Haircut in the 'HOSTEL'

The main purpose that I went back to Prague was to take my stuff and go back to Poland, but as that EU thing appeared I thought I could stay there. Early morning I called the Brazilian embassy to have an appointment with the consul. When I did that, Mrs. Hakkinen appeared saying that we had an invitation for a party. Her son`s girlfriend was graduating and it would be nice to go. I accepted the invitation but I had a problem. I really needed a haircut.

As Jerry, the youngest Hakkinen, was also with a terrible haircut, Mrs. Hakkinen decided to take us to her hairdresser. I was bit worried because it`s not everyone that knows how to cut an afro hair. Hehe. Ok, mine is not that hard nor afro, but compared to Czech ones mine is a bit ”hardcore”.

- There is no problem, Belino. The hairdresser has a husband with that kind of hair as well; she will make a good job. – So, you noticed that the thing was a bit strange, right?

The three of us went to the hairdresser. We head towards the center, went out in the Muzeum station and changed lines. We went out two stations before one of the biggest malls in Prague. The residential place is reach and really nice. Block of flats area is creepy. I`d never passed through there, but it reminded me some Polish streets. Really creepy.

We arrived at a building and Mrs. Hakkinen used the phone. Jerry and I were with here, but with no desire to participate in the ‘beauty section’. It would be better to stay home playing Halo, but as I needed to show myself well at the party, the haircut was really necessary, besides, my hair when long is terrible.

The door opened and we saw a small corridor in front. It was dark and inside we could see stairs. Have you watched the ‘Hostel’? If yes I would say that I felt like in that movie. It was the same feeling. Crazy thing. The smell was also strange. Smelled like old stuff. Jerry seemed not to care and went forward going up the stairs. I was hesitating about getting in. Mrs. Hakkinen noticed that and said:

- Let`s go, we`re late.

You can think that I`m a fool, but I thought: ‘Will they take out my ribs like in the movies just because I didn`t marry her daughter?’ That was on my mind while I was going upstairs. On the stairs there were some small windows that allowed the sunlight to get in, but it got “cut” by the fence and that made the environment even creepier. We arrived at the last floor and one of the doors opened.

A blonde lady smiled and started talking to Mrs. Hakkinen. We got in; it was a small room with some hairdresser stuff. I could breathe properly after taking out those scenes of my mind. Jerry was the first to have the haircut and after him it would be my turn. I took one of those gossip magazines that you always find in hairdressers and took a look while waiting.

Jerry`s haircut didn`t take long and it was already my turn. The woman told me to sit on the chair. I relaxed and she covered me with some robe. That`s when the problem started. She asked something about the haircut and I was there with my lonely dog face understating nothing. The woman didn`t speak English at all. I pointed here, pointed there, smashed my hair to show the height I wanted... The thing was really complicated. So I decided to ask Jerry to translate something for me:

- You are the professional. Please do what you think will be better.

Jerry translated and she said:

- Dobrý. – Or something like that, I don`t really remember what I`ve learned in Czech.

She started to cut. Cut here, machine there. Terrible, I was looking in the mirror and seeing how bad was it. It wasn`t nothing similar to my traditional haircut. It would be better if I was bald.

It was done. I sincerely didn`t like because it was a bit strange. Besides, the way she combed it was terrible. Maybe with some different clothes no one would notice at the party. Better forget about it.

Mrs. Hakkinen was supposed to do something that would take time and asked us to GO home. She said she would pay everything and for me not to bother. At night, around 10pm, we had the party to go. Jerry and I went back to the apartment to enjoy the rest of the afternoon playing some video-game. The night was waiting for me…

BR Na Europa!

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Back to Prague with a plague... ¬¬

As it wasn’t that cold I was hoping that I wouldn’t suffer that much when coming back to Prague, as I did on my way to Łódź. It would be a bit complicated to spend eighteen hours inside a train again. I knew I wouldn’t have the same patience to face it. That trip should be calm and quick, because I needed to arrive to Prague before dinner. I also thought it wouldn’t be nice to arrive that late at the Hakkinen’s place. I had keys and everything, but it would be a bit rude to arrive and talk to no one.

