6.15.2004 ||>
So I've been bumming around Prague for the past week or so. I've got some pretty neat stories so far. But here's the one right out of the airport:
So I'm flying into Prague from Istanbul and The stewardess says something to me. Since I make an effort not to look too "American" usually, I think she's speaking to me in Turkish. I tell her, in English, that I don't speak Turkish. She gets angry at me and says something in Turkish even louder. I say very slowly, "I speak English." She says slowly and angrily, "So do I. Do you want the chicken or the pasta?" With egg on my face, I blushingly say, "I ordered the vegetarian meal." She almost throws it at me.
But hey, not my fault her pronunciation is bad. I'm pretty good with thick accents, so I think that tells you something.
I think the biggest difference between here and Tashkent is well.... everything. But what do I notice the most? The size of everyone. In the 'Stan, I am daily surrounded by people that could give Twiggy a run for her money. Here there are women with hips and breasts and tummies. The men are tall and solid-looking. These people are more like me. And you know what? It looks good. I know it's the Hollywood stereotype that to look good men and women need to be thin, but really everyone here for the most part looks so healthy and much nicer than the people in Tashkent. Back there they look like they're starving (which they probably are), but here everyone looks delightfully different.
