The Worst Trip of my Life - Final

The last part of the trip seemed to be normal. With no snow, just cold like hell, I prayed for the train not breaking again. While I was accommodating myself in the cabin a woman approached the door and got inside. She wasn’t pretty and I also think she didn’t even worth a night stand. She took off her warm clothes and went to the window to talk to someone.

I was observing from my seat, but didn’t give much attention. I took my old chIpod with really low battery and put some nice song to relax a bit. It was day and maybe I wouldn’t suffer other attempt of someone trying to steal my stuff. I was just worried about the place where I should get out of the train. I didn’t know where, I mean I had the name of the station written down but the way things were happening and after seeing the Katowice’s train station, it wouldn’t be surprising if the station sign would be covered by ice or even broken.

I saw the woman waving to the guy outside, he was a Polish man for sure. She got into the cabin again and closed the door. Thank God she closed it because the cold wind was getting inside and the heaters weren’t working properly. The train started moving and that was the beginning of the last part of the trip.

The woman opened a book and I notice through the cover that it was an Italian novel, so I thought myself: “Once someone told me that Italian girls were the prettiest, what a disappointment”. And I’m not kidding, she was really ugly. She had that face of crazy woman, like those that in bed can depilate you with hot wax and after the depilation throw more wax just to glue you in bed. So I didn’t say a word. Just looked through the window and enjoyed the white environment.

After one hour and a half we stopped at the third station, the problem was that the train didn’t go further after that. You don’t need to guess what happened, right? Exactly, the wires were frozen again. It was too much bad luck in less than twenty four hours. I was tired of that, but I just couldn’t go back. I was close to my final destination and go back to Prague from there could mean ten more hours inside a train or even worse, another encounter with “The Russian”. There was no other way than go forward.

While waiting the “Italian” stopped reading and looked at my face.

- Excuse me, do you have any idea of what happened?

- Yes, probably the wires are frozen, that’s the reason that also the heaters stopped working. We are out of energy.

- Oh, OK. Do you know how much is it going to take?

- No, I don’t speak Polish, but last time it happened it took around three hours.

- Hmm. I hope it doesn’t take long. Where are you from? – and so she started the cheap talk.

- Brazil.

- Do you live here in Poland?

- No, I’m just sightseeing. I came to visit a friend.

- Ah! Me too, that guy I was waving was a friend of mine from Katowice. I’m going to visit other friends in Lodz and Warsaw. After that I’m going to Norway, and then I’m going to Paris to see another one, and finally I’m going back to Italy

Yeah, she was Italian. But how come she has all those “friends”? If it would be the way I was thinking, she was really, really naughty. Haha. I didn’t care. She wasn’t pretty, and with all those friends, it wasn’t for sure something normal. I put the chIpod again while the cold was getting to the cabin. The Italian girl understood that I didn’t want any sort of conversation, but sometimes she looked at me with a smile on her face. “I won’t pick you up young lady, you are out of my league” I thought myself.

That was hell for sure. I was certainly paying all my sins with all those waiting and breaking till I got to my final destination. This time the trip was a bit shorter, one hour and a half. During this time I decided to take a nap. Sometimes the heater worked and warmed a bit the cabin to make us happy, and suddenly stopped again. It was really cold and the small amount of heating was enough to cheer me up.

When finally we departure I thought I saw the Italian praying for the train not to stop again. And thank God it didn’t. That was unbearable. Cold, hunger, thirsty, tired, smelling like beer… everything was mixed and made my day horrible. You must be thinking: “Why didn’t you pick up the Italian to warm you up a bit?” She was ugly dude, I’m not kidding.

The train was approaching its final destination. The “pretty” Italian was leaving one station before me. I was going to Kaliska, a station close to Priceless Girl’s house. She probably was waiting for me. My heart started beating faster, this thing of meeting someone that you just talk through internet is always complicated. The Italian left in Widzew, as I said a station before. The train continued its way and finally I saw the sign: Kaliska.

I went out of the warm train to that freezing cold and saw a cute blond girl, all covered with clothes that I couldn’t even recognize properly, waiting for me. And after long eighteen hours trip I welcomed her with a smile and said:

- Hey! How are you doing?

BR Na Europa!

The Worst Trip of my Life - Part 3

I had one hour and a half before the next train to Łódź. I was shivering because of the cold and as I said I needed a coffee or something hot urgently to warm me up, but before it… I needed to pee. As I had drunk lots of beers and just went to the toilet once because I was afraid of the “Russian” appearance, I was dying to pee. 

From far away I saw a sign. It was inside some place. Can you believe it? A public toilette inside some store. I stopped for a while at the cash machine to withdraw some money. One hundred Złotys (around 36 dollars) ‘cause I had no Polish money with me. I ran desperate with my backpack to the store. When I got at the toilette door someone stopped me. 

- Nie, nie, nie! Dwa złoty! –one guy who was at the door said. 

What the hell is “divá i zuote”?! I knew nothing in Polish and the guy also talked like he had something inside his mouth. I saw an old lady sat in front of the door. Seemed to be the owner or something. Under her chair there were some cleaning products, so I understood the situation. I needed to pay for using it. I just didn’t care, I was almost peeping myself, if it would be twenty I would pay. I took the one hundred out of my pocket and gave the old lady, asking her to prepare the change for when I’d be back. I went in desperate, took off my trousers and found nothing! I’d never seen my penis so small, the cold made it ridiculous! I felt half-man, so half-man that if it got smaller I would start talking like a lady and would call myself Belina. What a situation! 

I did what I had to do, put one more underwear and got out of the toilette. Inside was cleaner than outside thanks to the old lady. The station was smelling like pigeons, they were trying to protect themselves from the cold. I went out of there relieved. When I passed through the door I was about to get my change with the old lady that was still sat there. The man that complained before started to shout at me and gave me back the money. Ow?! Is there something wrong with it? I just withdrew it. Yes, there was… I gave her Czech money. ¬¬ 

After solving the situation and apologizing for the mistake, I took my change and went out. The cold inside the station was just unbelievable. I saw a small store and bought a hat and another pair of gloves for me to put over the ones I was using. I paid and headed to the coffee shop. When I got inside… Ahh, the warmth was so nice… that was heaven inside the hellish Katowice station. I asked for a cappuccino and a chocolate cake. I needed some energy after the “Russian” dilemma. 

