Writers block is broken... for now

     Today is Mikuláš day in the Czech Republic  and it was an interesting day to say the least, walking to the metro I almost ran into an effigy of the Pope. Yes that is correct the Pope :) He was accompanied by one Devil and one Angel this apparently is Saint Nicolas for the Czech People.

      The saints back in the day used to wear the same big fancy hats like our Pope today apparently according to my Czech roommate. Either way being in a busy metro station and seeing a woman wielding a long metal chain is always a little bit intimidating. Also being in the thick of the festive crowd and not having any idea what was going on is a little thrilling in itself. Thoughts ran rampant through my mind.. "what are they doing?" "Can I take a picture of this? Would it be rude?" "Are these teenagers in costume???" Yes by the way, they are :) It was strange to say the least but it makes for memorable moments in Prague with the promise of many more to come.

    This city is one giant anomaly in the world... It makes me really wish I had grown up here. It is the little things they do that make it such and amazing city tho.. for instance the fact that teenagers actually enjoy celebrating tradition with terrifying children and then subsequently comforting them with the promise of sweets and toys from Saint Nick. When you are in a small shop trying to make exact change and you are a few CZK/Koruna (pronounced like Corona the delicious Mexican beer) short they would rather just take your little bills then cash one of your big one (money is a bit weird here) Sales tax is added onto all the grocery items all-ready so you can have exact change when you go to the cashier, and that bread is baked all day long because everyone loves bread... even the dogs seem happier here.


      I wish I could fit a bit better. I would love to live here but I feel my life pulling me in another direction. I will not listen to what will be best financially for me (the original reason I had for going to college) I will be following my heart.. my soul. It is so important to be truly happy in what you do on this planet. I will not waste any more time doing something I hate. I refuse. And though this is not going to work out in the long run for me here I feel I have learned a lot about myself and my limits and loves that this trip was worth every penny. I don't know how much more traveling will be said in this blog but for sure it will follow my velocity of life and that is one scary somebitch :) I can only hope you will enjoy my further ventures and mistakes and hopefully learn a little something for yourself from them. Adios Ahoy Aloha.... TaTa..

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    I would also like to take this moment to point out that this morning I learned to poach an Egg.... Impressive I know :) I would like to thank the movie Julia Julia for first showing me that hey wait I don't know how to do that and then subsequently challenging me to figure it out!!! MUAHAHAAA!!!

Pizza time in the Czech Republic

Most recent and 2nd favorite Pizza so far..

    I would like to talk of something that has been on my mind since I arrived here in Prague and it is something that I have been struggling to understand.. Pizza. Now originally I saw my first slice on a crazy night out and I was so impressed because it was MASSIVE! However that can be a deceptive mistress, size. Because although this piece of pizza was almost larger than my head I think that if one crumpled it up into a little ball my fist would probably be larger… (I’ve got freak tiny hands as well..) the cheese was non-existant on my peperoni pizza and by the time I finished my pizza I was seriously contemplating E-mailing the owners of Zeeks Pizza to see if they wanted to get a little something something going on over in Prague cause if they weren't going to do anything about this grotesque lack of crust and cheese I was going to have to take matters into my own hands and I was never the best pie cook on the line!

    However I was saved from almost certain failure by my new friend and roommate Wendy who after hearing my Pizza laments helped me order a whole pizza (they defiantly do not call Pizza's "pies" over here) and I found out that here in Prague a Pizza does not feed a family or four like it does in the states. Oh. You get your own pie!! WHAT! Yes! It is much smaller than i'm used to, probably closer to a medium pizza size, but when its just you the size doesn't really matter! Nor is there any of that fighting over the odd last slice out and compromising on toppings :) Oh it was absolutely fantastic! I got myself a veggie Pizza (garlic, spinach, broccoli, and fancy cheese with an olive oil base) with prosciutto added :) I love doing that with pizza get a veggie pie and add meat. Wendy looked at me kinda funny but shrugged and ordered the pizza. We went and grabbed it and practically ran home! (not really but it is true that we were very excited for said pizza) I wish I had grabbed a picture of that fantastic Pizza before it was expertly devoured :) this one up here was tasty but a surprise! I live out on the edge of Prague proper so none of the shops in the area speak English, which normally isn't a problem except when you want to know what is on your pizza... So Basil and shrimp it is! It was okay.. really really wish I had a picture of the other one it was amazingly fantastic! But this will do, at least you can see what it was I was eating :)

Class Time!!

