It would appear as though I'm not meant to have a phone. Today I was running for the bus down my narrow road wich has no sidewalks when my cell phone falls out of my pocket and onto the road....and then guess what happened? A CAR RAN OVER IT! and IT SURVIVED! It's now mighty beautiful what with the duct tape holding it together but at least it still works. And my host family didn't mind all that much because it was a really old model so that was nice. But come on! First I flush one down the toilet, then my next one gets stolen and now this? Clearly someone has it out for me.

And I guess it's just a week of unfotunate incidents because my little host bro hurt his knee skiing (which is a big deal to him because he skies aLOT and does ALOT of other sports too) and then when we got home from the slopes he ran into an arm chair and broke his baby toe! So now he has his toe all taped up and his knee in a full on brace the poor kid! Two injuries in one weekend all on the same leg.

But aside from all the mishaps I had a pretty great week. I took two trips to neighboring cities with my friends from school. Early in the week I went to Martin with some of the girls from my class. Andrea's mom works for the blood clinic there and so she transports blood and fluids back and forth between the hospitals in Zilina and Martin so she said she could drive us no problem. Little did I know we would be going in an ambulance! Yuppers a Slovak ambulance was my ride and it felt strangely similar to our big blue van back home......
Then after our day trip to Martin for some shopping and coffee we went back to Andrea's house for some international baking. I showed them how to make chocolate chip cookies and rice krispies. But the rice krispies were a little different as they don't actually have rice krispies (so we used corn flakes) and they don't have normal marshmallows either (so we bought a billion little marshmallow candies and used them) but they still tasted fanatastic and they really liked it because they don't prepare anything like that here. Then they were going to show me how to make cream cake but half of the mixed ingredients fell on the floor (thats what happens when you have 5 teenage girls in one small kitchen i guess) so we then just made simple peach cake which was delightful!

And later in the week I went to Terchova, which I might add, is one of the most beautiful places I have seen yet! It's a small village about 30 minutes by bus from Zilina and it is right in the heart of the mala fatra mountains. I went with one of my classmates and her boyfriend and Paul and Mariely and we had a really good time. It was kind of a speradic trip but well worth it. We did alot of walking, through the village, to the top of a hill,and along the road and it was ALL so BEAUTIFUL! I loved being out of the city and I felt right at home being in the country again. We hiked up this one rather large hill (though not nearly as large as some of the hills I've hiked up this year) to pose with Janosik, Slovakia's national hero. As the story goes, he was the man that stole from the rich and gave to the poor centuries ago (kind of like Robinhood) but I got a picture with him and I will post the link (my blog is no longer letting my upload the pics themselves so that is why you keep seeing the links. Sorry! I know it's not as instant!). But the highlight of the trip had to be the snow man making! It was so much fun! You see there isn't much snow left here to start with so we had to go hunting for it, but we did eventually find some and we made some mighty fine creations with the limited materials we had. Mariely was particularly excited because it was her first snow man ever!
Part way through the day we stopped to have lunch which was a mish mash of everything as everyone brought a little something to contribute. There were cookies and chips and rolls and chocolate and meat paste. Real healthy I know. We finished the day by making our way through the village and stopping at an old church to see the wooden carvings there. They were so intricate and detailed and they were even moving (like a small scale slovensky bethlehem that I saw earlier in the year)! Then it was back onto the bus for us, a short nap on the way, and then home!

Today I went out hiking again. I think I've finally gotten the hang of this whole walking in the wilderness thing. I've got some decent hiking boots (thank goodness!), some old jeans, a warm sweater, a scarf, and a backpack,so I look like a real Slovak when I go. Today I went with some people from the foundation plus a girl from China who is hear for only three weeks because she had visa problems (Li Xi Li). We went out to Josko's land where he and some friends have a stable and some horses. LiXi had never touched a horse before so she was very excited to get to see one up close. We didn't get to ride them but it was enough for her to get to touch and be with them I think! It was stunningly beautiful once again with the rolling hills and fields leading into the mountains and small pockets of villages tucked into the hillsides. I left in the morning and didn't get back until the afternoon so I was outside all day which was nice. Cold, but nice.
And speaking of the weather, I'd say winter is pretty much over here. The snow is gone in the city and it has warmed up a fair bit. Today it was 4 or 5 and earlier in the week it even got up to 12. I've been spoiled rotten this winter with the weather. I don't think it got much colder than -12 the whole season. Quite nice in my opinion.