I found a flat!

I've found an apartment, not far from the center, fifteen minutes tops. Four of my roommates are Russian, one Italian. I use their computers; a task harder than it seems. The other day I tried to play backgammon on the Russian's, but all the directions, of course, were in Russian. I used the Italian's to upload my photos from my digital camera: Transfireti. Trial and error will get through about everything, digital and speaking.

I have a lost in translation story I must share before it blurs with the rest, because there's multitudes, believe me. I went to dinner with a friend. Asked her what she did over the weekend. She worked in the garden with her mother; her mother said she needed the fresh air (parental ruses obviously have no borders).

Really, I said, what exactly were you doing?

We were taking the stuff from the tree--what's it called? gesturing a stripping motion.

The bark?

No. Then we spent the afternoon doing this (gesturing a stirring motion).

Oh, I get it, you tapped the trees for sap, then stirred it into Maple syrup. Syrup, you know, you pour it on food.

Ne, ne, ne...usually we use cow or horse shit, and put it in the garden.

Wait, let me get this straight, you mixed Maple syrup with horse shit and put it in your garden? (At this point I was seriously questioning Czech customs).

Ne, ne, ne...the things that just fall...on the ground.

Leaves. She was churning leaves in the garden dirt. As the son of a tree farmer and an Oregonian, her and her mother's frivolous use of sap had me concerned. But...leaves as mulch is just fine. And, of course, less odd.

Back to my apartment. It has two bedrooms. I share one with the Italian. A big living room, with adjoining kitchen. A bathroom with a toilet. And a separate bathroom with a shower and washing machine. No dryer, so we hang our clothes on the radiators around the apartment. The first few nights were a little uncomfortable, since I didn't have a comforter or pillow. But after shopping and dropping 2300 or so CZK on a new comforter and pillow, plus the sheets a friend gave me, I've never slept better.

Here's some photos of the place:

That took a long time to upload, so I'm going to move onto pics other than the apt. But this is the kitchen. Humble and practical, a place for six to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Cooking. For one, I suck at it, so my menus are very limited. And two, when shopping, I cannot read anything. I've been spreading this creamy topping on my toast for the past week or so, only to find out it's not cream cheese, as I thought, but butter. Consuming massive loads of butter. My dinners so far: pasta with beans and carrots, french toast, eggs and toast, and pasta with butter. The Italian taught me the latter. Here's a pic of my most recent and favorite culinary delight: pasta and butter.

Last Friday or Saturday, there was a going away party for Cassandra, the girl who helped me get more work at a different school. I have plenty of hours to subsist. We'll see how comfortably I can live, but "subsist" I think is the correct word for now. Enough for food, rent, and the bar. What else do you need. I can go to Museums and play squash on it. But have to save to travel. I'd like to go to London for Christmas, but it's much cheaper to head east. Istanbul or maybe in Dracula's hometown. I'd love to go there. Back to the party. We drank wine at the girls apartment. Johnny stopped by but had to leave early for work, graveyard shift. But we posed for some photos before he bounced. Johnny's trying to break into the acting scene in Prague, so this is us striking our best thoughtful pose. Rodin's guy's got nothing on us.
We went out to bar, which the girls chose, which ended up being a bar/strip club in a separate room. And downstairs there was a dance floor. We smuggled in a bottle of Czech booze, but that didn't last long. The staff quickly snatched that off our table. The dance floor wasn't too bad, a mixture of house and hiphop. Here's one of me and a few of our crowd.

Tomorrow's my last day of the week. Usually I have a class on Friday, but it's Student holiday this Friday, for when students demonstrated against the Fascists, were imprisoned, many were killed.

The other night I had a great exchange with two Czechs, one was my friend and the other her childhood friend whom spent a year in Spain. It was a strange but effective language circle. Lenka and I speaking in English; he and Lenka in Czech; and he and I in Spanish. Around and around. Si, yes, ano. What? Que? Jaky?

And lastly, here's Marshka, the guinnea pig, our flat mascot. When she's happy, she makes a funny little sound, like high-pitched bubbles.