Don't Wake Me Up

"To sleep--perchance, to dream!. Ay, there's the the rub." ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Act III, Scene I, Lines 65-68.)

April 4, 2013

Once again, I turned off my alarm in my sleep. The night tram to the train station came at 3:30, so I’d planned to get up about 3:00. When I woke up and realized I’d silenced the alarm, it was after 3:15.

I gathered together the last of my things. Before going to bed, I’d laid out the clothes out that I was going to wear. I scrambled around for them in dark, layered up in a few jackets, and strapped my passport into its keeper. Heading out to catch the tram, I was ready for my next midnight adventure across Prague.

This time, I was alone waiting at the tram stop. It was an eerie feeling standing out in the open at 3:30am. Two men eventually came and waited with me. At that time, it gave me some comfort to not be alone, although when I saw them inside the tram, I probably would have freaked out if I’d seen their faces in the dark. They were both pretty rough looking.

The 58 came and I rode it to the main train station. I was practically falling asleep on the ride over, but I kept it together to get to my station. Walking through the park by the train station, there were homeless people everywhere. It again made me a little uneasy, but I knew that I didn’t really have anything to worry about. I wasn’t the only person going to the train station, and I certainly didn’t look like an American all bundled up.

When I got inside the station, the platform for my train had already posted (got to love German transportation!) even though it didn’t depart for an hour. I went to the little café that I’d been to before with Lad’ka and Thibaut. My throat was really sore so I ordered some Earl Grey tea. I also got some of their homemade yogurt. This month’s flavor was blueberry—instead of Orange—and it was by the best blueberry yogurt I’ve ever had. It was super sour, yet in a very sweet way.

I still had a ton of time until my train left. The problem with night trams in Prague is they run so infrequently, they give you a lot of lag time in between. Luckily, the train station had Wi-Fi so I got on Facebook through my iPod. I had a nice note from Joey (one of the Scout Executives I used to work with at the Boy Scout office) and I wrote him back briefly.

About 20 minutes from the time my train was supposed to leave, I decided to head up to the platform. I checked with the kid working in the yogurt café to make sure I went the right direction. When I got up the escalator, the train was already there (again, got to love the Germans!) The platform however, was deserted. I looked at my ticket to confirm I was in second class. All of the second class doors were closed. Waiting, I saw another man come up the stairs, press a button on the train, and enter and the doors opened for him. It looked too easy.

I suddenly saw the conductor walking down the platform. Approaching him with my ticket out, I asked, “Is this the right car for this ticket?” He looked at it and said it was.

Pressing a button, I very clumsily climbed on board. I found an empty cabin and took a seat. Sitting on my jacket and holding my backpack between my legs, I pulled out my journal to take some notes.

As I wrote, I was again struck by the thought that I still couldn’t believe I was doing this. Taking night trams, travelling across countries by myself, meeting strangers, enjoying new foods…it’s been everything I hoped and more. Somehow, it still feels like a dream. And as I think more about it, I don’t care if it’s real or not! This is the Zach I’d always hoped I could be. I’ve learned so much about myself, that even if this is all in my head, I know I’ve changed for the better. My entire view of the world has changed and the memories I’ve made are going to last me for the rest of my life!

As the train pulled out of the station, I tucked my journal back into my bag. The light in my compartment was shut off. Since it was dark outside, the only illumination I had was from the light in the hall of the train car. Drawing the curtains closed across the door, I was surrounded by darkness. It was great and let my eyes adjust so I could see the view out the window.

Within minutes of leaving the station, the conductor came and opened my door. He checked my ticket, and then shut the door and left. I suddenly realized how tired I was, and decided to also close the curtains across the window. Wedging my backpack tightly between my knees, I quickly dozed off to dreamland.

I woke up a few times when we stopped. Occasionally, boarding passengers would fling open the door of my compartment. Usually, when they saw my sleeping form, they would close the door and move to the next room. Only once did a man enter and sit down, but he only rode to the next stop. After he left, I slept for quite a while.

