Global Update

Ok, my internet connection has not been working for several days. On the bright side, nothing of any real import has happened to me. I had a lovely Christmas, thanks for asking. One of the senior teachers at my school invited me over for lasagna, which was delicious (thanks Anne). We spent most of the night playing an interesting Czech dice game and drinking wine. I was sick most of the last week, so I have done little more than teach, sleep, and whine, but am feeling much better now. I went out to the pub last night with Jiri and Gabriella, which was fun as always. Thursdays are fast becoming my favorite night of the week. I have no plans yet for New Years, but Curtis and I are trying to throw something together. The problem is that we are both broke, so we have to party on a budget. So, Merry Christmas to all, and have a Happy New Year, you are all in my heart this holiday. Na zdravi!!!!

Snow Etc.

I love the snow. I love to throw my blinds open first thing in the morning and watch it flutter to the ground. I love to sit eating my Musli and look out across the everygreen covered hills of Troja to the red tile rooves of Prague and see the white white snow creating a sort of city wide christmasy feel. I love the fact that there is a sled hill right in front of my apartment. I love the way it crunches under my feet when I walk, and I love to romp in it. There are few things in this world that you can romp in, and snow is one of them. That being said, here are a few things I hate doing in the snow...1) Going to the grocery store 2) Waiting for the bus 3) Walking uphill or downhill when it's all icy 4) Smoking. I'm sure there's more, I'll discover them through the course of the winter and keep everyone updated.

A moderate weekend

I decided to do eveything in my power to have a relatively quiet weekend after last weekend. I have a new class on Friday mornings so I knew I needed to head home at a decent hour on Thursday night, plus I wanted to get some stuff done around the flat. So I went to the pub as usual on Thursday, and had a great time. There was some mistletoe, and that caused a minor episode when I stoood under it and the only one who would come give me a kiss was Jiri, whose picture I am attaching sitting with me and Megan. Fortunately no one was quick enough with their cameras to get that on film. I managed to call it a night about 1am when the bartender came to the table and sat down to reckon up and send me on my way. I walked Megan home and then managed to get myslef home at a somewhat decent hour.

Next day I was late for class due to getting lost, but managed it ok. I was a litle tired, but I got through it. That night I invited Megan out to my part of town for dinner and drinks. The restaurant I had chosen was actually completely full when we arrived so we ended up at a very nice little italian/pizza place not too far away. After that we went to an "Irish" bar near my flat. There's really nothing Irish about this particualr bar except that they serve Murphy's. In any case we stayed there chatting until roughly 1am.

Saturday night Curtis was throwing a Christmas party with some friends. I went along and brought a case of beer, that almost got me mugged on the metro, not to mention that I had to put a 1ookc deposit on the crate in which I had to carry it. Most of the party were strangers to me, but it was still alot of fun and I got to meet a few new people. After the party broke up we went off to a dance club called Nebe, where I had a few more drinks and got to do a little dancing. As with any night there's a breakpoint in the evening where it's actually easier to just stay out until 5am and take the metro than to try and catch the night bus/tram. Once we realized we were past that time we just hung out at Nebe until after 5 and then went to get some Gyros. We parted ways with Scott sometime after 5:30 or so and headed to the flat. This was the one late night of the weekend.

Today I have done some laundry, cleaned house, changed a few light bulbs, and updated my blog.

Bender

I went on quite the bender this weekend. Thursday I went to the pub as usual and met a new friend named Jim who currently lives in Dubai, but was in town vising for the weekend. I introduced him to the rest of the pub, and we spent some time together during the weekend. Toward the end of the evening at Konvikt my drinking for the night was paid for by my former tutor Mali in recompense for some work I did at the school. i then teamed up with some of the guys from the new block of students, my belarussian friend Oleg, and Scott who seems like he will feature prominantly in many of my late night adventures. We first tried O'Che's the Cuban I rish bar near the Konvikt. I got a chance to throw some darts with Oleg, but the bar was already ready to close when we got there. So off we went to the Budvar (a budweiser pivovar) around the corner. We sat there and drank and talked until the group began to dwindle, and when they closed at three we wandered off to the Hard Rock for some late night dancing and drinking. We danced until they shut down the DJ. Toward the end of the night when the party had dwindled to Me, Oleg, and Scott, we were joined by a native black czech. He was an interesting character who wanted to discuss politics in the US. Generally I found him interesting if a little confused. Also his reasons for having left he US were a little sketchy. I rolled into my flat at around 6am.

