Birthday, Thanksgiving and Mexico

Wow, What a month it has been so far and it is not even half over. I have a lot to cover so I'll start with Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is also Eduardo's birthday. Since it is not a holiday here we decided to celebrate his birthday on Thanksgiving and have the actual dinner the Saturday after.

I worked the night before Thanksgiving which was a mistake. Since I work at night, I also forget to request off the day before the actual day I need off and the actual day as well. So, I was tired but couldn't sleep knowing Eduardo was waiting for me to get up. After I got up and got showered and ready, we headed out. Our first stop was this little wine place that we recently discovered. The place it self is not that interesting but the lady who works there is more than entertaining. We first went there about 2 weeks before. She entertained us for a couple hours and we probably had too many glasses of wine. She is the type that can talk and talk and when you talk she has no interest. In fact, when I was talking she was texting. Non the less, she told us her life story, why she has been divorced, how she escaped Serbia during the war, how to raise kids properly, why she smokes, how sex shouldn't be taboo, why she works at this place only part-time ETC... It was great listening to her. So this time we figured she would be working again. However, when we showed up it was empty and there was some young guy working, so we kept walking with no destination in mind. On the way Eduardo got some birthday wish telephone calls.

We ended up at this little French cafe named Chez Marcel. Eduardo had some wine and I had some coffee. While at the cafe I got a call from my mom and dad wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving. Very nice. After the cafe we headed to our favorite restaurant in Prague; Osteria De Clara (www.daclara.com The web site has some of the recipes). This place is by far the best food in Prague and BY FAR the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to in my life. It is a small restaurant owned by a Czech woman and her English husband. Not the exact nationality recipe you would expect for a great Italian restaurant. However, it is to die for. The menu constantly changes, it's always seasonal. The service is always great, even though they always act like to get a table is impossible and its not. They now know us very well and will make our favorite dishes even if they are not currently on the menu. We ate way too much and I was so sleepy after dinner, drinks and dessert. I got Eduardo a really cool lite jacket about 2 months ago for his birthday. I gave it too him shortly after I bought it. I am no good at keeping presents until the proper day. As soon as I buy it I think that person should get it. Plus, I always find an excuse why the person needs it now instead of 2 months later. This time my excuse was, "It is a light jacket that would get better use in September and October rather than at the end of November" He really liked it.

Black Friday has no meaning here in the CZ. But for me it was Thanksgiving shopping day. So to Tesco (supermarket) I went for all the fixings. Originally Thanksgiving was supposed to be held at our friends Heather and David's. Unfortunately, they broke up a week before so of course I held it. Awkwardly enough they both came to dinner anyway even though it wasn't awkward. I am still contemplating weather this whole break up thing was just a way to get out of Thanksgiving. ;)

Dinner was great. I got some help from some of my mom's recipes. Some friends from work came along with David and Heather and Lizzie showed up late and drunk. After dinner we listened to music drank some more and chatted. All is all it was a really nice night and I think everyone had a great time.

Tuesday December 1,2009

Eduardo was working early in the morning on his computer because he was on call and got a call. He got an email from his niece telling him that his dad had had a heart attack and was in intensive care in the hospital. Clearly this was a shock and a surprise. After Eduardo talked to some of his relatives, things looked positive and his dad was conscious and well. However, the Dr commented that his spirits were low. Eduardo went to work and was staying there late to be able to call Mexico on Tuesday morning there time to see if there was any news and talk to his mom. When he called his mom told him the news that his dad had died in the morning after having 2 more heart attacks.

After I heard the news from Eduardo I went into "get things done mode" and or shock and would be there for the next 6 days. I looked for tickets to Mexico, threw in some laundry, cleaned the house, packed my bag and got Eduardo's ready for packing. called my work, switched my shifts and then smoked a cigarette. Whenever something like this happens I don't think you really feel the full impact of it until much later, especially when it happens and your 4,000 miles away. The news hit us like a tons of bricks.

