going on, really.
Here are a few quick little updates:
-The Internet was installed at home by a very crusty man. He had white crust on his ears, head, and fingers. Yuck... anyway, the Internet works. :)
-I went on a boat ride down the Vltava with Robby McGee yesterday. We took some nice pictures that I'll put up soon. We walked around an island (that's really a peninsula) and then went for a hearty Czech dinner.
-I'm doing auction admin sola for the rest of the week. FML.
Not much else to report. The rest of the week will be uneventful I'm sure. Katy comes back to Prague on Friday, so I hope we'll go somewhere fun on Saturday. Then on Sunday, there's a Mexican carnaval party on Smichov Beach. Not sure what that will be like, but I'm super excited for it as long as there's music :)
Here are a few quick little updates:
-The Internet was installed at home by a very crusty man. He had white crust on his ears, head, and fingers. Yuck... anyway, the Internet works. :)
-I went on a boat ride down the Vltava with Robby McGee yesterday. We took some nice pictures that I'll put up soon. We walked around an island (that's really a peninsula) and then went for a hearty Czech dinner.
-I'm doing auction admin sola for the rest of the week. FML.
Not much else to report. The rest of the week will be uneventful I'm sure. Katy comes back to Prague on Friday, so I hope we'll go somewhere fun on Saturday. Then on Sunday, there's a Mexican carnaval party on Smichov Beach. Not sure what that will be like, but I'm super excited for it as long as there's music :)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The comfort of sandals, but your feet don't get cold
What a strange, strange weekend.
I ended up getting out of work at 3pm due to some auction issues, and needless to say, once I got out I was exhausted. I worked an entire solid 8.5 hour day. On Saturday. Insane.
I went to Tesco to buy a couple things on my wish list: some stick-on-the-wall hooks, some hand towels/cleaning rags, and sponges. And as a bonus, a measuring cup that measures liters. :) After that I went to KFC because I figured I deserved some American indulgence after the day I had. I got a chicken sandwich and it was awesome. Funny thing is, I can't remember the last time I went to KFC in the US. For some reason these things are better here.
I went home, ate my sandwich, and settled down to watch an episode of Heroes on my computer, when a wave of sleepiness took over me and I passed out on my little broken loveseat. And then I woke up....at 10:30pm. I seriously thought it was 5am or so, and was angry when I looked at the clock. What could I possibly do? So I texted my friend Alex and asked where he was going. He said, no plans, what do you want to do? I said, go to Rincon. So we met up there around 12:30am.
I get nervous going to clubs or bars alone but at that place it doesn't really matter, because latinos are always friendly. Even the Czechs that go there seem to have picked up a clue from the latinos and are friendly, too. I stood around some Cuban girls and chatted with them, danced with a guy named Pablito a lot, and chatted with Mario, the old cubano from Son Caliente (local salsa group). He asked how everything was going so far, and I told him it was okay except that I didn't have furniture. He said he knew a guy who was selling things, and that he'd take me tomorrow (well, today). So we exchanged numbers and that was that.
I hung out with this Pablito character a lot, who is 37 and divorced, and who has decided that we are meant to be. I finally got sick of telling him NO, sat alone for a while, then got bored and left. He insisted on walking me out, which I let him do, and said a goodbye. No funny business here.
I crossed the street to start walking home when a group of African guys passed by. One was trailing behind, and sorry for the detail for whoever doesn't want to hear it, but damn he was CUTE!! He stopped me and asked where I was coming from, where I was going, and we ended up standing there in the street having a conversation for probably about a half hour. He comes from Johannesburg and has been studying in Prague for about a year. Finally I was getting really cold, and said I was going to go home. He said, "I do not want to scare you because I swear I just want to get to know you more, so come just have a drink at my place. We can just talk." Somehow I believed him, and being that I'd slept for five zillion hours, I went. He didn't live too far.
Once we got there, though, after he gave me my glass of juice of some fruit I don't think I've ever tasted before, I noticed that there were random people sleeping all over the place. And snoring. I said, "Maybe I should just go." He insisted that it was fine. He explained that he had some cousins and his brother staying with him until Tuesday. He chased one cousin out of a room and said we could go in there. So we did sit awhile and talk, and I drank my awesome juice that I will forever have to wonder about, and then around 5:30am I said I was getting tired and was going to go home. He said, "Really you can sleep here, it's still dark out and I don't want you to go alone. I promise I'll leave you alone." :) And he did keep that promise, and we slept about two hours when I woke up feeling weird, kind of realizing the whole situation - that I was asleep in an apartment full of African cousins that I didn't know, and there was a guy sleeping across the room who I met on the street. Stupid, stupid girl. Not that anything bad happened - I pride myself on being a good judge of character, and he really was respectful and nice. But, it was enough to make me want to leave.