Friday I was invited by Scott to join him, Courtney and Lucy for a party. We went to the party which was entirely people I don't know, and it was a little overwhelming for all of us. Plus I accidentally pulled the coatrack off the wall. Anyway we went to get some food with plans to meet up with the party a little later. We had a nice meal and laughed a little about how overwhelming was the group of people at the party. We gave it a solid effort though, and joined them for the next stage at a little local bar. We simply didn't blend with this crowd and so decided to shoot some pool, where Scott and I got beat 3-2 by the girls. Deciding that 1kc per minute was a little pricey to play much more, we headed off to a metal bar that Courtney recommended. We did a few tequila shots and talked over the metal music for most of the rest of the night. I rolled in at 7am.

Saturday I was invited to Courtney and Aidan's for dinner and drinks. I was supposed to hang out with Jim, so I asked if he could some along. The answer was that as long as we brought more food, so we did. I met up with Jim and Scott on the way to the flat, where we could drop off our stuff before heading to the wine bar around the corner where the evening was to start. On the way there I got a text form my friend Megan who I had been chatting up on Thursday inviting me out for drinks. I invited her along with us, since I was already on my way. Finally we all got together at the wine bar the party now being Courtney, Lucy, Aidan, Scott, Jim, Megan and me. We drank a few pitchers of wine, and chatted about nothing in particular. After we went back to Aid and Courtney's for currey. Fortunately there was plenty of food. After we had eaten and drunk yet more wine we headed off to a local pub for a few drinks. I got into another game of pool, this time with Lucy, Megan, and Aidan. This time I took Lucy as a partner, and we managed to actually win. During this Scott, Courtney, and Jim went off to El Mohito with plans to meet us up at the Harley Bar later. After the game Aidan called it a night, but Lucy, Megan and I headed off to the Harley bar. When we arrived I sort of lost track, as I sat and talked to Megan at the bar while everyone else went off to a table. We closed the Harly bar which came to about 5am I think, but by then everyone else had already gone home. Rolled in at roughly 6am. Sunday I accomplished very little of anything, though I was supposed to go have dinner with Jim, but I didn't hear from him until he was in Amsterdam a few days later.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving went very well. I had several guests, and although the Turkey came out a litle dry thanks to the previously mentioned problem of not knowing how long to cook it, it still tasted delicious. In addition my stuffing which was basically a modification based on local ingredients to Joan's recipe (thanks Joan) was absolutely brilliant. Some of the guests brought food, and we basically just ate, drank and were merry. Pictures

Phil Collins

So I went to see Phil Collins last night. I arrived late, as my friend never showed up, and I ended up going alone. I was sat in the expensive seats which mostly meant I was surrounded by rich older people, who seemed determined not to have any fun. I on the other hand enjoyed the concert immensely. The pictures I took are mostly pretty bad as the lighting just wouldn't work for my camera, and I am not a sufficiently god photographer to fix that problem. I am posting most of them anyway, cause I went through all the trouble to take them. Pictures.

Buying a turkey in Prague

I thought it would be a real challenge to find a turkey for thanksgiving. Turns out there was a whole bin of them at my local Albert gracery store. Once I sifted through the geese, and the French turkeys (which were just too damn slender for my taste), I found what looked like the perfect thanksgiving turkey. Problem was there was no label on it. Now my kitchen is limited in it's readiness, and I knew I didn't have a meat thermometer (almost impossible to buy by the way). Without a label, I couldn't get the weight. So I went to the meat counter and as politely as I could ask in a foreign language, asked her to please weigh it for me. She resused, and started waving her hands at me and such. I didn't leave so she went and got a manager who came out with some sort of scanner, and scanned another turkey and showed me the price. The gist of the problem was that they assumed I needed the weight so I could get a price, when in fact I needed the weight for cooking time. We argued about this for a few minutes, and I was getting really frustrated with her when it hit me that in this situation I'm the jackass. I'm living in their country and shopping at their store speaking my language. So I took my turkey and left.

The rest of the weekend

I love the snow, but does it have to be so damned cold?

Saturday night I met Curts and Erica in front of the national theater. Erica had tickets back to Wisconson on Monday, so we were out to see a few things before she left. We went to have coffee at the Slavia Cafe which is famous for the fact that it was popular among free thinkers during Communism. After that we walked across the Charles Bridge which was beautiful as always. Right in the center a couple were playing violins, and we stopped for a few minutes to listen. The music was lovely, and with the cold air and quiet night it was a little haunting. Then at just the perfect moment in the song, a bird flew up from behind the pair. It was remarkable, but almost so perfec that it made us want to laugh, so we moved on. We walked around a bit and agreed to meet on Sunday morning for coffe, and to go to Kutna Hora to see the bone church.

