Semester 10 Chapter XVI: Listen...

Yo, before we get down to it, let me talk my shit again. This past week we had another case of women being abused, this time by one of the youngest and most popular members of parliament in the Czech Republic. I mean, that fucker has 1M+ followers on ig; it’s the most popular profile in the country. Looking at the allegations and testimonies, we’re dealing with flat out rapes and it all seems so well documented, researched and backed down by independent sources, there’s very little room for doubt. Now, let me start with “fuck him.” Next, I would really like to stress out how important is to talk about shit like that. Victims of such behavior are often traumatized for life, their experience is being downplayed… Shit, even legislation in that matter is a pile of bullshit at this point. Given the fact that lots of women freeze out when someone attacks them, rape doesn’t really mean only a physical life-or-death fight in the middle of the park. With a stranger. Nah, it’s way more complex than that, it’s usually someone the girl knows, we need to get our fucking heads around it and most importantly, we need to fucking listen and create an environment where women feel comfortable talking about such things and exposing these fucktards. And we need to educate kids. Cause again, shit is connected. If you live in a world where certain shit is being tolerated, where women are being treated wrong, it takes only little for it to spin out of control. People need to know that “no” means no, people need to know that checking the temperature and asking if the other person feels comfortable is the least we can do, people need to know that there’s no justifying sexual abuse in any shape or form. I’m not putting myself on the pedestal here. Looking into the rear view mirror, I wish I would pay more attention to how other people feel too. I don’t feel I’ve ever crossed any crazy line but I wish this issue had been discussed more where I'm from in general. There is a difference between being a dick and being a serial rapist but if we let men being dicks for long enough, shit is definitely not gonna get any better. And it’s not gonna stop there neither. And we need to start teaching this, we need to start talking about it more and we need to listen to victims. Not asking what the fuck they were wearing, not blaming them for not going to the police straight after the act, not second-guessing every fucking sentence they say. Coming forward with something like this takes enormous courage and we need to to create a space where women won’t feel they gonna get shitted on left and right once they do. Every single one of us need to check ourselves regularly and keep our minds and hearts open to systemic and individual violence and pain around us. For real.

Okay, now back to this little story of mine. This past week, I’ve been on my shit as usual. Keeping it all clean and healthy, reading a lot, working on my shit. That never gets old. And I mean never ever ever. The highlights was the dive. I had first customer at the dive shop. That was Saturday - a woman going in for the first time and her husband, an Advanced diver. All went smooth. The woman made her first dive and I took the husband around the reef in Girandela. Now, I don’t usually pad my pad myself on my back but fuck it… I nailed that shit. I’m not really familiar with anything at that reef, I had been there only once before and I totally counted with the option of not being able to get us exactly back to our entry point. But nah. I took us around 30 meters deep, it was a cool ass dive and with a help of compass, some terrain scanning and a bit of luck, I did just that. Smooth as a motherfucker. It felt good being back in the water. Driving feels good too.

Seems like next week, I’m going to the Czech Republic for couple of the days to transport some shit to the dive shop. So today I went up to Labin to fill up the tank in the van, shop for some snacks for the road trip and I walked around for a bit. Fucked up thing is, none of the cafés over there (and I’ve been to quite a few) don’t have fucking soy milk. So no cappuccinos or some shit like that. Which sucks. You can’t have everything I guess. Other than that life is still good, I have been in touch with my peers… Slow life. And I totally didn’t bother with any pictures last week. Gonna ake it up to you next week. One!

Highlights:

• The dives.
• Snow Crush. That book is something else.
• New Moneybagg Yo. That shit slaps.

Semester 10 Chapter XV: Blending In

What’s good y’all! Your boy taeb back at it, back at at it like a motherfucking crack addict straight outta very chilled Rabac. Tourism is still close to zero so I’ve been using my time here to get familiar with everything. I took a trip with the van couple of times just to get back to driving. I explored the area a little… But first things first. New Young M.A in my headphones, vibes are all good, leggo!

Tuesday morning, the boss and his wife left the town which means it’s just me around the shop for the time being. In terms of that, I’ve been helping out with English version of the website and communicating with some people in dive-related matters. Tuesday afternoon, I took the van out for the first time and drove up the hill to Labin. It was a pretty nice day so I walked around a bit, grabbed a coffee and located some ATMs (even one I can use my Chinese card with!).

 

I also started running here. So far I’ve gone twice and took it all the way to Girandela; our closest dive site. I guess the distance could be like 5-6km. Probably gonna find a way to make it longer. I’ve been in the gym on the daily too. 