I snuck out making as little noise as possible, and upon reaching the sidewalk, I realized...I have no idea where I am. There were no tram tracks, no bus stop, nothing - just a street name I'd never heard of, and a guy who looked drunk walking my way. The sun was almost completely out, and I had no idea of even which way to start walking. I had no choice but to try to ask drunk guy. Guess what? He wasn't drunk, he was just Czech.
"Prosim... (pointing to street), tramvaj? Bus?"
He answered me in English. "Where are you trying to go?"
"Smichov."
"Ah I see, I am going to Smichov now to buy croissant. I called a taxi, you can come with me."
What choice did I have?
He turned out to be the kindest stranger on my journey thus far. He asked what I was doing in Prague, what I did for work, if I liked the city. He said, "Welcome in Prague, I very much hope you are happy here." And he sounded sincere. He asked which street I needed to go to once the taxi arrived, and they took me right there. It wasn't far, but would have been a rough walk. I gave him 100Kc but he wouldn't accept it - he said, "Please consider this a gift - your welcome present to Prague!" and smiled. I left the car with a big smile on my face and walked up my street with the same glowing feeling I always had in Pittsburgh when I met a kind stranger. The only difference is, it's been over a month for me to meet one here - in Pittsburgh I met one nearly every day. Nevertheless, it was really nice.
When I got home to my little apartment, I took a moment to look in the mirror. I read my own eyes - what the hell happened last night? Going to Rincon alone? Hanging out with a stranger from the street and falling asleep at his apartment? Getting in a taxi with a stranger? It was all so strange. I am probably freaking out my mom with this entire entry. Don't worry Mom, you know I always pick out good people. :)
Today Mario texted me around 11:30am to let me know he could come get me to look at this guy's furniture. I had the cleaning lady coming at 2pm, so I told him 2:30pm would be okay. The cleaning lady arrived around 2:15pm and I let her do her thing, and walked down the street to meet Mario. He pulled up in a gray van blaring salsa music. We drove off and ended up parked next to some shady building. We sat in the car chatting awhile, when two cubans arrived about 10 minutes later. One was tall with longish hair, and the other was a big guy wearing a hawaiian style shirt and gold chains. We went into this strange building where there were a bunch of rooms all in a row, kind of like dorm rooms, and each one had some random pieces of furniture in it. The wardrobes were nice, but not big enough for all the clothes I'll need to fit. I asked how many he could offer, and he said two at most. I said it wouldn't be enough, que soy mujer y tengo muuuucha ropa. :)
The only bed he had to offer was really two twin beds that looked like couches from a hotel lobby without arms or a back - wild colors and not at all cushy. I said no to those. I was about to leave when I thought of one of these wardrobes for my living room - for jackets/coats, etc. Plus these three cubanos had gone to a lot of trouble to show me this stuff, and I felt bad not buying something. I paid 700Kc for the wardrobe (about $35, plus about $10 to Mario for driving me and helping me carry it up the 3 flights of steps). All in all I was really pleased, and it felt good to have a friend who would go to all that trouble to help me out.
And here I am at the office, waiting for the cleaning lady to finish so I can go home and not worry about spiderwebs falling on me or having to wear shoes when walking through the apartment so my feet don't get dirty.
This is gonna be soooo worth the money. :)
Adios, muchachos.
I ended up getting out of work at 3pm due to some auction issues, and needless to say, once I got out I was exhausted. I worked an entire solid 8.5 hour day. On Saturday. Insane.
I went to Tesco to buy a couple things on my wish list: some stick-on-the-wall hooks, some hand towels/cleaning rags, and sponges. And as a bonus, a measuring cup that measures liters. :) After that I went to KFC because I figured I deserved some American indulgence after the day I had. I got a chicken sandwich and it was awesome. Funny thing is, I can't remember the last time I went to KFC in the US. For some reason these things are better here.
I went home, ate my sandwich, and settled down to watch an episode of Heroes on my computer, when a wave of sleepiness took over me and I passed out on my little broken loveseat. And then I woke up....at 10:30pm. I seriously thought it was 5am or so, and was angry when I looked at the clock. What could I possibly do? So I texted my friend Alex and asked where he was going. He said, no plans, what do you want to do? I said, go to Rincon. So we met up there around 12:30am.
I get nervous going to clubs or bars alone but at that place it doesn't really matter, because latinos are always friendly. Even the Czechs that go there seem to have picked up a clue from the latinos and are friendly, too. I stood around some Cuban girls and chatted with them, danced with a guy named Pablito a lot, and chatted with Mario, the old cubano from Son Caliente (local salsa group). He asked how everything was going so far, and I told him it was okay except that I didn't have furniture. He said he knew a guy who was selling things, and that he'd take me tomorrow (well, today). So we exchanged numbers and that was that.
