Wednesday, March 31, 2010

SKI WEEK

I'm back and recooperated from one of the best weeks of my life, recooperated being the key word as it took almost as long to do that as the actual fun lasted. BUT it was WELL worth it! Oh my goodness was it a good time! So let me tell you.....
There were 18 inbounds there, 15 from Slovakia and 3 from the Czech Republic. This was super cool because we haven't seen the Czech kids since the beginning of September (even though they are in the same district as us). We all arrived around 6 on the Sunday, although Mariely and I ended up getting there a couple of hours early because we went skiing that day with Mariely's host fam (my next fam). Now before I left I was horrified at the thought of having to ski an extra day with just the host family because I mean, I thought I would get in more than enough skiing in the six days that followed, but it turned out to be a really good thing. Mariely and I had a head start on the rest of the exchangers because we already knew our way around the slopes a bit AND I had an extra day to break in my boots. So it meant one less day of agony during the week. But anyways, we arrived and all sat down to supper together at the hotel. The hotel wasn't anything glamorous, but you kind of come to expect that in Slovakia, especially when you're at a Rotary Sanctioned event. But it was good, and slightly better than the accomodations in Kosice. There were three bunks to a room and it had the whole woody, cottage feel going. Which just added to the overall feel of the week. There were some wonderful communal showers with 99 cent curtains holding on by one hook which meant it might as well not have been there, but the water ran clear AND was warm so no compaints there.
The consisted of skiing, pain, more skiing, and a little bit more pain, even more skiing and whole lot of laughing. The rotary club of Liptosky Mikulas was in charge of the week and they did a fantastic job. It was the first time I had met a lot of them and yet I still felt like they genuinely cared about my well being. Since they live in a ski town most of them were our instructors for the week too. It was amazing having some whose been skiing for over 40 years give you some tips and show you the slopes. They were really helpful and only laughed at me and my acrobats coming down the hill occassionally. My ski instructor was Lubor and he was hilarious. He didn't say much because he spoke Czech I'm learning Slovak but just how he looked at us made us laugh. I would be whining and grumbling about how tired and soar I am and he would just look at me, shake his head, and point down the hill. If it wasn't for him I'm not gonna lie I probably would have stopped skiing around 11 each day. But he made us go until 12 and then AGAIN after lunch. So I got A LOT of skiing in. But I think that was the Rotarians goal. We'd all be back at the hotel around 4, too exhausted to stand, or yell, or get into any trouble, so we just sat and talked. And that's how the week went. Wake up early, ski ski ski, lunch (which was some good greasy, deep fried goodness on the hill), ski ski ski some more, and then back to the hotel.
Wednesday was the only day that was a little different. After lunch (we skiied in the morning) we took a bus to the "city" of about 30 000 to go to Tatralandia, the caves, and out for supper. As it turned out the caves were closed which was a bummer but Tatralandia was super fun. It's this giant aquapark with all kinds of waterslides and hot, warm, and cold pools. And lets just say after several days of skiing our hearts out the hot tub felt really good. That night we went out for pizza as a group and I had tuna pizza. Yes I put tuna on my pizza and it was actually quite delicious. The Slovaks put anything and everything on pizza...corn, potatoes, brocoli and they use ketchup as tomatoe sauce. Its rather strange but I've come to like it. I really love all the slovak food and to be honest when I think of american food I dont even want it anymore. It kind of seems unappetizing. But maybe thats a good thing, that way when I come home I won't grow another four pant sizes.
On the final night we had a carnival and closing ceremonies. The Rotarians set up an obstacle course and we broke into teams. We all had masks on and the boys in the group (being oh so special) decided it would be funny to wear their tight, spandex, short shorts outside when it was about 1 degree. I have to admit it was quite entertaining, just glad I wasn't the one doing it. But my team got first place in the carnival and we won a slovak keychain and a magnet which was pretty cool. It was a lot of fun and we did some sledding afterwards. Now that is the best place to do tobogganing, down a ski hill. Man can you pick up speed!

