Closing up Shop

This entry will cover from the last time I have had time or energy to write until today. My classes are becoming less hectic so there might be a few more entries before I am back in the United States . . . Enjoy!

On Wednesday, April 8, not only were we were assigned to Slovak families to spend the Easter holidays with, but we also left three hours later travel to the assigned villages via train. We were divided into a group of 4 who traveled to a small city, 1 who traveled to a small town, and 2 who traveled to two villages. So Matt and I were chosen to go to the small villages and stay with a family and their cousins. It was, by far, one of the most interesting Easter celebrations I have ever been to. They have a tradition here for Easter Monday, which is bigger here than Easter Sunday, where they make whips from sprigs Sunday evening then on Monday, the boys travel from house to house and hit (gently) the girls with the whip or throw water/perfume on them. The girls then respond by giving the boys decorated eggs, chocolate, cakes, or even money. It was quite the experience. . .I spent the day with Matt's host family because mine did not participate in the Easter Monday traditions. So while I was with Matt's family, we visited one of their relations and the older gentleman had a whip with which he hit me and Matt's host mother. The rest of the day was spent at their grandparents' huge farm . . . they have their own herd of deer . . . where we ate a ton of food and toured their farm and just chilled for the rest of the evening. After such an eventful day, Tuesday was spent repacking and a short visit to the nearby town where we later caught our train and headed back to Bratislava, which is a relatively quite city but seemed extremely loud after spending a week in the countryside.

The Friday after we returned was supposed to be a trip to Vienna, but thankfully, our professor changed the date to the following weekend so we had an unexpected free weekend in Bratislava. We are all coming to the realization that our time here is almost up and we have been discussing what we will miss the most about this city and this country . . . I think I will miss the freedom of movement the most. . . living in the country, I have never realized the pros of public transportation. The affordability and safety of the city buses and the trains is just unbelievable (three of us traveled to one of our Slovak professor's house and for three of us it was less than 4 euro round trip!). The second thing I will miss the most is the food, they cook the most amazing food, not only in our faculty's cafeteria, but also the street vendors and the restaurants. The Slovak students took us to a restaurant with "the cheapest restaurant with the best food" and they were dead on right. I have never spent more than 7 euros there and I get a drink, and a meal, which consists of meat, vegetables, and rice or fries.

So after our free weekend in Bratislava, we spent the week preparing for finals and writing our final papers, unfortunately, we still have a few due this week too. This weekend was spent on a day trip to Vienna on Friday and a trip to our professor Batka's house on Saturday. The day trip to Vienna was very laid back. We only spent a day there because it is only an hour's train ride from Bratislava. In the morning we had a quick walking tour of the city and then we were left to explore as we pleased until that evening when we would meet back at the train station to head back to Bratislava. We spent the whole afternoon in a royal park reading books we had found in a bookstore or just chillin' so it was a great day in Vienna. Saturday, two guys and myself traveled to our professor's home on the outskirts of Bratislava because he had invited us all to come and join him during a festival being held in his town. He met us at the train station and gave us a short tour of the town and his church then he let us go explore the festival on our own. The festival was surprisingly set up in a very American style, with the mix of hand crafted items and the cheap items from China and with all of the booths of food to choose from. So we walked around and ate for a couple hours then decided to head back to Bratislava to finish some papers.

So here I am, less than two weeks to go and not even close to being ready to leave this beautiful city and go home.

Giant Update

I am coming down the home stretch of this semester with only a month left to go. The constant snow and rain that has covered the city since we have been here has finally lifted and we are currently enjoying warm, sunny weather and our first clear view of the city. For the past four weeks we have been on the move traveling to Munich, Budapest, Prague, and Wittenberg.