Sculpture on grating at Prague Castle- Random-

    So it appears that my young learner class (students about 10 years old, if that didn't make sense) was not today as I thought it was. Oh well. Now I have one solid young learners lesson plan that I can use for later.. The lesson planning is by far the hardest part of teaching. Doesn't help that the teacher I'm teaching under doesn't like me very much, not that I can blame her. The only interaction she had with me was that I was late for my first class and then to top it off I spoke too fast for the children half the time :( Crap, maybe I would make a lousy teacher. Or maybe I was nervous as hell!! and when i'm nervous I speak fast... crap..

    This is a lot more stressful than I thought it was going to be. Even the visa process is a head-ache. I'm going to have to go to the American embassy and swear that I have no criminal background, then go get the equivalent of 6,000 USD into my new Czech bank account and then its off to Berlin to the Czech embassy to apply for my trade license :) Then I bring all that paperwork (and the lease from my new flat) to this office in Old Town square with a someone who can speak Czech (preferably a native Czech person) cause they won't speak English. 

    And you had better hope you have everything in order cause if you don't they will send you away and the place is only open two days a week! Its mostly just annoying red tape except for the Berlin bit which is just ridiculous!! However I have friends in Dusseldorf so maybe I will visit with them. Course I said I'd be there over the Christmas Holiday and it's not really there yet.

    So yeah everything is so up in the air at the moment and when stuff like that happens with me I get more forgetful than average, which for me is a very bad thing indeed. So far I have lost my hat and my scarf... lets hope I can keep it down to just that.

I'm in!!!

My Kitchen!!!

    Its official! I have moved in! I unpacked my bags and even had an issue with the toilet already!! (That's between me and the toilet btw) It seems so surreal, I don't know what to make of it...

   Well let me tell you about the place, its a lovely apartment however you don't call it an apartment you call it a flat. Its got two rooms, mine and Wendy's a bathtub which has a shower curtain-ish so that way you can take a shower (shower curtains appear to be rare in flats in the Czech Republic) and a washing machine in the same room room, the toilet however is separate, which if you think about it... that makes a heck of a lot of sense.. If I ever get around to building my house that's how I'm going to do it. The living room is nice and big and the fridge is hidden in a closet :) yep that's right! Its in a quiet part of town but that is no problem for me cause I have my awesome pass for public transportation! And let me tell you something about the metro tram and bus over here... Its fantastic!!! The only reason you would ever need a car is if you have a weekend house out in the country, which a lot of people do around here (Another fantastic idea from the Czech People) I got a vodafone sim card for my phone so I have about a months worth of calling and text for... drum roll please.. 10 freakin dollars!!! Thats right! A sim with credit! 10 bucks! About 200 CZK (called krona pronounced like corona like the beer).

Food stuff....

I'm can be a hungry hungry hippo sometimes ('specially this week) and I refuse to eat at Hostel Plus so I've been living on delicious snack fodder!!! NAM NAM NAM just wanted to talk about some of the more memorable ones for a quick min :) 

These puffed peanuts taste like Resses Peanut butter Cups... 

without the chocolate.. :(

To go with my meal I had Sausages :)
I know REALLY nutritional right...

The day before that I gave the local subway- oh wait excuse me! Baguetteky a try

They have baguette sandwiches and potato wedge fries with tarter sauce.. I liked subway more.. the bread here though I must say was spot on, the filling leaves something to be desired.. I need some more veggies..

And last but not least! We have for your viewing pleasure the overpriced sandwhich vending machine in the lobby of the hostel right where the KITCHEN SHOULD BE!!! gah... 

