DIGGING DEEPER INTO GUATEMALA

DIGGING DEEPER INTO GUATEMALA

One of the very nice things about being a traveler (opposed to a tourist) is you have no set plans.  No schedule other than what you choose to set.  Or what the visiting government has set as their 'Get the fuck out of my country' date.

After a day or two I got bored with Antigua.  While loitering around my 125Q per night hotel, I strike up a conversation with a couple tourists.  They ask the usual questions and are curious as to what I want to do in Guatemala.

"Well, right now I want to relax."

Antigua is pretty expensive for that.  They recommended San Pedro.  For USD 10 and four or five hours of my life I can be there.  Why not.



OH HELL YEAH

You can never tell where a random conversation with a couple of nice people is going to take you.  This one took me to a lush jungle lake town with friendly locals and cheap prices.  They've got quite a good expat community and everything seems very nice here.

For those who don't carefully read every word I commit to the ages,

When you travel, find expats.  They know what you want to know - especially if you are staying in an area for more than three days.  Three or less is a pit stop.



BETTER LIVING THROUGH LYNCHING

Living close to the 'raggedy edge'....

I'm staying in a pretty idyllic town.  Jungle, lake, quiet.

All that was shattered when three natives went into a bar and started waving guns around.  Oddly, they weren't robbing the place.  They were just showing their power.

According to locals I've spoken with, the local cops are worse than useless.

Logan:  "So what will happen?"
Innkeeper:  "Well, they'll be out of here by tomorrow one way or the other.  There might be a lynching, bodies dumped in the lake."
Logan:  "I'd like to point out I've already paid my tab."
Innkeeper:  "We're not worried about you."

Slice of my life.

PS:  Do NOT tell me to 'be safe'.  I know it's an American thing but I'm here for adventure - not safety.



UNSKILLED LABOR, REVISITED

I've mentioned it before with my story from India about the air conditioner repair man.  Had another baffling case of it today.

I'd ordered a custom made shirt for 100Q (about $12).  Got there and the woman told me she had a problem.  Not a problem for me but a problem for her.

Despite having taken my measurements and seen me before she had used too much material on the shirt.  Hence it would cost 150Q if I still wanted it.  I didn't so I left.  She apologized saying it was her problem.

This brings up several baffling questions.

I'd be willing to bet this woman has done sewing and stuff for over twenty years.  How can you NOT figure out how much material and come up with a price for it?

Also, who the hell will she sell it to?  I've not seen any locals my size and the store is off of the tourist trail.  Now she has to sit on that inventory indefinitely rather than sell it at break even or a slight loss?

So when people talk about 'unskilled labor' in other countries, sometimes they are talking about people who have done their job for over ten years and still have no clue what's going on.

Baffling.



SPANISH

So I recently stole a 'how to speak spanish' podcast thing.
Christ, it is boring.
If they had fun phrases like:
"Don't shoot me"
"There is a schnitzel in my leiderhosen"
"Why do you play so much fucking hippy music"
"Where can I find a midget?"

Then it would be much more interesting.

And useful.



LOGAN DISLIKES MUSIC

Why I prefer the sounds of two cats screwing as opposed to music:

If I say I don't like the noise, nobody looks at me as if I'm insane.

Nobody tries to tell me that if perhaps I heard different cats fucking, I'd enjoy it more.

Nobody asks me which cats I like to listen to fuck in a clever ruse to subject me to noises of their preferred cats fucking.

It's softer than a live band.

If you kill the cats, you will just get a fine.

There was no evil human influence behind the cats decision to fuck just outside my window.  If there was, I wouldn't be the only person deeply concerned.

The cats don't expect you to tip them.

Disclaimer:  I have respect for those who can play instruments, have worked hard on them, etc.  Should I pay to go to a concert, I'll be interested in hearing it.  If you come to me with an instrument and just start playing, I'm going to start looking for some 'in heat' cats to have near you while you're trying to go to sleep.