I wasn't able to get off work for that night and I had a really painfully slow night. My mind was somewhere else and guest's needy questions just seemed so petty and pointless to me. After my night, I went home and could really only sleep for about an hour. Did my three s's plus breakfast and off we went. On the way to the tram stop I bought some Chocolate for Eduardo's family. THEY LOVE CHOCOLATE!!! Last time we went I bought some but ate it all on the place :p (hey, its a long flight from here to Mexico) So this time I felt like I really owed it to them. Plus, anything that could maybe bring a smile. Our flight was with Air France and we went from Prague-Paris-Mexico. 2 hours to Paris, 1 hour in Paris and 12 hours to Mexico.

I have to say that no matter what the situation, I love flying. Just being in an airport is exciting. So many people from all over the wold all going to places all over the world for so many different reasons. I felt a little guilty for being excited to fly on this trip and it definitely didn't feel as good as normal.


After arrival, it was straight to the funeral. Then in the morning it was straight to the cremation place, then a lunch with a lot of family members. This was all terribly sad and after a night of working, another day of flying it was emotionally exhausting as well. Even though it was sad and the reason for us being in Mexico wasn't ideal. It felt good to be surrounded by family.

The whole trip in Mexico was a whirl wind. Our time was spent with his Mother and helping her and other family members. We sat and talked a lot and just remembered Eduardo's father. One thing that I didn't like was the endless stream of visitors coming to the house to pay their respects. In my opinion, pay your respects at the funeral. It was 2 days long and there was plenty of time for grieving. The constant flow of neighbors, friends and old co-workers just kept reminding everyone of the loss. It was painful to see his mom brought to tears every time. I am not saying that his death should be forgotten, just grieving time had passed.

I feel grateful that I met George. He was always so kind and always tried to make me feel welcome in his home. I will always remember when I first arrived to Mexico, he talked and talked and talked to me in Spanish not caring for one second that I didn't understand him. That was him though, he talked to everyone and anyone about everything. He was more than accepting of Eduardo's and I relationship even if it took him some getting used to. For him family truly came first and nothing could ever keep a family member from being welcomed in his home. I am glad that Eduardo had a chance to let his dad know who he really is and I am also glad that I knew enough Spanish so that I got to converse with George. Mexico will never be the same when I visit or live there next. He will be missed.

Happy Czech Independence day!!!!

As you can see from the title, today is Independence day in the Czech Republic. 20 years ago today Czechs got their freedom. It's crazy to me that it was only 20 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't get to participate much in the festivities as I worked last night, all night and slept until about 2pm today. Eduardo went to a museum in morning that is dedicated to young Czech art that was made after the end of communism. After I woke up I had some re-fried beans for breakfast thanks to Eduardo, yum! After I ate and checked my email we watched Glee and then relaxed on the couch. In the evening, before work we went out for a lite dinner to this vegetarian restaurant. Neither of us are much for vegetarian food as we love meat but there are two vegetarian restaurants in Prague that have amazing food and atmosphere for pretty cheap prices; Lehká Hlava (clear head) and the other Maitrea . After we ate we walked together to my work. This is something that I love in Europe, we walk everywhere. It's so easy and so convenient and I will miss this wholeheartedly when we leave Europe. On our way to my work we walked through some of the events going on for the holiday. They had a concert going on a parade (more like a march of students and people protesting communism) and of course fireworks.

I say, "of course" because fireworks are so common here. I'd say at least once a month there are some going off somewhere in the city for some reason. Guests at the hotel are always asking, "why there are fireworks"? Most of the time I have no idea. I usually make something up as I hate to disappoint. To me answering, "I don't know" alludes the idea that I don't care. So I say something like, "Big soccer match" or if they look like they know something about soccer or like they know nothing about this area then I would say, "it's an old Czech king's birthday". (so far no one has caught me, well no guest) The guest's reaction of, "oh wow, that is interesting" is so much better than, "how do you not know?" Once there were fireworks going off in front of the hotel on the river bank. I told the guests that it was the birthday of the mayor of this municipality in Prague. They were all satisfied with that answer and probably went home and told that story to their friends and family. The way I look at it is, I create a story to along with the fireworks. By doing this I make the fireworks more memorable to them. In turn making their whole experience in Prague better and more memorable. It really is a service I am providing them. Hopefully they don't go home and check the facts. ;)

Back to independence day... There were riot police everywhere toting German shepherds to prevent the skin heads and commies from really having a word in the days events and to prevent them from getting out of hand. It all seemed pretty peaceful and I didn't hear of anything violent...but then again I was asleep for most of the day. I am happy for the Czechs and happy that they are so proud to have stood up against the communist. So lets eat some Svičková drink some pivo and Na zdraví!!!