 

Saturday, I went out to discover some hiking trails around. They are marked but in a pretty chaotic manner. With a little help of some locals in the middle of the woods I managed tho. Made my way to Labin again to get a haircut and did couple of stops to appreciate the views and read as I brought some books to Croatia with me. I’m on Stephenson’s Snow Crash now. It’s beautiful. The barber shop I found it basic, local and has some Enlgish speaking girls working in it. I feel I’m gonna be regular over there. I found a completely different (and shorter) way back down. Waterfalls, ponds, colorful flora. It is pretty beautiful around here.

 

At this point, I’m still keeping all my classes so I’m busy with that. I have walked around Rabac couple of times too, figuring out shortcuts and shit. As I always do when I move somewhere new. I had a chance to talk to couple of my loved ones and the fact I’ll get to reunite with some of them this summer gives me real ass butterflies. So yeah, overall I’m chilling like a motherfucker here. I live good, I eat good, I educate myself, I watch new shit, I listen to new music… And diving is coming soon. It’s all booked, just sit back and wait. Love to everybody out there. One!

Highlights:

• All the hiking.
• The hotel staff. They really got on my vegan shit and are super nice about that.
• Gym. Feels good to be back.

Semester 10 Chapter XIV: Going Back

Okay, it’s been a week… Rabac is really far from being busy in any sense. It kinda feels like a vacation really. I get up early, I eat my breakfast, I hit the gym and the pool, I hang out with the boss and his wifey, we move around the shop getting shit ready and organized… In the evening I teach, I grab my dinner, I catch up with my peers and I go to sleep watching some series or movies. It’s not the worst.

 

Last week’s highlight was my first dive. Obviously. Unlike in Tenerife, sea temperature in Croatia goes up and down significantly throughout the year. Nowadays, we’re looking at 14 degrees which didn’t sound too appealing to say the least. But man, my semi-dry is rock solid. Wasn’t phased for a second. The site we went to is called Girandella and it’s about 10 minutes away. Everything went smooth, I felt great, we went to about 27 meters and after like 50 minutes I got out with about half tank left. Shit was beautiful. Plus I saw a massive crab and a medusa.

The other day we drove to Labin (a bit bigger town up the hill) so I would know where’s the accountant’s office, where are some of the stores and to see the shop’s boat which is parked over there as well. That shit is massive. It can accommodate up to 12 people (actually accommodate; overnight). Hope I’ll get to see it on water one day. 

 

I was present at a meeting with the hotel’s manager as well. Cause of my English and shit. Not gonna go too deep into that but it’s amazing how illogical people in managerial positions get. There’s so many people in power with no idea how to interact with other people. There’s so many people oblivious to this action-reaction concept, it keeps on blowing my mind. Nothing crazy happened, it’s just that with certain attitudes you definitely gonna get a heart attack sooner or later. And that guy totally seems like one of them. 

 

What else… weather has been kinda shit. Apart from the first two days, it’s been cloudy, sometimes rainy. Jeans and hoodie are must. This should change any day now tho. The start is slow but there’s quite a lot of things I’m looking forward to. You know how that shit goes… One step at the time. Shout to everybody out there! I see y’all… One! 

 

Highlights:

• Diving.
• New J. Cole.
• Labin. Seems like a nice place.

Semester 10 Chapter XIII: Rabac Czech-in

What’s good y’all. Here we go again. Another day, another country, another story to tell. My departure to Croatia had been postponed several times which gave me some extra time in Brno. I spent nearly 3 weeks over there. The city is my hometown but it doesn’t really feel like home anymore. Not in the sense of a base. I still can’t see myself living there long-term. I did enjoy it tho. Shout out to everyone I managed to catch up with and major shout out to my sis, her fiancée and the nephew. It’s all love.

Last week was pretty normal. Loads of work, lots of running and workout, some hangouts with my dad’s gf, some hangouts with my sis… We did a goodbye evening at their spot on Friday and one of my best friends joined us for that. It felt a bit less sentimental because this time around, I don’t travel half the globe. Rabac is around 600km away from Brno which makes it pretty accessible by road or railway and lot of my people are planning to visit. My sis being one of them; they should arrive in about a month. So one of the easier goodbyes.

 

Saturday morning, I packed my shit and waited for a call from the dive guy. He picked me up with his van around 10am just outside my building and then we hit the road. Shortly after we got joined by his wife who drove another car all the way here. The ride was swift, we didn’t do any long stops and the conversations in the car were pretty entertaining. I don’t see any major issues emerging between the two of us on personal. This might just work. Oh, and no issues with the border, covid and shit… All went extremely fast.