SOME NOTES ON GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS

Within both countries, not many people seem to smoke openly.  It could be a religious thing but perhaps the price of cigarettes (double to triple some countries in SE Asia) keeps people from using them.

Moza is a dark, though not bitter Guatemalan beer popular with Logan.

For somewhere around $150 per week, you can live with a family and take four hours a day of Spanish lessons.  Eventually, this might happen but for now the Laziness Monster is winning.

As with many countries in which the natives don't really understand counterfeiting, old wrinkled bills are often not taken.  They want crisp, fresh and perhaps newly minted ones.

Maximum from ATM machines (both countries) seems to be about 200 USD.  That sucks when you have to pay charges each time you withdraw money.

The cheap meals in both countries (3 small tacos or one extremely deflated burrito) runs around 1.50 USD.

The countries in South America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua) once upon a time had a little agreement where you could travel within all of them as though they were one country for a grand total of three months.  For whatever reason, Honduras said 'fuck it' and quit.  Hence, you can go to the other countries for a total of almost three months, duck into Honduras and hey presto get a three month visa.  There is only one little problem with that.  The other countries count Honduras as 'still in'.  When you leave Honduras, they will tell you your visa expired long ago and probably fine you.  The only way out of Honduras overland is sadly through one of the countries still playing this strange game.  If you really need to prolong your visa, check with the expats there - they've got some sort of system involving Mexico down.

While I was in San Pedro, I discovered it was possible to go to another town along the same lake via tuk tuk for 10Q (about 1.25 USD).  Despite the stories of tuk tuk drivers taking their passengers out into the wilderness, killing them and reanimating their corpses to fill their ever growing armies of the undead I went anyway.  San Juan was nice.  Not all that great, but nice.  Didn't have the charm of San Pedro.  Did a bit of walking around and couldn't find a hotel anywhere near the city center.  Later, I heard there was stuff down near the lake but the town didn't look interesting enough to hold my attention for more than a couple hours.

After deciding that San Pedro was nice but not quite cheap enough to save money (too many expat temptations there) I decided to go to Copan Ruinas - right over the border in Honduras.  The five or so hour shuttle ride was hellish.  To continue on toward the Bay Islands, home of scuba diving, will require passing through San Pedro Sula - aka 'Murder Town'.  According to wiki travel, they have three homicides a day.  Hopefully, none of them will be Logan.  While it is easy to say "Well, duh, avoid the town" it's not really possible.  It is a major transportation hub.

Wish I'd not read up any on Guatemala and other countries before coming here.  They make it sound scary as fuck.  It's not.  Bit like living near the worse areas of any town.  Sing it "In the ghetto..."!  Keep your wits and don't get shanked.  Leave bling layin around and it be walkin'.  I'm going back to my hood roots yo.

When I crossed over the border from Guatemala to Honduras, it seemed to get more brown.  Not sure why, it rains plenty in Honduras as well.

Neither country seems to really lower prices during the off season.  Might be part of the reason they don't have more off season business.



NERO PLAYING (This is the LARP, live action roleplay.  If you have no interest in this, skip to next section for pricing in Guatemala and Honduras.)

Disclaimer:  These are all my views.  If you have your own views you can either leave them in the comments section or start your own blog.

Since I get asked from time to time how to play NERO, I thought I'd put some of my advice here so I can simply refer others to this.

There are four kinds of healers:

Templars (they heal themselves):  Don't play until 25th or 35th level.  Being a templar before then means you suck at two different occupations.

Circle healers:  These are usually out of shape people - like me - who sit around the healing circle.  You bring people to them for healing - they don't or can't come to you in time.  This is the class to play for the obese or crippled.  Or those who can't throw.  Again, like me.

Bind-O-Mancers:  These are the people who either chuck chaos or pin/web/bind/confine.  These guys work on taking out monsters.  Sadly, because most plot teams suck at statting monsters, these don't exist that often due to the high number of resists/returns/immune monsters have.