A hotel by the River or a River in the hotel....

I currently work at a hotel in Prague. I started working here about a year ago after I was laid-off from my commercial property management job. The hotel has nice rooms but things are less than organized and usually some crazy events are going on. For example, last night two very young American couples, each with a young baby were drinking late in the bar. Judging by their loud conversation level, the girls were shit faced. As the guys got fed up with the girl talk and headed up to bed with babies in tow. The girls proceeded to drink and get drunker and drunker. Their fellow patrons at the the bar were getting quite fed up with their "OMGs", "NO WAYs", "BTWs", "WTFs" and of course their using of "LIKE" for every other word. As the bar emptied the girls continued to gossip about pointless things until they got into a tiff. The tiff was short and mostly consisted of "I told you I am not talking about it", "Shut up you mean bitch" and "I am going to bed". They both headed to bed. On the way past the reception, girl "B" briefly mentioned to girl "A" that she was feeling a little sick....

Girl "A" showed back up at reception about 10 minutes later asking if they could have a couple a bottles of wine delivered to their room. Considering it was late, she was slurring, her eyes were half open and she tripped her way up to the reception. I falsely fulfilled her drunken desires with empty promises of two bottles of chardonnay within five minutes. She left swaying and went to her room and clearly passed out. 10 minutes later I had to go to bathroom. As I approached the bathroom I saw a river of water pouring from under the door of the woman's bathroom and into the hallway. I immediately think, girl "B"!?!?!

Our conversation:
Me: Knock
Girl B: Who is it?
Me: Why is their water coming from under the door? What are you doing in there?
Girl B opens door to reveal herself and the bathroom covered in pinkish orange vomit. The smell is humid and atrocious. She is trying to wash herself up but in her drunken state she has turned the overly powerful facet on full power. There is about 2 inches of standing water in the bathroom which has now mixed together with her vomit. It's too much, she is now crying and I just shut the door and walk away.

I stated thinking, What am I going to do? Luckily, I remembered that this girl is with a guy and sadly a baby. Even better I remembered her room number. So I call.

Conversation between me and guy:

Guy: Uh, Hello (he was asleep)
Me: UM....yeah, one of the girls in your group is drunk, naked, vomiting and flooding our bathroom. I think that someone needs to come down and assist her.
Guy: SHIT, Uh...ok.

10 minuets pass and he stumbles down from his room with the baby in tow. I escort him to the shit show and leave them be. From the reception I can hear him screaming at her, calling her names and asking her those questions that people ask you when you do something stupid that you think are rhetorical but they actually do want an answer.

After I hear them get in the elevator I go and view the scene. It is a disaster, a real mess. One that I don't think I can stomach to clean up. Then I remember, wait...I work at a hotel. We have housekeeping. YeSSS!!! Then I come out my fantasy dream and realize I work in the hotel by the river and that night time housekeeping has been eliminated long ago. I then think of the alternatives. Bell boy? Na, he wont do it. His pay is so low that he'd rather quit. Leave it for the morning? Na, too many questions to answer later and I can't risk loosing this job. So mop and bucket, broom and dust pan (for the chunks)I haste fully cleaned up the mess.

The next morning the girl apologized to my colleges and then complained about how expensive the hotel bar is.....

Go Rollingstone

When I think about my life, I think about those rolling stones in death valley. (http://brucewaynehart.com/wordpress/wp-content/movingstones42.jpg) The ones that seem to move when no one is looking. They move all over and they don't even seem to know how they got to their current location; yet they go without complaint and seem to enjoy themselves.

The Czech Republic is our third country in 3 years. Since we (my partner and I) are approaching our second year here I thought it was time to document our somewhat exciting life. I look back and I am dissapointed that I didn't start earlier but now is better than never. I hope you will enjoy my postings.