And then, just like that, the week was finished. When I think back, it's not even that we did all that much, so I'm not too sure what made it such a blast, but it was. I think it's just having all the exchange students together, speaking english, and not having to worry about anything at all (not that I have to worry about much over here anyways). But it was kind of like a vacation from my holiday. Just an all around fantastic time.

Today was my last day of school before my epic travels begin. This weekend is Easter, which should be interesting and I'm doing some trips with my host family. Tommorrow I'm going to Poland to visit a UNESCO site. It's this giant salt mine which has been carved into a giant underground palace. It looks really cool and I'm really excited about it. Then on Friday I want to go to Bratislava to do some shopping and visit some friends and now I'm allowed to take the train by myself HOORAY! so I should be able to. Saturday there's a possibility I might go water rafting on the river and Sunday is a trip somewhere with the host fam. Monday I've been told by my host mother that we are going away because she dislikes the easter traditions in Slovakia (they involve hitting the girls) so we are going to hide from everyone. So we will see what happens! But I have a pretty action packed weekend and then after all that wednesday I'm heading out to Germany for THREE WEEKS! Which I am more than a little excited about. It will be so nice to see the family again and to see Germany again! I can't wait! So that's what I have in store over the next couple of days.

Happy Easter! Eat lots of chocolate for me!

p

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Ski CAMP - Windows Live

Here are my pictures from ski camp a blog entry will follow shortly!

Ski CAMP - Windows Live

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Naruc

This past week I had a really neat opportunity to visit a Children's Crisis Centre here in Slovakia. So they don't actually have orphanages here but instead they have these Children Homes which are probably the equivalent of a group home in Canada. Slovakia is in the process of switching to a foster home system like we have in Canada but it is only two years old so there is still a huge lack of foster homes. So what the government, and other various private organizations, have done is built these Children Homes. When a child is apprehended and taken into custody more often than not they get placed in one of these homes for typically no more than six months while an alternative placement is found. Sometimes the kids go back home, sometimes to another children's home, or to a foster or adoptive home. There are also children in the homes who were not apprehended but were close to and so the parents and the organization have an agreement for the kids to stay while the parents figure some things out. As well in this particular home, there was a little flat reserved for a family who needs extra support. That way the kids don't have to be separated from their parents. The home I went to was called Naruc which means hug when translated and it wasn't a state owned one but a private one. Natasha said that it was probably a little bit nicer than the typical state owned one but it depends. It was actually a pretty decent building with some big rooms for studying and eating and fair size yard with a small playground. The rooms for the children were a little sad as there were up to five beds in a room and they were pretty much just mattresses lined up one after the other. But the other rooms were well furnished and the staff were very bright and warm and welcoming which was really nice to see. The kids themselves were really great. They were anywhere from 5 to 17 years old (the centre takes kids from 3-18) and there 18 of them in total. For the most part they seemed like really nice kids, obviously some of them were quite troubled but all in all they seemed to be making do with what they had. The organization gets funding from donations by companies and the community. While I was there a van came and dropped off a whole bunch of food and clothing donations.
My councilor helped me arrange a day where I could go and chit chat with the kids and give a general presentation on Canada. So I worked away to prepare a powerpoint on everything Canada (and a few more tid bits of information) in Slovak I might add. It ended up being pretty good and when I presented to the kids they absolutely loved it. I had lots of things to show them too. I brought Canadian money, some stickers (which were the biggest hit of all I think), my rotary blazer (which is now plastered with pins and other knick knacks), and some rice crispie squares I managed to make. The presentation itself was pretty basic, but I must admit, now I think I know a LOT more about Canada than I ever did before, especially when it comes to really random facts. In case you were wondering Canada has 3 people/km2 and Slovakia has 111. And just to give you an idea of how small Slovakia is...you can fit it inside Canada 204 times! After the presentation the kids had the opportunity to ask questions and I got some pretty interesting ones. Many of them thought I was a god of some kind because I was from 'the great America' and I spoke English. Some of my favorite questions were: Have you ever met a star? Do you have any animals at home? and What is a bimbo? That last one cracked me up pretty good, especially because it came from a cute little girl who was probably no more than 9. I guess she had heard it on a song and wanted to know what it meant...I actually get that alot because everyone here listens to the same pop music as in the US and Canada.
After my presentation I stayed and sat in on the English lesson they had with the kids which was fun. I taught them how to sing the wheels on the bus and we talked about different things. Then it was time for me to say goodbye, but it wasn't that hard because I had plans to come back the following day after school. And I did. It was a lot of fun again. I helped the older kids with their English homework and then went outside for a walk with some of the older teen girls. It breaks my heart to think these kids have done nothing wrong and yet they get stuck here in this place with virtually nothing. When the older girls were talking to me it became very clear that they would love to travel and see the world but they probably won't ever (or at least not in the near future) have that opportunity. I guess it just made me realize what a privileged life I lead and how lucky I am to have so many doors open to me. And it saddens me to think just how hard these kids would have to work to share their gifts and talents with the world simply because they don't have proper role models in their life. It was a really enlightening experience, one I'm glad I had the opportunity to partake in and one I don't think I'll ever forget.