That is all... hopefully next time I will have more interesting things to write about :)

dobrý den!

Hostel Plus

October 30^th 2011

I think I may finally fave a place to stay!! I'm so excitied I hope that it works out. But all the best laid plans of mice and men right? If all works out I will be there on Thursday so some more nights in Hostel Plus... woo. Now I don't pretend to be a hostel expert by any stretch of the immagination but no kitchen? No area for hot water? You are going to make me pay as much for a beer as you would for hot tea??? No. No thank you sir. I understand this is one of the cheaper hostels, now I know why.

However the people coming through are very interesting. The turnover here is much higher than I have seen at any of the other hostels i've stayed in, which is a little strange for me. The last four days I've had three different groups of people in my little six bedroom dorm. The first couple nights were some crazy party people from Brazil and who were very nice but smelled like traveling boys... (note to all traveling boys out there, please wash your socks... they is pew..) The second night there was a gaggle of Chinese women with one man. Yes I belive gaggle is the word I will use for them. I've never "not spoken" to my room mates before that day, but every time I tried to communicate with them all I got was a blank stare. Which I wouldn't have minded if they really didn't speak english but when they were leaving they received two different calls in English... oh well fine. -On a side note I think that there should be a movie or documentary or something showing how some women get ready for a night out... it was like a Zoo.. very strange- The women and their token man left promptly at 9am and I must admit it was nice having the room to myself after having to share for so long. But once I was ready it was time for errands, so I loaded up my backpack to travel the city. Coming back after a long day of traveling around the city all I wanted to do was go to sleep, but when I opened the door I was greeted by one, two, no three Austrian boys here on a holiday weekend. They were couch surfers who didn't plan out their couches well enough and were now hostel bound. They were looking to go out and party it up, unfortunately for them they didn't realize that Prague sleeps on Sundays. Anything worthwhile is going to be closed and I warned them of the expensive beer and food to be had at the in house bar. So they putzed around and talked back and forth with grand plans of the city and then just plopped down to bed. Who will it be tomorrow I wonder??

Long cold nights of October the 23rd

I blame the majestic lady on top of the building..

Why is it easier for me to stay up all night and do normal errands the next day? Its as if the Czech Republic has cast a spell of different Zoe... whos' toes are freezing!!! Yikes! Its getting cold fast here!! This morning I found something interesting about living in a different country.. you know those crazy bums in the metro tunnels and on the streets, the ones who yell about how god will smite you and other incredibly horrible things... I can't understand them any more!! HA! Its nice to hear the crazy and just not worry cause you don't know if maybe the person is just mumbling about a grocery list or how shaved cats are going to eat your brains :) Life has lots of lovely little good moments!

..funny side note.. somehow my computer thinks I should be spelling in Czech and so when I went to spell check this document the whole thing lit up :) So if you notice a spelling error just let me know so I can correct it and not feel like a total idiot!

Always look on the bright side..

    Well I finally feel settled and then my life takes a turn. Well this is what I wanted right? Hell yes I did!! And tho I've run into some road bumps all in all its not too terribly bad. Yes having my wallet stolen really sucked, but after I got over the initial violation of it all it wasn't that bad. For one, they didn't get my passport, and two it has shown me new ways to up my personal security.
   Originally I had my wallet, passport and locker key on a purse that I slept with, which would have been just fine excepting the fact that I did not zip up the zipper on the purse that was available to me. So my hypothesis of what happened is that while sleeping and moving about as I do in the night I must have kicked my wallet out from my bed upon whence it fell upon a dangerous floor.. and into the hands of an opportunistic asshole...
   But bottom line is I only lost USD $211 not everything so all is well! From now on I will have my money split up between my luggage and only a small bit I will keep on my person. An expensive lesson yes, but it could have been much worse. And now I'm preparing for school and trying to figure out where to stay.