Munich was our official last free weekend before we started our weekend travels for our classes so six of us decided to travel to Munich. I went with the motivation of seeing one of my friends who lives right outside of Munich. Her name is Johanna; she was an exchange student at my high school my senior year and we have kept in contact since then. I stayed with her along with two girls from my group, Amandalynn and Hayley, and the three guys who came along stayed in a hostel in Munich so they could be in the city. Johanna's family was a breath of fresh air from being in the city and lack of family dynamics. Johanna's family had prepared a weekend of activities for us in which we traveled to Salzburg, Austria for a day and was able to take a relaxed self-tour of the nearby castle and the town. We also went to the Alps the day we had to leave for Bratislava. Her mother cooked us some traditional German food such as Bavarian sausage and a fish casserole and we were taken to a local traditional Bavarian restaurant one evening. All in all the weekend ended much too soon. As the six of us reconvened at the train station the looks on our face were mostly of depression at the thought of leaving Munich and heading back to Bratislava.

The following weekend we traveled as a whole group, along with our professor, to Budapest, Hungary. Here the program was not as leisurely and we had only one afternoon to explore the city on our own. This weekend seemed extended by the fact that we left Bratislava at 5:53 Friday morning and were in Budapest by 9am. We began the day with finding our accommodations at a Lutheran theological faculty that was closely related to the faculty we stay at in Bratislava. After we were given rooms and some time to unpack we then attended a lecture on the basic history of Hungary and more specifically the history of Budapest (actually was once two cities Buda and Pest each part on one side of the river Danube but were later combined) and how Communism impacted its politics and religious views. We then had a surprise added to our schedule and were able to visit the Bulgarian ambassador to Hungary. This was a special treat for me since I am planning on majoring in International Relations and the gentleman talked extensively about the difficulties, especially politically, of being a diplomat. The second day we spent in Budapest we were taken sightseeing on a small bus and then we were taken to a small Holocaust exhibit. The theme of most of our classes revolves around the Holocaust so it was only to be expected that we would eventually visit a Holocaust themed event. However, the perspective on the Holocaust here is extremely different from the perspective taken in America. Here, for one, it seems more real; I was look through some photos that were taken of Jew being persecuted in Budapest and in one of the pictures I recognized a building I had been standing next to and had taken a picture of earlier that day. Unlike America, there is no escaping it here, you can't just go to a Holocaust museum here and leave without seeing the same streets and buildings that you had just seen inside the museum. The whole group was very subdued after this exhibition and was quite until we split for dinner in the main square of Budapest. On Sunday we headed home in order to catch up on the homework we still had to do for class on Monday.

The weekend after, we left Bratislava, again, insanely early, this time around 5:30am and we reached Prague by 9:30am. Again we were able to unpack and have lunch before we traveled to the old district and to the NYU of Prague to listen to a lecture on civil society versus Political culture and how they were affected by Nazism and Communism throughout the twentieth century. We were then given an hour of "free time" to explore the old district of Prague and the surrounding open air markets. After the hour was up we were then taken on a short walking tour as we walked to the only Slovak Lutheran Church in Prague. Here we listened to another lecture about the history of the Church and how a Slovak Church is able to function within Czech land. This lecture was followed by a walk to dinner which was extremely good. I decided to try a traditional meal and ordered the knee of a pig. . . It was huge and had a ton of meat on it but it was soooo delicious!!! After dinner we walked along Charles Bridge, which unfortunately is under reconstruction, towards our metro stop where I proceeded to be clumsy and fall on an escalator :D The next morning we were taken on a walking tour of the city castle and of Charles Bridge. Afterwards, we were given the rest of the day to explore Prague on our own. Our group split into a few smaller groups and the group I was in mostly stayed near Charles Bridge and the surrounding area.