Sunday monring bright and early we met at Kava Kava Kava. We went to the bus station to get tickets, but the next bus wasn't until almost 4pm. Unfortunately that wouldn't get us there until almost 5pm well after dark. So instead we took a train out of Hlavni Nadrazi that left almost two hours earlier. The train ride was serene, and gave me a chance to see some of the countryside surrounding Prague. When we finally arrived in Kutna Hora, we walked over to the bone church in the freezing wind and snowy rain. The church was really interesting, but only took us about 20 minutes to see and photgraph. Afterwards we wanted to find a very czech bar/restaurant and have some authentic czech food. We wandered around slightly lost for a while, and almost went into a men's club until I translated the sign. Finally we stopped and asked some czechs where the nearest retaurant was, and got some directions. Unfortunately when we showed up they didn't have any food yet (this was about 5pm). So we just drank for a while. This by the way was easily the best beer I have had since coming to Prague. It's a local in Kutna Hora, so if you get the chance, I would try it. There was a painting on the wall that bore a striking resemblance to Curtis, so we all took pictures. We drank, laughed and talked and had a good time. Anyway, Curtis got a little drunk and passed out at the table, before they finally brought menus. We of course couldn't read the menus, so in my very best bad czech I told the waitress to please just bring us whatever they recommended. The food finally came out, and it was really fantastic. If I can ever find the place again I'm taking all my visitors there. It was time to head back to our train, which was the last one to Prague for the night, but we were running late. We had to really book it back to the station. The train was crowded and we had to push open the bathroom door to get in, as the train started rolling as we were climbing up the steps.
We finally got home, and after hugs and goodbyes we went off home to bed. Erica left the next day, so good luck to her, and I hope she's well.

Photos!!

Snow

IT SNOWED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Day Out with Curtis

On Thursday Curtis and I met for lunch, which was a challenge, because as I mentioned I stayed out with Kurt until 6am. Anyhow, when I finally arrived we had a nice chat and talked about our Thanksgiving dinner next week. Somehow, probably because I'm so determined to have it, I got drafted as the official planner and host. So we talked about that, and then decided we didn't feel like calling it a day. We ran off to Visehrad to do some sightseeing, but it was already almost four, so we had little daylight left. We decied to come back on Friday and bring our cameras. Basicall Visehrad is the original castle before they moved it up to the hill. Its been rebuilt and renovated many times over the last 800 years or so, but a few of the original ruins can still be seen.

After that we went over to old town to see the Astronomical clock which has been under reconstruction since we arrived, and I needed to get a photo. We had a late lunch at Bohemian bagle and then headed off to do our own thing. I came home an dwatched some downloaded movies, and Curtis went to a movie with another friend. Not that exciting, but check out the photos...

Midweek

So I had my first date with Katerina last night. We met after her English class at a little cafe called Tulip. Its a neat little bar/restaurant owned by an American. The lighting is gentle and the jazz is smooth. We had food and luckily very good conversation. I was very impressed with her English one on one, as we've always met in a group in the past. After dinner and about 3 hours of chit chat, we went downstairs to the live music area where they were playing some funkier jazz, much louder and more lively. We listened to that for a while, and I had a few more drinks. Kate was fighting a cold and so she only drank tea. Because today is a Holiday, the czechs decided to meet up last night instead of the usual Thursday night. At about 10:45 Kate and I wandered over to the Konvikt to see what was up. I was trying desperately to convince her to take a later train home (she lives well outside the city), when she turned to me, smiled, pointed at my nose and in perfect English said, "I see right through you." I laughed my ass off. Anyway we picked up the Czechs and I took them to a party where I was meeting some friends from the current TEFL course who were celebrating their graduation. That's right folks the course after mine is just graduating. I've been here for two months!! Anyway we headed to the party, and I managed to get Kate to stay out for the next train, but only the one. Oh well, the night was wonderful.

I stayed at the party after Kate left. I drank until I was good and smiley, then a group of us went to Usudu to have a few more drinks. We stayed there a couple of hours and then wandered off to get Gyros. We had a debate about where the best Gyros place is in town, so we went to both. After that, I took Kurt home, as he was good and hammered. On the bright side, it was about 5:30 so we were able to take the metro instead of the night bus.

So all in all a very successful night!!

Quiet time and Cold

So I pretty much wasted the entire weekend. After the Thursday pub night, which is easily my favorite night of the week, I sat in my apartment and accomplished nothing. In a way it was nice to not be busy, but also, it was a reminder of an old self. I sat in front of this computer and wiled away my time in another world altogether. I didn't even sleep that much. Yikes!!