I hung out with this Pablito character a lot, who is 37 and divorced, and who has decided that we are meant to be. I finally got sick of telling him NO, sat alone for a while, then got bored and left. He insisted on walking me out, which I let him do, and said a goodbye. No funny business here.
I crossed the street to start walking home when a group of African guys passed by. One was trailing behind, and sorry for the detail for whoever doesn't want to hear it, but damn he was CUTE!! He stopped me and asked where I was coming from, where I was going, and we ended up standing there in the street having a conversation for probably about a half hour. He comes from Johannesburg and has been studying in Prague for about a year. Finally I was getting really cold, and said I was going to go home. He said, "I do not want to scare you because I swear I just want to get to know you more, so come just have a drink at my place. We can just talk." Somehow I believed him, and being that I'd slept for five zillion hours, I went. He didn't live too far.
Once we got there, though, after he gave me my glass of juice of some fruit I don't think I've ever tasted before, I noticed that there were random people sleeping all over the place. And snoring. I said, "Maybe I should just go." He insisted that it was fine. He explained that he had some cousins and his brother staying with him until Tuesday. He chased one cousin out of a room and said we could go in there. So we did sit awhile and talk, and I drank my awesome juice that I will forever have to wonder about, and then around 5:30am I said I was getting tired and was going to go home. He said, "Really you can sleep here, it's still dark out and I don't want you to go alone. I promise I'll leave you alone." :) And he did keep that promise, and we slept about two hours when I woke up feeling weird, kind of realizing the whole situation - that I was asleep in an apartment full of African cousins that I didn't know, and there was a guy sleeping across the room who I met on the street. Stupid, stupid girl. Not that anything bad happened - I pride myself on being a good judge of character, and he really was respectful and nice. But, it was enough to make me want to leave.
I snuck out making as little noise as possible, and upon reaching the sidewalk, I realized...I have no idea where I am. There were no tram tracks, no bus stop, nothing - just a street name I'd never heard of, and a guy who looked drunk walking my way. The sun was almost completely out, and I had no idea of even which way to start walking. I had no choice but to try to ask drunk guy. Guess what? He wasn't drunk, he was just Czech.
"Prosim... (pointing to street), tramvaj? Bus?"
He answered me in English. "Where are you trying to go?"
"Smichov."
"Ah I see, I am going to Smichov now to buy croissant. I called a taxi, you can come with me."
What choice did I have?
He turned out to be the kindest stranger on my journey thus far. He asked what I was doing in Prague, what I did for work, if I liked the city. He said, "Welcome in Prague, I very much hope you are happy here." And he sounded sincere. He asked which street I needed to go to once the taxi arrived, and they took me right there. It wasn't far, but would have been a rough walk. I gave him 100Kc but he wouldn't accept it - he said, "Please consider this a gift - your welcome present to Prague!" and smiled. I left the car with a big smile on my face and walked up my street with the same glowing feeling I always had in Pittsburgh when I met a kind stranger. The only difference is, it's been over a month for me to meet one here - in Pittsburgh I met one nearly every day. Nevertheless, it was really nice.
When I got home to my little apartment, I took a moment to look in the mirror. I read my own eyes - what the hell happened last night? Going to Rincon alone? Hanging out with a stranger from the street and falling asleep at his apartment? Getting in a taxi with a stranger? It was all so strange. I am probably freaking out my mom with this entire entry. Don't worry Mom, you know I always pick out good people. :)
Today Mario texted me around 11:30am to let me know he could come get me to look at this guy's furniture. I had the cleaning lady coming at 2pm, so I told him 2:30pm would be okay. The cleaning lady arrived around 2:15pm and I let her do her thing, and walked down the street to meet Mario. He pulled up in a gray van blaring salsa music. We drove off and ended up parked next to some shady building. We sat in the car chatting awhile, when two cubans arrived about 10 minutes later. One was tall with longish hair, and the other was a big guy wearing a hawaiian style shirt and gold chains. We went into this strange building where there were a bunch of rooms all in a row, kind of like dorm rooms, and each one had some random pieces of furniture in it. The wardrobes were nice, but not big enough for all the clothes I'll need to fit. I asked how many he could offer, and he said two at most. I said it wouldn't be enough, que soy mujer y tengo muuuucha ropa. :)
The only bed he had to offer was really two twin beds that looked like couches from a hotel lobby without arms or a back - wild colors and not at all cushy. I said no to those. I was about to leave when I thought of one of these wardrobes for my living room - for jackets/coats, etc. Plus these three cubanos had gone to a lot of trouble to show me this stuff, and I felt bad not buying something. I paid 700Kc for the wardrobe (about $35, plus about $10 to Mario for driving me and helping me carry it up the 3 flights of steps). All in all I was really pleased, and it felt good to have a friend who would go to all that trouble to help me out.
