Big Man

Yesterday was pretty mellow. So mellow that I am finding it hard to remember what I did during the day. Let’s see…

Ah yes. I went to the Institute early because I had to go to a meeting. When I got there, I was only needed for a total of 5 minutes and since I hadn’t considered what to do with the rest of my day, I just researched a variety of things for the Scotland trip, as well as a mean recipe for dinner, until my Philosophy class.

I forgot to mention that before the meeting, Matt and I had to go get tickets for the Wilco concert at the actual venue. While we were leaving the ticket booth, we walked past this woman who was holding her child up and lifting his or hers legs up in order to allow for her to pee perfectly into a rain gutter. I’m talking like a stream of pee was flinging through the air into the drain. That would never fly in America—no pun intended.

Philosophy finally arrived and my teacher makes me a little uncomfortable. I won’t get into that, though. There are only 5 of us in the class and homeboy (the teacher whose name I cannot pronounce) expects a lot out of us. It’s mostly heavy questions and empty silences.

In other news, I made the dankest dinner last night. I didn’t want to trek all the way back to the pension and then go out to eat, so instead I trekked to the grocery store with my ingredients for Lemon Pasta Something or another. The first obstacle I had to overcome was trying to find everything in the Czech language. Luckily, I Google-translated everything, but cream cheese was just a bit more challenging than the other stuff.

I got back to the Institute, brewed my lemon cream cheese pasta extravaganza (which made angels sing when it touched your tongue), and then headed back home. I practically sprinted on my way back because it was dark and rainy outside- the perfect formula for a horror film. At one point, I went upstairs and found some people playing cards. I convinced them to change the game to Asshole and then everything got a bit more intense. I went from asshole to President by the time we finished playing and let me tell you, it was an epic journey. Anyways, the moral of that story is that I began to drink and was ready to go out for some more. Finally, we all decided to hit up Puerto Rico for just a little while.

When we got there, we ran into two guys from our program so we all joined a table. I was drinking a Mojito but before I knew it, it was gone. Oy vey. But the conversation we were having was so funny that I didn’t want to leave yet, so of course, I had to get another drink. I bought a daiquiri next. This lead to me discussing senior week stories. Memorieeeees. The best part about all of this is what I learned about everyone else. Technically, we were playing Truth or Dare, but no one wanted to do dares because if they declined it, they would have to get a zit (courtesy of Jennie Cohen), therefore, we just played Truth.

We all went back a little while after the original curfew we gave ourselves. You can’t put a stop to good conversation, can you? Zach and James have been documenting every night with a video in the bro pad upstairs. I was lucky enough to guest star in last night’s episode. Stay tuned.

This morning, I had to go in early again for a meeting. It was about the Paris trip that I am going on this weekend with the fashion students. I’m pretty excited for it; however, I don’t think I’m very prepared for how much it will end up costing me. Prague is so cheap that I am getting severely spoiled by living here. I noticed that when I was looking for places to stay in Scotland, I was so dissatisfied by the prices because in the Czech Republic, I am a king among kings. Or queens. Whatever.

I had my Czech class and learned a new phrase.

Ten muz ma maly problem. It means, “This man has a small problem.” I don’t understand why she decided to teach us this phrase in particular, but we all giggled like middle schoolers. Later in the class, the teacher (whose name I can pronounce- Lenka) was talking about a bar called “Small Glen” (except in Czech). I asked her if Small Glen had a small problem in Czech.

And now I’m sitting here doing laundry. This laundry place is filled with Americans who I assume are also studying abroad. I was planning on striking up a conversation, but I accidently fell asleep instead. When I woke up, they were gone.

Tonight I am going to a Wilco concert. Gahhhhhhhh. Put THAT into your laundry machine and wash it. I am going with Matt and this dude from NYU that we met in Cesky Krumlov. Look forward to that sweet blog tomorrow.

I am a hot mess at this whole blogging thing this week. I apologize.

So, the Wilco concert was LEGIT. They didn’t allow smoking in the main venue space. I don’t know why that’s the first comment I had to make about it, but I felt that it was a small step for humanity, but a leap for mankind (is that how the phrase goes?). Anyways, the guitarist looked exactly like Art, so that became my main source of entertainment. Wilco played just about every song I know by them. Dannyboy Friedman- their live version of Via Chicago was deadly.

