May become a Praguestitute

So we met the API people who are studying in Budapest.  A lot of them are really cool.  One of them, Ryan, was really cute and thought pretty much everything i said was funny.  Which is very validating, let me tell you.  Still, he kinda got things a bit slow and i dont know how much he gets out...  i think he mighta been a stoner.  Not that he was stoned while we hung out, he wasn't.  he just...   You could tell from the way he talked and the questions he asked that he had a specific interest set.  And he was smart enough to GET my jokes, so he has that going for him.  He also accepted my compliments without getting awkward about it, and complimented me back.  I liked that.  It was nice to tell someone they're a legit human for keeping an eye out for good shots when they realized that i liked photography, and complimented me on doing the same.

I would not have gotten these shots without him:

All of my pictures are slightly overexposed, because i'm so used to being the photographer at the kind events that i go to that i didnt have time to fix the white balance before the Prague trip.  In Zakopane it wasn't an issue, because all the landscapes i show were perfectly fine in 'landscape' mode, so i didn't worry too much about not having my camera on manual.

I fixed it now though, and i think most of those pictures would be massively improved with just a tiny bit of batch-edit darkening.  I mean the sky might just be white, but the architecture will come out more.

One of the ways in which i am lucky here, is that i consistently get my own room/place to sleep.  People who are assign roommates generally bunk together, and idk what about me sets me slightly apart from the rest of the group, but there i am, slightly on the outside.  Which is actually how things have been since i was 10, so instead of hanging around with the group, i either do my own thing or i hang around Piotrek and we talk and joke.  

He is very tolerant of me.  I constantly give him shit and he's very very nice about just laughing me off and making fun of me, back.  I wanted to ask his wife for shopping advice (i met her at the fancy paté dinner) and intead he gave me the advice.  He was even very nice about how he was sure whatever i had was fine, but "ALL I HAVE IS BOOTS AND TENNIS SHOES, PIOTREK."  And when i got ready and was waiting, we were chatting and i told him he looked tired and asked him if he was tired.  "No.  But thank you."  "Hey, you know.  that's what i'm here for."  And then he said "You look lovely."

^_^  I looked lovely!  PUTTING FORTH EFFORT FOR THE OPERA WAS WORTH IT.

He really is great sport.

The opera was SO WEIRD.  I mean the performances were amazing, but it was a modern interpretation of it, so there was really weird costuming choices and they had projected .gifs that made no sense (like a running bison with its bull-parts flapping in the breeze and a lady jumping over a chair), and there was a tiny don giovanni (which represented his innocence?) and at one point there was an audience scene with half the crowd wearing dongiovanni masks?  

Parts of it were pretty funny though.  and the music/performances, again, were amazing.

After the opera, the group when off to dinner or a bar or something, and i hung out in the lounge/bar of the hotel.  I had the previous night, too, and spent almost the entire night chatting with Miroslav, of the tall and skinny cheekbones.  He was kind of a troll, but he also laughed at a lot of what i said, and so i tried to flirt with him.  Which i'm honestly not very good at, it mainly consists of jokes and eye contact, but whatever.

That night, I stayed longer because i got caught up with a funny group of brits, but at one point one of the things that Miroslav told me was that i was funny enough that i should be a stand-up comedian.  I told him that that was nice of him to say and he just looked at me and said "I'm serious."  But i mean we also talked about politics and about how Americans are the only ones who ever talk to him, as a bartender.  And then when the brits asked me why i was in prague, i just told them i was there for Miroslav.

Actually, though, they turned out to honestly be great fun to talk to, too.  They were there for a stag party and i spent hours talking to them as well.  ^_^

They also called me (and the dude who was from budapest with me) lovely.  

Lovely is my new favorite word.

Pragueably shouldn't complain

This is is the view down the hill from the tower were we took pics (picture a small eiffel tower overlooking a hill.) 

view from the ibis old-town hotel

the beginning of flower-power attack

Piotrek *pointedly*:  It looks like rain.

Me:  Yeah it does.
Piotrek *more pointedly*  we might have to put our hoods up.

Me:  *laughs pointedly*  I don't even have a hood.

Piotrek: SOME of us do.

This is right before he went to put his hood up because it did, in fact, start to rain.  it was on the chair lift and the catch-you-if-you-fall net is now littered with yellow flowers.

On the bridge into old-town

houston, we have a PragueLem

if you had told me a year ago that i would be going to Prague, i would've called you crazy.

Prague, to me, is like Paris, London, or Las Vegas.  It's hard to think of the city as anything other than just one huge tourist trap.  And to some degree, i'm right.  You won't be able to convince me that the money the city generates is from anything other than a fuckton of tourists spending too much money to be in a place that they don't know anything about except that it's been talked about by everyone else that's been there to spend money.  I will never be convinced that somewhere like london or paris will be where i should go.  Even Rome feels like that to me.  I'm only there to see the sights just like everyone else, and to me that's not what travelling is.

As much as i love seeing the sights, that's not what i'm here for.