While I was eating inside the tiny and warm coffee shop, a group approached speaking English: 

- Oh man, where the hell are we? This is hell! That’s all your fault! 

I knew what they were passing through. I was asking myself the same thing over and over. How can that creepy city be part of an European Union country? And worse, what the heck was I doing there? Who knows. Meanwhile a Polish guy got closer. He wanted to sit at the same table I was. The coffee shop was really small and had few tables, three if I do remember properly, and I was in one of two chairs. I allowed him to sit, cause I’m a good guy. 

- Where are you from? 

- Brazil. 

- Hmm, really nice. It’s always warm there, right? 

- Depends. 

- I always wanted to visit Brazil. 

Oh gosh! The guy said that blinking the eye to me. One more gay in this trip! It was too much! Enough! 

- Good luck, you will like for sure. 

I drank the coffee really quickly and left the table. God, so many gays… it was too much. Then I went to some benches that were in front of the information desk. I preferred to feel cold than to face that guy again. I still had half an hour till the train arrives. I took a look at the bench and sat. After two minutes I started freezing. I couldn’t handle sitting. I had the same experience in Prague, but minus twenty three degrees was too much for me. I saw a board showing the train lines in Poland and went there to check. I needed to move a bit or I would be frozen there. Maybe I would see some cities where the train would pass until it reached the final destination. 

I was there looking at it and reading lots of strange city names. I just knew Warsaw and Krakow, the rest I’d never heard about, not even the place I was going. While I was looking at the board two girls approached. Would it be my lucky day and I would have two beauty queens to warm me up? Actually just one, because the other was really ugly. So they came closer to me and the pretty one started talking in English straight away. 

- Good morning, sir. I can see that you are foreigner. We are here to talk about tour church and the event we are promoting for this weekend. We would like you to confirm your presence there. Do you go to church? Blablabla 

She didn’t stop talking for a second, and give me a break, it was the Polish version of the crazy Brazilian church called Universal. It wasn’t enough for them trying to trick people in Brazil, now here as well. I tried to be polite with the girls because one of them was cute. By the end I received two books and a kiss on my cheek. At least something for my patience and it wasn’t the gay from the coffee shop. 

The time to go was close and I went to the platform. I identified the train looking at the small board on its side. I got into the train, looked for an empty cabin and sat there. Inside the train was nice and warm thanks to the heater. I really needed that. I took off the loads of clothes I was using, sat, turned on the chIpod and waited for the departure. 

To be continued... 

BR Na Europa! 

The Worst Trip of my Life - Part 2

You may be thinking that I’m really out of luck. Not really. After three hours stopped in the same place the train could move. I was all covered in jackets, hats, three socks… The cold weather was terrifying, but as the train started moving again, the heaters worked. It was half past twelve when we left Konin. The beer smell made the air in my cabin terrible, but what could I do? At least now I was a bit warmer.

The trip continued and the cold as well. Suddenly I saw at the cabin door a tall guy covered by the darkness looking inside. It wasn’t the old man checking the tickets nor no one known. It was the famous “Russian” that they told me to be careful, for sure.

I was shivering but I couldn’t show fear. Just like me, he was covered by the hood of his jumper and I couldn’t see his face, just his chin. I was huddled in the corner trying to protect myself from the cold, and now being afraid of that situation. He put his hand on the doorknob and was about to open it. I jumped up from the seat and grabbed an empty bottle of beer. I took out my hood and made a negative sign with my finger. Where did all that courage come from? The guy was twice my size and looked stronger. But I was courageous. Looked at him, turned on the light and continued making a negative signal. I was still shivering, but put some evil smile on my face. The man, still using hood, looked at my face and ran to the left side.

Uff! What a relief. I was about to poop myself there. I locked the cabin door and closed the curtains. I just didn’t want to pass through that again, it would be too much for my small heart. I sat and relaxed a bit thinking: “Damn this freaky coward ‘Russian’, he was afraid of the big nigga here. Haha”. But deep inside I was still shivering. I didn’t know if it was because of the cold or fear, I was still shivering. After calming down a bit I felt the heaters stopped working again.

The train was stopping slowly. We went out of electricity again, but this time in nowhere in the middle of the night. Oh! What a pity… Why did I promise I would go there? Couldn’t I go back to Prague from there? Why did I need to suffer that much? It wasn’t fair. I still had two more beers, but I was bored of drinking alone. It was depressing with all that cold, that even the beer didn’t make me warm.

The train was stopped half an hour in that place. We were surrounded by some forest. I looked through the window and just saw snow coming down. The world was white and cold. Where the heck was I? I wasn’t even out of Czech Republic. Shameful. The train started moving again after that short period. I had some sandwiches I bought in Bob’s for critical moments during the trip. That was the one.

I couldn’t handle anymore. The trip was supposed to be nine hours and I had already eight hours in that freaky train and I was still in Czech. It was unbelievable. I ate the sandwiches and just that. I had no liquid but beer to drink, I forced it because I was bored with beer and just couldn’t drink it anymore. I was just eating and praying that at least we arrive in Ostrava. The train started moving. Seemed that my prays were working. The “Russian” guy also didn’t appear. The train finally was heading for its destination.

The train arrived at Ostrava around half past five. The sky was still dark and I was still being afraid of some “strange” appearance. At least it stopped snowing. It was the sign that the rest of the trip should go well. The old guy that checked the tickets tried to get in my smelly cabin. I opened the door and he asked me to show the ticket. I showed two I had for the trip, the one for Katowice and the other one for Łódź. The man started saying a lot of things that I just couldn’t understand. I had no idea which language he was using. I just couldn’t understand and he started getting mad.

I’m not dumb. I took the ticket and asked him to show me which direction I should go. First I pointed to the name on the ticket, Katowice and then to the right and left. The damn man pointed to the left. If he did it before it would be much easier and quicker. Stupid guy and he spoke spitting. Then suddenly something came up into my mind. “Oh God, the ‘Russian’ ran to the left, I’m doomed.” It had a bad luck. Finally when everything seemed to go well this happened.