I cheated on this picture... this bit is from Amsterdam :)

   Originally I was prepared to stay in this hostel, despite the theft and the water in the shower that only sprays for 2 minutes before you have to depress the button again... yes I know. Really flippin' irritating. Its just like the old faucets that some of us had in elementary school and I suppose some Americans will remember then from all sorts of other venues, but bottom line is you just never get enough water. You push the button and then get your soap and then shit! No water! I understand the concept (its a form of water conservation) but I wish I could see myself naked with my head covered in shampoo so I dare not open my eyes fumbling for that little freakin' push button... yeah that was a fun first day here.
   However my reason for staying is leaving on Monday. I met a really nice Czech guy who has been teaching me a bit of Czech and I've been teaching him a bit of English. Its a good trade and he is from what I can tell a really good guy, and its nice to have a local friend. But he is running out of money himself so back home to Brno (still in the Czech Republic) just not Prague. So I think I will be moving on from here.. where to I do not know.. but that's how I'm rolling over in Europe! Keep you posted! Or at least try to!!

Musings for no good reason!

Yes I realize that I haven't posted since i left but its all on paper that i must transcribe it... so for those waiting here is some wisdom from my new friend Miroslav who has taken it upon himself to show me about the Czech Republic! :)

In English....
Just shape the experience of your soul, mind, and your body. The word has no power, but it acts. Walls not stand the word, but his hands. So do not be like a lot of uneducated people, but show that you have your head and your mind !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In truth you have to go. It will be a long way! But when you come to the end, you will be filled with everything! I went on that way, and now it's up to me if ever I reach the end .......

In Czech....
    Jen zkušenosti formujou tvou duši, mysl, a tvé tělo. Slovo nemá žádnou sílu, ale jsou to činy. Zeď nepostavíš slovem, ale rukama. Tak nebuď nevzdělaný jako hodně lidí, ale ukaž že máš svou hlavu a svůj rozum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Za pravdou musíš jít. Bude to dlouhá cesta! Ale když dojdeš na konec, budeš naplněn vším!! Ja se vydal na tu cestu, a teď záleží jen na mě jestli někdy dojdu do konce.......


He's a funny guy :)

A very bad day... October 20th 2011

Today is a very very bad day. I hate it. I hate it so much. I think it may be karma from being so harsh with the older man yesterday. Albeit he was being lazy and all the advice I gave him, he should really act on. But. Well shit. My wallet is gone. Yes gone. There is a little boy of about 19 years old in my room with a gambling problem. He doesn't wash up his dishes and he has no idea the value of money. Something went missing a few days ago as well right after he checked in, the men here think its him. It very well may be. They kicked him out. But then the old man was here as well and same with another shaddy character across the bunk from me (who had a large shopping spree today I might add) The bottom line is that I don't know what a thief who takes something away from other people looks like. My card hasn't been used yet. But my 4,000 czk is most definitely gone. Ouch. Expensive lessons can go bite my bumm. They could have just taken my money and left my wallet and card! Cause now I have no idea of how to get at my fundage... I'm going to have to email Neville the guy in charge of my course today and explain to him what happened so I can pay for my course at a later date. Why do they always have to take the whole fucking wallet?? My card hasn't been touched, no transactions off to cancel it now... today is shit.

To top it off
The old man in my dormortory has absolutely terrible gas... all day and all night long
A dear friend of mine is getting married to an asshole (found out this morning)
This place smells bad....

I miss Sir Tobys....

My bed is the one on the very top right hand corner next
to the wall, this a a deceptively appetizing picture, go
jogging and smell your sock afterwards... then make
the sheets all REALLY old... 

This hostel is well... awful... it smells terrible.. you have to push a button to get the water to come out... yes just like in some really annoying public bathrooms and yes just like in those annoying bathrooms the water will only last for a minuet and a half!!! What the hell!!! I miss my old hostel Sir Tobys... Oh well Senior Hostel you get me for one week then BAM! I'm out, room rented or not. If you want to know what hostel this is then E-mail me, the guys working there are really nice and I don't want them to know i'm talking smack about their hostel.. but it's seriously shit.