I've been waking up in a lot of unfamiliar places lately. I usually spend the first few moments of my day trying to retrace my steps and piece together the previous night's (or morning's) events. This morning was certainly no exception. There was a television blaring in Czech and intermittant female giggling. I attempted to open my eyes but only experienced a sharp stinging sensation, as I had neglected to remove my contacts. I felt (and probably looked) like a baby shrew that was born only moments before.
I finally pried my eyes open to face the overwhelming blinding light. That's right -- I remembered these girls. There was a German guy too but he must've left. Oh damn, my head was spinning. Still wasted?
I started hoping it wouldn't be too awkward talking to these two Czech girls I had met only hours previously. I began speaking but they only stared back at me blankly. After a few more attempts, they erupted in laughter then unleashed monologues of indecipherable Czech. For the first time since arriving in Prague, I was legitimately pissed at myself for not paying more attention in the "Czech intensive" class. Up to this point, everyone I associated with knew at least some English. These girls sure as shit didn't.
How had I hung out with these girls for an entire night without having a single coherent exchange? Well, there was a lot of dancing and the shots just kept on coming. I had befriended this German guy who spoke fluent English and had lived in California for a while. We talked politics and I explained that George Bush didn't represent me or my generation. This is something I usually quickly clarify with most Europeans I meet. The German guy was saying something about the effect of the Nazis on the Germans' conscience but I couldn't hear too much over the thumping techno beats.
The German and I hung out by the bar pounding beer. A few times, we thought the Czech girls had ditched us, but they'd always return and drag us out onto the dance floor. Finally, around 5 AM they led us away from the club and onto the Metro. We rode for what felt like an eternity as we headed into the outskirts of Prague. These sections of town are far less aesthetically pleasing and more symbolic of Prague's old communist "Eastern bloc" past.
We continued the party at the girls' apartment, passing a bottle of wine around until we all passed out. By the time I left the place today, I felt oddly infatuated with the girl I had hit it off with. We were incapable of saying anything at all to one another. I guess most human communication is non-verbal. When she gave me her number I discovered that her name was Inna. I thought maybe I'd call her and ask her to go to a movie or go to dinner or something. Then I realized the futility of it all -- the purpose of calling people is to speak to them. The same goes for dating. I guess I need to find a girl with all of Inna's qualities with the only addition being the ability to formulate sentences in English.
Anyway, I hope to write in this blog a decent amount about a variety of topics. I'm sure many entries will be random stories from my travels, but I've also been following the American election very closely. I might write about movies or books too. Be sure to check back up and if you feel the inclination, leave a comment.
Image: ABSINTH
No comments:
Post a Comment