The Preacher
Trip Start
Apr 12, 2006
1
78
115
Trip End
Ongoing
Prague,
Czech Republic
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
No matter the weather, its a wonderful place to be.
So on my second last full day here, i pretty much just continued to linger like a lost soul, unemployed and homeless. Not to mention free. The most liberated and free i've ever been in my life. Was thinking about actually doing something other than roaming the streets and watching people, but alas, time seems to perpetually get away from you in Prague. I can't stress the degree to which it Prague is a time vacuum, a vortex, where your concept of duration is thrown out the window and surrendered to the city. It sucks you in, digs its claws, demands that you stay, and leaves you with the impression that you've only been there for two nights, when you're well and truly into your second week.
As i've said previously, backpacking is all about the many wonderful people you meet along the way. This arvo i got chatting to a bloke name Chris, an Aussie from Brisbane who had been living out in Lilydale prior to leaving Europe. We kept running into each other, and he invited me out for a meal down the road, an offer i felt i needed to take up after not intending to eat out.
Chris used to be a full on showman, an all singin, all dancin dude who was very active in the Queensland theatre scene, copping the lead in a version of 'West Side Story' a few years back. In a nutshell, Chris over time began to feel very off kilter with the whole stageshow scene and his place in that world, and after nearly collapsing at the gym where he worked out daily, his body started to go into meltdown. He lost the bulk of his muscle within a matter of weeks, and couldn't do anything active whatsoever. The doctors had no idea what was causing this deficiency in his muscle rebuilding process, it was a mystery, and he was in total limbo.
Chris was on his way to Poland for a conference, after which he would suss out the scene in Poland in order to bring his wife and three kids over and become a preacher. In the time his muscles and body was liquifying, he encountered a number of amazing situations where he was pushed towards his new direction. Every time he resisted it and tried to follow the path of stage stardom, his body went back into a knackered state, as if being resisted by a higher force.
I'm cautious of relgious nutters out there that bash bibles and speak of absolute truths and the ultimate reckoning, which to some degree Chris was. However, he had some amazing insight, ideas and explanations on why he was doing what he was doing, and he got me thinking deeply. Chris was just a genuine bloke, going about life until it was shaken up furiously who'd somehow been pushed away from his chosen talents and profession by a higher calling. Even he was reflective about the whole 'religious nutter' syndrome. But he said shook his head and said that whatever it was, he couldn't ignore it. He was on a path, and was surrendered to something higher than all of us.
As i said, the people you meet.
And he wasn't even supposed to be in Prague...
After kind of doing my head in, i trundled back up to the hostel and continued the sparkling repartee with a couple of yankee chicks, Lisa and Ashley, and another bird from Canada called Fiona. Knocked back a beer or two, then frequented the lounge downstairs for some more brews and conversation. Joined by four additional blokes from Los Angeles, i delved into the psyche of the Americans and found out what they thought about the various beleaguering issues within their nation. They say you should steer clear of politics and religion when you just want a nice pleasant, good time conversation, especially when booze enters the equation. And they - whoever they hell they are - may just be right. Once you prod on the political nerve, suddenly the seemingly reasonable, upstanding bloke sitting next to you Jekylls into a raving, non sensical Republican nutbar. Each to their own i suppose, it was just really interesting to see the disparity in how people think, about what their real intentions and perceptions are, and how sudden your impression of someone can alter when they speak their truth.
Killed another beer, said goodnight to the ladies, whom which i would not ever see again, like so many characters that you come across on your travels, and bedded in once again for another night.