Backpacks:  These are arguably the hardest healers to play and probably the most valuable.  These are the guys who are attached permanently to ONE fighter.  They cast a magic armor on the fighter just as a monster is calling a slay then they call the defense for the magic armor for the fighter.  They pump small amounts of healing into the fighter - just enough to keep him up.  While the fighter in front of them ALWAYS has a sword and board (sword and shield) don't backpack those who don't - you usually lose.   The fighters job is simple.  Never back up and run over the healer.  Never sprint away from the healer.  Just keep swinging those 10's and catch everything thrown at you - never dodge.  The healer should be calling their defenses and fixing everything that goes wrong with them.  A good backpack keeps the fighter going almost indefinitely.

Do's:

A good healer NEVER carries a weapon.  Their weapon is the fighter.  Carrying a weapon slows casting and changes the focus of the healer from casting to ineffectually fighting.  If you want to find a shitty healer, look for one who carries a weapon.  Carrying a two handed weapon (example a 2H staff) in this game system is the mark of a wildly incompetent healer.  If they tell you 'it's for blocking' or some such it is a sign they don't get the game of NERO.

A good healer always keeps count of how many people go out on a mod then counts again when returning.

A good healer always just throws healing at someone rather than uses healing arts.  If a cure light doesn't get them back up, check if they are dead and ask for 'visible effects'.  But first use a cure light or '10 elemental healing' - they might be a couple seconds from dead.  If they call a 'shield magic' hit them again with the same.

A good caster (any) always double taps the target.  If someone casts one spell then waits to see what the call is, they are incompetent.

When any caster first starts out, they don't have many spells or body.  They get to either whine they have no spells or do the 'crap jobs'.  Crap jobs include, force feeding people with 'cure light wounds' potions, gathering packets and giving them to other casters and soaking slays instead of letting them hit the fighters.  Example:  If a healer has 5 HP and something throws a 100 point slay, you have the option of either healing 100 HP of the fighters damage or a cure light on the healer and hey, they are back to almost full HP.

A good healer never heals someone who is up and walking around.  Someone with 1 HP swings just as hard as if they are at full HP.  It is better to let a circle healer get them back to full later and save your healing spells for keeping them going.  The fighter will bitch but tough.  I've seen people who have only 20 body wanting to get healed to full.  That shows they don't know how to play NERO.

A good NERO player always travels to different chapters and learns from their best PC's.  Otherwise, they don't learn how the game is played.  People who never travel inevitably become lame and clickish over time.  Not sure why, that's just how it happens.



COSTS

Cheap meal, 1.50 USD
Cigarettes, 3 USD
Regular meal, 8 USD
Drink at a bar, 1.50 USD
Water, liter, about 1.10 USD
Coffee (not as good as you think it should be for central America), 1.10 USD
Boat across lake to different town, 25Q.  Health and safety nightmare.  If it sinks, you die.
Shuttle, San Pedro to Copan via Antigua (with mandatory sleep over and a three mutherfucking AM wake up), 200Q.
Room in Copan with detached walk through the rain if you want to use it in the middle of the night bathroom and shower, 10 USD after haggling.

CHOCKERS OF GOODNESS?

An omelette and two slices of tomato handed to me on a plate. I'm not sure if the waiter was trying to tell me anything.



RESTAURANTS

At a place we went to breakfast in, they had both 'omelette with onion' and 'omelette with cheese' on the menu. I asked the waiter if it was possible to get an omelette with both onions and cheese. His expression was the same if I had just farted loudly on him. "No, just what is on the menu."

Right.

The picture above is what passes for a cheese omelette here - American ones are about 4-5 times the size and served with hash browns, toast and other stuff. I have no idea what the tomatoes are for.

I'm thinking if people can keep their fat asses out of the numerous fast food places that have sprung up like mushrooms they may leave the country a bit thinner. Since I've been here, I haven't seen or heard the word 'buffet' aside from the food hostels usually serve and charge extra for. And nobody wants any of that.

Breakfast for two, simple fare, two pastries, bread, butter (yeah, you pay extra for that shit) an omelette and two cups of tea, 190 CZK at a hotel dining area. Felt posh I did.

