Am now starting day three of Prague. Much has changed to the city since I was here in 2006. Most of the changes are infrastructure -- a fair number of street cars are new and modern (not just leftovers from Austria or Germany). Went to Hlvani Nadrazi, the main train station, and was delighted to see how well-labeled the ticket counter and services were. While there was not an automated machine to give you a queue number (like in Stockholm), there was a pleasant enough gentleman to let you know when the next teller was available. The woman, in addition to most service inudstry folks that we've encountered, was pleasant and responded well to our questions and politeness -- something I told Jonathan and Shelly not to expect. I remember citizens of Prague being so much more dour.
Went to an Internet call shop yesterday to place a call to my bank -- yes, I meant to make that train ticket purchase with Deutsche Bahn. There were four gentlemen in the shop. One was outside on his mobile speaking in Arabic. Inside, a patron was partaking in a 'hubbly bubbly' tobacco session while the two workers played sodoku. They all looked Middle Eastern, and so I asked the main gentleman where he was from. Turns out he's from Tunisia. He asked if I knew where that was and I said, "Yes, there is a colleague that I work with who is from Tunisia. Right now, I live in Saudi Arabia."
He replied, "Libya?"
"No, Saudi Arabia."
"Ah."
"Shukran. Masalama."
"Masalam. Ettekellum Arabi?"
"Na'am. Lakin shway-ah shway-ah."
Laughter.
"Layla saida."
It felt comfortable to be in their shop while I placed my call -- the decor, the smell. They even had the 'mushroom top' floor seats that I like. I'm wondering if there is a relatively strong faction of Arabs in Prague. While searching for an ATM at the Czech airport, Shelly and I spotted a woman completey coverd like an elderly Saudi woman and her daughter (wore an abaya, but open-face hijab) waiting in the arrivals section. Jonathan wasn't around to say, "Hey, isn't that your friend, Monique?"
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