11/11/11

One year ago today I landed in Prague.  Oh the things that I've done in this one year.  Probably the biggest "anniversary" I've ever had.

Yay for Czechs and all their state holidays!  Everybody had Friday off and I took an early morning train to the smaller town of Cesky Krumlov with the gentleman of interest.  I've been meaning to go for a long time since I've heard so much about it.  It's really really pretty and small and easy to get around and touristy but not too touristy.  I think it was a good time of year to go.  Not too many people but still lots of languages heard out and about.  We just saw the sights, ate food, skipped rocks on the river, chilled in a chill tea shop, went through a mirror maze, etc. 

Came back to a friend having a friend in town.  We took her out.  And out, and out, and out, and I went to bed unreasonably late.  Still, fun.  Sunday was quite lazy, the extra hour was appreciated. 

Classes as usual but the current big news is me moving!  I wasn't even looking that hard but happened to come across a nicer, less expensive place with fewer roommates.  It's a little further away from most of my friends' places, but then nothing is that far away in Prague.  Still just a tram ride away, and it's going to be freezing soon anyway.  I was wanting a bit of a change, though moving has been stressful.  I was told once or twice yesterday that I was in a weird mood.  All is well now though.  I'm even using the internet with wifi, moving on up!

It amazes me sometimes how I can learn about a band, look them up, download an album, and put it on my iPod to take around town with me the next day. 

But that's not what I'm talking about today.  Today I'm talking about my favorite Australian's birthday that was on Friday!  Finnish Friend recently moved apartments and discovered an amazing steak house nearby.  It's amazing because for some reason it's hard to get good beef in Prague.  There's some good burger joints but nothing just awesome.  These steaks though, it was incredible.  So obviously they can get/make good beef here, they just don't seem to know how. And it was for a good price! 

We then went to a club that J likes.  Unfortunately and atypically they were charging a cover.  I don't go to enough clubs to know what kind of places charge and how much but apparently it was an outrage.  So we went across the street.  Where we also had to pay a cover there (what is the world/Vinohrady coming to?!)  but it was less and came with a free drink.  We chatted, we danced, we drank wine, we stayed out way too late.  To a point where I figured we should just stay out later and watch the sun rise over the Vltava like wild beautiful things but I was told it was too cold and got dragged home. Lame. 

But J said it was the best birthday ever and for that I am glad.  Just hung around on Saturday, got coffee and ice cream with a friend.  Today has been relaxed as well.  Went to J's with A to hear him play a lot of music he's been working on and gave our opinions.  Tomorrow brings an early, most likely cold morning. 

Mama I'm comming hoooommmeee!

Busting out the Ozzy title since yes, I'm going home in December!  For Christmas!  And food and family and animals and driving my truck!  Huzzah!  I'm getting really excited.  Christmas here last year wasn't really Christmas.  It was cold and depressing and while I did hang out with a lot of people it wound up not being very fun at all.  Although I did make a few really good friends out of that lame party. 

The city is getting colder!  Last winter was brutal but I feel more prepared this time.  I didn't know what to expect.  Now I do, and I'm equipped.  With better cold-facing clothes.  And like, a job to keep me busy during the cold, short, dark days.  And more friends, those will help too. 

Got together with what is left of my TEFL class last night.  One of them is leaving soon.  And then there will be three.  It was good to see them, it had been a while. 

Today is Friday!  Only one class and a substitution today.  Last weekend I had two friends with birthday parties which meant late nights and late mornings (afternoons) and short days with 0 productivity.  Not this weekend though!  Me and the boy and Canadian friend are going boozeless!  I've brainstormed many ideas of things to do/accomplish.  And downloaded a few movies in case the weather gets particularly bad.  I think it should be cold but nice though. 

Life Plan, 2012!

Time be creeping like a shady hobo at Hlavni Nadrazi.  We're already into October.  The fall weather here is BEAUTIFUL.  Love it.  (Not "loving it" because you can't use the continuous form with state-verbs.)  It'll be cold soon but I'm ready this time. 

There's people in Prague moving on and sticking around.  I think I might be one to stick a bit longer.  When I started the TEFL thing I originally wanted to end up somewhere that speaks Spanish.  Been doing a lot of research lately and Chile seems like the place.  There's a school there I've been in contact with but the job would either start in January (too soon!) or August (quite far away!).  I've got a place, a job, and friends here so I don't think I mind sticking around until next summer, then going home, then possibly doing Chile.