On the bright side, I had a really fun night at Pub night as usual. I am quickly becoming popular among the Czechs for whatever reason. Either they really enjoy my company, or I am like some sort of trained monkey they enjoy watching. I'm thinking the former, but who knows for sure; it might be the latter. On the even brighter side I have a date. She's not engaged, she's not married, she doesn't have a boyfriend, she's not crazy, she's not an alcoholic, she's never been married, and she has no kids. I'm not really sure what to do.

It's gotten quite cold here. Like January weather in Houston. I'm simply not used to it. There's a big difference between being prepared for it and being prepared for it if you know what I mean.

Erica

So my friend Erica decided to move to Poland. Turns out that in small towns in Poland they don't speak any English at all. So Erica discovers just a little late that she is a very social person, and finds herself talking to herself for three days. She goes a little bit crazy, quits her new job, and returns to Prague. Not that I knew this, she didn't write, didn't call, nothing. Not that I'm bitter, I just wanted everyone to know, how happy I am that there are lots of English speakers in Prague. So if you ever here me complaining about how hard it is to learn Czech because everyone speaks English please remind me. Thanks.

The Weekend and my new job

Ok, so another fun filled weekend has just gone by, though I did perhaps party a little too hard. Obviously you should read the previous post to get an idea. So that was Thursday. Friday I spent all day in my apartment accomplishing nothing which was actually very refreshing, if a little boring.
Saturday night I went with a big group to...get this...a country bar. I swear to god. The place is called Amerikan Country Saloon. There was a live Czech band playing what sounded vaguely country, though it was also interspersed with weak easy listening covers (think Celine Dion). In any case, I got to do a little two steppin, which was very exciting for me. Afterwards we met a different group and did some more drinking and fun having until Kurt gave out. I decided to help him get home, based on my experience from Thursday. We stopped and got some food on the way (just for fun we had fast food Mexican). Then homeward bound.
Sunday I met Kami, who I spent some time with last week, and did some dancing with on Saturday. We were supposed to have lunch and then go to a movie. The movie started later than expected so, we stopped in at Rocky O'reillys for a quick drink before the movie. While we were there we met this really great older man named Martin. Basically a self made millionaire he has a little girlfriend and real estate business here in Prague. We talked to him for about 4 hours, and missed the movie. On the bright side he gave Kami and I tickets to go see Phil Collins later this month.
Today I basically slept in, but had to go into town to top up my cell phone. Also I had to get my schedule for the week, as I start teaching full time tomorrow at 7:30 am!!! I also needed to buy a new hard line telephone as mine died. Thus no calls the last few days, sorry folks.

So I'm a little drunk

The public transport system in Prague is really remarkable, as long as you know where the fuck to get on. If you don't, it really matters very little that it goes right by your house, or that its only 20 minutes, because you don't know where the fuck to board.
As usual on Thursday night I was out with the crew, and found myself at 2:30 or so, trying to get home. So where does one find the 505 night bus?? Beats me!! How about the 53 night tram, oh that's it, just follow the whores and that stinky guy. Does it go to Kobilyisy? You bet, that's my ride!! Ignore the man throwing up in the alley, he just missed his bus. Oh shit, that looks like a communist distribution center!! Home sweet home!

The pickpocketing incident

My mom asked me to relate more details on the Pickpocketing incident that I eluded to in an earlier post. So here it is. It was a normal Thursday night, which is to say I was at the Konvikt having a few drinks. One of the girls in our class had a date at another bar and invited several of us along as moral support. She didn't know the guy that well and was less than confident in his ability to speak English. I took along a new Czech friend named Martina. We went off to this small little wine bar, that is very nifty I must say. It's basically a series of underground rooms very much like several connected wine cellars. We drank and ate, and enjoyed the conversation. Before long Dara's date was going well, so we left her alone, then Martina went home, so I found myself with Erica and Katherine who were looking for cute boys. I decided to leave about then, but Kurt showed up, so I stuck it out a little longer. We met some other Americans at the very end of the night, but nothing came of it, as we were all pretty tired and most a little tipsy.
I wasn't really sure how to get home, having never been to that bar before, so Kurt escorted me most of the way, as his Tram stop was not far from my home. After he left me, I was walking down the street where my flat was located when a middle aged woman blocked my path. She indicated she would like a light, so I lit her cigarette. Next thing I know, her hand is cupping my crotch. Now, even if I hadn't read in the guidebooks that this is almost always a prelude to theft, I found it most uncomfortable. I removed her hand, and started walking off. She kept groping me and grabbing my jacket trying to stop me, all the while I was repeated no in every language I know it in. Finally, I felt her hand slip into my back pocket, where I keep my wallet. I stopped suddenly and grabbed her wrist with a certain amount of force, leaned in close to her and made some very intense eye contact. If you've ever been around me when I want to be intimidating, I really can be. Anyway, she removed her hand from my wallet, and went on her way. I managed up the four flights of stairs to my apartment, and went to bed.