I took my stuff and went to the wagon that the old man told me to go. I found a free cabin, no one inside. It didn’t have the bad smell of beer and just because of that was good enough. I didn’t have any food with me and also couldn’t go out of the train to buy anything, it could departure at anytime and there was nothing opened there. The only thing I could do was to wait again. One hour and a half doing nothing inside the cabin. If I knew I would go to see the city and come back, I had enough time for that. But no… I needed to stay there awake afraid of the “Russian”, hungry, asleep and tired like hell.

The train started moving after this time and finally we left Ostrava. I prayed a lot for the crazy train not to break again. The next stop would be in Katowice, if nothing went wrong of course. I knew I would lose the connection, besides the train that I was supposed to get would leave Katowice at 6 am and it was already half past five. At least nothing wrong happened in this part of the trip. The train crossed the border and I was already in Poland, nothing bad happened. It stopped snowing but the cold was worse and worse. The train approached the final destination and I could see some small cities in Poland.

They were really scary. If you watched the movie “Lord of the Rings” I would make a short comparison, the small cities looked like “Mordor”. Gray, sad and depressing. Seemed like they just got out the Second World War. I felt pity of the people living there. How come they lived like that? It didn’t even seem like Europe. I was imagining my final destination. If it would be like that I didn’t know if I would handle. The train started crossing Katowice and it was even worse. The city was ugly and freaky. Looking through the window I thought straight away that I should go out of there as soon as possible. Where the hell was I?

As the train stopped at the station, I left with a huge smile on my face. Finally I was in half way or even a bit further. Priceless Girl was aware that I wouldn’t arrive at the time I told her before. I sent her a sms through the phone Mrs. Hakkinen gave me and I explained her the situation. I left the platform and went to the hall to check where and when should I get the next train.

The station was terrible. It was falling apart. So different from Prague where everything was organized and clean. My first impression of Poland was the worst ever. That for me was like purgatory. I got inside the hall and checked the time table. Everything was made in some old way that I couldn’t understand what the heck was it trying to say. A bunch of numbers and city names spread with some other numbers that might be the hour. Everything was unreadable. So I decided to go to the information desk.

The queue was a bit big but it was going fast. The cold inside the station was freaking unbelievable. There was no heating. I’d already put another pair of socks and it wasn’t enough. The skin seemed to rip. I needed to get into some coffee shop or I would die frozen there. But first I needed to know when was the train.

It was my turn to ask for information and I was ready to start speaking English. An old lady was at the desk so I asked her:

- Please, I want to know which platform I should go to get to Lodz.

The lady was looking at me with a “I don’t get it” face. Maybe if I said the name of the city correctly she would get it but “Lodz” meant nothing to her. I asked again and nothing. So I started repeating the city’s name.

- Lodz! Lodz!

Nothing worked. I tried: “Lodz, piui!” trying to make her understand the train’s noise, and nothing. The woman got mad at the desk and the queue was starting to get bigger. There was an old man that was releasing smoke from his nose because the damn queue didn’t move. So I did the same as before. I took the ticket and showed the lady. She looked at it and said:

- Ahhh! Łódź! Łódź!

- Of course it is a train, you dumb. – I answered randomly.

As I said in previous post, Łódź, should be read like Údi; and saying the name of the city in the correct way, the woman seemed to make the “piuí” sound of the train. By the end I was the dumb.

The woman started saying a lot of things in Polish. What a strange language. It managed to be worse the Czech. I didn’t understand a single world, she didn’t understand what I was saying, the guy behind me was about to hit me and I was getting tired of that situation. I asked her to show the computer screen because that was annoying already.

Finally I got what I wanted. Everything was on the computer screen. Platform, time and everything. I thanked her and went out of that damn desk. It was time to have a coffee to warm up my chest, it was -23º and I was almost dying there…

To be continue…

BR Na Europa!

P.S.: I want to say that i have no problem or discrimination with Russian people. I also have Russian friends and don't want any misunderstanding with them.

The Worst Trip of my Life - Part 1

I had to start preparing the things for the trip. First I told my German friends that I was going to Poland for the weekend and probably would come back Sunday night. They had the bad news that they were going to Ostrava (an eastern Czech city) to work and from there they would go to Germany to visit their family without date to come back. Summarizing, I couldn’t stay in the apartment by myself. Lucky me!

No problem, I called Chun Li and asked if I could stay there when back from Poland. The answer was positive and I needed to “move out”. I said goodbye to my German friends and received a advice: Beware with Russians in the train.

What kind of advice was that? I didn’t understand what they meant. I just packed up my stuff and took it to the Hakkinen’s house. I was well received from Mika’s family, as expected. I told them that I was going to Poland and was coming back on Sunday or even a bit later. I installed the Xbox (yeah, I needed to buy one, I just couldn’t stay there without playing hehe) and played a bit with Jerry before the trip. The train departure was scheduled for 9pm and I had lots of time till there. Chun Li said that she would take me to the train station, and with that I was calm.

At night I said goodbye to Mrs. Hakkinen and received another advice: Avoid sleeping in the train and beware with Russians.

Oh God! Again this Russian thing? What had they done? I imagine it was something related to the war. Maybe they still had some anger in their hearts, but why the German gave the same advice then? That I just couldn’t understand.

I took my backpack and went out to go to the train station with Chun Li. The Hakkens lived a bit far, close to Flora, and to get to our destination in the center it would take around twenty minutes. When we got out of the building it started snowing. Damn this snow. This thing is just nice in the movies.

The problem is that it wasn’t just some snow… It seemed more like a storm. The streets were completely covered and the traffic jam was horrible. The urban trains weren’t working and the only option was to get a bus to the nearest bus station to the metro, otherwise I would be doomed and lose my train to Poland.

Thank God a bus passed while we needed. I was really afraid of losing my train to Łódź. We headed to the metro station and from there Chun Li and I managed to get to the main station quickly. Chun Li already knew the platform and where should we go, so after leaving the metro we ran to the place.

When we got to the platform we saw the train waiting for departure. You in Brazil must be thinking about those nice trains that you’d seen on TV. Haha, I also had that disappointment. The Czech and Polish trains are something “amazing”. Just take a look at the photo.