ANYwho, still lots of thinking to do.  Last weekend I went to a live gig with J the Aussie.  His work friend was the drummer and they were really good!  The band after them was a fun Ska group that I actually really liked.  We wound up going to a dance club which is actually not a terribly place.  No cover, reasonably priced drinks, no weird looks when you dance like a moron.  Canadian C's little brother was in town so Saturday we took him around to see the sights.  Pretty fun weekend in the Prague.  Tomorrow is Boston friends' 30th.  He's a bit of a wild card, should be interesting.

Teaching-wise things are going well.  I really enjoy it for the most part and have found my groove.  Been substituting a bit lately too to make the extra bucks.  ....Crowns. 

Sunday night.

Falling behind again! 

Things are quite normal after the trip to the Balkans.  Back to work, back hanging out with the regular crew, back to checking out the cool stuff going on in the city and whatnot.

Last week/weekend was all about Burcak to celebrate the beginning of wine-season.  It's basically wine that isn't fermented yet.  It still tastes a bit like wine but much sweeter and less alcoholic.  There were festivals all over town in the parks and squares.  Booths with stuff for sale, games/rides for kids, live music, etc.  I also helped Finnish Friend move into his new place with a few others.  He gave us free pizza! 

This week was quite eventful, but it didn't really need to be.  I happened to be out doing something with people for four nights in a row.  General hanging out, friends' friends in town, going away/graduation party, trying to enjoy the last days in the beer garden fun.  Last night was a quite night in with a depressing movie.  Aaah. 

Also, I have a new roommate.  There's four of us again.  She's British and very sweet.  I think we've got the best dynamic we've had so far in this place.  Never been too close to any of my roommates here but we all get along which is great. 

Monday tomorrow.  The weather should be nice this week, but alas, winter is coming. 

The Amazing Balkans Roadtrip That Can't Be Beat!

Time to get on the ball and talk about the Balkans trip! 

The locations:  Serbia. Macedonia. Albania. Montenegro.  Bosnia.  (Drove through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria.) 

The participants:  Myself.  A, British.  J, Aussie.  B, Floridian.  K from South Carolina joined us in Bosnia for the last weekend.

The ride:  Trusty red Honda hybrid.

The tunes:  Just about everything.  (We drove a lot.)

We took off on Tuesday the 30th.  We'd all been to Budapest so we just stopped for lunch in a smaller Hungarian town and took a look around at the cute stuff to see.  Drove all the way to Belgrade and stayed in a very nice hostel.  Had a four bed dorm all to ourselves.  There was a really nice bathroom, kitchen, and garden area to sit and visit and hang out.  Belgrade is a strange city.  It has all the new world feel of a McDonalds on the corner and all the old world war-torn feel of bombed out buildings just sitting there doing nothing.  They've brought in the new but haven't cleaned up the old.  It gave it an eerie feel.  We enjoyed a couple of days there though.  Walked along the river, went to the semi-famous ? cafe, sampled the beer, and hung out in markets and cool center streets.  The most interesting thing was St. Sava Cathedral.  It's the largest Orthodox cathedral in the Balkans and one of the largest in the world.  And it isn't done yet.  Before leaving we hung out on a small lake with a rocky beach.  I did some swimming and sunning. 

Moved on to Macedonia and stayed with B's friend in Skopje, the capital.  She lived in a nicer area than what drove through to get there.  Lots of shanty-town-esque houses and gypsies out and about.  People cleaning car windows for money and little kids carrying babies around.  The first real feel of Eastern European Adventure Time.  It helped that everything there is in cyrillic so it's hard to read street signs...if you can find any.  Anyway, her family was very hospitable, but her parents didn't speak English.  Her father gave us homemade rakia (local liquor) and advice on what to do in town.  There happened to be a Beerfest though, so guess where we went!  Lots of different kinds of beer to try, lots of people, and a crappy Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band to jam to.  Fun stuff. 

The next day we saw a bit more of the city center and said our goodbyes and moved on to Lake Ohrid.  A touristy, but really beautiful lakeside town from which you can see Albania across the lake!  Our hostel was more like a mom and pop bed and breakfast (minus breakfast).  There was a cool old center with an ancient theater and lots of churches.  We basically hung out on the lake for two days.  SUNBURN.  I still have flakes of skin making a break for it after that one.