The next time I woke up was when the German conductor came to check my ticket. I was so out of it, he actually had to shake my shoulder a little. I was surprised, because the sun was mostly up and there was quite a bit of commotion on the train. He stamped my ticket and said something to me in German. I pretended to understand, and he left. Within seconds, I was asleep again.

About an hour later, I woke up again. The train wasn’t moving. Looking out the window, we weren’t at a station, but rather in the middle of a large open countryside. I suddenly realized I didn’t hear the commotion that I’d heard before. Opening the door of my compartment, I looked up and down the train. Walking down the hallway a little, I didn’t see anyone in the compartments I passed.

That’s odd! I thought. Surely there would have been an announcement or something if we needed to get off.  I went back into my compartment, and discovered the speaker had been switched off.

Oh shoot!

Gathering my things, I put on my coats, and strapped on my back pack. I walked through the car and didn’t see anyone. Pushing the button to open the hydraulic doors, I passed between cars. The next car didn’t have anyone on it nor did the one after that. I looked out the window. I didn’t see buildings, stations, or houses in any direction.

Passing into the next car, I saw the conductor sitting on a stool at the opposite end. I walked passed all of the empty compartments and up to him.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was asleep. Was there an announcement to get off the train?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “No good English. What you want?”

I added exaggerated gestured to my fragmented sentences. “I was asleep,” I said, tucking my hands under my chin to indicate sleep.

He nodded, “Ok, asleep, yes.”

I made a signal of loud noise by flashing my fingers by my right ear. “Announcement?” I asked.

“Yes,” He said. “Announcement say ‘we are changing tracks. Either get off train and wait at last station, or stay in seat and don’t move between cars.’”

“Thank you!” I said, very relieved. “I’ll go back now.”

“Ok,” he smiled. “Thank you.”

I returned to my seat and checked my watch. We were about an hour outside of Munich so I decided to stay awake. When the train pulled back into the station on the new platform, a ton of people got on and the commotion returned. A man opened the door and held up 5 fingers. I assumed he was asking if all 5 seats were free. I nodded, and he and his family came in.

In addition to the man, who sat by the door, he was joined by his wife, his son, and two daughters. The wife sat between, me and the man, and the three kids sat across from us in the compartment. Based on their sizes, I would guess the one girl was the oldest, and I’d say she was probably somewhere around nine. She sat across from her father by the door with a very nervous look on her face. Next to her was the boy who looked to be about seven or eight. He sat with his leg crossed reading the newspaper and occasionally commenting on stories or asking questions (well actually they all spoke German so I’m assuming that is what he did.

Across from me sat the youngest of the three. I would guess she was probably five or six. An adorable little girl with the brightest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. She kept trying to play footsie with me and smiling. Her parents would tell her to stop, but I said I didn’t mind. When I pulled my iPod out and snaked my headphones up my shirt and into my ears, she immediately did the same with a little mp3 player she had in her pocket.

For most of the ride, I stared out the window listening to some worship music. I did pick up on the commotion in the compartment though when the little girl pulled out one of her baby teeth. Her mother put it in a Ziploc back and gave her a tissue to dab her gums. She kept smiling at me and pointing at the gap for me to see.

Even though we didn’t talk much (other than an occasional “Sorry” or “is okay”) it felt nice to be surrounded by a family again.

After a little over an hour, a voice came over the loud speaker and made an announcement first in German then in Czech. I understood the word “Munchen” to be German for “Munich” but I couldn’t make out anything else. Pulling out my ticket, I showed it to the family.

“Is this the right stop?” I asked them.

The mom looked at the ticket. “Yes!” she said. “Is Muchen!”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. We all stood and gathered our things. When the train stopped, we followed the crowd to disembark.

As soon I was off the train, I lost sight of my little family. I found an ATM and took out some Euros. Then, I pulled out my iPod to find the email on where to go next.