Prague continued

Prague: Day 3

Behind on blogging.  Trawling memory to recall what happened on this day.  Oh yes!  A leadership workshop all day, followed by the Opening Ceremony.  It’s cold and raining, but I don’t realise quite HOW cold until I get outside.  Only have ¾ pants and ¾ jersey on.  Did, however, bring socially unacceptable rain mac with.  Also wearing sneakers with ankle brace that looks like it’s from from Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments- black lace-up debacle.  So whilst at tram stop, I now have sneakers, ¾ pants and embarrassing baby blue rain mac on.  I fit right in with the frumpy 50-somethings...  Speaking of which, also at the tram stop, I finally see what I have been longing for- a throwback from the early 90s, in the wake of the fall of communism- middle-aged sack of potatoes, mullet, bed red dye, with roots and dandruff, parachute tracksuit, picking her nose and eating the produce in public!!!  Finally!!  I have mostly been seeing urbane, gorgeous young women. This voman must be to veesit beeg city...

Anyway, workshop is very good, make new friends, have lunch with one of them, a Canadian woman from Canadia.  I do, however, spend large amounts of time coughing and blowing my nose- still have URTI hangover from SA. The opening ceremony starts at 5pm, and consists of a plenary session, where there is what amounts to a motivational speaker who works for Man United giving a talk.  And then an address by the AMEE chair.  And 25 000 awards for all kinds of amazing things, that I could document, had I stayed awake. 

Then, a random break from the lectures, to mill around and NOT be able to touch the eats. Then another talk, followed  by another talk x ∞, and then the Prague chamber music group who play Mozart’s entire musical repertoire.  Hypoglycaemia has caused me to autodigest my stomach, small intestine, and now into colon.

Finally, a cocktail supper, partly spent with my new German friend, and then the whole crew from Sbosch University.  Note:  I am only UCT representative here, whilst they have at least 10 people.  That’s UCT, forging ahead with cutting edge conference attendance.  Eventually, it is 10pm and I still have to prepare my talk.  Terrified of being a woman alone on a train/ tram.  Picturing station with long shadows, me as the only person, apart from the man in the hood/ balaklava/ sunglasses etc.  Get 3 people’s numbers so that I can msg them when I get home, to make sure I do!!

The station is in fact abuzz with many people, especially from the conference, with not a balaklava in sight... 

Get some ice for the new balloon animal in my ankle, and settle down to prepare my talk. My URTI + lack of warm clothing result in me waking up in coughing paroxysm at 2am.  Think I no longer have upper lobe of right lung.  Now, no digestive tract, no lung.  Perhaps brain too will leak out of ears during night, thus compromising my talk.  Or perhaps, enhancing it...