Pinche Pájaro!

Last night I went to see a Mexican film called Matando Cabos at the film festival that is currently on in Brno. It's not the only hip and cool thing happening in Brno at the moment, there's also an agricultural technology trade fair at the conference centre near my place, and the knife show is coming up just around the corner!

Anyway, the website of the film festival said it was in Spanish with English subtitles. It turned out to be in Spanish...without subtitles. Not so good for my friend who didn't speak Spanish, but ok for the rest of us. For the Czech people there was "simultaneous translation" that was obviously delayed because the audience was always laughing a few seconds after us. I think it's funny how there's always just one person translating the movie....poor Czechs have to listen to one lady's voice for all the characters. I think it's the same sometimes with some (probably older) Polish and Russian movies that are dubbed--just one voice for all the characters. Special. Can you imagine something like Napoleon Dynamite being dubbed with one monotonous voice? It would kill the magic.

The movie turned out to be pretty funny, I would definitely recommend it even though there are some kind of gross violent moments. I also loved the fact I could actually understand what they were saying, Spain Spanish still throws me for a loop. It's the damn lisp!

Watching it made me feel really really nostalgic about Mexico--not just for all the great times I had and the people I met (I still think about you hijos de puta all the time, espero que you're having fun at Wal-Mart), but nostalgic for Mexico as a country. I miss the obvious things like tacos (ok, pretty much all food from Mexico--I have a craving for some coctel de mariscos or some pozole...mmm...pozole or chilaquiles or or maybe I shouldn't have started to write this post around lunch time), the beach, the good weather overall, etc etc but also the other random things like the pimped out buses, the weird conversations with taxi drivers, checking out the transvestite hookers on Lopez Mateos, banda music, how people sing along in public when songs they know are playing, random encounters with the police (D, remember that?), bargaining about everything in markets (I tried to bargain in Paris and it so didn't work), just everything. Well, not everything-- but a lot of stuff.

My manera de hablar was so much better when I could punctuate it with things like 'No mames! Que pedo wey? Vete a la verga! No la hagas de pedo!' etc etc. I think my accent in Spanish is permanently fucked up from speaking Spanglish with the other extranjeros in our stupid voices because sometimes when I'm trying to have a serious conversation with someone and have a proper accent one word or phrase that we used to pronounce like idiots will pop out (fgdp- por lo MENOS! Son thuper ricas! Will think about you during Semana Santa even though I will be nowhere near a perfect beach, but maybe I will find a rude waiter like that asshole at the Papaya Playa. Oh, and I won't be stuck wearing my sarong for 3 days straight because they didn't do my laudry overnight like they were supposed to.Hijos de la chingada). No puedo creer que ya hace como 2 años desde que estaba en Mexico con todos ustedes!

I guess another reason for this reflection is because I'm leaving the Czech Republic at the end of April (last day of work in 3 weeks, thank jesus maria) and I know I'm going to go through the same withdrawal and drama of saying goodbye to people that have become like my extended family. I like some of them better than my family! No, I'm kidding...but I still really will miss them (and some of my family reads this blog hehe). At the same time, it will be nice to go home after about 10 months--and I am getting home at the best time of year. Summer. I'm travelling around Europe after I leave the Ceska Republika, so I'll be home mid-June. (Start planning my surprise welcome back party now)

I'm sure after a few months I will be cursing Canada, but unfortunately permanent responsibility-free escape won't be mine for about a 1.5-2 years since I got into grad school. Yes my friends, I was accepted into Carleton for International Affairs so come September I will be relocating to my nation's capital to pursue my lofty ambitions of having a career that involves travelling and (fingers crossed) wearing cute outfits as well. Hopefully I can go on exchange again-- South America is the dream.

For now I'm left wondering how I will cope without Czech pivo and friendly interaction with the locals (Ne! Nerozumim!). Serious about the pivo, not so serious about the locals. Although some of them do have really beautiful mullets.