a goodbye to the boys across the hall - and a moment of reflection

As I was waiting for Coral to return from the bank and my old landlord to arrive for the final walk-through I was standing in the open doorway to my empty flat, somewhat impatiently as he was running late and our taxi was due in 15 minutes. I had a few moments to reflect on what had taken place there during our initial 10 months in Prague. And then the door directly across the hall opened and a man stepped out.

You are already acquainted with this particular family - both here, shortly after our arrival and here, far more recently. They were kind enough to contribute to my decision to move when the time to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of our Prague 10 residence arose.

There were two guys that lived there - the monstrosity was much taller than the guy who had walked through the door. There was a mother who made an appearance very now and then, and during our last major encounter, she had a young girl with her, video taping the experience. To be quite honest I'm unsure how many people lived there as occasionally there was an old guy who'd open the door and be the one literally throwing the monstrosity across the hall... perfectly aimed to hit first my buzzer and then the door. He'd had plenty of practice.

So, I was standing there, waiting, an empty and aromatically pleasing pristine flat visible behind me, and this guy gave me a half smile and turned to lock his door. We had never talked, but as we were leaving the place forever I decided to initiate a conversation. After confirming he spoke English it made things much smoother.

I said goodbye, he asked about the new tenants, there was a bit more small talk - and then he apologized. I looked at him and he said, "I'm sorry, for, for everything, you know. Everything that happened, I'm sorry." And then he left. And I appreciated the effort, late and minor, but all the same, the acknowledgment that what had happened had been wrong.

After I went inside I had a moment when I realized - he speaks English(yes, things sometimes hit me late)! And I thought about my verbal tirades surrounding the ongoing frustration with his family - we were the only 2 occupied flats in our wing for a while and I had no qualms about expressing my extreme disgust and distaste upon discovering another unwelcome experience at their hands (the two links are just a few of our experiences). I felt bad for a moment - what if they had heard and understood - my language was far from choice, my words left no doubt to the extent of my frustration and dislike - what if I had offended them???

And then I thought - seriously Jen?? Seriously? These people smeared shit on your walls and you're worried about offending them by saying 'shit'? I would have felt bad if I had ranted to that extent and volume (NOT muttering under my breath) IF there had been anyone else around, but honestly, the physical release also led to an emotional release - when I had gotten it out vocally I also got out the anger and feelings of helplessness and increasing tension they had been a source of - and as they had been so egregious in their behavior - I decided that was something I really didn't need to beat myself up over, at all.

And I moved on.

Further, albeit cleaner, adventures of the poopy person

For those of you not up to date, you may want to take a quick detour for the History of the Horrible Man in the Hall before continuing so that you will fully appreciate what you are about to see.

Coral was late for school today. There was a giant snoring man in the hallway - and the sweet sickly smell of far too much alcohol exuding from his body. She stayed home rather than deal, but only for a short bit, just until the manager come over and tried to wake him... and failed. But under his strong and authorative supervision she walked around the huge lump in the middle of the floor.

The guy is still out there, the smell off his body is over-powering, and we are moving in 2 weeks and one day.

Was this the right decision - it's more expensive and this week I've been questioning myself. This morning, the world has given me, Yes, Yes, Yes, a resounding YES!!!




*** udpate - this guy is an ASS!!! He just hit his Mom as she was trying to drag him in to the apartment when he refused to get up - he finally go up just so he could hit her and then stumble through the actual doorway before passing out again.

i am disgusting

I have been sitting with the computer all day, my papers hanging over me, getting nothing done. My writing is redundant and uninteresting - and my research isn't providing me with the information I need. I am seriously lacking in motivation right now. I would really prefer to take the damn tests the undergrads get to take, and just be judged on a stricter scale... but it's not my choice.

So why do I feel disgusting? I had chocolate donuts and beer for dinner.

Judge me if you must.

I am done

with everyone urinating on the sidewalk here. It's quite common for people to simply urinate into a bush or onto a building, especially at night. However, I did see something that was kind of uncommon. 

I was on my way to school, when the man in front of me (who I think was homeless, but I'm not entirely sure) suddenly stopped and began urinating in the middle of sidewalk. It was pretty surprising. Usually, people have the courtesy (well, I guess it could be called courtesy) to go out of the way, in an alley, bush, or against a building. But no, he just stopped and then started. Disgusted, I simply hurried past him to school.