Well I'm off again. This is my last big trip with all the exchange students so it will be a good one but a sad one. At the end of this week we are going to see a lot of them head back to their countries! We've come to be sooo close over the past months and comfortable with each other so it will be hard to see people go. We will have one last farewell weekend at the end of June but not everyone is going to that.
But I'm looking forward to this week (or rather the next ten days) because We have two conferences and a trip in between! First we are going to Slovensky Raj (aka Slovak Paradise, the most famous national park in Slovakia) for some hiking and orientation for the outbounds next year from Slovakia. Then all the inbounds (aka me!) are going to Krakow and Prague on a trip! Which should be wonderful! I haven't actually been to Prague yet this year and it's such a famous city which is really just a hop, skip, and a jump away! And then finally after five days touring we are going to the big district conference for the outbounds and their families and rotarians and the inbounds (me) get to talk with them about exchange and the countries they will be going. I know at least one kid is going to Canada (she is from Zilina) and so I am excited to get to talk to her about what she can expect and things. It should be really great!
Packing for the trip was interesting though. I have a little bit of everything we have to be prepared for anything from hiking in the forest in teh rain to full on formal for the district dinner so I have a LOT of stuff. But I'm sure everyone will be in the same boat. And so once again I have my life squished into a suitcase and I'm ready for yet another adventure. Here goes!!!!!
LOVE
p
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
My stomach feels better but how that came to be I can't be entirely sure. I think the cure was simply time, my host dad thinks the shot of borovicka did it, my host mom the black sludge I took on a spoon, and mariely thinks the spoonful of olive oil she suggested, but regardless of which one did the trick I feel ALOT better! Thank goodness!
I had a really good day yesterday which was nice. For one it was the first day of sunshine after having rained here for more than 16 days (thank goodness I was in Italy and greece for most of that!). It was police day yesterday so there was a little festival put on at the sportove centrum. Mariely and i went because a girl we know was dancing there. It was really cool to see her dance. I'm not exactly sure what kind of dance it was but to me it looked like the equivalent of cheerleading. There were girls dancing in several formations twirling batons and waving pom poms wearing short skirts. Sounds like cheerleading to me. But it was nice and there a group of really little kids and they were SO adorable! There were also at least one man of every kind of police in Zilina there along with all the emergency vehicles. They did a show where shots were fired off into the sky and then a helicopter flew down really close to the crowd of people. Also they had parachuters dressed in full on swat uniform jump from the helicopter and land in the middle of the crowd of people. It was actually really neat to see and not at all what I was expecting (when I went i had no idea it was police day...). so that was in teh morning and for the afternoon we had a Rotary event with our club. We don't get too many of these so I was kind of excited for it. Like usual I didn't really know what it was for. We had asked and were told it had something to do with a group of 5 people from America. Extremely descriptive I know. But we met at noon in a schoolyard (which isn't actually as random as it sounds because one of the rotarians is the principal of said school) for goulash and pivo (stew and beer). A very Slovak thing to meet for. It turned out to be a gas. Quite a few of the Rotarians showed up with their wives, kids, and grandkids and we spent the afternoon drinking (yes they let us have some alcohol!) and telling stories. The five people from america turned out to be part of a GSE; group study exchange. This is yet another cool Rotary thing where five young professionals do an exchange for a short period of time to another country where they work on some kind of project and get to do alot sight seeing and cool stuff. They are in Czech and Slovakia for one month and have been here 12 days already. Zilina is the only city they are visiting in Slovakia so we are the lucky ones who get to meet them! But they were a really cool group of people. Most of them seemed to be in their early thirties. They worked in Law, international development, psychology and leadership, and as a teacher. But it was so much fun having the opportunity to speak to native english speakers and especially native english speakers who are as excited about Slovakia and the world as I am. We had some really good discussions and they will be at the Rotary meeting tomorrow as well so I look forward to that.