Chun Li asked a man who worked there if that was the right train. He was Polish and the conversation didn’t go that nice. She almost got no information. The languages are from the same family but they are not THAT similar. But as we seemed lucky that night, there was a Czech man who was going to a city near Prague that told us that was the right train. Chun Li also asked if I could stay in the cabin with him, it was safer to travel this way in that train. He answered that I could.

I said goodbye to Chun Li with a hug and got into the train with the man. He just spoke German and Czech, so we hadn’t much to talk about. In less than two minutes the train was departing to its destiny, Katowice. You must be thinking that the train trip would be really calm and nice. But come on, if it would be something like that it wouldn’t be MY trip. This trip was the worst in my life.

The train headed to the Czech border and was supposed to get divided in Ostrava. I should stay in the right wagon at the division time, it would be crazy to ask someone if I was or not. The man who was sharing the cabin with me said that he was leaving on a station not that far away, and that I should be lucky in the moment of division. That was what I could understand in German. He also explained that he was a cook in the Police, and that made me a bit relaxed, at least he knew how to manage a knife (LOL), and told me that when he left the train I shouldn’t sleep because of the Russians.

I was getting nervous about this “Russian” thing in trains. I had nothing with me but money, but the thing is that this conversation was getting repetitive and boring. I didn’t express myself about it but I started feeling afraid. The train was going fast and making lots of noise. After three stops I felt the trip would be fine and relaxed a bit more.

It was snowing like hell when we arrived at a small city called Konin. The train was stopped for a while, some people got in, and we prepared for departure. We started moving slowly… and puff. The train stopped again. The reason? The energy cables were frozen and there was no contact with the train’s stem. The man who checked the tickets came to inform that it would take a while. A while? If it would take more than one hour I probably would lose my connection in Katowice. And guess what, it took one hour and a half for us to receive more information.

Within this period I’d lost my hope to get my connection. After the cook explained the situation I gave up and asked if he wanted to have a beer. We went to the last wagon and bought five bottles each. We came back to the cabin and tried to understand each other. People who know me also know that I speak nothing in German, I just know some words, but I tried… I really tried hard, and it was a bit funny. During the second bottle of beer, the ticket checker came back to our cabin and started talking to the cook.

There was another train for him, so he could go forward to his destination normally. Lucky bastard! I had to stay there alone trying to wait for the solution of the problem while he was going. The cook said goodbye, left his three beers for me and got out of the train

I didn’t have much to do, just wait or wait. The cold weather was invading the cabin, because since there was no electricity in the train, the heaters were off. It was my lucky night for sure. I would die drunk and frozen inside a train that headed to nowhere. I decided to walk a bit through the train and by some chocolate. On my way I heard some people speaking in some strange language. Was it Russian? I would never know, but I had other surprise. I saw two guys speaking Portuguese. Ahh, finally some beautiful language to speak. I came closer and joined the conversation. They were going to Krakow in Poland and didn’t know what was happening. They were at the sleeping wagons. That time I was a bit jealous that they have a bed but since all those advice about “Russians” I felt lucky I had normal tickets, as everyone was telling me not to sleep. I didn’t take long with them, they had such a boring conversation.

I went back to my smelly cabin after buying the chocolate. The place just smelled as beer. I went to the corner, shrank myself to warm me up and continued drinking beer. After two hours and a half we were still stuck at the same place. Certainly I would lose my connection and what was supposed to be a nice trip, with all that cold, became torment.

To be continued… 

BR Na Europa

So Gimme Reasons...

Before saying how was my trip to Poland I need explain the reason of why I was going there.

I had promised a girl that I met on internet that I’d go to Poland. This was repeated sometimes on this blog and that was the reason. For me a promise is a debt you make, and it must be paid. I can delay, forget for a while… but if I do remember I will pay it. This was the biggest reason for me to go to Poland.

You must be asking: “And who is this blessed girl?” So I will have to tell how I met her for everything to be understandable.

In a Sunday afternoon I was at home in Brazil doing nothing. I still had a fiancée (I know you are wondering about it). I was completely bored. I didn’t want to watch football with my father as we always used to do (Italian, German, English and Brazilian championships), so I decided to search for new information of a band that I really like, Incubus. While looking for it on Google I decided to stop for a while in Last.fm to check my profile. I answered some messages, checked what I was listening mostly, took a look at new bands my friends were listening to and then decided to take a look at Incubus page.

On the band’s page there was no new information and I was about to go back to MDAN’s forum (the page I am a moderator) when something attracted my attention. In the place where were listeners I saw someone with an apple in hands. I was curious and decided to check the profile.

The picture was nice and funny… It reminded me a character of an Anime that used to give an apple to a Shinigami*, but this person was biting it. The owner of the profile was Priceless Girl, a polish lady that seemed to like the same bands as me. I couldn’t hold myself and sent a message: “Nice profile, seems like someone really likes Incubus.”

For a long period I had no answered, maybe one week and a half. It took long but she replied saying thanks for what I’ve said. The message had nothing special. I sent another message talking about another band I liked and commented the photo of hers. I really liked that apple photo. She thanked again after some days and finally I asked if she used some instant message software, because it was terrible to talk to someone like that. She took five days to reply it. She gave me the one she used, saying that she was never online and that it would be really difficult to talk to her… I added her and that was it.

Photo of Priceless Girl and her apple =)

After almost fifteen days she appeared in the instant messenger, we talked a bit, nothing really interesting. We talked about music and things like that. We had a band we both liked and it was the subject. We talked a bit about each other’s lives and that was it. Those meetings started to happen over and over; we always had some subject to talk about. I was getting addicted to that. We talked was everyday long hours, didn’t matter the place.

She went to Barcelona for a trip and was away for some days, meanwhile my engagement crashed. After she came back things started to be more intense. She knew I was engaged and our relationship was just as friends.

I had bought tickets to Czech Rep., why not visit the Polish girl? It’s a close country anyway. So I promised I would make it. I can’t pretend that I wasn’t liking her, I was and even told it to her. But it was difficult to measure feelings without seeing each other in reality… just on the computer screen. Of course we had lots of things in common, but it really doesn’t mean that things would work out just because of that. I told myself that I had to meet her. And that was the reason that made me do the worse trip to meet the most important person in my life…

BR Na Europa!

