Na Florenci and the Maya Machine

Hey team.

So today would be a good example of what Prague is like for me. Presently I'm sitting in a coffeeshop, listening to Bruce Springsteen, and feeling slightly homesick. If you're wanting to keep me company, then please listen to the album "The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle" while you're reading this. It's kind of a struggle to stay afloat, but this is not because of Prague. Prague is absolutely beautiful...anywhere you walk, you'll see breathtaking architecture...castles, art deco apartments, gothic cathedrals...you'll learn to hate the tourists who aren't you, with their monstrous cameras and their tourist aggression. My favorite is the young French couples (they tend to be French, I know I'm generalizing) who take artsy pictures of each other smoking in front of absintheries or statues. I've photo-bombed that more than once...
No, but it's a beautiful city...and the people fascinate me very much. I'm especially intrigued by the older generation, who seems so sad, trying to piece together all the different lives they've lived, trying to figure out where they fit in this new capitalist contraption, if they fit into it at all, or if they'll be left behind. (Prague was Communist until 89. Imagine this: your parents grew up during the Nazi era, you in Communism, your children sparked the revolution, and your grandchildren grew up under capitalism. Crazy shit.) They're very beautiful people.

But it is exhausting living in a hostel. Some people would adore it, I'm sure, but the introvert Maya and the other Maya are constantly at war with each other, clawing each other up, leaving me sleepless and contemplating too much. You meet so many people, a lot of them beautiful and very interesting. Road tripping country jumping train chasers. For example, just last night I met this Brazilian who made a shit ton of money off a website he started. He sold it, and now is just going to trek the world for an undecided amount of time. Jetsetting is never enough for these people, he intends on hitchhiking and couch surfing around, for the pleasure of it. Carlos, me fascinas.

I've met two Canadians who, like me, are staying for a long period of time here at the hostel, so we hang out when we can, and let each other know what's going on around the city. So that's nice. I just sometimes feel like I'm perpetually stuck in college orientation week--there's a script that many people stick to: where are you from, where are you going, how long are you here, what are you studying? ah, but the people who don't use that script, those are the ones you want to meet.

I'm learning a lot. Hey you. Travel to a random city, stay at a hostel for a week and see what it does to you. It'll do something to you, I promise.


PS: In case you were wondering what my future itinerary looks like...I think I'm going to Split, Croatia and possibly Budapest.