This afternoon I went with my host family to my uncle's house. My cousin aunt, uncle and grandma were there and it was a really nice visit. we had dumplings and bear for lunch (with soup as an appetizer of course) and it was soooo delicious. My host uncle killed the bear himself and everything! Then after an extraordinarily delicious helping of cream cake I went rollerblading with my host sister and cousin. This was an adventure because it was esentially my first time rollerblading (unless you count the time I went when I was six....). I managed to only fall once but when i did man did it make me feel old. It hurts when I fall now! especially on the asphalt, that's definitely not the softest landing spot. But It was actually a lot of fun and there is this absolutely stunning path that runs all the way along the vah river from Strecno (a neighboring village) into Zilina. So we were on there and I was astounded at the number of people who rollerblade here! There were so many people on that trail rollerskating I could hardly believe my eyes! But us three girls had a lot of fun together. My host sister being 15 and my cousin 13, they are really hilarious ages to hang out with. We scoping out cute boys and equally horrified at the old, sweaty men in spandex.
And now I am home again. One more week and then I am off to my second last trip EVER here! Can you believe it! Today I have been NINE MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a long bloody time, but now it doesn't feel long at all. It's funny to think it's been nine months because when I look back on the year I feel like I remember every little detail and it really does feel like yesterday that I was meeting my first host parents. I am ready to come home that is for sure but it is going to be hard to leave. I guess how alex put it is the best: I'm really excited to come home but I'm really not excited to leave. Complicated huh?!
:) p
I had a really good day yesterday which was nice. For one it was the first day of sunshine after having rained here for more than 16 days (thank goodness I was in Italy and greece for most of that!). It was police day yesterday so there was a little festival put on at the sportove centrum. Mariely and i went because a girl we know was dancing there. It was really cool to see her dance. I'm not exactly sure what kind of dance it was but to me it looked like the equivalent of cheerleading. There were girls dancing in several formations twirling batons and waving pom poms wearing short skirts. Sounds like cheerleading to me. But it was nice and there a group of really little kids and they were SO adorable! There were also at least one man of every kind of police in Zilina there along with all the emergency vehicles. They did a show where shots were fired off into the sky and then a helicopter flew down really close to the crowd of people. Also they had parachuters dressed in full on swat uniform jump from the helicopter and land in the middle of the crowd of people. It was actually really neat to see and not at all what I was expecting (when I went i had no idea it was police day...). so that was in teh morning and for the afternoon we had a Rotary event with our club. We don't get too many of these so I was kind of excited for it. Like usual I didn't really know what it was for. We had asked and were told it had something to do with a group of 5 people from America. Extremely descriptive I know. But we met at noon in a schoolyard (which isn't actually as random as it sounds because one of the rotarians is the principal of said school) for goulash and pivo (stew and beer). A very Slovak thing to meet for. It turned out to be a gas. Quite a few of the Rotarians showed up with their wives, kids, and grandkids and we spent the afternoon drinking (yes they let us have some alcohol!) and telling stories. The five people from america turned out to be part of a GSE; group study exchange. This is yet another cool Rotary thing where five young professionals do an exchange for a short period of time to another country where they work on some kind of project and get to do alot sight seeing and cool stuff. They are in Czech and Slovakia for one month and have been here 12 days already. Zilina is the only city they are visiting in Slovakia so we are the lucky ones who get to meet them! But they were a really cool group of people. Most of them seemed to be in their early thirties. They worked in Law, international development, psychology and leadership, and as a teacher. But it was so much fun having the opportunity to speak to native english speakers and especially native english speakers who are as excited about Slovakia and the world as I am. We had some really good discussions and they will be at the Rotary meeting tomorrow as well so I look forward to that.
This afternoon I went with my host family to my uncle's house. My cousin aunt, uncle and grandma were there and it was a really nice visit. we had dumplings and bear for lunch (with soup as an appetizer of course) and it was soooo delicious. My host uncle killed the bear himself and everything! Then after an extraordinarily delicious helping of cream cake I went rollerblading with my host sister and cousin. This was an adventure because it was esentially my first time rollerblading (unless you count the time I went when I was six....). I managed to only fall once but when i did man did it make me feel old. It hurts when I fall now! especially on the asphalt, that's definitely not the softest landing spot. But It was actually a lot of fun and there is this absolutely stunning path that runs all the way along the vah river from Strecno (a neighboring village) into Zilina. So we were on there and I was astounded at the number of people who rollerblade here! There were so many people on that trail rollerskating I could hardly believe my eyes! But us three girls had a lot of fun together. My host sister being 15 and my cousin 13, they are really hilarious ages to hang out with. We scoping out cute boys and equally horrified at the old, sweaty men in spandex.
