Prague Confessions: With Alex at Mlékojedy

Alex sits at the dock. He strums the last couple of chords and then he puts his guitar away and looks in the distance across the Mlékojedy lake. A favorite refuge for Praguers that is only 45 minutes by train from Masarykovo nadraží to Tišice, and then a 15 minute walk till you hit the beach bar. A great hot spot for weekend parties. 

Alex kicks his legs back and forth for a while, and then he takes a breath. “I really like this landscape. It reminds me of the place where I lived my last two years in Spain. We have this river on the border between Spain and Portugal. It looks similar.”

Alex left his home in Galicia to come to Prague for the first time in January 2012 as a 23 year old Erasmus student. “The clear reason why I chose Prague was that it was the only place I could afford,” he laughs. “I always wanted to get out of Spain. I was curious about other places. And Prague happened by chance but it represents the fulfilment of that desire.” But struggles appeared in the form of a language barrier. “I didn’t like it the first time. I learnt a little bit of English being here but it was already too late to get integrated.”

“So I decided to come a second time to get my revenge.”

Alex returned to Prague for an internship in 2014, determined to make the best out of it. “I ended up having heaps of free time so I would watch American TV shows eight hours a day and go to expat meetings or open mics at night and put to practice the lesson of the day,” he grins. “I consider myself a funny person. If I’m not able to make a joke or to express myself in a funny way I don’t feel comfortable. So I learnt from shows such as How I Met Your Mother.“ Then he pauses and leans back. “To speak a second language was a huge challenge which I accomplished and I feel so fucking proud of it.” 

“Czech is a pain in the ass for me as for any foreigner,” Alex laughs when I ask about his relationship with it. “But I still don’t lose hope. I enjoy getting something using only Czech. For example, I can call a taxi in Czech.” I’m curious how he does it. “I say, ‘dobrý…dobrý večer’ cause I’m usually drunk; ‘potřeboval bych vůz na adresu’, where I am.” Alex makes an impression of a cab driver with a funny accent: ”’A kam jedete?’, so I say the address, they say the price. I don’t get it most of the time but I always say, ‘ok’,” he smiles, and I throw my head back laughing.

“I got sick of being in Spain.”

When Alex returned back to Spain for the second time, the financial crisis was still crushing the Spanish economy. “It screwed my family up; there was a moment when only one member of my extended family had a job. I decided to go back and settle down in Prague. I needed a job and this was the easy place to start.”

Alex was making money busking at first, under the Prague Castle and other places. “There was a Colombian restaurant downstairs from my place. I would play there once or twice in exchange for ten meals. It wasn’t a big deal for them, but for me it was an opportunity to eat for ten days in a row… tasty Colombian food.”

Within a month and a half he managed to find a job in his field of studies. “I’ve been working as a validation engineer in the automotive industry for almost four years now. And I got indefinite contract after my three month trial period! It isn’t anything special in Czechia. But where I’m coming from, it’s a thing that you dream of. And I have a decent salary. I feel very fortunate about it.”

“I want to do something with my life that doesn’t make me worry about money.”

“I‘ve been concerned about money my whole life. About the money that I didn’t have and about the money that my parents didn’t have. Here I have a chance to have an independent life. For example. I love to eat. Everything. Except játra!” Alex crinkles his nose to demonstrate his antipathy for livers. “Well, to eat out here is affordable. So I can just go and enjoy a delicious burger or smažák.” 

Alex stops and stares intensely at the lake. “Sorry, I just saw a huge thing in the water and I’m not sure if it was a human or a crocodile… It was whooo. Big!” “It was a fish,” I suggest. We cringe at the idea of swimming there with it, but Alex keeps going. 

“Also the transportation makes me feel great here. I have an access to the whole city at any moment. It still amazes me after four years. Last week I paid my annual ticket. Here you have my ten crowns per day for the upcoming year! I didn’t hug the cashier. But I could have done that, you know… As a sign of appreciation.”

“There are a lot of things coming in the long run that need to be addressed now”

Alex’s face loses his usual grin. “In the past few months, I was concerned about what to do with my economical situation to keep my comfort and at the same time help those who are dear to me in case they need it. At some point I won’t be able to work anymore. Maybe at some point my parents will get sick… I feel a responsibility to be aware of those potential future issues and be ready to solve them. So in the meantime I’m developing myself as a professional.” Alex specifies, “I decided I will get a promotion this year. I have two possibilities right now. I’m counting on one of those to happen.”

“Guitar has helped me to have fun and connect with people”

Alex spends his free time enjoying the simple things in life, having fun and indulging his passion for music, while giving back to society. “We’ve been organizing musical meetups with a Polish friend. Every other Wednesday at Simply u Kravaty 2. The whole idea is to give people who like to sing the chance to do it in a comfortable way where they don’t need to expose themselves. We meet in a bar and we sing all together. Me and Aleksandra take the lead and people can join in the way they want,” he explains. “We do it for a year and a half and people keep attending despite us singing all the time the same songs,” he beams. “We welcome anyone who wants to join.”

I turn off the recording and we leave the dock to get a burger at the beach bar. “They are super cheap and delicious, it makes me happy.” Alex says and devours his. Then he grabs his guitar and gets lost in a melancholic Spanish tune.

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