Regardless of how hard I tried to think positively, during my nine hour journey to Prague on Thursday I found myself not really looking forward to the trip, (almost dreading it actually) and filled with regret that I hadn’t gone to Turkey with Janet or to Slovakia to meet Krisitina (old roomie from Bath). I’d been feeling pretty lonely last weekend/last week, and wasn’t really sure I’d be able to handle two and a half days of solitary tourism.
I tried to be optimistic and tell myself that maybe I’d meet some cool people at the hostel. But when I arrived, those hopes faded fast. Aside from me and the middle aged receptionist who said “yeah” way too much, there was not a soul to be seen on either the second floor, where the reception desk was, or the third floor, where my bed was. The place was modern, clean, quiet and the last place I would ever be able to meet other fellow travelers to hang out with.
After checking in I walked the streets of
When it got dark I went back to the hostel and was pleasantly surprised to hear English speaking voices in the kitchen. I went in and met Blake, a less attractive version of Kevin Wood who was taking a gap year and on the wait list at four med schools, and Jackie and Miranda, two fashion school students from Ohio who were traveling Europe as part of their studies, gathering inspiration from architecture etc. After about ten minutes Blake left to get more beer for everyone (they’d been drinking before I got there). And so I spent the night drinking Budweiser (the Czech kind) in the kitchen of the hostel where I thought I wouldn’t meet anybody.
Blake was pretty intelligent, and a bit of a talker when it came to medical stuff. He went on and on about nationalized health care, HIV and medical school admissions, which I didn’t mind because it was interesting and educational. Unfortunately he could be a bit condescending. For example, at one point I found myself listening to him explain that ethos, pathos and logos are three means of persuasion, and then went on to explain that “logos” is “logic” and even gave a short example of a logical argument. I should’ve told him I knew what logic meant and he could continue with his story, but didn’t. But in general a nice guy, he gave me one of his Tide white out pens and his allegedly broken cell phone.
He had an obvious crush on Jackie, and at midnight Jackie turned 23 so he sang her a serenade that he began writing shortly after I met them. I was expecting it to be a goofy, Keith Schnakenberg-esque spoof, thinking, “they’ve known each other a day…what could he possibly write about?” But I was shocked to hear the beating-on-the-table/humming intro followed by some really intense and well-sung lyrics. I think Jackie was surprised as well, but at the end she clapped and called it “fantastic,” which I noticed was also her response to virtually every joke he made, regardless of whether it was funny.
Shortly before the birthday serenade Maroc, a Polish actor, joined the group and a little later Kate and Maureen came in. They were from
1 comment:
i think maureen looks more like kate johnson than blake does kevin woods. just an observation.
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