And now I am home again. One more week and then I am off to my second last trip EVER here! Can you believe it! Today I have been NINE MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a long bloody time, but now it doesn't feel long at all. It's funny to think it's been nine months because when I look back on the year I feel like I remember every little detail and it really does feel like yesterday that I was meeting my first host parents. I am ready to come home that is for sure but it is going to be hard to leave. I guess how alex put it is the best: I'm really excited to come home but I'm really not excited to leave. Complicated huh?!
:) p
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Pesek's
So I'm in a new family now. I think I may have mentioned that briefly before. As it turned out the family I was supposed to go to is going to canada for two weeks to visit their son so I would be homeless for that time. So instead of putting out on the streets Rotary set me up with a new family--the Peseks. I will be staying with them for three weeks (or maybe until the end no one knows for sure). But I am VERY happy here. All of my other families have been great but I really feel at home with this one. I'm not too sure why but I'm not gonna question it. I have a host mom and dad who are probably in their early fifties. I also have a 15 year old host sister, Ivet, who is so sweet. I think we will get very close! I've only been here five days now but already we've shared a lot about eachother. Plus it's really nice having someone else somewhat close to my age in the house. That way when I'm bored I have someone to talk to. And I'm getting really good practice with my Slovak because she doesn't know too much English. But that's alright with me. It's a really cool feeling to come away from a conversation knowing you just spent the entire time talking in a foreign language.
Even though I've only been with this family for a short time I've already had quite a few adventures with them. This past weekend we went to the high tatras and stayed in a beautiful hotel for two nights. I was in heaven because there was a sauna and jacuzzi and a really cushy bed. And guess what we spent our time doing there???? Bet you would have never guessed GOLFING! Yup I learned how to golf and it was actually surprisingly fun. I think by the end of my exchange I will have tried everything. But it was great. They go golfing quite often it seems and they really love it. They have a bunch of friends (who all work in the same company as my host dad)and so that's what they do on their holidays. And they really know how to golf too. I mean we got all decked out in the golf gear. The gave me a matching polo shirt so I was officially part of the fam team and baseball cap and I even borrowed golf shoes so I was ready to go. I hit a ball (or rather tried to hit a ball) a few times on the driving range and then they sent me to the putting area. Probably because I looked as though I was a danger to the people standing around me. Let's just say I'm not a gifted golfer. But it was still fun. Then when we actually went on the course my host dad and I were a team so he played until we were on the green and then I got to put it into the hole. No hole in ones but I think we didn't do too badly for ourselves.
And then yesterday and today I've been a little sick. I have a stomach bug it seems but it's kind of difficult to explain that in Slovak. So then they were all worried about me yesterday and they took my temperature and I had a slight temperature and then they were REALLY worried. It was all quite cute and it made me feel very loved. So I spent the day in bed sleeping and drinking insane amounts of tea, because you know tea heals all. And I've been told I'm sick because of the changing weather this time. But today I felt slightly better and so left the house for a bit but my stomach is still off so I'm not eating much. so then of course my host parents noticed because they love to feed me and then guess what they gave me? a shot of Borovicka which is some good %40 alcohol. So I guess we're taking it up a notch from the tea. I'll fill you in on whether it helps or not later. haha.
All in all though I'm very happy here and can tell we are going to have some good times. :)
Even though I've only been with this family for a short time I've already had quite a few adventures with them. This past weekend we went to the high tatras and stayed in a beautiful hotel for two nights. I was in heaven because there was a sauna and jacuzzi and a really cushy bed. And guess what we spent our time doing there???? Bet you would have never guessed GOLFING! Yup I learned how to golf and it was actually surprisingly fun. I think by the end of my exchange I will have tried everything. But it was great. They go golfing quite often it seems and they really love it. They have a bunch of friends (who all work in the same company as my host dad)and so that's what they do on their holidays. And they really know how to golf too. I mean we got all decked out in the golf gear. The gave me a matching polo shirt so I was officially part of the fam team and baseball cap and I even borrowed golf shoes so I was ready to go. I hit a ball (or rather tried to hit a ball) a few times on the driving range and then they sent me to the putting area. Probably because I looked as though I was a danger to the people standing around me. Let's just say I'm not a gifted golfer. But it was still fun. Then when we actually went on the course my host dad and I were a team so he played until we were on the green and then I got to put it into the hole. No hole in ones but I think we didn't do too badly for ourselves.