And here I am at the office, waiting for the cleaning lady to finish so I can go home and not worry about spiderwebs falling on me or having to wear shoes when walking through the apartment so my feet don't get dirty.
This is gonna be soooo worth the money. :)
Adios, muchachos.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Saturday
It's 6:52am on Saturday.
I am at work.
I have been here since about 6:15am. I will be here until about 2:00pm.
I did not go to Rincon last night (as I've been talking about all week) as a direct result of this.
Why did I move here again? Oh right, because it's fun and exciting to live in Europe.
I am at work.
I have been here since about 6:15am. I will be here until about 2:00pm.
I did not go to Rincon last night (as I've been talking about all week) as a direct result of this.
Why did I move here again? Oh right, because it's fun and exciting to live in Europe.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Some of these days
Some days I wake up in whichever little apartment I'm living in, get ready for work, and eat a simple breakfast. I get outside, and I look around, and after a month I still can't believe...I live here.
In other news...
-I won a big award at work :) I feel pretty special about it.
-My apartment is fixed - toilet flushes as often as I want it to, shower sprayer was replaced, stovetop is working just fine. Cleaning person is coming Sunday to remove dead bugs and dirt. :)
-I'm going home for Christmas - the time and the trip was approved. I have never been more excited :)
Woohoo for life :)
In other news...
-I won a big award at work :) I feel pretty special about it.
-My apartment is fixed - toilet flushes as often as I want it to, shower sprayer was replaced, stovetop is working just fine. Cleaning person is coming Sunday to remove dead bugs and dirt. :)
-I'm going home for Christmas - the time and the trip was approved. I have never been more excited :)
Woohoo for life :)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Slowly but surely...
...things are getting done.
I did a lot of searching yesterday but I finally got some things resolved.
1. I found a cleaning service to come to my apartment and rid it of all the bug corpses. It is really dirty and unless I buy a lot of cleaning products and a ladder, I won't be able to do it myself. I figure, better to leave this big initial cleaning to professionals, and then I can maintain it after that. Turns out this is pretty common here, and also cheap - the whole thing will cost me about $20 USD, and that includes walls, windows, floors, balcony, doors, etc. Very niiice!
2. After a lot of searching and calling yesterday, I finally got internet service. Well, they are mailing me my modem and then on September 8, they are coming to install it for me. So that's definitely exciting :) Only one more week of boredom.
3. The plumber is coming today to check on the toilet (which fills very slowly and can only be flushed every 30 mins or so), the shower sprayer (which has a very low pressure), and also the gas stove (which will not stay lit).
4. My things are scheduled to arrive on Sept 11. I'm hoping to be lucky and have them arrive even a couple days sooner :)
5. After the cleaning and fixing, the next step will be finally getting a bed! After that, a couch, after that a chair, and after that an oven. Somewhere in there a DVD player as well, unless my Wii works, in which case I'll just use that for a while :)
So, I expect that in about 2 months, all of the above will be completely settled. Here's hoping!
I did a lot of searching yesterday but I finally got some things resolved.
1. I found a cleaning service to come to my apartment and rid it of all the bug corpses. It is really dirty and unless I buy a lot of cleaning products and a ladder, I won't be able to do it myself. I figure, better to leave this big initial cleaning to professionals, and then I can maintain it after that. Turns out this is pretty common here, and also cheap - the whole thing will cost me about $20 USD, and that includes walls, windows, floors, balcony, doors, etc. Very niiice!
2. After a lot of searching and calling yesterday, I finally got internet service. Well, they are mailing me my modem and then on September 8, they are coming to install it for me. So that's definitely exciting :) Only one more week of boredom.
3. The plumber is coming today to check on the toilet (which fills very slowly and can only be flushed every 30 mins or so), the shower sprayer (which has a very low pressure), and also the gas stove (which will not stay lit).
4. My things are scheduled to arrive on Sept 11. I'm hoping to be lucky and have them arrive even a couple days sooner :)
5. After the cleaning and fixing, the next step will be finally getting a bed! After that, a couch, after that a chair, and after that an oven. Somewhere in there a DVD player as well, unless my Wii works, in which case I'll just use that for a while :)
So, I expect that in about 2 months, all of the above will be completely settled. Here's hoping!
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