Now I'm packing for my week long ski trip next week! tomorrow I'm leaving with Mariely's host family (and my next fam) to go skiing for the day together before they drop us off at the ski resort. By the looks of it it's a cute little hostel tucked away in the mountains so it should be pretty nice, at least nice for Slovakia....

p

Thursday, March 18, 2010

So if you haven't noticed my blog posts have gotten to be further and further apart. And when I was thinking about that today I realized it's kind of telling as to what part of the year I'm in. I would say I've kind of moved into a different phase of my exchange. It's not that I don't want to write or that I don't have the time (although that is the case some of the time) it's more that, not nearly as much stuff is flying at me like it did before. For the first time I'm actually repeating an activity, doing something more than once. Not everything is quite the adventure it once was because I've come to expect a lot of it. And don't get me wrong, this isnt a bad thing and I am most definitely not complaining. One can only have so many new experiences day after day or should I say hour after hour. I'm in a pretty darn good space right now. I think I have finally wrapped my head around the Slovak culture and have got a really good feeling of everything that is Slovak. It's funny how it happens. You don't really know when or how or why it happens, but one day you just kind of feel like you're more than simply a Canadian.

And then on top of all that culture stuff there is the language. Wow. Now I have real respect for people who are truly bilingual. It takes a LOT to become fluent in a language. When you think about it, I've been submersed in Slovak for almost 7 months now and I am nowhere near fluent. Admittedly I've come a long way. I have good conversational slovak and if someone is talking to me I can understand almost everything they say but language is so much more! Its alot like the culture to be honest. You really have to have a 'feel' for it before you can actually be fluent. You have to get inside the Slovaks culture and way of life so that you can understand why they describe certain things one way or why they use that word more often than the other. But even though I wouldn't say I'm fluent in the language, there is a huge sense of pride that comes with what I do know. When you have a full conversation with someone without having to stop and ask what something is or when you say something and they actually get what you mean it feels so. dang. good! Now I often find myself muttering under my breath in Slovak and I'll walk away from a conversation and not know whether it happened in Slovak or in English because it was just natural. And sometimes when I look at something, there is now two words for it in my head-one in english and the other slovak, and they both come to me at the same time. And there are a lot of words now that just slip out without me even noticing. So when I get back to Canada I'm sure you'll be amused by my slovanglish.
I've also noticed just how accustomed I've become to not understanding or to having to work hard to be understand. Now when I think of doing a task when I get back to Canada initially I think 'ugh I figure out what I'll say and oh I can make this hand gesture or point to this....' and then I remember 'oh it'll be in English!'. You have no idea how simple everything will be for me when it is in my own language. I don't think anything will be able to stop me now. Everything is a thousand times less scary when you know you'll be fully understood. I really don't think I'll realize just how far outside of my comfort zone I've been pushed until I get back into it. You can't see how far you've come until you go back to what you once were I guess.... so we shall see!

