Bodacious Bratislava

First of all, I'm in Slovakia now. The capital is called Bratislava. I don't think I can say that without letting a snicker go by. Or a chuckle. Say it. BRA. TEES. LAAAAAVAHHHHH. It kinda reminds me of Zangief, a character from Street Fighter II. Now on that, let's name the others: ken ryu guile blanka chun li e.honda balrog, the bad guys: vega, sagat from thailand (who could forget him) and m bison. a baddy so bad his first name is just an initial. Start calling me A.Small

Funny scenario which leads me to believe there is an active God protecting me: The snoring roommate from mexico woke me up again at 5:30 this time. I'm on 4 hours of sleep and I don't mind. Anyways, steve came back from partying the nite bevffore at 5.30 too. after an hour of elliot smith on iPod i decided it was time to go, so i hopped on a tram. In the metro I met another Czecho who kept professing his catholic religion to me, tapping his mini bible with his wrinkled hands and telling me hes gonna study economics in the church. whatta character. anyways, because of him i missed my metro.

luckily i arrived at narazdi stop, and while walking to the international train ticket booth these 5 guys in wooden swords said "bratislava?" i said hell yes and together we shaved 50% off of our ticket to Slovakia. there were in a middle ages role playing game with 330 other czechs and slovaks, fighting war, eating rabbit, and sleeping in tents. we got to talking about americas involvement in world politics, the downward spiral the Eastern Bloc countries are taking because of the EU's mandatory economic and governmental reforms, and communism.

slovakia is a sad place. ppl are still breaking away from communism, but across the river, its a horrible sight: dozens of communist styled buildings line the shoreline, one after another, citizens cramed into prison like tenement buildings that are starting to decompose. theyre hideous looking remnants of Stalin's legacy. in the 1970s the building bulldozed the synagogue to make room for "progress." its such crap-the shul is far away from the shore and the new bridge...its sad that this happened just 30 years ago. so it goes.

in the city square a celtic band is playing. the ppl here dont really know what to do..dance? clap? many left during their set, despite their lack of energy. it seems to have dwindled down to close to zero/as if theyve forgetten what to be happy for. at least you ahve a funny sounding city name!!!!

today, communist devastation. tommorow, boat ride on the danube, the communist river!