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.