safe in the land of people who look like me

dobrý den vespolek!
no, i swear i am not calling you all names. according my czech dictionary, that means hello everybody. but i have to take their word for it.

I left Castiglion on the 4.23 train this morning and 10 hours later i found myself here, in Plzen (Pilsen), home of Pilsner beer. I am staying for these two weeks at the Hotel Continental, where they are treating me like royalty. The town is beautiful - reminds me of Stuttgart, which is where I was a year ago today, in fact. I just wish that Czech wasn't such a frightening language to me. Slavic and Germanic languages just completely freak me out. All of these consonants in strange places and funny little hats on tops of the letters to boot. Take, for example, the word for goodbye - na shledanou! Huh? Now, according to my Czech cheat sheet, every letter is pronounced as it is written, and as long as I remember that, I should have no problems being understood. Easy for them to say - I don't even have a clue as to where to begin with that one...

Kuba, one of the hotel employees, came to pick me up at the Prague airport. He speaks German and Czech and I, well, don't, so you can imagine that we had little to chat about. After trying to learn hello, goodbye, please, and thank you (ahoj, na shledanou, prosím, děkuji), I was exhausted. Kuba, trying to comfort me with a big smile on his kind face, said, "and PIVO is beer!" And that was the end of our conversation. They love their beer.

Plus the money is fun, a throwback for me to the Italian lire. 30 kč (kroner, or crowns) is about one dollar, so these 2400 kroner I am carrying around are making me feel like the princess they are treating me as at Hotel Continental...

It has been a long time since I traveled in a totally foreign environment. Being pretty much fluent in Italian means I get around with ease. Last year in Germany I found plenty of English speakers, and of course I had my great hosts, Dirk and Wolfgang, who translated for me when I was lost. French and Spanish I can stumble through enough to understand, because they aren't so different from Italian...but Czech. Wow. I ordered lunch (a doner kebab!!) all in hand signals and with a goofy, apologetic smile painted on my face.

One thing though - at least I don't stick out physically like I do in Italy. I guess all of those little Slavic towns in Texas left their mark on me genetically, because I blend here! As long as I smile and don't open my mouth, there's no reason I can't pass for your favorite Czech gal.

Okay, shows start tomorrow. Off to rest. I have a long day of mastering foreign sounds and eating kolaches ahead of me tomorrow....
spokojený s málem (thankful for small mercies, like my plane touching down safely),
vanessa