Lunch - tea, two beers, two main courses, 397 CZK. This was a meal of 'goulash' which is apparently a traditional Czech food. OK but not as good as our previous 'traditional Czech food' meal.

Later, Pete and I wanted to test the Logan stomach and went to an Indian fast food place. For two, 250 CZK. No sudden Hershey squirts! Happy days!

A note on Czech etiquette - when you're done eating and want the waiter to remove your dirty plate, you lie your fork and knife side by side to indicate you're done. With the level of service in many of the restaurants in Czech, I also put my napkin on top. Should that fail to get it removed from the table, place the plate on the ground and kick it towards them.

Another miscellaneous note - if you want to order wine, just get a bottle. The amount of wine they give you in the glasses made me think they wanted us to taste it and say if it was good or not. When I drink wine, I generally look for the American size half bottle. Merely dampening the inside of my glass isn't enough for me.



SHOPS

Figuring out where shops are and what they sell is not easy. Even Jana who claims she has lived here all of her life doesn't seem to know where anything is. I suspect that while people sleep, the city is shuffled around like in the movie Dark City. Perhaps these are the upir (vampires) Jana is always talking about.

We met up with a guy named Jan (different than the one mentioned before - seems to be a common Czech name. The 'a' is a long a sound) in a small sporting goods store. He was helpful and friendly. He also had shirts for the 'average American' (ie fit on my fat ass). T-shirt with some weird assed logo on it, 250 CZK. Pete thinks it is one of those over sized t-shirts that women buy to sleep in. I am ignoring this. It fits. I have no clue at all what will happen when my underwear start to go out. Small shops that don't deal with food/beverage seem to get better service - it's about 50/50. I'm guessing the better service is probably partially due to the fact that if they don't get customers they will close. Honestly, I'm not sure how some of these shops sell enough to remain open.

Places seem open at weird, random times. A place that serves breakfast isn't open at eleven AM. Posting the hours of operation is optional. Opening your shop a half an hour late, no big deal. In America, people would probably get fired over this sort of thing but here it is 'business as usual'.

Bakeries don't seem to be open on the weekend. I'm not joking. It is not all but a surprisingly large amount of them. Unless you are in the district with all of the other tourists, consider the hours of much of Prague to be M-F, Noon till 11 (get home before midnight!!).

Before noon, it is very hit and miss as to what is open. My guess is that things in the city center (read as 'tourist-ville') have more reasonable hours. I haven't bothered to find out as everything in that district is a bit more expensive and I'd like to see more of 'the real Prague'.



MUSIC IN PRAGUE

They are in the 1980's, I swear to God. In some places you'll hear other music. The internet has made all music styles and time periods available to anyone with any sense but at least half of the music I hear is either from the 1980's or remixes of '80's tunes. I have no idea why.



BARS

About half of the bars in Prague insist on playing music that is either from the 1980's or absolutely horrible - especially given the setting. Of the remaining bars, about half (so a fourth overall) of them have so many patrons talking so loud that you may as well be at a concert. The last bars (1/4th - if you're keeping track) are the kind I like - quiet conversation bars.

The most common color worn by everyone going to bars is black.



PRAGUE AND DRUGS

The drug culture is alive and well. We've seen people rolling their own pot into cigarettes, carrying large bags of it and heard about people who grow their own. While it is something I have no interest at all in doing I find it interesting in this setting. Word from people we've talked to is that you can carry a small amount on you without the police giving you any grief. This is interesting.



PRAGUE AND OTHER HERBS

According to Pete, if you order tea in most places, they have a huge range of different sorts. They are kept normally in a largish wooden box that is brought to your table and you get to choose which 'Lipton like pack' you want to have with your cup of hot water. Pete said fruit and herb are common. Not being a big tea drinker, I just grunted and drank my beer. If you want milk with your tea, you have to ask for it. They also have a couple of tea shops where you can buy it in a more natural, not pre-packaged format.