*Shinigami: Can be translated as the Death Angel... it's the easiest way to explain hehe

Just 25...

As I said before, I really wanted to stay in Prague, but I needed to understand how it would be and the risks I would have if I start a company there. Depending on the situation, I would start even a popular market and register as a company, I just didn’t care. Hehe. Just kidding. I had already some business in my mind, but first I needed to go to the Brazilian embassy to check how things worked in Czech Republic. But before going I needed to change my flight tickets to Brazil. I just had three more days in Europe and it wouldn’t be enough to go to Poland and solve company and visa problems. 

I called the flight company and had the “good” news that I would have to pay 130 Euros more because the day I was trying to change was more expensive. I didn’t have much choice, put it to March 21st, paid it and went to the embassy to try solving my life problems. 

This time I knew where the embassy was, I wouldn’t get lost again. I got into the building, really charming by the way, passed through a red carpet, like in the Oscar’s event, and found a gate. I called to get in the room and they answered really quickly. An old Czech lady, around forty five years old, received me. She should’ve been Brazilian but you know how things are in our country. Certainly she was some wife of a friend or even recommended by some guy who worked there. 

I was well treated, she asked me to wait a bit, offered drinks and everything, I felt important there. My visit was expected as the topic of the meeting with the consul. After ten minutes of waiting I was received by the consul. I wasn’t that well dressed for the meeting, just some jeans and a nice suit. I am not rich but I didn’t want to be treated as another Brazilian that wanted to stay there washing dishes. The consul welcomed me and asked me to sit to start the conversation. 

- So Mr. Belino, you realize that starting a company here is not difficult as it may seem. You’ll just need money for that. – the consul said. 

That’s when the money talk started. There weren’t lots of taxes to pay in Czech Rep. like in Brazil, but I would have to declare my earnings in my country as well for the first year, crazy stuff. The worst thing was that the dream became impossible when he said something about the beginning of the company. To start I would have to give twenty five thousand Reais (around U$15.000) to the Czech government to guarantee that the company wasn’t a fake and that it wouldn’t break immediately after starting it. They took this amount also to avoid immigrants to the country, and I’d never see this money back. 

Twenty five thousand Reais was difficult to have. I stopped listening to the procedures and started thinking about the money. Even if I’d give this amount to the government how would I start the company? With five hundred Reais?! That was impossible. But I didn’t have other choice, it was that or nothing. I chose nothing and gave up. It was better to have a long vacation and that’s it. I would stop thinking about immigration, that was enough! I could think about it when back to Brazil getting back to my plans to go to Canada with my friends. If I put effort it would be possible by the end of the year. 

I thanked the consul for the information and went out of the embassy a bit sad. But it wasn’t that bad. I still had some money in my pocket and could visit other countries. As I was close to the center I decided to go to the train station. It was time to buy my tickets to Poland. 

I also had some football business to solve there. My visit to that country was arranged before, but before coming to Europe the meeting with the businessmen was cancelled due to the bad time and the money problems the club was facing. As I’d promised the girl I met on internet that I would go to meet her there was no reason to cancel the trip. She called before asking if I would like to spend the New Year Eve in Poland with her and her friends, but as I had everything planned with Chun Li I couldn’t, besides I needed to go to Vienna, and from Prague the trip was shorter. 

I got in the train station and looked for information desk. They said I should go to an agency at the left corner of the station. Thank God they spoke English there, if not I would have some trouble. I bought tickets to Łódź in Poland at January 9th at night, this way I would have time to prepare myself. The trip would take nine hours and I would have a stop in a city called Katowice, also in Poland, to change trains. The tickets were valid for the whole month, so if I decided to stay there a bit longer, it wouldn’t be a problem. Cost: 79 Euros to go and come back to Prague. 

I head home, called the girl I met on the internet and asked her to find some place for me to stay. Everything was arranged, I just need to departure. Now you should be asking: Who is this girl? So, it will be explained in the next post. 

BR Na Europa!

Belly dancer...

I won’t tell about the dancing fireworks at the first night of the year neither about my business trip to Vienna in Austria. It doesn’t worth because NOTHING happened in this period. The important thing was that when I came back to Prague I made my decision: I want to live in this city.

After some research, I noticed that living there wasn’t that difficult. I had three options: To get married, get a job there or start a company. Getting married was out of question, I didn’t want to pass through everything again. To find a job would be possible if I could find something that only I could do, what wouldn’t happen so quick because the immigration had to put the announcement for all Czech people and only if no one could do it I could be hired. The only solution remaining was to start my own company.

So there goes Mr. Belino to the Brazilian embassy in Prague looking for information of how to start a business in the city. As I saw in Google maps, the embassy was close to the center, it wasn’t that difficult to find and there were lots of embassies nearby. I went to the current street and found nothing there. Walked here and there and just found one lost embassy, the South Korean. I decided to go in to get some information. 

I went inside and head to the reception desk. One lady was there but she didn’t speak English or Portuguese (of course, no one speaks ¬¬), so she asked a blonde lady to talk to me. This blonde one went down the stairs after some time, looked at me and said:

- I know you.

I opened my eyes showing surprise. I just didn’t understand. How come she knows me? So she continued:

- You are Mika’s ex-fiancé, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Marianne.

It seemed I was already famous around the country without knowing it. I was with a strange face pretending the situation was completely normal, not uncomfortable. I fake a smile and went to talk with the woman. We had a coffee and she talked about her life. She was married with an Egyptian guy and he was having birthday the day after. Summarizing, she invited me to the party saying I couldn’t say know. How could I go to a party without knowing anybody?

I was doomed and didn’t know what to do. At least I got directions to the Brazilian embassy and went out of that place with one hundred questions in my mind. Why the hell did she invite me? I head to the Brazilian embassy and puff. It was closed. The damn thing closed at 3pm dude! It opens at 10am and closes at 3pm. I WANT A JOB LIKE THAT FOR ME! Damn it! I had nothing to do but to GO there another day.

