Fellow foreigners

On my first Waldo-less weekend, I decided I needed to get out of town. Yesterday, I headed to Banská Štiavnica to see the town's two castles. I was planning to make a solitary trek around town and head home... Who knew that I would spend the evening learning to make crêpes from two French guys?!

At the bus station, I was asking for directions to the town square. I found Benoît and Quentin. They are from the north of France and are studying in Bratislava for the year. We walked around the old mining town. I read that it is the most beautiful town in Slovakia. And it was a lovely town, but I think Banská Bystrica is even nicer. We saw the Old and New Castles and a small mining museum.

They rode the bus home with me and we played poker with Reese's Pieces. Benoît won with a full house. I taught them to play Old Maid and Spoons. We made crêpes with jam and Nutella for dinner. I flipped a few myself. It was an unforgettable experience!

What a treat!

Today, I took knives to school. Scary! My class of beginners carved a pumpkin. They had never done it before, so it was fun to see their reactions. They got out their cameras or their cell phones to take pictures. I taught them interjections. Gross! Yuck! Ew! Meg sent me a bag of candy corn, and I shared it with a few of my classes. They loved it. I have been telling all of my classes about Halloween traditions like visiting pumpkin patches, trick-or-treating, and going to haunted houses. They have been telling me about their traditions for All Saints' Day. I am eager to see the cemeteries that night- I've heard they are covered in candles.

I had another new class today. A man picked me up this morning and took me to a car dealership where I taught conversational English to six businesspeople. They were very friendly. We talked about everything from the Denver Nuggets to school shootings. They also told me about a meal served at some restaurants- raw meat on toast. The director of the company promised to take a group of us out so that I can try it. Fortunately, it goes very well with beer.

Czech it out

On Thursday morning, I was a mess when I had to say goodbye to Jen. It's a good thing Greg was still here to pick up the pieces and start a new adventure. We boarded a train and headed to Prague. Greg and I saw every inch of the city. We started with Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle on Friday. We saw the cathedral where we climbed 297 steps to get a better view of the city. I think the cathedral was Greg's favorite part. He videotaped everything! It was beautiful. We saw the changing of the guards at noon and spent the rest of the afternoon touring the royal palace, the museum, the convent, and the torture chamber that are inside the castle walls. In the evening, we headed to U Zlatého Tygra (The Golden Tiger). It's where President Havel took President Clinton to show him a "real Czech pub." The Pilsner Urquell was cheap and tasted great.

On Saturday, we saw the Astronomical Clock strike twelve. It wasn't too impressive. A lot of tourists gather around every hour to watch the giant cuckoo clock. The apostles pop out every hour and Death rings a bell. We walked to the Old Jewish cemetery and the Old New Synagogue. They were preserved during World War II by the Nazis because they planned to make a museum of the "extinct race." It's disturbing to see all of the grave stones piled on top of each other. In the afternoon, we climbed Petřín hill. I was not too eager to make the journey, but it ended up being my favorite part of Prague. There are a lot of trails and benches. It reminded me of Central Park on a mountain. There were a lot of people with their children and dogs. There's also a 60 meter version of the Eiffel tower and an old wooden church. The church was incredible. It was a nice way to end the trip. On Sunday, I had to say goodbye to Greg and ride the train back to reality. I miss the Waldos already.

Three's Company

Greg made it safe and sound. We've been showing him the sights in Banská Bystrica. We woke up this morning and headed to the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising. During the Nazi occupation, Slovaks resisted in Banská Bystrica. It is a big source of national pride. Many towns have squares and streets named after the uprising. The museum looks like a UFO. It was called "the best museum in the country" in Jen's guidebook. We weren't disappointed. The museum was filled with artifacts and the information was printed in English and Slovak.

We walked through the town and stopped for a kebab. We ordered mini kebabs and expected meat on a stick. It was more like a sandwich. We sat in the sunny square and watched people pass. The clock always plays a song at about 7 minutes before the hour. Every time we hear it, we smile. Jen and Greg went to a movie while I taught a few lessons. The Waldos definitely make Slovakia a nicer place to be.