Of Prague and Stomach Flu

The last week has definitely been an adventure. Not going to school everyday means a couple of things. One: I no longer had access to internet. Two: I have to find a job! Three: I had no reason to wake up in the morning. Four: Ergo, I had no reason to go to bed at night. However, except for an unfortunate incident where I accidentally ended up in Zizkov at 4am, everything was going ok. I even have a very good chance at a full-time gig at a very good school named St. James. Good pay, good benefits, great reputation, etc. Thursday night rolls around which some of you may know is also our school's "pub night". All the teachers and students get together and knock back a few at the local pub "Konvikt". Friday turns out to be a Holiday in the Czech Republic, I'm not really sure why, it has something to do with independence in 1918. Anyway, none of the students attend. Only teachers. Among other things this means we all fit in one room, and everybody can talk to everybody. It did get a little out of control. There is a new class there to replace ours, and ours is starting to break up and go about their business, so everyone was feeling pretty open. Eventually I left, a little early, because I was already starting to not feel so good. I didn't leave alone however, and it was my first night to eat at McDonald's since arriving. Nothing else was open, and she was hungry, so we stopped in. Oddly enough (or perhaps not) it tastes exactly the same.
I didn't get much sleep that night. By the next morning I'm feeling kinda yucky. After escorting my friend to the metro station, I almost didn't make it back up the stairs to my temp apartment. When I finally did get there, I passed out cold on my bed. On the bright side, my room mate Kurt never came home that night, so I managed to sleep undisturbed throughout most of the day. Problem was, I had committed to dinner and drinks with a large contingent of other teachers for Friday night (7pm IP Pavlova). So, basically around 4:30, I pull myself out of bed, stumble into the kitchen, make myself some coffee, and try to pretend that I'm not getting sick. In hindsight, I probably should have just turned in for the night.
Kurt (who finally came home) and I made it to dinner. I wasn't feeling well, but put on a happy face, and hopefully nobody noticed my frequent trips to the bathroom. After dinner most of the other teachers peeled off and went home, and the one person I wanted to be there had not made it. Did I go home and get some rest? Perhaps take some medicine? No, no, there's a band playing over in Mala Stranska, can't miss it. So Kurt (who walked his girl home before meeting us at the next bar), Erica, Adrian, and myself head off on the tram to Mala Stranska. The band was interesting. Actually the music was pretty good, but the singing was awful, plus it was in czech, which is a language not suited for rock n roll of any kind. Sorry.
After the band we decided to head back to this little brewery in the basement of our building since we'd be moving out in a few days and hadn't tried it. I thought this was a great idea, as it got me closer to my own apartment, and nearer an opportunity to climb into my bed. After a few drinks the place closed down (everyone was closing early because of the holiday), so we headed back into town on foot, and wandered the streets a little aimlessly. We happened on this little family pub where this friendly older man was there with his daughter and golden retriever (someone remind me to write a piece on Prague and Dogs). I fell in love with the dog (lily) and she fell in love with me, but she went home with her owner I'm afraid. We hung there for a while before heading to the night trams and homebound.
So Saturday is kinda dark. I rolled around in cold sweats all day, frequenting the bathroom and trying to take in more water than I was putting out. It didn't work so my muscles started to get weak from dehydration. Unfortunately, I had committed to bringing a group to a Halloween party on Saturday night. My fear was that the hostess, who had not planned things very well, would have no guests if I didn't bring some, and it might get very awkward sitting there alone just me, her, and her boyfriend. I had promised on Thursday night to bring as many people as I could, and had set that in motion on Friday, so now there were people meeting to follow me to the party on Saturday. I managed to slide out of bed around 5:30 or so (meet was 6:30 IP Pavlova) and cowboy up and get my ass party ready. I marched down to IP Pavlova, rounded up my guests, and went to dinner. We made the party a little after nine, and I had brought more than half the guests, so I felt good about that. We had fun, though the party was a little subdued, and then our hostess got incredibly drunk and we made our way to the night bus.
When we got back into town we split up, some heading home, some to Hard Rock, and I followed Curtis to a club that his room mate DJ's at. Danced, had a beer, then headed home.
Sunday I finally decided to take it easy. My muscles were sore and cramping, my stomach was in knots, I had the shakes, and I guess it was about time I took a day off. Then today I had to move all my stuff across town into my new apartment.

SO the good news is, I'm now in my new apartment. That means internet whenever I'm home, and the Phone is now hooked up all the time. Yea! Oh and I am feeling a little better, but I need to get to bed cause I have an interview tomorrow!