While the train was heading to Katowice I prayed for it not to delay. I also noticed how full the wagon was. Maybe because it was morning it was so crowded, I didn’t really know. The only thing I knew was that I felt safer. I’d promised myself no more night trains, and like that I thought it would be.

The trip was wonderful in its first part. I managed to enjoy the environment without frustration. In three hours and a half I was in “Mordor”, sorry, Katowice. That place was scary no matter when I was there. As I knew what to do in the station now, I stopped, looked and the board and saw the schedule. I had to wait one hour and a half for the other train. The cold inside the hall was terrible and the wind was making it worse. The pigeons were flying like they were aiming on people’s heads, it was crazy. At least they didn’t poop on me.

Priceless Girl made some sandwiches for my trip. It was good because I didn’t need to buy food. I went to the coffee shop to spend some time there. I had a coffee and that was it. I still had forty five minutes in that cold hell. As you know, the coffee shop was really small and I couldn’t stay there with just a cup holding the place. So I went out and went to the known bench in front of the information desk. It was around -16ºC.

I ate a chocolate and took the bible to read. I was praying hard not to get stucked in half way again, when I saw a guy with a foreigner’s face next to me. He was walking around like crazy.

- Strange guy. – I thought. – He doesn’t have Polish face, or even it doesn’t seem that he is from this part of the world, better leave him alone, I don’t want problems.

It was time to go to the train. I took my stuff and went to the platform. The train was already waiting to departure. I got inside, look for an empty cabin as usual and settled myself. The train was really warm, I had nothing to complain about. I sat, put my chIpod and waited for departure. After some minutes the crazy dude that was walking here and there appeared at my cabin’s door asking in English if he could sit there as well. As I wasn’t the owner of anything I told him to get inside. He went in, took out almost 30kg of clothes and jackets and sat. He was breathing like a desperate guy and had reason for that. As soon as he got inside the cabin, the train departured.

- Thank God I managed to take the train. – he said in Portuguese.

- Oh, do you speak Portuguese, dude? – I asked happy.

- Yeah, I do man! Where are you from?

- I’m from Salvador. How about you?

- I’m from São Paulo. Do you live here in Poland?

- No, I’m just visiting. I’m going back to Prague.

- Ah! So you already know Prague? Does it worth seeing? I’m heading there too.

So it started the one person conversation. He started telling the story about his trip and where he was in Europe. Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Oslo... And he was leaving Krakow to go to Prague. The thing was that everything was ok, but the guy didn’t stop talking for a single moment. It was a really boring monologue. The guy was excited because he was feeling cold. What kind of excitement is it? What a masoquist! He just couldn’t stop talking for a second...about the cold in Sweeden, all of the places he’d seen in Berlin, that he Loved Berlin, that he would go back to Berlin, that he didn’t like Netherlands, that he’d seen nothing special in Copenhagen… Ah! I’m tired just remembering that.

So I had the unbeatable chIpod tactics. I started slowly looking for the earphones of chIpod, I chose the noisiest song I had, put on maximum volume, and when he stopped to breathe, Puf! I put it. But guess what. Not even this way the guy stopped talking And worse, the chIpod battery died. I was condemned to listen to that boring conversation during the whole trip… 6 hours.

He talked, talked, talked and suddenly got tired. I wasn’t even listening. I know it was a bit rude, but I was really stressed with all that cheap talk. After some hours of trip we arrived in Ostrava.

- Is it still far away? – he asked.

- Around 5 hours more. When we arrive in Konin it will be close, so check the signs. – I answered.

He probably noticed that I wasn’t in the mood for talking and stopped talking. Then we were going in silence, sorry, with just the train’s noise and I managed to take a nap. The trip was too long. In some small city after Ostrava the train got crowded. Lots of people got inside the wagon. Three girls opened the door of the cabin and sat. They were talking in Czech. The silence that I liked so much disappeared.

One of the girls presented herself to me. I don’t remember her name. She was cute and had a gentle way of speaking. She asked where I was from and if I liked Czech Republic. I remember now that she was studying History at the university and was really interested in Brazilian history. We talked about some other stuff till the other Brazilian break in the conversation. No one understood anything. The three girls looked each other, they said something in Czech and started laughing.