A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times! Jen and I explored Bratislava on Friday and Vienna on Saturday. On Friday, we checked into the City Hostel, our first hostel experience. It was not as rugged as we expected. We had a private room. We visited the Bratislava castle, the Danube river with the New Bridge, the Presidential Palace, and the opera house. It rained all day, so we went to a pizzeria to warm up. We had pizza with eggs and green olives on it, drank wine and beer, and laughed our way back to the hostel.

On Saturday, we met Jan in Vienna. He was our tour guide when we took students to Europe two years ago. He is still a likable character and a great guide. He showed us the museum district, the Schönbrunn Palace, and an amazing outdoor market. The smells alone were satisfying. We met his sister Julia. Jan made us dinner, and we had interesting conversation. It was the first time I got the impression that Western Europe looks down on Slovakia. Jan and his sister made a few comments that were not too pleasant. They are educated people who seem very eager to stop prejudice, and they had some strange ideas about the country whose border is just 30 minutes away. I felt I had to defend my new country. I had no such feeling when they started questioning the U.S. president! Overall, it was a great day in Austria. This morning, we woke up early and headed back to Slovakia. It was a long day of traveling. We took a subway, a tram, two trains, and two buses today. We're ready to relax. Greg will be here tomorrow!

Sight-seeing sisters

Jen's here! I can't tell you how I laughed when I saw her step off the bus. It's been nice to share my town with my big sister. We have a long list of goals for the trip. Last night, we started by going to Evijo Pizzeria, the best pizza place in Banská Bystrica, and by drinking some thick hot chocolate. It was a delicious start. Today, we climbed the clock tower. We could see the quaint square from a new angle. We also celebrated Jen's Meniny (Name Day). I took Jen to my other favorite pizza/sandwich place. I like it because you can point to what you want and the man who works there tries to speak English. It always makes my day. Jen went with me to two classes today where we discussed marriage and attraction. We were eager to discuss the differences between our countries but found there weren't many. We all had similar views. After class, Jen and I made soup in bread bowls for dinner. It is a meal that will be recreated for all future guests. More adventures to come!

The bus stops here.

I am writing again because today was a big day! I rode the city bus for the first time. I find myself avoiding a lot of simple tasks. I know it's silly, but I get quite nervous. When I finally get the guts, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment. I celebrated the first time I went to the post office and the day I bought fruit from an outdoor market. There are new reasons to celebrate every day. Today, I rode the bus from my apartment to Tesco, Slovakia's big box store. I didn't need anything but milk, but I was curious to see the place. I paid 14SK each way; that's about $.58.

Tonight, I went out for tea with Beata. We went to an amazing teahouse where we sat on pillows and ate dried papaya. I was thrilled when we found chai on the menu. All tea is called čaj and is pronounced like chai. What Starbucks calls chai, Slovaks call masala. It tasted so delicious and familiar.

FALLin' for Slovakia

It's a beautiful time to visit Slovakia! Jen and Greg will be pleased. The mountains around the town are multi-colored. I took these pictures on my way to school today. I pass through two parks. It was just starting to rain. I always have sunglasses and an umbrella with me. You never know!

My classes are going well. I am really enjoying the class of beginners. We usually spend nearly the entire class in confusion, but they have nice personalities. It's funny that I can tell without understanding a word they say. I never thought I'd be teaching sentences like "The boy is happy."

The more advanced classes obviously tend to have more interesting conversation. Yesterday, I reviewed sports vocabulary and phrases. One class sang "We Are The Champions" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" when we talked about the Olympics. I loved it. Tonight, I had a different advanced group, and we had a heated discussion about the roles of a mother. There aren't a lot of feminists in this country! At least one of my students is hoping I never reproduce. My poor children! Overall, my students are amazing. They are eager to learn and pleasant to be around. Three of my students stayed after class today to tell me the restaurants and pubs I should visit while I'm here. They even marked them on a map. It's a nice change to work with adults.