 

 

We made it to Rabac around 7pm. Let me tell you a bit about the situation here. The dive shop is basically on the premises of a 4 star hotel. It’s a bit hidden but I can imagine that when the season kicks in, it could work quite well. The place is relatively big; there’s a reception, room for all the gear, room for a compressor, showers and toilet and two extra rooms (and solid wifi). The one all the way in the back is mine for the foreseeable future. It’s super basic and since it’s all the way into the hotel, it has no windows. Given the fact I literally only sleep there it’s actually not too bad (I enjoy the dark). There’s quite a lot of cool shit coming with this place tho. Food being one of them. As a part of our deal, I have breakfasts and dinners secured in the hotel. Both buffet-style, plenty of vegan options. Those fuckers even have like 4 kinds of plant-based milk for breakfast. It has a certain appeal – you wake up in your dungeon and then you go up to eat with people who spend minimum of 90 EUR a night per person. I also get to use the hotel’s gym and pool. So today, I got myself back to the gym after more than a year on resistance bands. Generally, I feel quite comfortable with the set-up. Plus the spot is like 50 meters away from a beach.

 

 

When it comes to diving, we are in the stage of setting everything up. I haven’t been in the water yet but it’s coming. There’s really very few people around. The hotel has around 1500 beds and currently, there’s 80 people in it. When I was walking around this morning around 10am, I barely met a person. You get the idea. So I’m just getting familiar with the spot, trying to understand the local vibe and hanging out with the boss and his wife. Both turned out to be really cool people. See, when you deal with Czechs, you never know. But we can have a good convo and I haven’t ran into a red alert in regards to the key topics like veganism, feminism or racism yet (and trust me, I brought all of them up like light-speed fast). Everything is going smoothly. Since there’s very little traffic, I’m keeping all of my classes for the time being. There’s absolutely no need for me to be on stand-by 24/7 at the shop so there’s no reason to cut any of my main source of income. I’ve also started working on the translation of the shop’s website and I got some proofreading gig on top of that. Keeping myself busy.

 

As for Rabac, I haven’t seen much of it (and I’m not sure how much is there to see). It a small town spread across this little bay with plenty of hotels of various sizes, restaurants and shops. Today I located a supermarket as I forgot to pack my nail clippers. So there’s that. Covid restrictions are relatively loose. People mostly don't wear face masks outdoors, outdoor areas of restaurants and cafés operate and respirators aren't really a thing here. The temperature is pretty good. When it’s sunny, you can walk around in a tank top but evenings totally call for a long-sleeve. I’m curious about the upcoming season. How many people are gonna be here? What kind of people? How are the dive sites? Shit, there’s a lot to be unfolded over the next couple of weeks. But it’s good to be here. I feel good just being in a new place with new things to discover and new memories to make. Sending love to all my readers. One!

Highlights:

• Rabac.
• Breathing the sea air once again.
• Gym. I still got it.

Semester 10 Chapter XII: FCGB

Another week in the Czech Republic. My departure got postponed once more and I’m totally cool with that. It gives me a bit more time with people over here which I’m taking full advantage of. But first things first. 

 

 

Last week I spent couple of evenings at my sis’ place enjoying the presence of the little nephew. I met with one of my bros for one of our trademark long-ass walks one time and I obviously spent quite some time working as usual. I also met the guy I’m gonna work with in Croatia in person for the first time. We met for a coffee in the city center on Thursday and ended up talking for more than an hour about everything. I liked the vibe and I am excited about what’s next. I believe the feeling’s mutual so hopefully summer’s gonna be fun. I also went to this clinic for dental hygiene. Since I’ve invested loads of money into my teeth, I wanna get that shit all the way straight. Gonna get the Hollywood smile eventually… I even got me some additional brushes so my evening routine takes about 10 minutes now. No fucking around.

On Friday, me, one of my day ones, my sis, her gf, the little one and my dad’s gf met up for a drink. See, my dad is in Tenerife these days hanging out with his friends. We had a great evening, walked the girls back home and wrapped the night by a bus station. Talk about some old-school vibes.

 

 

Saturday, I hopped on my bike and rode to my sis’ in-laws. Haven’t been there since last summer and it was great seeing everybody. We had some lunch, coffee and sweets, and after all of that took the little one for the walk. In the evening, I grabbed my bike again and did about 20km to my friend’s spot. The same guy I spent last weekend with. It was the first time me taking that route and it was beautiful. I avoided Brno so it was all narrow roads around fields and villages. Took me barely 40 minutes. So yeah, the day was concluded by yet another great convo and some infamous Czech beer.

 

 

Today I woke up, hung out with my bro and his wife some more and rode back to Brno. Against some fucking wind. What an exercise. I had some lunch, taught a class and now I’m just chilling and recharging. Not sure about the schedule yet but there’s an idea and I feel pretty confident to say that the next week I’m gonna be talking to you from Rabac. In the meantime, take things easy, keep it positive and don’t entertain bullshit. One!

Highlights:

• All the kilometers on the bike. Loved it.
• All my people over here.
• Weather. Totally getting better.