I went home wondering what to do. I decided to call Chun Li, maybe if she was going to the party I wouldn’t feel that bad. Guess what… She hadn’t been invited! Oh Lord... I practically forced her to ask Marianne to invite herself Just to go with me.

At the party night I was a bit nervous. I would meet some “important people”, not important for me of course. Consul, ambassador, God knows who else would be there. Chun Li and I met close to the bar where was the party. It was a shisha bar; shisha is that thing that Arabians use to smoke. It was located close to the river, near the third bridge. I can’t remember the name of the bar right now, but it was really comfortable and organized.

I must say that I didn’t know what to give as present to the man who was having birthday, I just didn’t know him, so I asked Chun Li what he was like, his personality and everything. She told me: “Don’t worry about it, you don’t need to spend money on that, we will buy some chocolate and that’s it. Here we do like this, the important thing is the meaning of the present”. Somehow I really liked the Czech people, they really know how to save money, hehe. If it would be in Brazil it would be really shameful to give cheap present.

We went inside the place and saw Marianne straight away. She was sitting in a huge table with some people. We went to her husband, gave the “present” and sat. As you know Muslims don’t drink alcohol, so they stayed the whole night with coke and some drinks without alcohol. I had a whiskey to warm up a bit and they were always looking at me. I was presented to everyone by Marianne. I have to confess I didn’t memorize anyone’s name. For me everyone were Mohammed, it was a shame because they were really nice people.

- Man, are you really Brazilian? You seem more like Egyptian. – one of them said.

Oh God! That killed me! Did I have Egyptian face? I smiled fakely and said that I was pride to be Brazilian. What a lie…

- But, but come on. You really look like an Egyptian. Look how he seems like us. – Marianne’s husband said pointing to his skin.

Chun Li just laughed while people were making jokes about me. I think that they just didn’t want me to feel bad in the place, who knows. I asked for another glass of whiskey to face the jokes. I was the only one drinking but they were making so much noise that seemed they were completely drunk.

After some time two people arrived, the consul and the ambassador. They were twins, can you believe it? Really nice guys. They greeted everyone till they came to me. The consul gave me a hug and then said something in Arabic. Everyone laughed. Chun Li was loving the situation, but her time was about to come.

They explained that the consul thought I was also Egyptian. Come on! I swear to God I didn’t look like them. Suddenly someone came with a “brilliant” idea. There was another Egyptian to come and they asked me to pretend I was from the same country as they were. They said that the guy wouldn’t notice and for me to act just like them, noisy. I agreed and we waited for the guy to arrive.

In fifteen minutes some crazy dude with a huge moustache and funny hair appeared. Everyone clapped hands when he got in, probably he was really loved by that group. He embraced everyone, one by one and made more noise than everyone together. His hugs were so strong that I was afraid that in my turn he would break my ribs. I sat close to the consul and Marianne’s husband, I didn’t know why but seemed that they treated me like they knew me from previous life or something, but it was where they made me sit. The moustache guy was hugging the consul and after that would be my turn. Everyone gave me some sign, it was my turn.

The hairy guy gave me a strong hug like I was his brother or something and said:

- ويسعدني حقا أن ألتقي بك يا صديقي. 

I answered:

- شكرا ، أنا سعيد حقا لمقابلتك أيضا. 

What did I say? I have no idea! But the guy seemed to understand and continued.

- أنا لا أعرفك. هل لك ان تعيش هنا أو شيء من هذا؟ - 

أنا حقا لا أعرف ما الذي تتكلمون عنه. - 

And this strange conversation took around three minutes. I couldn’t handle anymore saying things I didn’t know. I was just twisting my tongue and making some strange noises but the guy seemed to understand. Everyone was laughing like crazy. So finally the hairy guy stopped talking and asked the reason they were laughing. They finally explained him that I was Brazilian and wasn’t understanding a single word he was saying. That I was just making some noise.

He Just didn’t believe! For him I was really speaking Arabic. Haha. Chun Li was there and she could say it was the truth. I had to show him my passport. It was the most strange situation I’ve ever had, but at least we laughed about it the whole night.

After this mess they gave me a name: Musad. It meant “happy guy” or something like that. They said it was because I was always smiling. The hairy guy approached and said that before he was understanding some stuff I said, but the sound I was making was a bit strange, similar to some places in Egypt where people speak that way and almost no one understand. Can you believe it?

It was time to sing the happy birthday song, not really, some freaky song in Arabic. Chun Li and I were just clapping hands while they sang. They cut the cake and the best part was to come. The belly dance. The first to join the belly dancer was Marianne’s husband, of course, he was the one having birthday. His wife was just looking, maybe jealous, but she said nothing. After the first song everyone on the table started:

- Musad! Musad! Musad! Musad!

It was my turn to dance. The bar was full and everyone was looking at us. I was really ashamed. Why did I have myself in such situation? Why did they make me do that? I Just wanted some information! And there was I with the moves I learned in a Brazilian television. I danced quite well, at least everyone liked. Haha. After my beautiful Arabic moves...

- Chun Li! Chun Li! Chun Li!

She change color for a while, I guess. Pink, red, green, blue are the ones I remember. She has always been shy, and suddenly that. And I laughed, and laughed like crazy looking at her crying face. She paid for laughing at me in previous situation. She couldn’t escape. The guy who was having birthday took her hand and started dancing with the belly dancer and her. Maybe he thought he was in some kind of harem. Haha.

After that much noise and singing I went out because they were about to start the karaoke. I didn’t want to sing in Arabic, it would be too much. It was enough for that night. It was time to say goodbye to everyone, I really had a good time that night. Before I went out I received another invitation. They wanted Musad in another crazy party… thank God I would be in Poland…

BR Na Europa!

P.S.: Don't forget to leave your comment =)

New Year's Eve

The night before Réveillon I decided to stay at home. I’d bought a new Xbox and played almost the whole day. Maybe I was still traumatized with the horror session I had. The legs were still hurting because of the crazy run for “survival”. I had no idea of what happened to that girl that night. I just wanted to forget everything. The other reason was the snow. I really wasn’t in the mood for anything.