We all headed to bed early that night because we were up and running at 3am the next morning to catch a bus to Wittenberg (where Martin Luther posted his 95thesises) so we could be there in time for the morning service. The service was interesting but was in German so I understood none of it. After the service we were shown our rooms, were given lunch, then heading out on a walking tour of the town. Our tour guide was excellent and humorous as she showed us the many historical sites of Wittenberg. However, even on this trip we were unsuccessful in escaping the shadows of the Holocaust. On the back of the town church there is a small stone structure that was created to insult the Jews as they walked past to the local ghetto. The structure shows Jews suckling from a female pig and a Rabbi standing behind the pig. Below this structure there is a monument that has been recently put there that is an acknowledgement of and an apology for the suffering of the Jews at the hands of Christians. By the end of the tour we were in Martin Luther's house which has been turned into a Reformation museum. Many of the documents were interesting due to the fact that we had talked about or mentioned some of them in our "Martin Luther" class taught by a Slovak professor. After we were done at the museum, we were given the rest of the day to relax so a few of us decided that it was warm enough out to eat ice cream. . . It was a brilliant idea! We then went to a small diner on the edge of town and had some fries before heading back to our lodgings. The next day we had a couple hours of free time to pack and walk around the town one last time before we were gathered to listen to a lecture about the mission of the ECLA, the Lutheran foundation that funded the hostel where we had been staying. Immediately following the lecture we were given lunch then loaded back onto the bus to travel back to Prague to catch a train back to Bratislava. After the 4:30 hour bus ride to Prague we jumped onto our train and then spent another 4 hours traveling to Bratislava where we arrived at 10:30pm.

This weekend was the official last weekend we would be spending in Bratislava so I invited my friend Johanna to come and allow me to return the hospitality that her family showed me. After some miscommunication and delays, Johanna, her brother, and his girlfriend arrived in Bratislava Friday night and stayed in a nearby hotel. Saturday was spent on a whirlwind tour of the city with breaks both at her hotel and in my room at the faculty. Saturday evening was spent eating dinner then playing cards before it was time for Johann to head back to her hotel. I was able to catch her briefly Sunday morning to say goodbye before she left.


So, this is a condensed version of what I have been up to for the past month . . . sorry it took so long to update everyone, it's been hectic and I'm not very good at keeping up with these types of things.

Swan Lake

This past Friday, our group was privileged to go see a ballet performance of Swan Lake. I was very excited to go for a few reasons. First, I have never seen a professional ballet performance and was eager to see one. Second, my cousin Victoria is a very talented ballerina and I wanted to take some photos and some video for her. Lastly, I wanted to compare Slovak attitudes towards the arts with American attitudes.

The ballet itself was amazingly beautiful, especially from the balcony where we sat. I was a lucky one who had researched the story line and was able to follow it through out the ballet. The special affects used in sync with the music had me frequently at the edge of my seat watching in wonder as the performance below me unfolded. Unfortunately, I was unable to take any photos of the preform ace because of the "no photo" rule and because I was sitting by some Slovaks and I didn't think I could sneak any successfully, however I did manage to record some of the music but since my camera was by my phone. . . it is staticy.

I have found that the Slovakian culture seems to encourage the appreciation of the arts more so than the United States. Mostly due to the accessibility of tickets. For a student to attend a professional ballet performance at the main theater in Bratislava, it was only 2.5 euros!! In this aspect I find the Untied States lacking. . . to see the Swan Lake professionally in the USA it would have cost me at least $20 approximately and not including the cost of transportation.

Transportation: this is something that I have found to be amazingly useful here and I know that when I come back to the U.S. I will miss it. Here, it is only 10 euros a month to travel unlimited on any of the public transportation systems here in Bratislava. The transportation is safe, clean, and efficient. The bus/trolley/electric car stops are all well lit at night (at least the ones I have been to) and are kept clean also.

Alright, away from the side comment.
The ballet was amazing and even though they changed the ending (in the original ballet, the star-crossed lovers end up committing suicide together, in this version, the prince slays the evil man and saves the Swan Princess) I found it to be quite a charming story. For the most part the group appreciated the ballet but were glad when it was over, only a few of us showed any real contentedness with the ballet and any interest of seeing another one. On the whole, it was a very successful evening!!

Snow, Rain, Sleet, Wind and a Dance

Well, finally a day off from the constant reading and analyzing that is required for my classes. . .

