So I've been home sick the past two days. It's funny because I was sick just after I moved in with my last host family. But it's really okay because I'm not super sick or anything, just a case of the sniffles and coughs. I think more than anything I burned myself out. Normally I rely on having the weekend to catch up sleep wise and rest but I didn't have that last weekend (in fact I had quite the opposite as I only got ten hours of sleep ALL weekend) or this weekend so I guess I just kind of crashed. I enjoy it here though because since I don't do anything in school I can stay home and rest guilt free! It's wonderful! I slept virtually all day yesterday and today for that matter and now I'm feeling a whole lot better. All recharged for this weekend. I'm off to Kosice on Friday, a major city in Slovakia in the East. I've been told it's quite different in the East compared to the West. I guess there are a lot of gypsies or Roma people over there and it is quite a bit more poor. So we will see. I haven't had a chance to go to the East yet as it's not a part of the country everyone is overly proud of but Kosice is supposed to be a pretty fantastic city. Needless to say I'm looking forward to it!

Last week at school was pretty interesting. There was an english competition again so kids from all over Zilina came to compete. There were several categories; listening, oral, reading, and writing so overall I would say it was pretty intense. But what was funny was that the person who was supposed to read for the listening exercise didn't show up so I had to fill in for them. It was really funny having to read these random articles out loud for some of my classmates. And now one of the English teachers love me. She kept going on and on about how beautiful my accent is and how much she liked my pronounciation. It was really cute. I also had to help out with one of the english conversation classes for the oldest class this week. That was also interesting. I had to what they call 'roleplay'. It essentially means I get a slip a paper with a role I have to fulfill and one of the students gets a different role and then we have to have a spontaneous conversation about that topic. It was actually a lot of fun. One of the scenarios was I was the mom and the student was the child and they were trying to convince me to buy them a cell phone. It was really hard not to burst out laughing though becuase here I was pretending to be a mother, while they are begging me in a really cute slovak accent to buy them a phone. And it didn't help that half of them were my friends.
And I made a little discovery on Friday last week. In case you were unaware apparently Canadians raise Caribou for meat, milk, and cheese and live in a land of snow and ice. Somebody somewhere along the way had to do a project on Canada for English class and it was hanging on the wall and I was looking at it and that is one of the things it said. It was quite humoring to be honest. And yes sadly I have found that is one of the things Canada seems to be known for around the world. When people find out I am from canada they all assume one or all of the following: 1. We all ski. 2. There are bears everywhere. 3. We live under three meters of snow. 4. It's ridiculously cold. 5. It has really beautiful nature (which is true). So I guess it's not all bad, especially compared to what they think about the Americans.

Oh yeah and guess what????? This is week 23 and do you know what that means? No you probably don't but I'm gonna tell you! IT MEANS IM HALF WAY DONE MY EXCHANGE! I can hardly believe I have been here five months now! The time really has flown by and believe it or not now I'm starting to have trouble imagining returning home. I know I can't quite believe I just said that either, what with all the homesickness and everything but it's true. The Rotarians really do know what they are talking about with the whole sin curve graph thing. Don't get me wrong, I totally still miss my friends and family but it's a a little different now. Life in Slovakia has become normalized. Everything that was once soooo incrediably different is just part of my everyday life now. I've even stopped noticing how different some of it is because I've become accustomed to it all. Now from time to time I find myself taken aback by the beauty of something and then I think 'WOW. Paige you lucky little bum! You are in Slovakia!' because I'd forgotten I was in a faraway land. It's almost like I've got two homes now. It's a strange but nice feeling, to be able to belong to two completely different worlds. And if I'm starting to feel this now then I can only imagine what it'll be like in four or five months when I actually do have to think about returning to Canada. But let's not get too carried away. There are still five whole months left to be filled with uncanny ridiculously amazing adventure all of which will be documented right here! :)