I graduated

So I managed to graduate from TEFL school. That means...well it means that I can show people a little cert that means I am capable of teaching someone else my native tongue. Here's the tough part: I have to find a job. I did pretty well in the class so I am hoping that wont be too hard. Also I have no money. In case you hadn't heard the bank turned off my credit card, so I had to have money wired over (thanks mom) so that I wouldn't starve, and could pay for an apartment. The good news is I found a place!(harder than it sounds. House hunting in english is a contact sport in Prague) That means that I will have my phone working full time in about a week. I have an interview this week with a great school, so maybe that will work out as well. Keep your fingers crossed. On the romance front, I've made no real progress since coming here(except Eilidh, which is admittedly a big exception), but hopefully that's just because I haven't had time. It also hurts that I don't speak Czech. I got involved in this very intense flirting thing with this beautiful Czech woman at a club the other night, but eventually we had to give up, as we simply couldn't communicate. Oh well, motivation to learn I guess.

So for those of you reading this (both of you), please send more email!! Also, if you don't mind staying in a hostel, I'm now open for business as a host. (Also you could check out couchsurfing.com). My place though very nice, is also tiny and shared with three others. (have my own room, and a washer and dryer!!)

My weekend

Having recently come unscathed from a near pickpocketing incident, which I tried to publish on the blog, but somehow screwed it up, I had decided to have a quiet relaxing weekend. I went on Friday to watch the Red Sox/White Sox game, which was a lot of fun although the Red Soxs lost, the team I was apparently rooting for. All was well, went home at a decent hour, got a good night's sleep. I woke up relatively early the next morning to stroll around the neighborhood and see close up some of the sights I had only seen in passing, and head to some gardens for a rareish sight of green. So here was my plan for Saturday: a) meet classmates for lunch b) go home and work on my teaching project c)meet a few of the classmates, who were off to sight see, at a neat little hooka bar near old town and drink tea over a relaxing water pipe c) drink no alcohol and call it a night early, so that I could get up Sunday and do something productive. I was doing fine right up to the lunch!
After lunch I promptly went home and fell asleep. However I did manage to meet the gang at the hooka bar, and got back on schedule. Afterwards we all went to grab a snack before splitting up again. Here's where it all sort of fell apart on me, in what turns out to be a spectacular way. The Dutch it seems were having a victory party in the old town square. The square filled to capacity with orange jumpsuits, and Dutch flags, all surrounding a big brass and drums band that were playing rollicking good songs.
Of course we had to join in, we didn't have a choice. While we danced and sang, and cheered with the Dutch, one of my classmates met two very lovely young Scottish girls in town for a holiday. He was kind enough to introduce himself and then me (I can hear you smirking Joan). They followed us to a Jazz club where we had a beer, and then to an ex-pat dance club called Le Chateau. We danced and drank and had a merry time. Things got a little out of control by the time we left which includes one of my classmates doing a fascinating dance with a scarf, and me kissing a guy. Finally we decided to leave (in reality Penny who was with Kurt decided to leave. Eilidh and I were doing just fine). Anyway we walked the girls to a cab, though again Penny kept having to come back for Eilidh (pronounced Ailey) and myself, which was kinda funny, though not to Penny. Finally I managed to stumble home with the promise of dinner the next night from the girls. I slept most of the day on Sunday, and then managed to pull myself together to meet my friend Megan who is shopping for an apartment, and I went along as muscle. We went to lunch and then I went home to prepare for the Dinner on Sunday night.
We met at the Jan Hus statue in Old Town Square, where I arrived early to listen to the bustle and babble. Off to dinner we went, when everyone arrived. Then we sort of pub crawled along the Vltava back to my place where I could drop off some stuff. We split up with plans to meet at the Hard Rock Cafe (everything else was closed by now). Kurt and Penny had trouble finding the place, so we all met back at my place about an hour or two later, (I lost track of time)(Turns out Kurt told me it was actually more like 3 or 4 hours, sorry Penny). Finally the girls went home, and I crawled back into bed. We met them for lunch on Monday, and then went to a park to just sit in the sun together. In the end we said goodbye in front of our school, exchanging email addresses and promising to keep in touch.
So essentially, I failed in almost every way to accomplish anything over the weekend, but it was fucking worth it!

The wedding

Ok, I have a brief break in my studies, and I forgot to bring my camera which has all my photos of Prague thus far. However I do have a few photo's from Shelby and Andy's wedding from my phone. The wedding of course was brilliant. Beautiful day, beautiful bride, just beautiful in general (Andy looked nice as well). The wedding took place in Astoria park and was presided over by the honorable reverend Brian Pappas. Then we marched through the streets of Astoria with noise makers trying to make quite a rucous. It seems to have worked as we had plenty of lookers on from the windows. We ended the parade at the Bohemian Beer Garden where the reception was to take place, where much frolicking, drinking, and dancing ensued. I managed to hyjack the reception for one good country song so that I could do a little two-stepping. The party slowly shrank away until there were just enough of us left to dive into the limo (I sat in front so I didn't actually do any diving) and head to the UES for an after reception party. We had a few drinks there before the bride and groom finally headed off to marital bliss.

