Policie eh?
On Friday night while doing a little bit of grocery shopping Nuria’s purse was stolen. Not a good thing, especially since she had 2 cell phones, her wallet, her passport, and other assorted valuables in there. She went to the police but we were pretty much resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t get it back.
Sunday afternoon we decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and go for a walk. It was actually quite warm when we left the dorms so we decided to wear cropped pants and flip flops. We got some weird looks from the Czechs. It was a good idea when we left, but since the sun had set by the time we got back we were a little chilly. We were just walking into the dorms when we saw a sign telling Nuria to go to reception. We went there and the receptionist managed to explain to us (in Czech of course….) that the police had been there earlier to see Nuria. Just as she was finishing this up, the policeman came back! He was very nice man with a moustache and took me and Nuria to the police station because they found her bag!
We thought we were going to die on the way there because he drove like a maniac. When we got in we were going to put our seatbelts on, but they didn’t work. We managed to make some conversation on the way there. In almost 8 months of being in the Czech Republic, my knowledge of Czech is below basic. This was the conversation on the way to and in the car.
Me: (to the officer) Mluvíte anglicky? [Do you speak English?]
Policeman: Ne, nemluvím anglicky. Mluvíte česky? [No, I don’t speak English. Do you speak Czech?]
Me: Uhhh….maličku…[A little bit. Actually it translates to “small” so sometimes when you ask Czech people if they speak English they say….”small!”]
Policeman: (starts talking rapidly in Czech)
Me: Umm…. Nerozumím. [I don’t understand]
[in the car]
Policeman: (starts saying something again)
Me: Promiňte, nerozumím česky . [I’m sorry, I don’t understand Czech]
Policeman: Taky nemluvím anglicky nebo španělsky. Mluvím rusky! [I also don’t speak English or Spanish. I can speak Russian!]
Me: (laughs) Ahhh rusky není dobře! [Russian is no good!]
Policeman: (laughs)
Me: Dobře, dobře! [ok, good]
So basically, I can only say that I don’t speak Czech, I don’t understand, and whether something is good or bad. I guess that’s….good.
We got more weird looks once in the police station-- for being foreigners and for wearing flip flops and cropped pants when it was cold out, but everything turned out alright since Nuria got her purse back. It was missing the cell phones and some money (about 15 euro) but everything else was there! Nuria said that they must not have been real thieves, they left pretty much everything. They didn’t even smoke her cigarettes!
Afterwards we were total dorks and got a picture of Nuria with the police officer, he didn’t want to, but after we said “Prosím!” [Please!] he relented. That’s a good word to know too. The picture of Nuria and the policeman is right here!
Sunday afternoon we decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring weather and go for a walk. It was actually quite warm when we left the dorms so we decided to wear cropped pants and flip flops. We got some weird looks from the Czechs. It was a good idea when we left, but since the sun had set by the time we got back we were a little chilly. We were just walking into the dorms when we saw a sign telling Nuria to go to reception. We went there and the receptionist managed to explain to us (in Czech of course….) that the police had been there earlier to see Nuria. Just as she was finishing this up, the policeman came back! He was very nice man with a moustache and took me and Nuria to the police station because they found her bag!
We thought we were going to die on the way there because he drove like a maniac. When we got in we were going to put our seatbelts on, but they didn’t work. We managed to make some conversation on the way there. In almost 8 months of being in the Czech Republic, my knowledge of Czech is below basic. This was the conversation on the way to and in the car.
Me: (to the officer) Mluvíte anglicky? [Do you speak English?]
Policeman: Ne, nemluvím anglicky. Mluvíte česky? [No, I don’t speak English. Do you speak Czech?]
Me: Uhhh….maličku…[A little bit. Actually it translates to “small” so sometimes when you ask Czech people if they speak English they say….”small!”]
Policeman: (starts talking rapidly in Czech)
Me: Umm…. Nerozumím. [I don’t understand]
[in the car]
Policeman: (starts saying something again)
Me: Promiňte, nerozumím česky . [I’m sorry, I don’t understand Czech]
Policeman: Taky nemluvím anglicky nebo španělsky. Mluvím rusky! [I also don’t speak English or Spanish. I can speak Russian!]
Me: (laughs) Ahhh rusky není dobře! [Russian is no good!]
Policeman: (laughs)
Me: Dobře, dobře! [ok, good]
So basically, I can only say that I don’t speak Czech, I don’t understand, and whether something is good or bad. I guess that’s….good.
We got more weird looks once in the police station-- for being foreigners and for wearing flip flops and cropped pants when it was cold out, but everything turned out alright since Nuria got her purse back. It was missing the cell phones and some money (about 15 euro) but everything else was there! Nuria said that they must not have been real thieves, they left pretty much everything. They didn’t even smoke her cigarettes!
Afterwards we were total dorks and got a picture of Nuria with the police officer, he didn’t want to, but after we said “Prosím!” [Please!] he relented. That’s a good word to know too. The picture of Nuria and the policeman is right here!
1 Comments:
Funny how things coincide... I'll have my first encouter with Czech police later this evening (don't ask). Will probably have a full report tomorrow so that we can compare the friendliness and efficiency of the policemen in Brno and Praha. :)
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