LET'S GO TO THE MALL

Malls suck worldwide to me. The Czech Republic is no exception. It's pretty much the normal tripe served up in a fancy troff. If women didn't shop at the malls, very few men would consider entering one.

In the mall they (naturally) had a movie theater. So Jana, Pete and I went to see 'Sucker Punch'. "Life has a flavor the sheltered will never know." - Sucker Punch.

We got to see it with Czech subtitles. Thank God it was not dubbed. I've always despised dubbed movies.

As far as the 'Czech movie theater experience', it was pretty much the same as American movie theaters with a few little changes:

a) you can buy beer there. Jana said "Of course! It is like lemonaid."

b) the tickets you get have assigned seating. We ignored that as Sucker Punch was down to just one theater, one showing and sat where we wanted. It would have been interesting if someone came and demanded their seats.

c) They sold jelly beans by the weight. I got what the others said was a very small amount. I wanted the taste more than the sugar if you get my meaning. They were awful. Worse with the beer.



MOVIE REVIEW - "SUCKER PUNCH"

This is a weird fucking movie. Both Pete and I were making comparisons - for reasons I can't mention due to possible spoilers - with the movie "Jacob's Ladder".

Pros: Visually stunning. Everyone says that and it's true. Plus, hot girls not wearing much.

Cons: It's really grim. I'm not really into grim. If you are into grim, see this movie. The movie was not internally consistent. It looked as though they were going for a 1950's feel to it but then they had a mech, androids and microphones that people use today. Pete pointed that out and I think he is correct. It's just weird. While I know that for some reason people have this weird fascination with giant walking robots, I say 'give me a hover tank and keep your silly robots'. I felt sorry for the actor who sounded like he was making voice clips for a video game and making trite quotes and misquoting things.

Weird shit: Every girl looks like she's wasted good money on eyelash extensions. I have no idea what the hell was up with that. Seriously, it didn't even look good - unless you are into that sort of thing. I'm not.

I'm not sure if it is a pro or a con but the movie was over two hours long. My ass hurt from sitting so long in the comfy chair. I guess you could say you get your money's worth if you go by time alone.

This movie (even at 5/10) would not make it into my collection.



OTHER WANDERINGS

Pete and I visited a really large Czech cemetery. Everything was covered in ivy. I sang the song 'Cemetery Gates' for Pete and the dead. Pete said he thought it was very nice but I'm not sure if he was just being polite. The dead said nothing. As Pete would say "Probably for the best."

In the RPG we use to play, the skill 'spot hidden' as in see detail or notice something of interest was a skill that every (surviving) player had high. Most people in real life have about a 'medium' level of this skill. Some things they notice, others they miss entirely. I have a bit below that. Pete would say 'more than a bit'. Pete has a 'freakishly high' spot hidden. While we were riding around on the street cars he noticed in the dark and at distance some shops. They turned out to be a hardware store and a 'clothing for disgusting fatbodies' store. I bought the 'experimental backpack securing cable' and a black t-shirt. Right near where we are staying. Doh.



GOOD AND BAD TRAVELING WITH THE LOGAN

I had asked Pete and Jana what was the best and worst thing about traveling with the Logan. Interesting and depressing answers follow:

Worst thing according to Pete "You expect everyone to do everything for you. Like knowing which subway routes and such. When you have the opportunity to do research on the computer, you are usually 'off with the fairies'." My first question for Pete was naturally "Are they hot fairies?" He explained that I generally tune out and work on my blog and such instead of trying to learn where things are. Pete has no clue how I will survive out in the world. Neither do I, but I'm willing to give it a go. And he didn't want to elaborate on the hotness of the fairies, claiming it was an Australian expression for 'mind's gone wandering' or 'spaced out'. I thought he'd bring up the snoring but he said that 'sleeping near Logan is like sleeping near a construction site - you eventually just get use to it.'

Best thing according to Pete "You make the journey less boring (in part due to 'twisted American humor')." I attempted to get Pete to elaborate on this being that the good is only a sentence and the bad is a fucking paragraph but he just laughed and went back to reading his book.