I want to see the country.  I want to meet the people.  That's what's important to me.  In Ireland, for instance, going through cork and limerick was fun, but the best parts were the ruins that happened to be on the side of the road, or the guy with the crazy hair from the maxwell tape commercial who tried to suss out if i was christian enough to meet his standards.  The highlight was seeing the ring of Kerry and the Cliffs of Moher and laughing as a rode the wind down the stairs.

Krakow is old and i love getting a feel for its personality.  I love people-watching in all its aspects.  Even though I don't speak the same language, it's refreshing to see groups of friends laughing together, tourists stopping and gossiping around the old square, and exactly how active grandparents here are with their babies' babies.

Prague is beautiful.  I didn't quite experience it the way that i wanted to, but i was there at least long enough to smell the air and watch the people.  The tourists (of which i am one) have watered down the history.  I met only two people who didn't speak english, and that it mostly because i was lost and stopped random people on the street.  But even then they were very helpful and tried hard to help me back to the main square.  (tho even if they had, i probably still couldn't find the hotel we were staying at.  at one point, i took a taxi.  also the roooms in that hotel were set to 'broil'.)

The streets are old brick with edges so worn they look like domes, and the grout is at least an inch deep.  The sidewalks are tiny brick-ends and they are uneven and white or black, sometimes in designs.  the effect is beautiful, and old, but i was so stressed out constantly about trying not to sprain my ankle that i tensed my legs up to the point where they are still sore a day later.

The architecture is incomparable.

If i have to be in a tourist town, it needs to be one with history, so i can at least take pictures of the buildings.  and of that, Prague delivered in spades.  I don't know why
my ATM card wasn't work in prague, because i told my goddamned bank that i was going to europe, and i KNOW my card works in Krakow.  But nevertheless, i had to almost definitely overdraw an a different card to have any money at all.  (Yes, mom.  I got hat pins.)  Of course what that meant was that i was afraid to buy food because the currency is so weird there.

It's a lot like Thailand, where they'll charge you 85korun for a sammich and some oreos.  and i was only walking around with a few hundred, and i kept hoping i would come across some czech glass buttons.

Sarah has been to thailand, indonesian, spain, new zealand...  every time she travels, she gets me something.  And this was my chance to get her something cool back.  And i asked her what she wanted, and the second i mentioned all the places i was going, she zeroed in on Prague and asked me to get her Czech glass buttons.  And i was so excited, becaause i do the same types of fiber art she does, and so i know what a coup it would be to get those buttons, and i might be able to get them for myself.  they're famous and beautiful and i was incredibly stoked.

this is just one example.

And so i googled.  and googled.  and googled.  i got nothing.  I searched for any address in prague, and i got nothing.  I got one facebook that said "czech glass button store in prague"  but it was a facebook and had NO ADDRESS ATTACHED.    So then i walked into all the crystal and glass shops i could find (and there are a lot) and there were no buttons.  (And at one point i spotted a spider in a mug so i walked the mug over to the door and this lady started yelling coz she thought i was just walking out with the mug but then i flung the spider out and handed it back to her and she thanked me.) I went to tourist information and she found places in prague, but it wasn't in "old prague" and i said that was okay, but she gave me an address to try, and so i walked for another 45 minutes trying to find this place, and it was a fucking bead store.

BEADS.

AREN'T.

BUTTONS.

Like wanting a replacement parrot and being offered a snail.

BEREFT OF BUTTONS.

Also i got lost.  

In a zoo.

For about an hour.

because of course i did.  

And in my defense, i didn't even want to go to the fucking zoo.  if i wanted to see sad animals in captivity, i could do that at home.  There was a chance to see a palace and a tower and the palace was smaller than the one we saw on friday, but i would MUCH RATHER SEE A BUILDING I'LL NEVER HAVE A CHANCE TO SEE AGAIN THAN ANIMALS CONFINED IN PLACES THEY SHOULDN'T BE.  

The worst part is that we were on the way out when i got lost.  so everyone else got to eat lunch while i was trying to find the fucking exit and following vague-ass directions and not being able to read the signs because they were in Czech.  Finally, Piotrek gave up trying to text me directions "we're by the polar bears."  "i don't know where that is."  "it's up over the hill and then you go straight."  "i'm by the chair lifts again.  do you mean that hill?"  "Just go down that hill and head for the other side."  "...okay...  I'm by the exit but i don't see you.  this is where i was before."

He called me "Where are you?"  "I'm up the hill from the elephants."  "I'll be there in five minutes, just stay where you are."  "okay."

20 minutes later and it begins to thunder.  "I'm by the elephants and you are not here.  What is the animal closest to you?"  "I guess the deer are closest, but i'm up the hill from the elephants.  i honestly do see them.  I see the Hindu and Thai bits, i can just come to you."

10 minutes later we listen to the thunder and are walking back and I mutter "this is exactly like when you had to fetch me in zakopane." and he goes "at least it's not slippery." 

But then later it was raining and it GOT slippery.

bitches.

Piotrek, about to run the gauntlet.  (he is such a good sport)

what's opera, Krak?

my head feels like it weighs 40 lbs and i just want to sleep.  But i can't because i have 2.5 hours of Polish ahead of me.  And i almost feel bad, because i 100% suspect the prof knows how terribly frustrated i am, because she now gives me extra attention when we do exercises in class and she's finally given me some extra papers to work off of, and we're moving a little bit away from conjugation and into family members.  and all of those sound like russian ones, so i'm mostly okay.