- Are you French? – the one talking to me asked the guy.

- No, I’m Brazilian too. Everyone says that when I speak English I have this French accent.

I must had been an angel with all my patience… the guy broke in the conversation to talk about nothing. What an annoying guy. The girl was trying to talk to me and he was interrupting all the time. I was thinking to kick his balls to see if he would shut up for a while. But it was just some thought. Damn this dush. But there was more. Like it wasn’t enough, he started telling the girls the same story he was telling me, but this time in English. I thought I would ask someone to kill me. The same story again? What the heck! “I loved Berlin, because Berlin is fantastic, Berlin is perfect, because I saw a dog pooping on Berlin’s wall... Damn it!

I couldn’t handle that anymore, not even the girls. They gave their back to the guy, but even though he didn’t stop talking. They were lucky because they left before Konin, but I had to stay there because the other cabins were full.

He asked me how to get to the city center in Prague, because his hostel was located there, and how he could buy tickets. I explained everything, it was enough for us to arrive in Prague and I managed to get rid of the plague. Hehe.

It was the end of the trip, with no breaking, no cold (of course in Mordor it was cold), no “Russian”, but with an annoying dude that didn’t stop talking. It was time to go to the Hakkinen’s. I wouldn’t have trouble with the time as it was still 6pm.

BR Na Europa!

Momentach Łódź

I woke up around 10am and dressed up. We arranged a meeting and we’d go out to see the city. Actually, I wasn’t really interested to see the “gray world” of Łódź. The first impression wasn’t the best, but if everything was arranged there was no reason not to go. What should not happen was me staying locked inside the hostel waiting for the time to go home. 

It was less cold that morning, around -14 ºC. I could feel even some warmth. Haha. I took a shower to take out the smell of bed of my body, dressed and waited for Priceless Girl to appear. While waiting, I decided to send my parents a message since there was free internet. 

Priceless Girl took a bit longer to appear. She was fifteen minutes late. We took one of those urban trains and went to the “city center” where she would show me some stuff. We visited place called Manufaktura (an old factory that became a mall and entertainment center), Plac Wolności, Ulica Piotrkowska (ulica = street) and some other places. 

- Why don’t you take any pictures? – Priceless Girl asked. 

As you all know, the smart guy here forgot the camera. I had to explain that I had some memory lapse and left it in Brazil, since then, I was trying to memorize the places to remember them in the future. It was really a pity, but what could I do? 

We stopped to have lunch around 14h. I was so hungry that I could eat a grilled horse. We went back to that Manufaktura mall and ate a pizza, had a beer and talked. Her mobile rang and in the middle of the conversation she said: 

- No, no. I am having lunch with a friend. 

A friend? No my dear, you had to give me the right label. Of course the conversation was translated to me later because I can’t understand Polish, but she should had said that properly, shouldn’t she? 

- I thought I wasn’t your friend, but your boyfriend. – I released the bomb. 

- Boyfriend? But you didn’t even ask me for that… 

- Was it needed? Haha. 

And that’s how the relationship started. I’m not 100% romantic, not even a Don Juan de Marco. To be clear I just released the bomb and waited for it to explode to check her reaction. I started to like the small blond girl, and if I was going to stay longer in Europe why not to have a nice relationship with someone special? Ok, ok I was really quick but I felt some nice vibration coming from that girl. She had something that attracted me and I didn’t know what. I’d never felt something like that. 

- From now on you lady present me as your boyfriend. 

And that was what happened in my first day in Łódź. I didn’t really likeed the city. It was too “underground”, sad and depressive. Of course Priceless Girl disagreed with me. She was proud of the city where she lived. Maybe it was the snow that covered everything like a duvet, or even the cold weather that didn’t let me enjoy it, I didn’t know. The only thing was that I was enjoying being by her side. 

She invited me to have dinner in her place again. She also said the meal would be better than the night before. It should be like that as we needed to celebrate our first day as girlfriend and boyfriend. Haha. We went to her house on foot. It wasn’t that far away. Twenty-five minutes of walk I guess, but in that cold weather everything seemed to be far away. We passed through some strange and creepy streets. If it would be in Salvador I would never pass in such places. 