Jana's answers to the same questions:

For the bad she answered the same as Pete after Pete told her his answer. I suspect her brain had gone on Czech Strike when she wasn't expecting it. Or she was just enjoying being mean to Logan. Probably a preemptive strike as I would never do anything mean to Jana.

For the good, her answer is enigmatic - "Funny when not too funny." You can puzzle that one over in your spare time.



WHATS IN THE BAG?

Again, I apologize for not getting all of the photos uploaded yet but the internet in this country that I've had access to has been absolute shit. That being said, I'm sure people have noticed that I always have a black bag on and perchance even wondered about it. Well, if you haven't piss off - you get to hear about it anyway. It may help someone who wants to know.

The bag is an old army ammo bag, I'm not sure of the style, model number or any of that.

What's in the bag:

Medicine in a seven day dispenser that sometimes like to pop open a chamber and spill the pills to the bottom of the bag and get them dirty. Happy.

Cigarette case - cost for that was about $10 from Amazon somewhere.

Fake billfold with the days spending money in it. If you've read the old blogs you know that in America they like to send fake credit cards 'John Customer' to people too stupid to know what a credit card looks like. Keep these because at first glance, they look like real credit cards. Use them to keep in your fake 'give to the robber' wallet.

Two pens (pilot G-2, 07) to write with.

Small notebook (no spiral) to write on.

3 Lighters (smokie smokie - or somehow start a fire to survive in the wilderness for the first ten minutes till it spreads out of control and consumes me and the wilderness.)

Cheap digital folding clock - which oddly enough looks like a cell phone. In this manner, I can fool people to think I am on the phone instead of ranting like an idiot. I suspect many idiots cover in this same manner. And madmen.

Sunglasses - which it hasn't been bright enough to use yet.

Flashlight - unexpectedly handy - both for helping little old ladies to read street car time tables as well as peering down into the below ground catacombs of a Czech graveyard and ponder Cthulhu and his minions.

Bandanna - good for cleaning glasses, can double as a big Kleenex or something in a pinch.

Unused city map - Pete likes to know where stuff is. I know I want to travel south to cheaper places. Big difference in traveling styles. But, I carry it to show Pete I am trying.

Shrapnel - this is an Australian (and possibly other places) word for small change. Local change used by local people.

Metro ticket - see 'traveler's tips' below.

Blog business cards - they have my name and web address of the blog on them.



TRAVELER'S TIPS - PRAGUE

Assuming you are going to be in Prague for over a day, buy several days's worth of one day passes (you won't find the five day passes and probably won't need the month long passes) when you get there. They last for 24 hours after initially stamping them at the machine thingees you'll see when you are going into the subway or getting on a streetcar. They are good - presumably indefinitely - when not stamped. Getting to the station every day to buy a new one is a stupid waste of time.



LIES ABOUT PRAGUE

In Prague, the 'Czech table beer thing' - where they put down beer when you get there and all that - complete bullshit. It's just like any other drink. You have to order it. It is not $1 as previously led to believe - but $3-4 depending on where you go. Sure, it is still a little cheaper than American beer at a restaurant of similar caliber and this is a major city but meh. Lies, all lies. I am hoping to later get out in the countryside and see if it is true there.



JANA'S FRIENDS (AKA FRIENDS OF JANA)

We met up with Anna and Hanna. I think Anna will want to meet up with us again but I wasn't sure if Hanna liked us. Maranna was also there. People may note the similarity of the last syllable of girls names in this country...

They took us to a fashion show in an abandoned warehouse in Prague with several hundred other people. It was an interesting ambiance - totally put on by college students - but my leg was giving me enough pain that Maranna managed to borrow a chair from one of the booth ladies to lend me to sit my fat ass down. As a side note, this country does have some benches and places to sit that aren't associated with restaurants but not nearly enough. Damned healthy Europeans...

After meeting those nice people, the next night we were going to be meeting up with some of Jana's college acquaintances from one of her classes in a tavern.