The Day after, January 31st, I was preparing myself to have some fun and to give the guys some news. I wasn’t going to Duplex with them because I had other plans. They took the day off and we went out to have a beer for lunch. They were upset when I said I wasn’t going with them and had another plans. They already had the tickets bought for me, but I could do nothing. They had sold the tickets on ebay for almost twice the price and used the money for having fun.

I was planning to meet the sister and the younger brother of my ex-fiancée. Mika’s sister, or Chun Li, has always been a good friend. We used to talk a lot when I was still engaged to her sister, and knowing I was in Prague she wanted me to enjoy the city. So the plan was to have dinner in her friend’s house, who is television advertising actor. And to meet her affair there and then went to the city center with everyone including Jerry, her brother, to see the fireworks. It’d be a normal night, finally.

I head to the Häkkinen’s house and met Chun Li and Jerry. They were ready just waiting for me. It was time to go to the center and meet the people. Metro, bus, traffic jam... The city center was crowded like hell. Drunk guys, crazy people, fireworks, lots of music and noise. This was Prague in New Year’s Eve. I had a coffee with Jerry to warm up my chest while Chun Li was waiting for her affair. We were talking about videogames most of the time, Jerry is still 12 or something, and I think that was the only topic that fit into the conversation, besides he didn’t speak English that much, and it was a bit difficult. Finally Chun Li’s boyfriend appeared and now we had the difficult task of crossing the center to get to the actor’s house.

We manage to get there and then started drinking. Beer, vodka, wine… there were alcohol for every taste. One more friend appeared and finally we could have dinner. We ate a lot that night. Czech food, but this time was nice. Good dishes and I could face it. For the first time in this trip I went out at night and was having a good time without anything strange happening. I almost dropped some tears in emotion. Haha.

Everything was going well. I was a bit drunk but we still needed to see the fireworks. We took some champagne and went for “a walk”. I still don’t understand why Europeans like to walk that much, for them everything is close while it isn’t. The plan was to go to the other side of the river, meet another actor friend, his name was Gama and he was from Guinea, and then go up the hill and manage to see the city from there. So it would be better to see the fireworks. The problem was to pass through those crazy people in the center again. More noise, more fireworks in the crowd, more drunks. The city was impossible.

We managed to pass through that small hell and started climbing up to nowhere. We met the other actor and his wife in the way and continued going up. That hill was some kind of park. It had lots of trees and ways to go up. Some old constructions were found as well. It was a nice place. We went up and started drinking some wine till the New Year. Lots of alcohol and smoke with Jerry putting fire on his fireworks. One of the actors was completely drunk. But we were having a good time.

It was almost time. After the traditional count down, hugs and champagne for everyone, we could see the amazing fire show all around the city. The fifteen minutes fireworks were awesome. In the center it was more tense than in other neighborhoods. It was magic. Hugs, champagne, smoke… perfect night.

We decided to stay there a bit longer and then decided to go back home. The actor was really dizzy and crazy, almost falling. We took the freak home and then everyone went to their places. It was time to go to bed because on January 2nd I had to be in Austria and I didn’t want to be that tired. Like I said, one of the few normal nights I had since I arrived…

Terror in Prague

The beer was cold. The only problem of the pub was the bad smell of cigarettes. In some European countries it’s still not prohibited to smoke in closed areas, so even though being upstairs where were less people, the smell was terrible. Besides that, while I went to take one more beer I noticed something. The pub just had old people and seemed like an elder’s place. One, two, three four, five beers and the girls noticed the same.

- Oh my God, there are just old people here. Not even a hot guy for us to look at. – Star said disappointed.

- You girls were the ones who decided to come to such place. – her sister complained.

- Let’s finish this round and then we can buy some alcohol and go to the hostel. There is a small store of a Chinese lady that sells it. I think it closes early, it better hurry. – suggested one of the girls.

We didn’t take the metro, we went on foot to the main square and it was much faster. I don’t know if it was the beer effect, good beer by the way, but it was really, really faster. We went through some narrow streets and suddenly we were at the main square.

- I don’t know why we took the metro, we could have walked there easily. – Star’s sister was still complaining.

She was right, not because of the price, but she suggested us to go on foot. A ticket for 75min for metro and urban trains in Prague costs 1,10 Euros and the one for half an hour 0,80 Euros. So are you still complaining that the public transport in your city is expensive? It’s better to continue complaining because there the public transport is really good.

After some more complaining of Star’s sister we went to the Chinese store. It was close to the girls’ hostel. We bought some bottles that I don’t even remember properly now… wine, vodka, tequila, God knows what more. The strange fact of buying there was that the lady, that seemed to be the owner of the place, put one of her daughters outside in the cold to protect the entrance and other one close to us. I think she was wondering if we would steal something, and put the small Chinese girl to look at our face. But come on, even though we decided to steal something, what could three tiny Chinese girls do to stop us? Maybe they knew kung-fu… who knows.

We took the alcohol to the hostel. We stayed there in a room drinking when suddenly a bunch of English guys appeared drunk saying crap things.

- They were trying to pick us up. – one of the girls said in Portuguese.

- Ah, if that blond one wasn’t so idiot I guess I would make up with him. – Star’s words.

And we continued drinking. It was almost midnight and I needed to go back home. The girls were planning to go to a club to dance and get crazy. I wasn’t in the mood, besides, I was a bit drunk. They also talked about the New Year’s Eve in Duplex, 90 Euros for the entrance (or even more, I don’t really remember) and nothing included. They were going anyway. I had money to go, and the my German friends had bought the tickets for me, but unfortunately I had other plans. I didn’t want to spend that much in just one night. If the entrance was 90 Euros, imagine the price of a beer inside there. Haha.

I said good bye to the girls and went out of the hostel completely dizzy. The alcohol had done some damage. I didn’t understand why I was so weak for drinking. Was that the lack of beans? I had no idea. But the way I was I decided not to go home walking. It could take long and I also could get lost. It was better to take a bus, just two stops and I would be safe home.

