July 24. Friday, Post-hangover day

7:50 am

I wake up because I promised to show my student M how to use Skype. We agreed to have Skype lessons in the near future. She used to be a complete beginner and would come to the class twice a week until she had to give labor (almost literally, she gave birth something like 5 days after our last lesson and I always admired how she could manage studying while she was feeling so tired). Now she is at home with a 5 week old baby girl.

8:55 am

I take a nap again.

10:03 am

I'm woken up by a phone call. My other student is calling. She is feeling too bad to have the lesson today. I'm so sleepy but try to sound super energetic. One good thing is I still get paid for this lesson as it is arranged through a language school. This day is gonna be good. But for now, good night!

10:40 am

Wakey wakey! Ugh. My eyes are tired. I have some sort of breakfast - lots of different kinds of tea with whole-wheat cookies.

Yoga, laudry, music.

Here's a song Markýza andělů by a charismatic Czech singer-songwriter and actor Ondřej Brzobohatý.

12:00 pm

"To je ale dusno," says my neighbor as I go out with a bag full of wet laundry. I love hanging clothes outside. Her statement would translate as 'What a stuffy day.' It's been hot and sunny for several days and it hasn't rained. Czech people love to complain, and if it's about weather, they love it even more. I engage in these kinds of conversations to be polite but I always say that I'm happy it's hot.

I know it's not only with Czechs, but I think us Czechs are a bit extreme about this:

• "It's terrible. It's so cold! I want some sun."
• "Ugh. It's so hot. I wish it rained a bit, the plants in my garden are getting dry."
• "It's been raining like forever. There's no sunshine."
• "It's too hot!"

It's a circle. I know who's to blame. Of course: the weather! :-D But hey, we have to learn to be happy with what we have. We rarely have forest fires, flooding, earthquakes and tornadoes, so what else do we want?

12:45 pm

Time to make lunch. My boyfriend is coming over to eat with me and I'm super happy because I told you I don't like eating alone. I got a big zucchini from my mum's garden (weighs over 1.5 kilos) and I'm going to make pasta from it.

It's massive! (That's what she said, hahahaha. Sorry, but I couldn't help it, it was too tempting.)

1:15 pm

My boyfriend and I are cooking together. Julienne peeler was a good investment: 69 Kč. We use it quite often to make zucchini or carrot stripes. It's a lot of fun to make them. I peeled the zucchini (by the way, I hate typing this word, I always misspell it) and my boyfriend cooked minced meat with vegetables and tomato sauce - bolognese style.

1:40 pm
We are having lunch while watching an episode of Sex and the City. The lunch is delicious and definitely nutritious!

3:05 pm
Another load of washed clothes. Doing laundry is a never-ending story. I said I like hanging clothes outside, but not so much when I'm in a hurry. I promised to meet a friend at around 2 pm. I'm late again (and yet I'm here typing). One load of laundry means over 30 minutes of my time.

• choosing which clothes to wash + checking for stains that need stain remover: 5-10 minutes
• hanging the clothes: 10 minutes
• taking the clothes down: 5-10 minutes
• folding the clothes:  10 minutes

But I'm so glad that we have a washing machine and we don't iron most of the clothes :-)

3:09 pm
Time to go.

3:20 pm
My friend and I need to catch up; I haven't seen her in several months. She made ice coffee for us, I tried her homemade pizza and then ate a piece of her mum's blueberry cake. My lips and teeth are purple. Could life get any better?

6:45 pm
We are going to Prague to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday (preliminarily). I will be the designated driver because I don't want to drink anyway (I wonder why? :-D). 

8:00 pm
We are at a hamburger restaurant where I drink a "radler" at the beginning and from then on until 3:30 am I drink water. I am incredibly sleepy but with energy, it's such a weird feeling. I could run as quickly as I can if it could be with my eyes closed. My eyelids are too heavy. We are having fun though.