Most of my pictures are a little blurry, as they were taken of people in motion with a camera phone, but this one I particularly like. It really captures something I think.

Prague

Ok, I've been without internet for a while, so I'm way behind on posts. I need to post something about Shelby and Andy's wedding, and also about my mom's trip to New York. However, since I just arrived in Prague, that seems to be the most important thing at the moment, plus I'm paying by the minute here, so I gotta be quick.
The city is incredible and I've exhausted myself walking around. Even the cheesy little Hostel I'm staying is pretty cool. So far I've walked around taking photos everywhere, I've visited my school, and some of you got an email from there, I've walked along the Vltava (more photos), I've walked along Winceslas Square (more photos), and I've slept for about 14 hours. Oh I also had to buy a textbook and start doing some homework.
Anyway, those of you who bet I wouldn't get this far have to pay up! Everyone who backed me gets a virtual high five.

Photos are me ariving in Prague (or the arrivals sign at the airport)
The castle across the Vltava
And Good King Winceslas

More Later.

Stacy's Baby

ok I just visited Stacy's Blog (Wherever did he get an idea to do a blog?), and there are pictures of the new Suarez. www.planetsuarez.blogspot.com. Check it out.

Rainman goes to Prague

Those of you who know me know that by nature I am a creature of habits. I tend to fall into routines to help me make sense of the world. Unfortunately this doesn't always jibe to well with the life I embarked on a couple of years ago, and certainly the life I am currently leading. I don't usually think much on the subject, but when I awoke in Connor's bedroom this morning, and looked out on the now familiar view of the Triboro Bridge that awaits me every morning I was momentarily haunted by the idea that I will be uprooting again in a scant few short weeks. Certainly as the last few months have flown by for me, so will the next three weeks. Of course, I could no more stay in Joan's son's bedroom than I could stay in Houston from which I fled like a fox from the hunt. It seems strange to me, that I will soon be in a foreign country where I don't speak the language, and will have to find a way, not just to visit, but forge out a life there. it's exhilerating, and horrifying at the same time. At times I can't wait to get on the plane, and at others I want to hug my metro card to my chest, close my eyes and mutter like rainman trying to watch Jeopardy.

Funny thing is everybody told me i'd never do it. Told me that people always say they're gonna do stuff like this but never do (Of course that's bullshit, because I know too many ex-pats), and I always responded that shere force of will would get me on the plane, so I guess i'm a man of my word. I've won a few bets, or I will when I actually get there. Perhaps this is all coming up because I'm going to visit my family this weekend, or because my best friend who is a mere child just had his second baby. I haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure he's beautiful, and apparently he's tiny like his father. Who knows. Either way, in just five months I've managed to make New York my home, but now it's almost time to go and try to do the same in Prague.

Ok, a few things of note have occurred since last I posted. Over the weekend I hung out with my friend Nunio. I actually thought he had already left town, he's moving to Houston with his wife, and so was surprised to hear from him on Friday night. We went to one of my favorite pubs, Biddy's on the UES, and started to get good and trashed. A few hours later we wandered off to another UES pub called Trinity, making an accidental stop along the way at a gay piano bar next door. That was an interesting experience. Good piano bar, though. On another night I might have stayed and had a few laughs. We got pretty hammered had some pizza, flirted with some girls (though Nunio played the good husband "wingman" role), and headed home. I did manage to pass out on the train and end up in South Brooklyn. Get out a map. I live in North Astoria. I was in South Brooklyn. Now for you Houstonians, this might not seem to far, so get out your subway maps, and track the route home on the N. Saturday night we gave it another go, though we got considerably less drunk, and had a very different night. Nunio's a good guy though, and I'm sorry that I spent so little time with him here in New York. I played hookie from work on Tuesday and finally bought my plane ticket. That was pretty scary. Somehow my $700 plane ticket seems more inescapable than my $2000 tuition in Prague. I've been battling home-sickness for a couple of weeks, so the buying of the tickets was pretty frightening.

My friend Rush just had a baby, and Stacy's baby should be born by the time I go home for a visit over Labor day. More babies. My family is throwing a birthday party a week early for my neice Keely while I'm home, because she swears I promised her I would come home for her birthday, which I didn't, but at least this way everyone wins, and she's not scarred for life.

