Neděle

Sunday.

I'm at the office writing up my review of that chick flick I saw yesterday, at the incredibly bright and shiny Nový Smíchov mall. So far I've been to four different theaters--the arthouses Kino Světozor and Evald, Atlas, and now this multiplex. You're assigned seats in the theater and not allowed in until 5 minutes prior. There are way more commercials than in U.S. theaters, so people were trickling in a good 15 minutes past showtime--now I know! I also know that the multiplex ticket costs nearly twice as much as the other places, naturally, but argh. I could've bought 5-7 pivos, in a bar, for the same price! All the American movie previews were in Czech, and I had a moment of dread that I hadn't read the schedule right, and had chosen a dubbed version instead of a subtitled one. "Česky titulky?" I asked the usher. He said "Ano" (yes), so I went back in to enjoy Katherine Heigl's very expressive face. Fortunately I could also understand her words. Being here working is interesting. I don't think many tourists are sitting in movie theaters in springtime Prague--actually, I know they aren't, because they're all on the Charles Bridge!

Still I'm thinking of myself as a tourist/visitor. I did go to an expat bar on Friday, to meet some co-workers. It was the 14th anniversary of the place and to celebrate, the bar staff (all female) were dressed like Snow White, Princess Jasmine, etc., and the chef made a burger about 3 feet in diameter. It was good times until I fell into a time warp and came out close to 2 a.m. listening to a string of horrible songs being karaoke'd impromptu. Metallica, Bananarama, Nickelback, a medley from the Grease soundtrack?! Czech men next to me were laboriously wresting cups made of ice from their molds, doing one shot of vodka from them, and tossing the cups they spent so much time on, in a fruit bowl. People smoking...I was used to the ban in Seattle. A man from Texas kept me company all night, but disappeared just as some middle-aged Englishmen proved to be no gentlemen. Time to leave. I hadn't figured out my night tram, so my colleague helped me get a taxi whose price was only mildly outrageous. I was drunk enough to try the street food Smažený sýr (fried cheese, usually camembert with mayo), but I didn't. I did go home and drunk-email some people though, and I regret it! Not having heard anyone's voice in two weeks is tripping me out. It feels like much longer.

Last night after the movie, I bought some tights and garish green sunglasses at H & M (there are 3 here, I keep running into them). Then I went down every aisle at Tesco trying to figure things out. Spices come in instant soup-sized paper packs. You can buy 20 kinds of pasta but only one kind of tomato sauce and the can is very small. Very little of the produce is refrigerated, and people can be seen contemptuously tossing back inadequate heads of broccoli. Apples are still not good anywhere. We only have one working burner on a hotplate, and no oven or microwave, so that limits things. I bought very different things for the fridge than I would in Seattle. Masses were congregated around the deli and the beer aisle. Saturday night! I bought one Hoegaarden and drank it in the bath while finishing my book. And awoke to a blazing sunny day. I can't remember the road's name, but it's one of two I take into town. On the L you see endless stairs leading to a pub, on the R the expanse of Petrin park and hill. There's a nunnery, a community vineyard and fruit trees (nothing on them yet), flowers just blooming, and beyond that the observation tower. Birds were singing and people were sitting in the sun. And I'm sitting at a desk! Not next weekend :)