And then yesterday and today I've been a little sick. I have a stomach bug it seems but it's kind of difficult to explain that in Slovak. So then they were all worried about me yesterday and they took my temperature and I had a slight temperature and then they were REALLY worried. It was all quite cute and it made me feel very loved. So I spent the day in bed sleeping and drinking insane amounts of tea, because you know tea heals all. And I've been told I'm sick because of the changing weather this time. But today I felt slightly better and so left the house for a bit but my stomach is still off so I'm not eating much. so then of course my host parents noticed because they love to feed me and then guess what they gave me? a shot of Borovicka which is some good %40 alcohol. So I guess we're taking it up a notch from the tea. I'll fill you in on whether it helps or not later. haha.
All in all though I'm very happy here and can tell we are going to have some good times. :)
ITALY
Ok so there's the briefing on Greece and how we got there and now I'll tell you about Italy! Itlay was the main part of our trip I would say. We spent the most time there and saw some really incredible things! To get to Italy we took a Ferry from Greece (It was called the Superfast II which I found entertaining). We got on the ferry in a really sketchy part of Greece. I can't remember the name of the city but we were only there for a couple of hours. We went for lunch and they told us to be really careful about our bags and money and things and not to draw attention to ourselves because a lot illegal immigrants come in through that port into the EU. And when we were in the city there were a lot of sketchy looking people standing around so that was interesting.
Once we were on the Ferry it was smooth sailing. The ferry was definitely our best accomodation on the entire trip. There were four of us to a room and the rooms were very tiny (two bunk beds where the top bunk folded out of the wall) but the beds were so comfortable and the shower was hot and ran at full stream which was something compared to our other hotels. We were on the Ferry for ten hours over night so it was a lot of fun. To say the least we didn't get much sleep. And we made some friends because there was an Italian school group coming back from a trip to Greece on there right around our age. So it was a lot of fun. We were all sitting out on top of the helicopter deck for hours singing and dancing in the wind.
And then there was Italy. Italy is such a magnificent country. It really is how they portray it in the movies. All the mopeds everywhere and the really narrow streets and back alleys and the laundry hanging out the windows and the apartments upon apartments lining the busy streets. It was really beautiful! We saw so many really cool sites. We went to Pompei (the city which was preserved by the ashes when the volcano erupted). This was incredible as there was still paint on some of the walls and they were able to make molds of some of the people's bodies, because even though their bodies had decomposed the imprint was left in the ash so they filled it with plaster and you were able to see the positions they died in. I couldn't believe it! And it really made you think about things. These people who lived in this city thousands of years ago had so much. They were really smart. The guide showed us how they had one way and two way streets already, running water, a sewage system, eavestrough and they even had a brothel. But it was really neat to see that. We also climbed to the top of Mount Vsuveus an active but dormant volcanoe and that was super cool. There wasn't the red oozing lava or anything of course but it was still really neat to get to look inside. We went to Venice which is a really neat city and rode in a gondola. I was a bit dissapointed by it though because it didn't really feel very authentic anymore as it is now completely overrun by tourism and so it almost felt more like an amusement park or something. But it was still beautiful all the same. The same goes for the vatican. Don't get me wrong, it was so cool to get to be there and see it in person, but it was irritating to me that it was filled with tourists. I mean FILLED. When you were going through the different exhibits you were literally shoulder to shoulder with other people so it was difficult to truly enjoy and absorb all the beauty of the place. But man was it spectacular. And I saw the sistine chapel! So cool!