Spring has sprung up in Krakow, and it was a beautiful day today.  60s or so and blue skies to make crayola weep.  I sat awhile, but then i went to get some clothes for the opera.  Europe plus sizes are smaller that american plus sizes.  I have a 2x bust, a 1x waist, and a 3x ass.  I'll have to turn a pair of my jeans into cutoffs, because i'll never find shorts that fit, here.

ευχαριστώ

I haven't been doing much the past few days.  It's the weekend before all my major travelling will happen, so it's a little like sitting and waiting for the bus.  You know it's not going to be there for a while, but you're impatient to get started.  Honestly I feel a little guilty about any weekend at all that i don't spend travelling, because it feels like a waste of time.  Which it shouldn't.  Honestly, travelling is complicated and expensive and stressful.  But it's just that i don't know when i'm ever going to travel outside of the US again.  

I will never understand "why are you here."  Ever.  I mean, i know it's a small-talk question, and it's easy to say "Jestem studentka universitet jagiellonska"  and then people can dip right into "oh what are you studying"  and i will know they are saying this only because of the word "interessant" (which i think is similar to German, actually?) and i can tell them "Sociology, i Psychology" and then i think finish that up with "a ty?" but that's probably wrong.  So i get the purpose a la social scripting.  

But honestly.  It's fucking travelling.  Why wouldn't i be here?

This is the sunset from the road away from Piastowska street, where the student dorms are.  Everyone shortens it to Piast, tho.  There's a really awesome wall with a ton of art on it, which i will make a specific trip to take pictures of.  There's one picture that has a skull on a stack of books and it said "Let me be gone and live or stay and die." from Romeo and Juliet.  VERY COOL.

I was there because a polish boy asked me to help him.  He's organized a company that teaches people english in order to help their careers (like with being lawyers or whatever) and wants to work with people to help them sounds as naturally fluent as possible.  He asked me specifically to send him a list of 40 words/phrases used in public speaking, and asked me to speak a little 7-minute speech about anything.  Especially with regards to being a military daughter.  

Luckily it was an informal speech, so most of it was ad-libbed.  One of the things he said was that sometimes polish people complain about how many wars america starts.

"Well i don't know how many we actually start, we just sort of end up with our dick in everything."

"Why didn't you send this in your list of phrases to use?"

"because you wanted PUBLIC speaking.  Otherwise i could've also sent you 'i did not have sex with that woman' 'i am not a crook' and 'where would this country be, without this land of ours?'"

But he offered me 20pln for each hour i worked, and instead of just paying me for one hour, he paid me for two.  and when i was like "oh but i thought it was jut one hour?"  he insisted "no, you earned this.  and if you ever come back and want a job, you will always have a place in this company."  So that was really super awesome.  :3

The presidential elections for Poland are in May, but that's not what this army of portapotties is here for.  Apparently there's also a Cracov-Marathon happpening. 

incidentally, that tower there has a restaurant in its basement.  all of the stonework looks original and the doors are super short and medieval.  I mean i can't tell masonwork from dugouts or adobe but if i had to guess i would at least guess a century or two, if it isn't original. 

The food was a little expensive, but good.  It was nice to go to the Krakow equivalent of an applebees, as opposed to a cheap diner.  :)

I was hanging out with a couple of cool greek girls and they offered me some chocolate.  it's dark chocolate, and it's got the prettiest wrapper (i save a piece for you, mom!  i asked specially!)  One of them, Aretina, got super-excited when i told her that i was going to greece/athens, and she insisted that she would show me around!  She also told me that i will NEED to buy some shorts and a bathing suit and summer clothes.  She also told me she might be able to show me WHERE i could purchase such things.

While we talked, i asked a little about the greece economic crises and asked about what happens if greece has to declare bankruptcy, and how it affects them.  I also asked if it was insensitive to be curious, but they kind of insisted that they have been pelting me with questions about america, so it was fine to field some, too.  (i'm paraphrasing).  they said they don't think that the rest of the EU will let greece fall, because there is no plan written in for if one country goes bankrupt.  which means that if greece falls, the entire EU falls.  Which i knew abstractly, but it somehow meant more coming from someone FROM greece.

Now if only it didn't feel like China was just building up and building and building up like collecting 500 years' worth of 7 extra men at the beginning of every turn.

Beautiful lighting and the left southern of the portapotty regiment

wall paper at the pub i went to last night

selfie with one of my favorite people here

curly hair!

more nice lighting.  soft, rather than bright.

Today i have homework to do.  And a roommate that's...  working through some issues?  And so i'm staying in.  I need to do my polish homework, read a couple of essays, and write an outline for a research paper for my holocaust class.  the paper i'm writing is called "Laughing in the face of: How satire and comedy help heal societies".  I'm going to talk a lot about the producers, a movie called Life is Beautiful, and if i can find it, a movie called "Train of Life."

I have to find it, first.

My dad wants to read it when i'm done writing it.  <3