I can’t think of any good stories from during the day. I am in a pattern of going to the institute, eating lunch (I’m still living off of my pasta), going to class all afternoon, and then going out to dinner. Oh wait just a second! Yesterday, I went to the City of Prague Museum with my History of Fashion Class. We went to a 3D showing of a paper model of the entire city. I have never been so tripped out before. We took a little gander throughout the entire city. We saw some skulls and shit, too. Not too shabby.

Here is the highlight of my week: Today in Czech class, we were learning how to say, “I am looking for…” Well, the teacher said, “how do you say ‘I am looking for a big man.” I started giggling. Becca did a little, too. Then, when I looked at the vocab sheet to respond to her, I looked at the wrong word and instead said aloud, “I am looking for a bad man.” The teacher looked shocked. She goes “WHAT?! YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A BAD MAN?! Ohh ne ne. I asked you to say I am looking for a big MAP.” Oops. Becca heard her incorrectly, too, so it wasn’t just me.

In case you were wondering how to say it, it is “Hledam spatnou muz.”

Last night was Maggie’s birthday, so most of us went out to dinner at Ordinary World. I got this spinach and broccoli bowl that made babies cry because of how delicious it was. Next, we split up and some of us headed to the Old Town Square for a music concert we heard about. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, it was already over (but it was only 9:30pm. BOOO). That didn’t stop us from having a good time. I made a new friend named Michael. He was Czech and Sketch. Just kidding mostly about the sketch part because he was really funny. The first thing he said to me was, “Hi, I love you.” Sorry Dad, I couldn’t help myself from finding the man of my dreams.

Anyways, he convinced us to follow him to the Hard Rock Café. We followed- some were more reluctant than others because we could go to the same bar in America- but it ended up being awesome. At least I had a great time. There was this Czech band doing American rock covers. Imagine “Sweet Home Alabama” with a European accent. Yes, please. At one point, Michael- who had been pursuing both Echo and I throughout the evening- came up to me and said, “Let me buy you a drink.” Of course I obliged, but when we returned with it, he said to me, “I need to tell you something.” I couldn’t handle bad news. I had just found the love of my life and now he was going to admit that he was going to die or something.

Don’t worry, he wasn’t going to die. He just wanted to tell me that he has found the “one,” and it wasn’t me. Hahah, Echo was the “one.” Suddenly, all of my dreams and hopes were crushed and I had to compensate for it by dancing on top of the bar. It was worth it. At one point, Rocio realized that if we left right at that moment and sprinted, we could still make the metro before it closed. This is the climactic moment in the night. Imagine three drunk girls sprinting for dear life in the middle of busy Praha screaming, “METROOOOOOOOOO.” It seemed very dramatic in my memory, at least. We made it just in the knick of time. That, and we made new friends on the metro. I can’t remember their names but they were 29-year-old Spaniards. We talked in Spanish the entire metro ride back and then got invited to their housewarming party in two weeks. Too bad we never got the address…

Um, let’s see. Rocio, Echo and I ended up having intense conversations about life, etc on the way back after we left the Spaniards and then we ended back at the Pension. Hurrah! But the night did not end, no. I was hanging out with Jenny in the computer lounge when I realized I had a friend request from Bryan Brooks! I was really excited about it so I attempted to wake him up to celebrate our new-founded relationship via facebook. I chickened out as I crawled up to his door and started to butt-slide the stairs when I found Matt and Chris!

Chris disappeared, but a handful of 10-year-olds replaced him. I have no idea where they came from, but Matt decided to plow his way through their huddle with a very French, “parrrrdon.” I couldn’t help but die laughing. I’m still laughing just thinking about those 10-year-old children. Hahah who are they?

I am supposed to be in drawing class right now but I was excused from it today since I leave for Paris in 30 minutes. I’m a little guilt-ridden for not going to class for at least a little while since all I’ve been doing in the meantime is blogging. Oh Iris.

I won’t have a computer while I’m in Paris, so I’ll update this bad boy in due time. Au Revouir! (Did I spell that correctly?)