One thing you can't help but notice in Italy is that they love to sell you things. On every street corner there are people set up with one of three things: souvenirs, sun glasses, or bags, and they are just waiting pounce on you and try and get you to buy something. It was ridiculous! They would literally follow you around and say 'come on 3 euros. just 3 euros. come on come on'. It was quite annoying and overwhelming at times. And then the one day it started to rain and I don't know where they all came from but all of a sudden all those stands have umbrellas for you. I think I had a 3 euro umbrella pushed on me 40 times in the course of walking 7 blocks. It was insane.
And that's just a brief over view of all the things I had the chance to see and do. But man was it a good trip! One I will remember for my lifetime.
Once we were on the Ferry it was smooth sailing. The ferry was definitely our best accomodation on the entire trip. There were four of us to a room and the rooms were very tiny (two bunk beds where the top bunk folded out of the wall) but the beds were so comfortable and the shower was hot and ran at full stream which was something compared to our other hotels. We were on the Ferry for ten hours over night so it was a lot of fun. To say the least we didn't get much sleep. And we made some friends because there was an Italian school group coming back from a trip to Greece on there right around our age. So it was a lot of fun. We were all sitting out on top of the helicopter deck for hours singing and dancing in the wind.
And then there was Italy. Italy is such a magnificent country. It really is how they portray it in the movies. All the mopeds everywhere and the really narrow streets and back alleys and the laundry hanging out the windows and the apartments upon apartments lining the busy streets. It was really beautiful! We saw so many really cool sites. We went to Pompei (the city which was preserved by the ashes when the volcano erupted). This was incredible as there was still paint on some of the walls and they were able to make molds of some of the people's bodies, because even though their bodies had decomposed the imprint was left in the ash so they filled it with plaster and you were able to see the positions they died in. I couldn't believe it! And it really made you think about things. These people who lived in this city thousands of years ago had so much. They were really smart. The guide showed us how they had one way and two way streets already, running water, a sewage system, eavestrough and they even had a brothel. But it was really neat to see that. We also climbed to the top of Mount Vsuveus an active but dormant volcanoe and that was super cool. There wasn't the red oozing lava or anything of course but it was still really neat to get to look inside. We went to Venice which is a really neat city and rode in a gondola. I was a bit dissapointed by it though because it didn't really feel very authentic anymore as it is now completely overrun by tourism and so it almost felt more like an amusement park or something. But it was still beautiful all the same. The same goes for the vatican. Don't get me wrong, it was so cool to get to be there and see it in person, but it was irritating to me that it was filled with tourists. I mean FILLED. When you were going through the different exhibits you were literally shoulder to shoulder with other people so it was difficult to truly enjoy and absorb all the beauty of the place. But man was it spectacular. And I saw the sistine chapel! So cool!
One thing you can't help but notice in Italy is that they love to sell you things. On every street corner there are people set up with one of three things: souvenirs, sun glasses, or bags, and they are just waiting pounce on you and try and get you to buy something. It was ridiculous! They would literally follow you around and say 'come on 3 euros. just 3 euros. come on come on'. It was quite annoying and overwhelming at times. And then the one day it started to rain and I don't know where they all came from but all of a sudden all those stands have umbrellas for you. I think I had a 3 euro umbrella pushed on me 40 times in the course of walking 7 blocks. It was insane.
And that's just a brief over view of all the things I had the chance to see and do. But man was it a good trip! One I will remember for my lifetime.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The journey there and GREECE
I guess I'll start with the trip there. I ended up staying with Mariely the night before we left as we had to catch a train at 140 in the morning and her house is walking distance to the station. So I lugged my much too heavy duffle bag, loaded with two weeks worth of stuff the three blocks to the station. (By the end of the trip I was regretting not finding a bag with wheels.) the train part went rather smoothly but by now I've taken the train several times so I wasn't expecting any glitches.
