God Save the Queen

We are in the presence of royalty, and boy is it entertaining!

Morgan and I met Jana, our first couch surfing host, at her work place in Prague. She struck me as a kind, mild mannered girl, and to be honest I was wondering if we would be able to find much to talk about. Jana, however, is a perfect example of why you should not judge a book by its cover. Once we settled onto our train to Kladno that evening, we had a great conversation about Czech life, and immediately I felt I had an inside look at Czech politics and social issues. Did you know that the Communist Party still receives 15% of the vote in the Czech Republic? Jana pointed out a poster depicting a happy family akin to an L.L.Bean magazine, it was an campaign sign for the party. As she translated the list of campaign promises and passionately explained why, frankly, it was a load of crap. When the conversation moved to the strain that the country's gypsy population was putting on the state welfare system, another passenger joined the conversation as well.

From Czech Republic

We were learning so much, so fast, but we were just beginning to learn about Jana. When we reached her flat in Kladno, a suburb of Prague, she revaled to us her secret life as a hardcore music fanatic. Jana travels around Europe to dance parties that last an entire weekend, goes absolutely bonkers, than flies home to her routine life in the Czech Republic. On weekends when she is not traveling, she is resting up for her next big shindig. Hardcore is not so big in the Czech Republic, and only one or two other Czechs attend these parties. Jana puts it best: "I am the Czech Queen of Hardcore!"

By our last night, I'm pretty sure we've got Jana pegged. Quiet by day, crazy by night, the Queen lives her simple Czech life, and her crazy Hardcore life. Then she pulled out the jars of mushrooms. Jars upon jars of these live mushrooms, growing in a pool of what smelled like sweet vinegar. Drink the stuff for good health, or put it on a rash to help it heal. She even had a batch of "retarded" mushrooms she was planning to use for a facial! I think she needs to go into business: Jana's Magic Mushrooms!

Of course, I am leaving out the part about how Jana is a great host, helpful and hospitable. That was the icing on the cake. Because of Jana, our first couchsurfing experience was incredible. If we have the opportunity to meet more people like her, we will be very blessed indeed.

Here's a little something special for those of you reading...