So I went to the bus stop and got into the right bus. After sometime we started moving………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

These small spots represents something really nice on this bus trip. My sleep! The idiot slept in the bus and stopped really really far! What the heck! I was really angry with myself. I woke up desperate and got out of the bus twelve stops after the one I should had left. I was doomed. I didn’t know where the hell I was. What to do? There was no phone. There was no one. Just some buildings organized as a block of flats like the ones we can find in São Paulo. The worse thing was that I had no idea where to go. I was completely doomed.

I started walking in that cold night in Prague. The alcohol effect was gone. It is really impressive what happen when we are desperate. The neighborhood was a bit strange and dark. There was no noise, just the cold wind blowing in my ears. It seemed that I was lucky because it stopped raining. I head the other way the bus went and looked for a bus stop to have my way back home. I walked for ten minutes till I found one. The board said I had to wait 35min to the next one so I decided to wait.

I stayed under the roof of the bus stop to protect me from the cold wind. Everything was really calm, too calm. The cold was terrible and I felt the tension on my skin. While I was walking I wasn’t feeling that cold, the body was warm and the alcohol helped a bit, but when I was stopped it was terrible. I heard some steps far away. Someone was getting close and walking really quickly. Suddenly there were no more steps and I heard a scream.

Oh no! Come on! I think that if I wasn’t a bit drunk I would poop myself straight away. It was a really loud woman’s scream. I put my face outside the tent carefully. God knows what was happening. After some time I heard lots of loud laughs and the woman swearing someone in Czech. Seemed like a bunch of bastards were making their moves. They started yelling and speaking loud with the woman. So I thought to myself:

- Are they rapists? Small nigga, it’s better for you to run away because if those guys appear here you would be screwed. Better run, you don’t know if they are racists… If they catch you, you’re doomed.

That’s what I did. I ran... I ran more than the roadrunner, more than Jerry running away from Tom, more than Usain Bolt, more than anything you can imagine right now. I could still hear the guys yelling with someone, maybe the girl who screamed. This thing of being a hero wasn’t for me. I watched lots of horror movies and I know that the one who helps, always end up dead. I just didn’t want to go back home in a shoe box. 

I ran a lot and without direction. I didn’t know where I was. The only think I knew was that I was running the other way the bus went. I turned left, went straight, turned right, went up the hill and continued going desperate. I think the amount I ran I could easily win the Berlin Marathon or even the New York one. You might be thinking I am a chicken, but put yourself in my position. The situation was like a horror movie.

After forty-five minutes of running I found my way back home. I opened the door sweating like crazy and throw myself into bed just waking up the next day. 

BR Na Europa

Do you like opera? Neither do I....

The second day was really quiet. I went shopping, had lunch (Italian food this time hehe) and went out to take a look at the city again. I didn’t spend too much time out because I needed to meet the girls with whom I arranged the meeting the day before.

They left another message on Orkut with time and place of the meeting. I had to go to the main square and meet them at 8pm. There were 5 girls and the name of one was Star, the other four names doesn’t matter. I knew Star from long time ago. She was travelling with her sister and the others that were as crazy as her. They also wanted to spend the New Year’s Eve in Prague and after that they would go to Berlin. That night they wanted to see the National Theater in Prague, a place I passed before but didn’t give much attention.

We took the metro and took the directions to the theater before we had some glasses of the wonderful Czech beer. One of the girls had a touristic map, better of course than mine from McDonald’s, and guided us to the place. We got out of the metro in the right station and head to the theater.

It was really cold, more than usual. We needed to find that damn theater because I was freezing. It was raining a bit to make everything worse. At least it wasn’t that far away from the metro station, ten minutes walk and we found it and got in the place.

There were two old men and a young guy using some kind of costume. They were workers and were there to help with directions and to check tickets. We had information that there was some ballet. One of the girls, who was a dancer, was almost crying because she really wanted to see the presentation.

- Sir, how do we do to get in? How much does it cost? – the girl that had the map asked in English.

The old man nod his head and pointed to the young guy. He didn’t speak English at all.

- Sir, what can we do to get in? How much does it cost? – she asked again in English but this time to the young man that worked there.

- No English. – that’s what he answered.

Everything was already a mess. The girls wanted to get in but no one understood English. The few words I learned in Czech wouldn’t help at all. The girls insisted till they got tired, they showed money, they were on their knees begging the guy, pointed to the doors inside the theater and nothing seemed to help. The guy just couldn’t understand them.

I noticed that the guy was looking to one of the girls with sparks, maybe he never saw some Brazilian girl, who knows. He made a signal for us to wait and went to speak with the two elders. We were whispering with each other and already thinking about giving up. With no communication it was impossible. It was easier to sell a carrot to a monkey convincing it to be a rabbit than that.

We were preparing to leave when the guy came back saying:

- I help.

No one understood what he meant, but he repeated once more and made some sign for us to follow him. That was when we started going up guided by that man. The girls were laughing loud and saying: “Would he be some kind of rapist? If he is, we can leave Belino behind and run away”. What a friendship... I was there trying to help and they say something like that.

- Hey girls, I think he will let us inside for free. If it’s like that I will give him a kiss. – one of the girls said.

That was what was happening. We went up five floors, I don’t remember that well. There was a hall with a place where we could leave our coats, for free hehe. The man asked us to stay quiet while getting in. It wasn’t ballet, but opera. The place was really dark because and act had just finished. We found places and sat separetly. The theater was amazing like the ones we can just see in the old movies. The paintings, the details in gold, the stage, the acoustic… everything was perfect. The opera was boring and I slept a bit.

When the opera finished we had another dilemma. One of the girls lost the number to take back her coat. How to face that cold without a coat? I wouldn’t give mine at all, for me she could live there in the theater till summer. Haha. We started trying to find the damn number and the result… we found nothing. A couple noticed that we were looking for the damn coat hanger number because they were also looking for theirs. As you see, just smart people hehe. But we were lucky, the girl from the couple found our number and give it back to us, so we took it and went out of the theater.

We went out of there really happy by not paying the 500 crowns (20 Euros) for the entrance (we saw the price later) and to be able to see such a wonderful place. The National Theater in Prague really worth seeing. After we got out of the building it was time for some fun. We crossed the street because we saw a pub. It was PIWO TIME! And this way, the interesting end of night was about to start…

To be continued...

BR Na Europa!