I'm sitting in the lounge of my hostel right now, in the east part of Prague. The rain is coming down so hard outside, it sounds like I'm in a bag of popcorn. I've got my music playing in one ear, my shoes off, and the couch is very comfortable. Life, I'd say, is pretty good right now.
This is another chance for me to catch up on my blog. It's been a crazy last few days. Lisa has been one of the most amazingly friendly and welcoming people I've ever met, and I miss her already. The last few days, though, I haven't had any time to myself aside from those few hours Friday morning when Lisa was at work. For pretty much the entire time after, she was at my side 24/7. It was a good thing but I was just kind of amazed, thinking back on it, amazed about how much time we spent together for having had just met on Thursday.
Lisa got out of work at about 5pm on Friday and we arranged to meet up at Alexanderplatz, where the World Clock and the TV Tower are. We immediately took off to the stores, stopping first to get her some new pantyhose and then me new shoes. I guess the "sporty" sandals (as she called them) and my flip-flops weren't hip enough to get into the club she wanted to go to on Saturday. We spent two hours before I found a pair that I liked, that were comfy, and that wouldn't take up much room in my bag. I actually really, really liked the sandals I found and I wore them for the rest of the time that I was in Berlin. Then we went grabbed some food from the store, got home, took some showers, and left to play at a Wii Lounge.
Vanessa from Thursday came as well, bringing along a guy friend. The four of us spent about an hour playing Wii Sports Resorts games and I, of course, dominated. Especially at the dueling game -- I played against the guy and mercilessly beat him over and over again. Afterwards they took off and we met up with group of guys from the dinner the night before, all of us heading to a friend's house-warming party.
The "house" was really a 1-room flat with about 60 people squished into it. Lisa walked in and declared it was English-only night since I don't understand anything else. And despite the fact that I only knew Lisa from the day before and only vaguely recognized the guys from the night before, despite the fact that I was completely surrounded by strangers, I didn't feel out of place at all. Everyone complied and spoke English and I spent the night going from group to group having really good conversations. The people there were, for the most part, still college students and most of them were very interested in my work history. We talked about nuclear power, about renewable energy sources, and green ideas...our conversations were very, very nerdy! It was fantastic!
The guys we'd brought with us, though, were a different story and as the night went on, they got pretty antsy. They asked me if I wouldn't rather go out to a club and go dancing, but I told them I was perfectly happy with talking. Lisa didn't want to go either so they left with plans to meet up with us the next evening at the club Lisa wanted to go to.
At this party, I first met some of my favorite people in Berlin. Lisa had a special group of friends named Eva, Marco, and Steffan. They are hilarious, smart, and open to doing almost anything. The next night we met up with them at Marco's house before going to the club; then on Sunday, they came with us to the street festival downtown; then on Sunday night they came to play poker at another friend's house; then on Monday Eva came to watch movies. I spent a lot of time with the three of them in particular and I love them! They were particularly interested in nuclear theory and we had to get broken up when we started getting waaay too nerdy.
The house party lasted until after 4am; Lisa and I finally dragged ourselves back to her flat as the sun came up, sleeping until noon. On Saturday afternoon, we met up with another awesome friend, Theise, to spend some time in a park and watch a festival. I'd chosen the weekend when Berlin threw some sort of cultural festival and also when they had Monday off as a holiday; everyone was off work, enjoying beautiful weather and a long weekend. We spent a few hours in the park, getting some ice cream and then making our way to Marco's house where the people who wanted to go to the club were meeting up. At Marco's, we had some strange French cheese and a lot of chips, with Eva and Steffan showing up, with another of Lisa's friends (Niels I think) and two of Marco's friends. Steffan and I started talking philosophy and before I knew it, it was almost midnight and we were rushing to meet up with Vanessa at the club.
The particular club we wanted to go to, though, wouldn't let us in. The dress code was too strict for what we were wearing, so we went to a salsa club instead. And by salsa club, I mean we went somewhere that people went to show off their amazing salsa dance skills. They were amazing! I felt like I was in dance competition. The dancers on the floor were so, so good.
We stayed there for 2 hours and then headed home. Lisa and I stayed up for almost 2 more hours just talking, and then we fell asleep.
On Sunday, we woke up at 10:30 to get ready and meet up with Marco at the street festival. We three wandered for about 2 hours before he had to go to work; then we met up with a few other friends (including Eva and Steffan) and watched the parade until almost 7pm. Lisa and I got to her flat, did a load of laundry, and then headed to Theise's house where we, with Steffan and Eva, all played poker until 3am. It wasn't until almost 4 that we got home.
On Monday, we woke up at 11 and lazily wandered through the apartment, making plans to go get a good brunch for the two of us. We got back into the city and had a traditional German breakfast: a lot of meat cuts, cheese slices, fruit, butter, and bread. It was so, so filling. We rushed home then and cleaned up the house in preparation for a movie night that Lisa had planned. She left for a bit to return the car to her father; I did the dishes. Her dad showed up for a few minutes to say hello and to tell me to tell Tia Ysabel's to go to Berlin on vacation. People started showing up at about 5:30pm and we chose two movies to watch, The Naked Truth and V for Vendetta. We snacked on foods, ate pizza, and had a great night.
This morning, Lisa had to leave for school by 6:30am. I thought I would catch the earlier train to Prague but spent too much time getting ready and didn't leave until 12:48. The train ride is almost five hours long. I ended up sitting in a car with three Irish boys and a Russian guy, all of us heading to Prague on vacation. They taught me a card game called Take Two; I taught them B.S.
I got into Prague and wandered around pretty lost for about an hour and a half, and then almost accidentally stumbled across my hostel. I threw down my bag, hiked into the city, and got there in time to watch the 8pm ringing at the astronomical clock tower. I saw a bit of the city but then the skies opened up, chasing me back to my hostel. Now it's getting pretty late and I'm pretty tired. I think, though, that I'm caught up!
Location:Koněvova,Prague 3,Czech Republic
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