So last Friaday we, the Americans were invited to a ball that was to be held here at the faculty (it is the word they use for a learning facility). We were told that the dress code was nice, but not as extreme as prom. . . so we thought "okay. . .a nice but not formal dress. . .like homecoming" Ooohhh nooo. .. when the evening finally came we, dressed in our finest, were verily underdressed. Imagine wearing a homecoming dress to prom. . . . yep. . . that bad. However, the Slovak students welcomed us merrily and the evening commenced. It was an amazing evening. We were provided with a dinner, entertainment in the form of a skit (which one of the students traslated for us) and music for dancing.

Dancing. Yeesh. The one thing that I wasn't looking forward to was the part of the ball that I enjoyed the most. Slovak dancing is still quite different from contemporary American dancing. In the begining the band played some traditoinal Slovak songs and I was asked to dance. The gentleman (no, I don't know his name or have any photos of him. According to a girl in my group, he was actually an American teaching English at a neighboring faculty, but I'm not for sure) who asked me and I danced a swing/polka.

After this the band began playing a playlist of American oldies (it is the music played on most of the radios here. . . my type of music) such as The Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "I'm Walking on Sunshine", and "It's My Party". . . . they also played some Slovak and Czech Rock but, of course, I couldn't understand it but it had a good beat and was fun to dance to. . .

On the note of dancing, like I said earlier, they don't dance the same. . . It was like watching a combination of 60s and 70s dance move. . No lie. . they weren't goofing off, they were doing the twist and the like. . . Lucky for me, I knew how to do the "gorrilla" and "swimming" dance moves.

All in all it was a great dance and we all had fun albeit it was awkard at first, especially because we were so underdressed. The night ended on a happy note as the senior in our group, Christy, won the title Ball Queen which was nice because it was also her birthday.

Pictures:

Melina (sister of Christy's Slovak friend that came to visit) and me.

The group of us in our corner watching the dancing. . .

The Weekly Review

Where to begin. . . .hmmm. . . how about a very quick analysis of the past few days.

Thursday, Feb. 12: I had double classes. From 9-12 I had my critical writing class with Dr. Hinlicky then from 2-5 I had Church and Civil Society with Dr. Filo. That night I stayed in my room and read.

Friday, Feb. 13: Friday was spent taking a tour of the old city of Bratislava. We toured different buildings and were told about their past significance and their present uses. We had lunch in a restaurant that used to be an old wine cellar then continued our tour. The weather that day was relentlessly cold, windy, and had flurries so we headed back to the seminary around 3pm. That evening we went as a group to see a Slovak Philharmonic Concert, which a segment is showed in the video. The first half of the performance was generic style classical music and the second half was traditional Slovak music. After the performance, we ate tacos (of all things) then took the bus back to the bus stop closest to the seminary and stopped at a pub for a few hours (I stayed to make sure one of my friends got back okay).

Saturday, Feb. 14: The very popular Valentine's Day is just as popular here in Slovakia as it is at home. We spent the late morning and early afternoon at the mall for some grocery and shoe shopping and hat shopping. That evening, we went out to eat with Dr. Hinlicky as a "welcome to Slovakia" dinner. However there was a glitch in the plans and even though the food was amazingly good. . it costs us each (there are 10 of us) 51 euros! After this let down at the end of dinner we went back to our dorms and chilled the rest of the evening.

Sunday, Feb. 15: The whole day was spent studying and in retrospective, I studied the wrong things. Anyway, that evening we were supposed to go to a jazz club but some of us decided against it 1) because we were studying and 2) we had no money to spare after the restaurant episode the night before.

Today, Monday, Feb. 16: I had class and a test today. . then a wonderful lunch of pork, veggies, and noodles. And now reading for tomorrow's class and possibly reading for a few others.

On a side note: Our door to our balcony is still not in working order. The door knob refuses to turn so, currently, our suitcases are piled against the door to keep the wind out and they don't always succeed, but it works most of the time. However, this problem will be solved within a matter of days as soon as it can be arranged, the local repairman will come and fix our door!!

I got to go but more later gator :)

A Show of Devotion

I know I haven't been on for a while but I have been super busy with classes and exploring more of Bratislava. For the last few days our group, or at least a part of it, go out and shop or go out to dinner. Each time we have gone out since the first few days has been without a Slovak student or adult. Fortunately, each excursion has been very successful.

