Now I know that when the Slovak's say you're going for a walk really what they mean is you're hiking up a mountain. And when they say you need good shoes, they mean you need all terrain hiking equipment. Yup. I climbed yet another mountain this weekend. I think I need to start keeping tabs on this or something. I mean at this rate by the end of my exchange I could have climbed mount everest or something! Okay maybe not. but still.

This weekend I participated in something called Chalupart. Now I know to all of you that just seems like a really strange arrangement of letters but in Slovak it really does make a certain amount of sense. Translated it means 'cottager' which doesn't exist in the english language but we don't really do the whole cottage thing like the Slovaks and so i guess we just dont feel the need to dedicate an entire word to the process. This chalupart was put on by an organization called Nadacia Krajina Harmonie (Peaceful, harmonious, Country or something like that) which is a local organization which goal is to create opportunities for people with disabilities and and people from the community to come together and learn from each other. Chalupart is one of those opportunities and is pretty much when a bunch of volunteers and people with special needs gather at a cottage for an entire weekend and have a good time. So as you probably could have guessed I was pretty psyched about the whole idea. I mean the whole integration of people with disabilities is kind of right up my alley and I've been looking to volunteer with a foundation just like this one for the past couple of months. So all in all I was pretty pleased with myself for having figured this all out but I must admit I wasn't entirely sure (as usual) what I was getting myself into. And this time I really did get myself into something. This is how it went down...

We all met at the bus stop. We being myself, about seven other volunteers, and seven high functioning disabled adults. Our destination was Dlhe Pole, a tiny little village about thirty minutes outside of Zilina. I was told we would take the bus here and then it would be a thirty minute walk from the bus stop to the cottage. What I didn't know however was that we would be hiking (NOT walking) FORTY minutes, UPhill, in CALF deep snow. And since I didn't know this I didn't came sporting my fashionable but most definately not climbing suitable UGGS. Yes, not only did I climb a mountain this weekend but I climbed it in slippers. Several pit stops, five wipe outs, and some soaking wet pants later, I made it to the top. And what did I find at the top? Not a beautiful hotel, not a cute little house. No I wouldn't even have called it a sweet little cabin. It was more of a quaint little shack. A one hundred year old shack without running water and heat to be exact. So me in my Uggs, tight jeans, straightened hair, and make-uped face felt like a complete idiot. But I got over it, made my way inside, did my best to feel at home.
Having extraordinarily limited space in the cottage we were forced to spend the majority of our time outside. Which was alright with me. We had a gas having snow ball fights, throwing eachother in snowbanks and of course hiking. And when we got tired of that we all made our way inside where we made a GIANT pot of porridge and sat around the fire drinking tea and playing board games. It really was nice once I adjusted to the whole 'roughing it' thing. But man were we roughing it. I soon discovered there's only so much one can do before you just have to surrender to the elements. By the time day two rolled around I blended right in with everyone else: fuzzy teeth, greasy hair, dirty clothes, and deodorant au natural. And come day three you don't even want to know what I looked like. But we all smelled together so for some reason that made it all okay.
Although I didn't have the opportunity to shower I did get to try the sauna. yes the shack had no running water but it had a sauna. Slovak priorities are strange sometimes. And was that an experience and a half! Oh boy. When I refer to saunaI really I should be calling it something else because the Slovaks (actually I think its a european thing but that doesnt really matter) do it a whole lot different than we do. Their sauna-ing experience had two BIG differences. 1. you do it in the nude and 2. you are required to jump into a bath of ice water afterwards. So there I was, sweet, innocent Paige, haven't been naked in front of my own mom since I was six years old; completely exposed, in a steamy pine box with five other people of both genders. I won't write out what was running through my head at that moment because I think you might find it somewhat inappropriate but I think you get the idea. And then, as if I wasn't already a million miles out of my comfort zone, everyone around me promptly gets up and heads out. I follow of course, not wanting to be the only moron left behind, and where do I find them heading? OUTSIDE!! All I see is a line of four naked bums heading for the door, jumping into a big pool of ice cold water. As confused as I was I decided to follow because really what did I have to lose? I was already standing outside in the snow buck naked. So I hopped on in, dunked my head, struggled for air because I was so freakin cold and returned to the sauna. We then proceeded to do this two more times because the Slovaks say its good for your health. Now if you ask me that doesn't make much sense coming from the people, who a month ago told me I caught my cold from playing outside but who am I to say they're wrong?
All in all it was really fantastic weekend. A really crazy experience but something I'll never ever forget. I met a lot of fantastic people, befriended some unbelievably kind disabled adults, and saw some absolutely stunning nature. Would I do it all over again if I had the chance? You bet! And guess what? I get to! Nardacia organizes these chaluparts once a month and you can be sure I'll be going as many more times as i possibly can. They also invited me to drop by the centre whenever I have time so i think I'm going to start going every monday after school for a couple of hours to get to know what kinds of things they have going. I'm super excited to get to see the attitudes of another country towards people with special needs and to have the opportunity to have an inside look at such a neat organization. I'll be sure to keep you posted!

p