Trying new things

Hi, When I got back from Krakow a couple days ago I was super tired. I'd been going full speed ahead all day long for a week. I've managed to pack a lot in so far, but the last couple days I've slowed down a bit. i.e. I haven't rushed out of the house at 9 am and come back at midnight like I did for a few days in a row. The last few days I've been a slow poke and haven't left until 10 or later. I'm not too worried about this since once I leave I'm not coming back until I'm done for the day. Martina and Petr live in Prague 9 in a neighborhood called Ujezd nad Lesy (Village by the Forest). At one time it was it's own separate village I think but Prague is so big now it has incorporated Ujezd into the city. However, it is a ways from the city center. To get into the city, I walk five minutes from their flat to the Blatov bus stop. From Blatov it's a ten or 15 min bus ride to Cerny Most (Black Bridge) which is the last metro stop on the yellow line. From Cerny Most it's another 20 - 30 min into the city center. So it's at least a 45 min trip or more depending on how long I have to wait for the bus or metro. I did two new things this week. In Wenceslas Square there is a new place called Thai Paradise. They offer different massage treatments and such including a fish massage. I heard about this for the first time a month or so ago from my step mom who saw it Singapore. Pretty much you stick your feet into an aquarium filled with little fish. The fish come up and eat all the dead skin and gunk off your feet. It's a little ticklish and when I was done my feet were so baby-skin smooth soft! Then yesterday I went and got my first manicure ever in my life! My hands were really dry and I had a least five hang nails and they were really bugging me. It was an adventure in communication! I firmly turned down the acrylic nails. I got a burgundy color with flowers painted on each of my ring finger nails. I really like them! By the way, I don't think there is a country on this planet where you can get a manicure from someone who isn't Asian. Try speaking crappy Czech to a Vietnamese lady who also speaks Czech as a second or third language. Not exactly easy! Yesterday I woke up with a killer headache that was making me nauseous. Martina and Petr were already gone for the day and not available for help. So I used my Czech phrasebook and headed to the pharmacy. The CR is like Chile in the sense that all medications (over the counter or behind the counter) are kept on the other side of a counter and must be gotten off the shelf by a pharmacy clerk. I was very proud of myself for saying in Czech -- hello, I am nauseous because I have a headache. Do you have something? She immediately brought out a box that said Ibuprofen on it! I bought it and then the most awesome customer service I've ever had in a pharmacy -- she handed me a little glass of water so I could take the tablet right there! Hooray, no more headache! After my manicure I walked around Letna Park, a place near my old flat I used to enjoy roller blading. And then I met Brian and Dana Callaghan and their kids for a late lunch at a nearby restaurant. Brian is Irish/American and Dana is Czech. Brian was the teacher for the Language House -- the school I got my teaching certifcate at and was the first person I met here since he picked me up at the airport the first time I came. It was fun to see them. Last night Martina, Petr, Misho and I walked from Ujezed nad Lesy through the forest to another 'village'/neighborhood and had dinner. I correctly asked for my leftovers in a to-go box. However, I learned some other useful phrases over dinner. I've been trying to learn how to say "can I make an appt?" because I knew a day or so ago I wanted to get a manicure. I was repeating to Petr what I thought I remembered him tell me -- which was 'Mohu se udelat.' His eyes popped out of his head and he laughed and said, I did NOT tell you that and you should NOT say that to anyone. Apparently the correct way is 'Mohu si obedat.' The latter meaning, 'Can I made an appt?' and the former meaning 'I can do myself.' (i.e. masturbate myself). So me being me said to Petr, so you're telling me I shouldn't say 'Mohu se udelat v restaurace?' (I can do myself in the restaurant). The answer is that would definately be bad form in any language or country. He he he. Today I went to Petrin Hill, another park with a mini Eiffel tower on it. In the basement is a museum about Jan Cimerman, a Czech genius who never became famous. So it is an exhibit of all of the ficitional Jan and all his failed inventions. It is one of the funniest museums I've ever been to and I had to see it again. I also walked across Charles Bridge but I almost ran across it -- there are a disturbing amount of tourists there and no offense it is just a bridge with old statues on it! The other bridges are just as good and less crowded! Later I'm meeting some other friends Lea, Emma, and Klara for dinner. Emma is from Australia and Lea and Klara are both Czech and former students. Lea was also my self-appointed Czech teacher. I am so excited to see them! Tomorrow I meet Marie and go to Pasecnice until next Wednesday. I am looking forward to seeing them too. When I saw Brian he said to me, Welcome Home, Ruthie. And that is how I feel here. I am so lucky to live in a beautiful place I love, with a job I like, and close to family and good friends. But I also feel so lucky to have two countries I love very much feel at home in and have Czech and Chilean people I feel like are extended family to me.