And then there was the bus. I don't think I've ever been in a vehicle that long before. We ended up being on the bus for more than 30 hours! It was ridiculous! But so much fun. The kids from the czech republic got on the bus about 6 hours before we did (the kids from Slovakia) and when we were all together there were 42 of us. So it was a very full bus. I'm pretty sure every seat was filled. We loaded onto the bus at 5 in the morning and were set to travel for the next day and a half. It didn't actually turn out to be too bad. I was very proud because I didn't end up getting motion sickness the entire way (one person barfed but they caught it in a bag so it was all good) which is quite a feat considering I almost always get sick in the car. I don't even know what we did to pass all that time but I know I slept a lot adn there were lots of stories shared and lots of things to see out the window.The major issue we had was with the toilets. Having 40 some people trapped in one place makes it almost inevitable that someone has to pee at any given time and as the bathroom on the bus wasn't functioning that made for quite a few pit stops. We had to stop every three hours anyways for the driver (its the law) but when we were driving through Bulgaria and Romania it ended up being extremely difficult to find a bathroom. We would pull into a truckstop and all get out of the bus and line up at the toilet when the owner of the place would run out yelling at us "NO NO. This no public! This no public toilet!". Apparently in Bulgaria and Romania the public isn't allowed to pee. The rotarians ended up having to give the owner a chunk of money to let us in, and this happened on more than one occassion.
When we did finally arrive to Greece I was in awe. It was incredibly beautiful! The landscape is very mountainous and everything was green and lucsious and it was super warm! Plus thirty the first few days! The cities we stopped in were really busy, crowded, and dirty but so cool to see. There were literally rows and rows of apartments built right next to eachother that went on and on for miles. Both Italy and Greece had a very unique feel to them. You could certainly tell you entered the mediterranean. The people in Greece were very welcoming and warm but they definitely like to sell you things. If you sat down in a restaurant they took excellent care of you, making sure you're every need was met.
Our first night in Greece our hotel was on the beach so I got to go swimming in the sea! It was SO COOL! I LOVED IT! All the other exchange students couldn't believe it was my first time swimming in salty water. You really do float more though and it was much saltier than I expected. Even when you licked your lips you got a mouthful of salt.
The next two nights we stayed just outside of Athens and were by the sea again. This time we didn't have a chance to go swimming but we walked along the shore and dipped our feet in. I saw (and touched) sea urchins! And found sea shells! The water was a stunning turquoise. It was so incredible to see how big and vast the water was and to just sit on a giant rock and listen to the waves crashing against it.
We were supposed to go to Athens one of those two days but our trip ended up being cancelled due to riots in the city centre (you probably know the economy failed and so the people are not pleased. And no everything was not really cheap there....). The rotarians decided we wouldn't be going into Athens in the morning and we were all dissappointed and whining about it saying it probably won't be that bad and why can't we go but that evening we were glad we didnt. There ended up being car bombings and gunfire! That shut us up for a while.
In greece we saw Delphi (the ancient centre of the world) which is a city built a LONG time ago by the greeks for the gods. They literally assembled humongous temples and then didn't live in them becuase they believed the gods did. We toured Thessaloniki and beautiful city. We visited a monostary which was literally built into a cliff. I saw monks there and was taken a back by it's beauty. This was definitely one of my favorite sights. We stopped at a canal which was manmade and huge. I have no idea how they built it, especially considering it was constructed in 1890 soemthing so they didn't have machines. We also so an ancient amphitheatre and how it works which was so cool. All the exchange students and I went to the top of the theatre and sat down while the Rotarians stood in the middle of the bottom of it (on the stage) and did different things. It was incredible because it actually works to amplify the sound to this day. Even though they were hundreds of metres from us we could here them clearly; light a match, rip a piece of paper, drop a coin, and sing. Insane!
In the evenings we often had free time to roam the city in groups of four or more. This was probably where some of the most fun was had. We found a little family owned greek restaurant and went there for dinner where we ordered almost all the appetizers to share between us. IT WAS SO GOOD! I was in heaven! We had zatziki and fried bread and stewed grape leaves and goat cheese and mmmmmmmmmmmm I"m gonna miss it all. Then after for dessert we found a cute little bakery type shop and had baklava which was to die for!
Oh yeah and it was funny, the greek and Italian toilets weren't exactly what you could call toilets. They were more like a hole in the ground you could squat over. mmmhhmmmmm. That was a pleasant experience. Or if you were lucky there was actually a toilet there but never a toilet seat. I still don't understand why this is. I mean why install a toilet and not put the seat on it? makes no sense to me......