We arrived at her place and ate some Polish food that I had no idea what was; certainly something with potato. A wine, some conversation and a night full of love. Everything was really well in Łódź. Thank God I bought tickets that were opened, if not I would go back to Prague that Sunday, but I decided to stay for two days more. I was still tired of the first trip and started liking even more the “girl from internet”. We took some photos to save that moment. 

Priceless Girl and I

Days were passing and I was starting to be out of clothes. I needed to go back to Czech Republic to take back my stuff. I was having a good time in Poland, but to stay there without things to dress was getting difficult. I promised Priceless Girl that I would be back as soon as possible. My trip to Czech had another meaning as well. While I was in Poland I read that the EU was giving some financial help for people who would like to start a company. Maybe it was the way to stay in Prague. So that was what I needed to check. 

The goodbye was a bit sad, but I wanted come back to Łódź and that was for sure. The crying face of the blonde girl didn’t stop me. I really needed to go or I would have to buy lots of clothes in Poland. On Tuesday she went with me to the train station and waited for the train to departure. I would make the other way around as the first trip. A goodbye kiss and I got inside the train… the last wave goodbye and the trip to Prague started. 

BR Na Europa! 

Łódź - Day, ops, Night 1

The first day, I mean, night in the city of Łódź was really nice. Priceless Girl took me from the train station straight to her house to have dinner, and after that she would take me to the hostel I would stay. 

I was terrible. I smelled like beer, my eyes were like dead, I was cold, tired and really, really asleep. I guess that if I stayed one more hour inside that train Priceless Girl would have to carry me to the taxi. A trip that should’ve taken nine hours extended to eighteen hours was like a proof of perseverance. Almost a day feeling cold inside those trains was too much for me. Finally I would have a good meal and take a shower. 

We took a cab and went to her house. I had no idea of the first impression she had of me. My bad smell could kill any chance I had with that girl. She was much prettier personally than in photos. We were talking in the taxi and I was saying why it delayed so much for me to arrive. 

- I don’t believe it! Did it really take that much? – she asked. 

Sometimes I don’t believe in what happened to me since I arrived in Europe. It was too much bad luck for one guy. Of course good things also happened, but it is much easier to tell some strange fact in an interesting way than nice things that occurred. 

While I was telling my story I was taking a look at the city. It was really gray, no color… It was covered by snow and ice everywhere. It really seemed depressing. We approached her place. We were in some kind of apartment complex near a park. There were old buildings in the place. We went upstairs and she opened the door. 

- Please, don’t look at the mess. As you know, I just moved in and there are lots of things to do. 

It was a small apartment but comfortable. I felt the warmth coming from the place… Ahh, it was everything I needed. I entered and passed through the corridor. She showed me the kitchen, bathroom and her room. That was it and so I understood how I couldn’t stay there. If I’d stay there we would have to share the bed, that wouldn’t be a bad idea, but could be strange so sudden. 

I asked her if I could take a shower before dinner and she gave me the honor to use her bathroom. I got inside and left my things. She started cooking, some pasta for sure. But I wanted to do one more thing. So I went to the kitchen to talk to her: 

- Sorry, but I forgot to ask you something. 

- Do you need anything? Soap? 

- No, not really. I know that these things we don’t ask, but can I kiss you? 

She looked at me with wide eyes and that was my turn. I went closer and kissed her even though I was smelly and looking bad. She didn’t have a choice. I went to take my shower happy while she recovered herself from the “Great Impact” of “the Belino’s Kiss”. Listen, I’m no Don Juan neither slippery as you might be thinking, but I waited a lot to kiss her and when I saw her for the first time live the feelings were strong, that’s why the kiss. 

After my thirty minutes shower to take out the bad smell, we had dinner and a great time but I needed to go to the hostel to sleep. If her mom knew I was there things wouldn’t be that nice. 

We took another cab and she took me to a place that was close to her grandma’s house. There I would spend the night and we would meet the day after. I made the check-in, throw myself in bed and fainted. It was almost 2am after some wine and a great dinner with Priceless Girl. I really needed to put my head on the pillow. That’s how my short period started in the city of Łódź. 

BR Na Europa!