When I lived in Prague I lived with a couple that at the time I thought were really strange individuals, but now that I look back I think maybe it was me that was strange. He was German and she was Danish and they had a little girl name Mirabel. Martin used to wear the same thing every day, he had his summer outfit and his winter outfit. The only difference between the two was that the summer outfit was short pants and no shoes. He would wear a white waffle fabric undershirt type long sleeve top, and a pair of black pants that had two zippers where buttons would be if they were sailor pants. Martin had about ten pairs of these pants all in black and many of these white tops. In the summer he would cut the pants shorter, below the knee, and sometimes he'd cut the sleeves of his shirts a little shorter, below the elbow. I'm not sure why he would keep his elbows and knees out of view.
The part that I thought was really odd was that he refused to wear shoes in the summer. Once I took the metro with him as we were headed in the same direction and he was barefoot explaining to me that it was natural........I was kind of grossed out; in Prague the drunken tourists (especially the Swedes it seemed) would pee anywhere and everywhere at night and in the summer the city stank to high heaven.
Last night we went to a party hosted by a new restaurant in the neighbourhood for the neighbourhood business'; the usual suspects were there. By that I mean many of the cities most stylish people were mingling and looking fabulous. At one point I looked down at myself and realized that I was wearing my Veronika Uniform. What's that you ask? My Black Fidel blazer, black top, Nudie jeans and black shoes. I wear that combination every time we go out. There is a black top that I almost bought two of, but Dane suggested that perhaps since we own a store I should have some variety in my wardrobe. Although I love fashion and I love seeing people all done up and on occasion I love wearing crazy and extravagant clothing, for myself, for the most part, I like my uniform.
When I lived with Martin and Alice there was a glass by the side of the toilet that I thought had been somehow accidentally left there and I was going to wash it and put it away, but thought better of touching someone else's things. One day I remembered to ask Alice about the glass beside the toilet. She told me that Martin would drink his first pee of the day, apparently it's healthy. I guess that makes Martin more strange then I. I won't be doing that anytime ever.
2 comments:
Hmmmm.... kinda strange, yes, but I think it's really good to do whatever we believe despite how weird it seems! : ) I've seen people walking around barefoot in TO in the summer, and I envy their gall -- one day last summer I had to walk half an hour to an art show and I had blisters so I took off my shoes and go barefoot, and I have to say it was very grounding -- no pun intended! It felt... good. That same summer, for reasons of blisters again, Michael went barefoot on a country road for a 4-hour walk!
I've heard about urine therapy, where you drink your own pee in the morning as a way to purify your liver or kidneys or something. A girl at Noah's told me once that you can use your morning pea to wash your face as a purifier too. Heck, as long as there's a toothbrush and face soap in the mix down the line, it's all good.
I've walked barefooted in Toronto when my feet have been blistering in thier shoes. But Toronto is less then 200 years old where Prague has been a full on city since at least 400 a.d and they have been drinking beer and peeing in the streets ever since.....so what I'm saying is you're walking through a 2000 year old urinal! AND there is a huge heroin problem there so, as in Vancouver, it's not unusual to see needles just lying around. Toronto is pristine in comparison. I guess I would mostly worry about the needles more then the pee.
Speaking of pee, I heard the same thing about washing your face and drinking your first morning pee. I guess I'm not as vain as I thought because if that's the fountaine of youth I'll pass! I was really glad to meet Alice and Martin because no matter how out of step with society they were they just kept on doing what they thought was right and they were honest. They were a window into life on ones very own personal path and it was a fantastic view! I still won't be drinking my own pee though.
You are so wonderful, never judging and always taking the time to see someone elses perspective.
Thanks Claudia!
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