Laundry in Prague

Today was very eventful. Well, not eventful, but exciting? Kind of... I guess I’ll let you judge it. Of course, I had Czech class in the morning as well as my political science course. I am really interested in my poli-sci course. The teacher is very into the subject, and we are focusing on Eastern Europe, which is one of my great passions right now. I’m not sure why, but I really want to see how post-Soviet states are able to deal with their transition to democracy and how their current political status corresponds to both their historical background and cultural tradition.
I’ve been feeling kind of sick today, so I thought maybe it was allergies. I’ve been sneezing and my throat is itchy, and I know there is some chlorine in the tap water (which is fine to drink) but I think I’m kind of allergic to chlorine. So I went to the drug store and bought some Zyrtec. Well, I asked “Mate antihistamine?” And they said yes, and I was surprised when she brought out some Zyrtec... I’m pretty sure that is a prescription medicine in the United States, but I just asked for it and she brought it out. In Czech, it is pronounced something like Zeertets (with a rolled r). I really love Czech. I’ve been able to say more and more things, and taking foreign languages while in the foreign country really adds on to the ability to learn. But that case system is still pretty darn hard. I hope I can figure it out.
I decided I needed to do laundry today. For some reason, there aren’t washing machines in the dorm room. I don’t know why. But there aren’t. Seems stupid, right? Well, I had to walk a couple of blocks to do my laundry and IT IS SO EXPENSIVE!! It was 20 dollars for my two loads. I wouldn’t be in such a bind, but it is hot here so your stuff gets smelly and you have to wash it. And I ran out of underwear; if there is one thing you need it is underwear. Well, I walked in and asked how the lady was in Czech, but all of a sudden she starts freaking out at me and my friend Liza. She is just like “a;lksfdlbka sdn; ajsjl;fda ;lkjk;ljasdfhkasdhsfnasdf koijpasdfuonasdfiasduifnk oijaewronjdfj oahsdfoih anej havsdnpipi0aepin lasdvlkbu nalsdpvunpadsfng” and we obviously don’t know enough Czech to know what’s going on. However, she kept saying the Czech words for 3 4 and 7. We were in the other night right before it closed, and I guess she told us that we needed to come in at 4 because it takes 3 hours and they close at 7. Obviously we missed that, because we came in today at 4:30. She calmed down though, but we were kind of scared for a second. Soon after, she became very nice as we continued to try and use Czech and paid her the 400 krona. Money seems to make anyone happy. I kept forgetting things in my laundry bag, and she started laughing at me in a friendly way. As I left, I forgot my sock in a bag so I ran back in and we had our laugh and she taught me the Czech word for sock. So, I either made a great friend, or all my clothes will be bleached as a means for revenge. I guess we will see in a half an hour... The nice thing about it is you don’t need to stay at the laundry mat. She washes it for you, and folds it afterwards. It better be great, because 20 dollars is expensive for laundry.
After the laundry mat, we went to the ATM. I took out some money, and they always give you big bills at the ATM. Now that is fine, but in Prague, they freak out if they have to break a 1000 krona bill, and are amazingly pissed if you give them a 2000. So we went to get it changed at the bank, and they were really nice. Once again, using a little Czech goes a long way; furthermore, the people of Prague won’t hate me.
But I’m tired. I think I should take a nap. Can’t wait to speak more Czech.