A quick side not about the food here: It is Amazing!!! For breakfast we either have cold cuts or cheese and bread, lunch is the biggest meal here so we have a bowl of soup, meat and rice or potatoes (if there are not potatoes on the plate they are in the soup), and dinner is on us so it is usually a sandwich or bread and cheese. The various meals we have had for lunch, and dinner when it was being provided, have been as follows: pork and potatoes with bean soup, chicken and potatoes with sour potato soup, spaghetti with ketchup and cheese, pork with mushroom sauce potatoes and sour mushroom soup, steamed dough with plum jam filling and coco powder on top, and spicy chicken and pork with veggies and rice and garlic soup.

On Sunday, we went to an International Lutheran Church and listened to the service and were greeted by fellow Americans and others who speak English and are living in the area. The Church where the service was being held was beautiful and the service was very pleasant. However, it felt like it was lacking something in the way the congregation echoed the priest. I asked Richard, one of the Slovak students who went with us if this service was like the one we would be attending on Wednesday at the seminary (theology school). He replied that this service was nice but it was different. When I asked how he said I would see on Wednesday.

I now understand what he meant by the services being different. Today at the Lutheran service in the seminary, I was totally amazed and left breathless at the beauty of the service. The area it is held in is very modernized and is like a very small auditorium (150 seats approx.) and at first I wasn't as impressed as I had been at the international church mostly due to the arcitechture. However, once the service began and the congregation began to sing back to the novice pastor, who was, surprisingly yet not, Richard. (Richard is one of the students who welcomed us the second night we were here) I was held in awe of the obvious devotion of the congregation. The whole service was in Slovak but that didn't matter, the feelings that poured out of the people and the presiding priest were enough to be moved. I have never felt a unity as strong as strong as the unity of that congregation. I am at a lost of words and expressions to describe the service. In summary, it felt whole, right, and true.

I wonder if I will ever experience something as beautiful as that outside of Slovakia.

When European Buildings Attack!!!!!

So today has been a very eventful day, however, I need to describe more in detail yesterday's events since I failed to do so in my last post:

We arrived at Vienna, Austria around 8:30 in the morning and drove for an hour to Bratislava. We had an hour to get things situated in our rooms then we had lunch. After that it was run! run! run! to get all of our practical needs around for transportation and what not. We also got a quick tour of the older part of Bratislava. When we got back we ate a very good dinner of fried cheese with sauce (it was ridiculously delicious!) and potatoes (we have a form of potatoes with every meal. . . hopefully it won't get old). Afterwards we all went to bed early because we were exhausted. . . . and now. . . back to the present. . . .

Today was quite a day. this morning I woke up late, plugged my straightener into a converter and the straightener got fried. . . literally. . . the plastic around the ceramic tiles began to melt and smoke. . . I had to run it out onto the balcony and leave it there all day to cool down. Then after breakfast we were taking a tour of the classrooms and the area surrounding the building. While we were walking up a set of stairs, they became more narrow because a building jutted out, I was looking down, heard my name called, looked up and smacked my head into the wall. . it was quite a "me" moment.
The rest of the day wasn't quite treacherous. We spent the majority of the time at a super mall so we could open accounts with a local bank to cut living costs here. While we were there we did some minor grocery shopping then we came back for a supper of spaghetti noodles with ketchup and cheese. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad but definitely not one of my favorites.
Afterwards we met with some Slovak students who also speak English. We had traditional "tea" together as a meet and greet. As part of the tradition, there was some wine in the tea. . . I only had a few sips because the wine made the tea taste funky and I didn't want to upset my stomach. The students were very welcoming and we all got along great. We then left and went to a local bar with the students. I only had coke but I tired one of my friend's drinks, it was a type of liquor and it tasted pretty good, like vanilla eggnog. The bar was small and we stayed until 10 then we returned, played some cards and now I am here writing about it all. . .

These blogs will probably not be as frequent from here on out because I will be beginning classes and that means homework and class time. So that's that.