The picture is Nunio standing outside of a bar in the West Village on Saturday night. We hid in here from some of Nunio's friends.

Sometimes the good die old

Well my grandmother was born in PA. Where or when..well thats not too important right now. Anyway, her parents divorced when she was young and her mother remarried and moved to Jacksonville, TX whle she and her sister Ruthie stayed up in PA with her father. when my grandmother (Nana) was about 15 she walked into her fathers room and found him on the floor with a pistol in his hand and a resulting piece of flesh missing from his head. As you can assume, my Nana is a bit F*&@#D in the head, but thats a different adventure in my life. Well to state the obvious she and her sister moved to Texas with her mother and her new husband, Larue (poppy). Poppy's life was a great tale, but my goal today is my adventure in Jacksonville, TX. Poppy died of cancer on Monday @ around 8pm. He HAS an extremly large family, 6 kids, 17 grandkids, 30 G-Grandkids, and 1 G-G-Grandkid. The funeral was mostly like a day dream. It's interesting to say how so much family gathered at one location for such a somber event can alter reality to create such a joyous rememberance of life. Very few was shed in the way of tears, more importantly we celebrated his 91 years on this planet. Everyone was present, cityfellows, countryfolk... rich, poor...blacksheep and the unmentionables. But on a lighter note... I never really realised that when family is so distant...3rd and 4th cousins, it's never really expected that they can be so damn hot... but you know my motto...Just once..

Stacy Suarez
Starbucks TX

Mark's new e-mail address

So, I'm sat at home late on a Tuesday night checking my e-mail, when I receive an e-mail from my dear friend Mark. OK...so it's another post about his blog, which I've already signed up to - so no big deal. Then I look more closely... I notice the new e-mail address and explode into laughter. For those that don't know Mark's new e-mail is dntpanic.TPC@gmail.com. Ask Mark what it means if you feel like a good laugh :o)

Something to think about

So I talked briefly to my friend Stacy today whose post is below. Even though he (yes it's a he) rarely returns my calls anymore, he did call to congratulate me on my new blog. We chatted briefly about the coming of his new child. Now Stacy is 18 or 19 or something like that, and his wife is at best 15 years old, and they're working on their second beautiful new child. Due very soon. He told me the date, but good friend that I am I already forgot. He's planning to make me the godfather, which is very cool and quite an honor. How he convinced his wife, I'll never know. But it got me thinking. Here I am divorced, 31, moving to Prague, and this little man is having a second baby. It's a litle strange. Also, I'm going to be the godfather. That means if (god forbid) both of them should die in a horrible accident, I am supposed to step in and take care of the baby. Now mind you only the second child, the first one will have to fend for herself. The image that came into my mind was the night we were out together and I got so trashed I was lying in the back of our friends pickup. This wasn't years ago in our wild and crazy days, but scant months ago. He has a picture that he loves to show around (god bless camera phones). Stacy and I actually became friends by being drinking buddies at work. Ssssh, don't tell anyone, that's a secret cause he was my employee. Still he trusts me with his family. Or maybe it's just a symbolic gesture as these things so often are, and he has airtight stipulations in his will that under no circumstances am I to take any responsibility for the boy (I just found out it was a boy today). Anyway, food for thought.

the post you have awaited for has arrived

nice...me like...so i'm not sure how the godfather thing will work with you out to get hitched but whatever. I'm happy you got something up this way we don't have to conspire to try to steal your diary anymore.

Ouch!!!

This is what happens when you park illegally in New York.

It's a start

Well a few people have joined up, and that's just great. Hopefully everyone will keep an eye on this page, but then again perhaps it would be best to just post whatever I want wihout worrying about the consequences. I'm also keeping a written diary of events, though as I get closer to leaving and a little more tight on cash, I have to admit the diary is getting a little stale. Anyhow, the point is, I get an opportunity to ramble on endlessly about myself, and hopefully start a few discussions along the way. You may note that my cousin signed up but had nothing to add to my little blog. The point is everyone should spend their spare time wondering about me, the center of the universe. If not then, well, I'll just keep typing.

hi, it's me, joan!

So, Mark's an old friend and lives with me while he is waiting to go to Prague. I dearly love him and hope that living in NYC is a good preparation for the CR. Virgin passport being used = RIGHT ON!!

Love from home

This thing is cool... A good way to keep everyone up to date on your travels. Now...get your a** to the Czech republic and bring back a wife :o)

Join Up

Ok, well I got the thing working. In order to post comments and stuff I have to make you a member of the site. If you would like to be a member, drop me an email, and I will invite you in.

The Beginning

My first post. Right now I'm just trying to see how well this thing works.