We went to the 'Red Hook' tavern and met up with everyone. We were completely and totally ignored by these people. Jana moved to a different table entirely with Pete and I - still no reaction. Not a nod, wave, nothing. We ended up having a meal there and were ignored the entire time. I told Jana that if she ever came to the USA, none of my friends or acquaintances would ignore her. Hell, they could have been Czech waitresses for all they ignored us.



CZECH VOCABULARY

Nas-dro-via! = Toast!



WHERE WE ARE STAYING

'Accommodation 15'

Bad:

Echoey corridors. If people come in and talk in normal tones of voice, it is quite loud. If they are in their rooms chatting, you can hear it.

Slat beds: in other words, instead of one sheet of wood, the mattress rests on wooden slats. You can feel them through the mattress.

Office closes at 11PM. I count this as 'bad' if you were wanting to buy a cold soda (20 CZK) or try to get closer to their wifi connection though it doesn't seem to help.

Shit wifi. Weak assed signal. Since it 'works for them', they don't seem to care to upgrade it.

The walls are quite thin.

Small assed rooms. Pete and I were quite lucky when we checked in because we had asked for a two person room. They gave us a four person one for the same price. This is fortunate because I got a look at a two person room. The beds weren't on top of each other but almost touched side by side. You have to squeeze around them to move about in the room. Fucking tiny.

Noisy tile floor.


Neutral (or 'could go either way' or 'both good and bad'):

They don't clean your rooms till you check out.

You can easily hear people wandering by out on the street. They don't have window screens, double paned glass, soundproofing etc. This is in the 'neutral' category because after the pubs close and people go the hell home, the street is fairly quiet.


Good:

Get a shopping bag of laundry done for 100 CZK.

The rooms are not freezing cold.

Not a bad location - not out in the sticks.

Plenty of hot water for the showers, decent pressure.

Place seems clean (well, when we got it I mean. Now, my side is dirty. Pete's still looks pretty much the same as when we got it. I suspect he's been paying the cleaning staff on the side and sneaking them in to clean when I am asleep. Either them or the fairies.)

Plenty of 'power points' (plug in's) in the room.

Room has it's own sink and mirror.


End question is naturally, would you stay here again? Possibly while Pete is here but the only reason I can see to come back to Prague is to visit my buddy Jana. So, I would crash at her place. Under her bed (like a monster) or something. I think it would be especially funny if she got married and got excited if I was coming over but forgot/didn't bother to tell her husband and he opened the door to see me standing there. "Honey!" He yells, "There is a fat, grinning, weird American on the doorstep - should I call the police?" Then again, Jana might just ponder and say "Yes, call the police." You can never tell.



PRAGUE MENTALITY

It seems to me that the people of Prague have a great lust for all things foreign - food, music, cigarettes - which is a pity because it is diluting what they have to the point where finding actual 'Czech stuff' is becoming increasingly hard to find. Foreign stuff is perceived of as 'better' or 'cooler'. Pete (being a wise individual) speculates that by embracing foreign things they may be trying to escape the past. hence, the youth embraces the outer world with relish. Things outside of Prague are (to them) better than Prague. Logan speculates this may help explain some of the graffiti. Graffiti and the trash tossed in the city (by Czechs) kind of tell me many of them don't really love the city - it is just a place they live. Pete went on to say that in addition, large corporations are using their market power to slowly decimate the smaller players who are unable to adapt to the changes. The cycle of commercialism. With some other parts thrown in.



CZECH WOMEN AND TATTOOS

Pete made the observation that not a lot of Czech women he has seen have tattoos - at least in visible areas. I'm fairly ambivalent on tattoos. Some are interesting, a couple are cool and most worn by idiots. If you really have to get a tattoo, I recommend Pete's method of taking a couple years to select a design.



WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN LIFE?

I had asked Jana and Pete and here are our answers.

Jana: Not lying to yourself.

Pete: Friends.

Logan: Live every day as though it is your last.



AUSTRALIAN SLANG

Here is a bit of Australian slang to keep you happy! Chockers = chocker block full = amazingly full.

This blog has been chockers with information!