And then there was the bus. I don't think I've ever been in a vehicle that long before. We ended up being on the bus for more than 30 hours! It was ridiculous! But so much fun. The kids from the czech republic got on the bus about 6 hours before we did (the kids from Slovakia) and when we were all together there were 42 of us. So it was a very full bus. I'm pretty sure every seat was filled. We loaded onto the bus at 5 in the morning and were set to travel for the next day and a half. It didn't actually turn out to be too bad. I was very proud because I didn't end up getting motion sickness the entire way (one person barfed but they caught it in a bag so it was all good) which is quite a feat considering I almost always get sick in the car. I don't even know what we did to pass all that time but I know I slept a lot adn there were lots of stories shared and lots of things to see out the window.The major issue we had was with the toilets. Having 40 some people trapped in one place makes it almost inevitable that someone has to pee at any given time and as the bathroom on the bus wasn't functioning that made for quite a few pit stops. We had to stop every three hours anyways for the driver (its the law) but when we were driving through Bulgaria and Romania it ended up being extremely difficult to find a bathroom. We would pull into a truckstop and all get out of the bus and line up at the toilet when the owner of the place would run out yelling at us "NO NO. This no public! This no public toilet!". Apparently in Bulgaria and Romania the public isn't allowed to pee. The rotarians ended up having to give the owner a chunk of money to let us in, and this happened on more than one occassion.
When we did finally arrive to Greece I was in awe. It was incredibly beautiful! The landscape is very mountainous and everything was green and lucsious and it was super warm! Plus thirty the first few days! The cities we stopped in were really busy, crowded, and dirty but so cool to see. There were literally rows and rows of apartments built right next to eachother that went on and on for miles. Both Italy and Greece had a very unique feel to them. You could certainly tell you entered the mediterranean. The people in Greece were very welcoming and warm but they definitely like to sell you things. If you sat down in a restaurant they took excellent care of you, making sure you're every need was met.
Our first night in Greece our hotel was on the beach so I got to go swimming in the sea! It was SO COOL! I LOVED IT! All the other exchange students couldn't believe it was my first time swimming in salty water. You really do float more though and it was much saltier than I expected. Even when you licked your lips you got a mouthful of salt.
The next two nights we stayed just outside of Athens and were by the sea again. This time we didn't have a chance to go swimming but we walked along the shore and dipped our feet in. I saw (and touched) sea urchins! And found sea shells! The water was a stunning turquoise. It was so incredible to see how big and vast the water was and to just sit on a giant rock and listen to the waves crashing against it.
We were supposed to go to Athens one of those two days but our trip ended up being cancelled due to riots in the city centre (you probably know the economy failed and so the people are not pleased. And no everything was not really cheap there....). The rotarians decided we wouldn't be going into Athens in the morning and we were all dissappointed and whining about it saying it probably won't be that bad and why can't we go but that evening we were glad we didnt. There ended up being car bombings and gunfire! That shut us up for a while.
In greece we saw Delphi (the ancient centre of the world) which is a city built a LONG time ago by the greeks for the gods. They literally assembled humongous temples and then didn't live in them becuase they believed the gods did. We toured Thessaloniki and beautiful city. We visited a monostary which was literally built into a cliff. I saw monks there and was taken a back by it's beauty. This was definitely one of my favorite sights. We stopped at a canal which was manmade and huge. I have no idea how they built it, especially considering it was constructed in 1890 soemthing so they didn't have machines. We also so an ancient amphitheatre and how it works which was so cool. All the exchange students and I went to the top of the theatre and sat down while the Rotarians stood in the middle of the bottom of it (on the stage) and did different things. It was incredible because it actually works to amplify the sound to this day. Even though they were hundreds of metres from us we could here them clearly; light a match, rip a piece of paper, drop a coin, and sing. Insane!
In the evenings we often had free time to roam the city in groups of four or more. This was probably where some of the most fun was had. We found a little family owned greek restaurant and went there for dinner where we ordered almost all the appetizers to share between us. IT WAS SO GOOD! I was in heaven! We had zatziki and fried bread and stewed grape leaves and goat cheese and mmmmmmmmmmmm I"m gonna miss it all. Then after for dessert we found a cute little bakery type shop and had baklava which was to die for!
