(Un)like Carrie Bradshaw

Remember Carrie Bradshaw? Fashionista, New Yorker, owner of who knows how many pairs of Manolo Blahnik? We’ve seen her with her equally chic friends in episodes of the much followed HBO series Sex and the City. She and I have nothing in common except maybe my wishing to have at least a pair of Blahniks which will probably come true in, say....never. But this is not about hoping M.B. will stumble on my blog and will eventually send me a pair as a thank-you-for-writing-about-my-shoes-in-your-blog gift.(Though God, that could be possible, right? Lol) This is about how often I remember Carrie Bradshaw in that episode when she moved to Paris with her boyfriend. She was often walking alone along the cobbled streets of Paris, sometimes unsuccessfully avoiding stepping on a mound of dog’s poop. She was so homesick. Once or twice she found herself staring enviously at a group of friends happily dining together while she was miles away from her own.

Phew, this is not supposed to be a melodramatic entry! What I‘m trying to tell you here is that after over a year of living in Prague, I still find myself in a Carrie Bradshaw-like situation. I still feel a pang of envy everytime I see girls laughing together clearly at ease with each other. I still find myself walking along the streets of Prague wishing Flora or Mellicent or a bunch of my other crazy friends were here with me. I still yearn for the sense of belongingness in this picturesque city.

Yes, I do have a couple of friends here. We go for dinner or coffee together. I go to a yoga class with one of them. They are fun to be with and I think we are getting along really well. Just that there’s something about being a Filipina that can only be felt and understood by another Filipina. The warmth, the humor, the friendliness, the hospitality, and of course, the culture in general; these are things you can only find and share with somebody who was raised in the same environment as you were. I do appreciate and embrace the uniqueness of European culture, but I also long for the familiarity of a Filipino smile.

Yesterday made it all different for me. I have been reading the blog of this Filipina, who is also living in Prague, for sometime now. She sounds like she’s having real fun with her family and new-found friends here. She goes out with other Filipinos, even cooking and sharing recipes with them. I’m somehow updated with the ins and outs of the Filipino community here through reading her site. After months of being her silent reader, I finally left her a message. Like she said in her blog post yesterday, we clicked rigt after our first emails and phone conversations together. These eventually brought us to having lunch together yesterday and her giving my blog a new look. My sidebar now looks more interesting than before and I owe it all to her.

Eva is "a proud mom and wife." I also met her adorable son Koolit, who lives up to his nick and more. :) I’m grateful for this new friendship with her. For once in a long while I didn’t feel like Carrie Bradshaw as I rode the tram yesterday for home.