Into Albania!  I'm so glad I wasn't driving.  And that my mother couldn't see the roads we were driving on into/over the mountains.  Thin, windy, not always guard-rails, cows randomly filling up the road.  etc.  There were some really beautiful, mountainous views though.  Tirana happened to be a happening city though.  Lots of cocktail bars and markets and a little kid carnival, etc.  Albanians are extremely friendly and they love Americans.  American flags all over the place, excitement when me and B told people where we were from.  Unfortunately the city center was basically under construction, so no hanging out in the square. 

Then we moved on to Montenegro.  BEACHES!!!  We found a great hostel with a big common area and patio.  Aussies galore!  J usually says how Aussies are everywhere but we hadn't run into any up until this point.  There was a married couple, two sisters, a guy on his own, and a girl with her American boyfriend.  A couple of Germans were there too.  The guys who ran the place were very cool and friendly as well, and had obviously worked hard to make it a cool place.  Music played all the time, books on shelves, a big equipped kitchen, two computers with internet, etc.  We wound up staying there two nights.  Basically just hung out on the beach and explored the town a bit.  Moved north to another small beach town and stayed in a cheap but decent hotel for one night.

Bosnia!  The drive into Bosnia was really incredible.  We basically drove alongside a mountain next to a huge glacial lake below us.  It was bright blue and dammed off (is that even a word/phrasal verb?)  at the end of it.  Looking across the lake you could see caves in the mountain side.  Really beautiful and scenic.  We stopped in Sarajevo for a few hours to look around.  I wish we'd stayed longer it was so cool!  Lots of markets and people and things to do.  Once again, it's a little weird with the old signs of war still around.  Bullet holes and much bigger cannon blasts in the sides of buildings can still be seen.  They call them Sarajevo roses.  Then onto Bana Luca where our friend S lives.  His parents were also very hospitable and his mother cooked for us.  He took us around the town and one night there was an outdoor concert at the fortress.  Apparently it was Yugoslavia's first rock group and they'd been around since the '60's.  Even though we couldn't understand the words, they were really good and everybody around was singing along.  We stayed at his for three nights and mostly took it easy.  (It was nice having an Eastern European Maminka cooking for us.)  Sunday we drove all the way to Prague.  Pretty uneventful but it went smoothly. 

It was a great trip, but I think any longer than two weeks would have been too much.  It felt like forever since we'd started out until the end of it.  It was nice to be out of Prague for a while though, and spend time with my friends.  And especially see new places I probably never would have thought to go to before.  (Occasionally we'd say something like "Guys, we're in Albania....Why are we in Albania?!" 

It's time for a road trip!!!

To the Balkans!  To sun, and beaches, and mountains, and treacherous roads, and hostels, and road music and road food!  With my boo and two of our besties!  For two weeks!

Waking up early tomorrow morning, packing up the car, and hitting the road for Belgrade.  There's some small places here and there I think we'll stop at to look around or eat so it'll be a pretty chill drive, albeit long.  B is pretty much the picture taker extraordinaire, documenting all semi important events, but I'll try to take a lot as well. 

Update in a couple of weeks!  Watch this film while I'm gone.



Loose cat on the tram at 7:00 am.

It was the best morning ever!

Nudity!

It totally makes sense to have the nude section of the lake earlier on the trail than the regular people section of the lake right?  Thought so.  Europe, the things I've seen.

One of the first people I met here is heading home later this week.  Back to Texas actually.  The weekend was much about her trying to see as many people as she could for goodbye festivities. I didn't make the fun on Friday because of the craziest weather ever.  It was a cycle of storms and beautiful clear skies all day long.  Did get some pre-production on a short film idea done though. 

Surprisingly woke up at a decent hour on Saturday and went to a lake (see above) in a nice natural park a little ways outside of the city.  Lots of sun and water and beer and games on the grass (beach).  Good to spend time with the Texas girl before seeing her off.  Went to the beer garden in the evening and almost everybody I know in Prague was there. 

Lazy Sunday so far, just cleaning up my room and doing laundry and getting ready for classes this coming week.  Going to a restaurant called Cantina tonight for food and fun with the gang.  Haven't been there since The Amazing Jicin Adventure when we got stuck in the snow and needed the warmth of the place.  Should be fun!

It's been a good one!  Had a not so great week at work.  Not so much with teaching as stuff with my school.  I like teaching, I like having a job, but the school I work for isn't just stellar.  It has lots of good points but lots of room for improvement as well.  If I was going to stay longer I'd probably look for a different school but it's fine for now.