Oh yeah and it was funny, the greek and Italian toilets weren't exactly what you could call toilets. They were more like a hole in the ground you could squat over. mmmhhmmmmm. That was a pleasant experience. Or if you were lucky there was actually a toilet there but never a toilet seat. I still don't understand why this is. I mean why install a toilet and not put the seat on it? makes no sense to me......
Friday, May 14, 2010
IM BACK
IM BACK! From one of the most amazing trips of my entire life! It was so incredible to see yet another part of the world! Italy and Greece are both very beautiful and very unique parts of the world and I saw and did so much I dont even know how on earth im going to fit it all on here but I'm going to try. I must admit it was hard not to blog along the way and I would have really liked to but I didn't have much access to the internet so now I'll just have to do my best to regurgitate what i saw.....
But that will have to wait. I promise I will get to it at some point but right now things are a bit crazy. I got home yesterday to find out I was switching host houses that evening and on top of that I was going to a different house than I had been anticipating. So, my terribly sleep deprived self spent four hours packing up ALL my stuff once again (having not even unpacked what I had for italy and greece) and moving out. It was actually really sad to leave my last host family. I had grown to really like them and had gotten used to how everything was but this family seems really great too. So far I don't know all that much about them as I have only been here twelve hours BUT so far so good. they seem really great and have been very warm and welcoming so far. I have a 15 year old host sister which is cool and she has been really good about showing me around and getting to know me a little bit. And it has been neat to see just how much Slovak I know because they don't speak english very well(my sister learns german in school as her dominant language instead of english). I have spent the last twelve hours virtually emersed in Slovak and now that i understand almost everything and know more than the basics I think I will really start to pick it up. It was actually really surprising to me to see just how much I do know because now I can say everything I want to. It is such an incredible feeling to know that you are conversing with people in a completely different language that you had no knowledge of eight months ago.
At the moment though I'd say I'm a tad bit overwhelmed but for good reason. I mean I just got back yesterday from being gone for virtually a month as I was only home for three days between Germany and the italy and Greece Trip. And then on top of that being whisked away to another family that I did not know at all AND being extremely sleep deprived. It was alot to take at once but I made it and I think it will all work itself out. Now I'm off to the mountains for the weekend. We're staying in a hotel and going to do some sightseeing and then some golfing so it should be nice as long as the weather is good.
OKay so that's my very confusing quick update for you for the time being so that you dont think I fell in a hole or something. When I return from my weekend excursion I will tell you more about italy and greece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
p
But that will have to wait. I promise I will get to it at some point but right now things are a bit crazy. I got home yesterday to find out I was switching host houses that evening and on top of that I was going to a different house than I had been anticipating. So, my terribly sleep deprived self spent four hours packing up ALL my stuff once again (having not even unpacked what I had for italy and greece) and moving out. It was actually really sad to leave my last host family. I had grown to really like them and had gotten used to how everything was but this family seems really great too. So far I don't know all that much about them as I have only been here twelve hours BUT so far so good. they seem really great and have been very warm and welcoming so far. I have a 15 year old host sister which is cool and she has been really good about showing me around and getting to know me a little bit. And it has been neat to see just how much Slovak I know because they don't speak english very well(my sister learns german in school as her dominant language instead of english). I have spent the last twelve hours virtually emersed in Slovak and now that i understand almost everything and know more than the basics I think I will really start to pick it up. It was actually really surprising to me to see just how much I do know because now I can say everything I want to. It is such an incredible feeling to know that you are conversing with people in a completely different language that you had no knowledge of eight months ago.
At the moment though I'd say I'm a tad bit overwhelmed but for good reason. I mean I just got back yesterday from being gone for virtually a month as I was only home for three days between Germany and the italy and Greece Trip. And then on top of that being whisked away to another family that I did not know at all AND being extremely sleep deprived. It was alot to take at once but I made it and I think it will all work itself out. Now I'm off to the mountains for the weekend. We're staying in a hotel and going to do some sightseeing and then some golfing so it should be nice as long as the weather is good.
OKay so that's my very confusing quick update for you for the time being so that you dont think I fell in a hole or something. When I return from my weekend excursion I will tell you more about italy and greece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
p
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