greetings from Prague

A nice, chubby, Czech fellow, sign with my name on it in hand, picked me up from the airport (arranged by my apartment owner) early yesterday morning.  After a nice 45 minute car ride all I managed to get out of him basically consisted of forced one word answers and perhaps one hint of a giggle when I didn't know where the airport was in relation to the city center.  He was nice but let's hope there are some Czechs a bit more chatty than this one.


I write to you now from my new dwelling place, Hotel Pivovar.  Not a hotel, nor a hostel, nor an apartment, it's an impressive mix of all 3 I suppose.  While minimalistic, it has everything you need (as long as you don't count the bed which looks like it's meant for a 7 year old.)  I live with 2 other girls also enrolled in the TEFL certification course- Katy from Seattle and Catharine from Pittsburgh- they are super sweet and have been great to get to know thus far!

After settling in a bit yesterday those of us who are in town out of the 24(!) enrolled, met up and went out for our first night in Prague town.. To spare yall the whole long story this is how it went... we got on the metro, without a clue as to where we were going, and pretty much jumped off the metro when someone in the group clapped and said let's go!  Mob mentality took over as we all mindlessly followed and were then on our way.  To where you ask? Again, we had no idea.  Clearly not in the right spot as there was not a bar in sight, we finally stumbled upon a bar.  And goodness gracious, the splendor that awaited us inside.  At first it appeared to be what you would expect a typical Prague-like pub to be- stone walls, tall bar stools, huge glasses of beer everywhere, Czechs a plenty... and then we went downstairs.  It was a vacated dungeon of a restaurant/dance floor that was medieval at heart but was decorated like there had been a quinceanera or a Hispanic holiday celebration.  (I guess this is where they toss the random foreigners who manage to stumble in.)  The dance floor included a cage, again medieval, that you could hop in if you felt so inclined while dancing.  And lastly, there was a huge metal spider statue crouching over a spot light in the middle of the room.  Appropriate? Necessary? Weird? Some might say no.  Nevertheless, hilarious.


We all hunkered down in the booth and enjoyed our dinner.  Ordering was a feat as none of us speak a bit of Czech.  I have the essentials so far- thank you and beer :)  Everyone ordered the traditional goulash and I went for the cheaper, less adventurous option (big surprise, huh?) and basically was served a brick of fried cheese.  I guess that's what you get for ordering off the kids menu... don't get me wrong, I ate and enjoyed it but next time I'll venture out a bit.


With an unhealthy amount of cheese in my belly and another pint-sized mug o' beer on the way, I was really excited about what happened next.  As if someone had sounded an alarm, it seemed that every 38 to 45 year old in the pub came down to the dance floor to have themselves a bit of a dance.  It was amazing.  It was like watching a middle school dance but with awkward, drunk adults who apparently made the collective decision to wear tennis shoes, acid wash jeans with tucked in t-shirts and fanny packs.  Awesome. 


After people-watching for a considerable amount of time we headed to the right area of town this go-round and found some more bars.  We managed to find one that played oldies... and I knew I'd like it here :)  We had a blast dancing and joking around with each other.  We're clearly all excited with the anticipation of getting to become good friends and with the course starting on Monday.


I'll shed just one story from the bar as it is too strange to not... On a boogie-break I went to the bathroom and on the way back, I lost my buddy in the crowd.  Nothing to panic about, I just squeezed my way through the wall of people, trying to locate the group.   In the process I was lucky enough to catch the attention of 2 Czech men.  While I slid past them, trying my best to be invisible, 1 guy stopped me and said hello (imagine a Russian-type accent).  I gave a polite hello and kept walking by.  "Vait, Vait" (they cannot pronounce w's here)... He then proceeded to lightly put his hand on the side of my stomach, stand back, give me a visual assessment and say: "Good vife.  Yes, you make good vife." as he nodded.  Hmmm, what? I obviously kept walking and eventually found my buddies but couldn't help but wonder what the hell that meant.  Was it my matronly demeanor or my child-bearing hips that got him?  I guess I vill never know...