Today

Snippets of my (mis)adventures today:

1. We got stuck in a traffic today on our way to the farm for a field trip. We took the public transport. The traffic was moving in a snail pace similar to the horrible Manila jam. Suddenly the door near the driver opened and the driver himself got out. All eyes zeroed on him wondering where he was going. Guess where he headed? To the bushes along the road in the middle of the city to pee. One of my kids, who is four, exclaimed in a scandalized voice; "He's going to the toilet?!"

Welcome to the Czech Rep! I guess here the motto is " You gotta go when you gotta go."

2. Still on the bus, it was hot so my Brazilian-American co-teacher rolled up her sleeves. One of our kids, who is already very much showing signs of following the footsteps of Dolce and Gabbana, was horrified to see that my co-teacher has faint dark hair on her arms. In verbatim the next D&G exclaimed "Your arms have hair. Not nice. Like man's!"

3. You'll be surprised at the things you experience or see when you're stuck in a bumper to bumper jam. Today we also saw a man apparently sunbathing on the rooftop of a three-storey mall. He had a towel on when he stood up, but for some reasons, be it the wind or a sudden inspiration to flash, the towel came off. The Brazilian shrieked behind me but the Europeans on the bus took the show with a bored look on their faces.

4. At the farm, I got attacked by a bee. It dived into my hair and claimed residency right away. It took a huge amount of energy to finally flick it out of my crowning glory. It then showed its annoyance by getting into my co-teacher's ear (the one who flicked it out of my head) and leaving a sting so bad she had to be treated right away.

5. Rudeness is common among shop assistants here. Customer service is nonexistent in some stores, especially this one near our school. I can't count the times I felt like smacking them but what do I get from stooping to their level?

Today I bought food for my cooking afternoon with kids. It was only worth 50kč. I asked the cashier for a stamp on my receipt (the school's accountant requires it if you use the petty cash) and he freaked out. He was like swearing and rolling his eyes and saying something like why on earth people need a stamp for a 50kc purchase. Worse, the tall, dark but nevermind man behind me started laughing. I was fuming mad but couldn't articulate hell in Czech so I fired back in English, calling him a fool and a rude ignoramus.

The nevermind man behind me wanted to show off that he understood English and said to the ignoramus, "She's saying it's alright."

"What alright are you talking about?" I was on the verge of swearing to them in Czech (this I can say fluently) but really what's the point? I can't change the rudeness, this attitude about work I can't define, by joining their game. So I gave them one last dagger look and marched out of the store.

There. That's how it was for me today. Now I'm sleepy so dobrou noc (goodnight) from bush-peeing, rude swearing, bee stinging, hair raising, and yet exciting Prague that I come to love.