Back from the USA

I hope everyone can understand why I didn't make any updates from the US - I was way too busy having fun and seeing everybody to update a silly blog :) It was such a great trip but I have to admit I feel relieved to be back in Prague.

The flight there was hectic. There was bad weather everywhere but somehow I actually made it there on time, despite having two connections and overbooked flights. I went from Prague to Amsterdam to Detroit to Pittsburgh. Yes, the same AMS to DET flight that the Nigerian terrorist was on just one week later - crazy! I arrived without my big suitcase, the one with all my clothes in it.

My first night home was spent having steak dinnner (RED MEAT!) with Mom, and then I picked up Nalo from work. We had a lovely reunion, I had missed him so much. I took him to the bus stop the next day in the afternoon so that I could get some things done, specifically clothes shopping which I prefer to do alone because I'm picky and take a long time, and hate to feel rushed :) I got fantastic deals and stocked up on some cute winter stuff. That night, Mom made me belated Thanksgiving dinner, which was AMAZING. She is truly the best mom ever. Went salsa dancing that night which was kind of dead, but I didn't care at all - I had Tara and Nalo with me, and the three of us danced together and didn't really need anyone else. :)

The next day I visited work because I had vino night with Chris and Lisa. I got to see everybody, catch up, visit, and then vino night was fantastic. I missed those two so much, and getting together for our bitching-session was super fun. I drunkenly took the bus home and slept happily.

Tuesday my brother arrived, and the next few days were spent hanging with family and not going out much. Christmas was lovely but uneventful. I got an external hard drive, some gift cards to go clothes shopping, two great knives, pajamas, some other little things, and my mom treated me to a lotttt more stuff over the break (winter boots, which I desperately needed, some more clothes, etc.) Again, best mom ever.

Went dancing again that Sunday, which began my week of working overnight. This was the hardest week of my life, and nothing happened in it other than working and trying to stay awake, being a zombie for a few hours after I got home, and sleeping. The last day of that shift I was off at 8am, so I slept in my car for 3 hours, met Maira and Renata for lunch, went shopping at Macy's, and went home to sleep. Except I didn't sleep much - I did laundry, putzed around, and finally took a nap for a couple hours. Tara and I spent New Year's Eve at Matrix, which totally sucked, and we left around 1am. Needless to say, I slept like a baby.

The next night Tara and I went dancing, taking my sister along, and had a blast. Not a lot of people danced, but we had a ton of fun anyway. The next day was by far the best, though. I spent the whole day shopping with my mom, had lunch out with her, and had such a pleasant day. Then at night, Maira invited Tara, Ash and me to her place to have some drinks and then to go out to Firehouse. We remembered that Serge, a guy we work with, was having his birthday party there that night, so there were good drink specials and everything. The club was amazingly fun and we took a ton of hilarious pictures. We went to Primanti's, which was my main request because I couldn't go back to Prague without having had a sandwich from there, and it was probably the highlight of my trip :) We slept at Maira's place (took a cab - we're safe like that:) and then went to Fathead's the next day for lunch, which is another Pittsburgh must.

Tara picked up Nalo in downtown for me after that, and we went to my house and watched the Steeler game. We won, but didn't make the playoffs after all :( Oh well, there's always next year.

On Sunday I felt weird and nervous just about all day. I packed my suitcases but felt incredibly restless, like I couldn't relax. Tara came down to visit and that was nice, but then she left and I felt like I had to get out of the house. So Nalo and I went to Eat'n Park and had some food (we were both hungry) and I felt a little better. The next morning I took him to the bus stop and we had a very tearful goodbye, because we also "broke up" (though we're still going to talk and be like normal, but it's unfair to both of us to wait for each other basically for nothing, especially since I won't be home again until September. C'est la vie. I'm not really sad because we'll stay friends, and that's the most important thing to me.

My flights coming back to Prague were uneventful. I sat next to a Turkish guy on the flight to NYC and a Jewish guy (kosher meals) on the way to Prague. Neither one spoke to me, so whatevs. :) I knew I was at the right gate in JFK. Outside that area, people were still smiling, said hi when we were waiting in line near each other, made eye contact, etc. As soon as I got to Gate 12, it felt colder, nobody said hello, and I could feel the anti-social vibes all around me. Welcome to Prague :)

I was happy to see my apartment. Had lunch with Jose, did some basic (and I mean basic: milk, bread, eggs, butter) grocery shopping afterward, and treated myself to a hair dryer that I really needed. Having wet hair in this cold weather is too miserable to bear.

And here I am, back at work for the first day, and feeling content to be back. The next time I see anyone from home will be from them visiting me, which will be really nice :)

Here's hoping I manage to update this more often now!! I know I've gotten lazy about it :)