I'm starting to get super pumped for the upcoming weeks. I have a LOT to look forward to! Today is essentially my last day of school for a month and a half. Next week I'm going to Jasne for a week of skiing (You should all pray that I make it backin one piece) then I'm back for three days. Then it's Easter! (which shall be interesting. The Slovak's have some very interestin traditions to go with this holiday, some of which include throwing cold water on the girls. fun fun fun). Then I'm off to Germany to visit Karin and Horst and the rest of the fam for three weeks!!!!! Which I'm so so so excited about. Then I'm home for three days. And then I'm going to Italy and Greece for ten days!!!! Which should just be absolutely amazing. And then I'm home for two whole weeks before I head out to czech republic and Poland for a week. So my last three months look like they'll be jam packed full of goodness! I CANT WAIT!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Inboundi Mariely, Paige a Paul v Žiline | Rotary Club Žilina

Inboundi Mariely, Paige a Paul v Žiline | Rotary Club Žilina

Here s a link to the Rotary Club of Zilina (my host club) Website. It is actually quite a nice website although I do realize you won't understand any of what's written because, surprise, surprise, it's in Slovak. But if you scroll to the bottom of the page you can see some pictures of me and the other inbounds in Zilina. :)

Thursday, March 11, 2010

I never fully realized just how much I've 'let go' since coming here, until today. I have quite a few things that need to be done and organized over the next week or so (although I'll admit my list is nothing compared to what I used to juggle back home) and so by the end of today I had a pounding headache. Which made me remember how often I used to feel this way at the end of the day; exhausted, irritable, and ready to crash onto my pillow at any moment. Considering I used to feel like this four or five days out of the week and this is the first time I've felt like this in SIX months I'd say I'm doing pretty well for myself. I'm liking the new easy going Paige.

But lots has happened this week that I'm excited to share with you! Last Sunday I went and played futbal (outside!) with The Foundation and it was fantastic. I had so much fun booting the ball around with everyone and since it's pretty much spring here I'd say (but then again maybe not...it snowed 10 cm today) it was REALLY muddy. So we were'nt running so much as sliding everywhere. But I just really love what this foundation does for the people with special needs in the community. Most of them were playing right along with us on Sunday and those who couldn't or didn't want to had a cheering section on the side. I've been spending a lot of time at the foundation lately and it has come to feel like home. I know that I can drop in and help out whenever I have the time so it works really well for me. There isa girl here from China named Li Xi and she is right around my age so we have been doing a lot together of late. She is only going to be here for three weeks because of her visa problems (I feel like I've already shared this with you and if I have then I apologize) so I've been showing her around here and there and taking her out when I go out. Wednesday's at the foundation are cooking night so we had Li Xi come in and show us how to prepare some traditional Chinese dishes and it was great! Everyone loved it and the food was delicious. Then afterwards I went out with Li Xi, Paul, Andre (a slovak friend) and Peng (the other chinese guy I met before) for dinner at the single asian restaurant in Zilina. So all in all it was a nice evening spent with friends from all over the world.

I also had the opportunity to visit one of the local Children Homes this week. I went during the day with my councillor for an interview so i didn't get to see any kids as they were all in school but I found out a lot about how children services works over here and got a tour of the building. These children homes are set up so that when a child (between the ages of 3-18) is apprehended from the home they have a place to be until a foster or adoptive placement is found or until they are able to return to their birth home. It is very similar to what we have in Canada I believe, but I don't think we have as many of these homes. It really was quite sad to see but not as bad as it could be. The building itself was quite nice. It was situated in an old building which used to be a school I think and had been renovated so there was a big dining room and sitting area as well as a study room with desks and lamps. The bedrooms were quite cramped though, five or six beds to a room sometimes and there wasn't really proper closet systems and things. But on the bright side the kids should only stay there for 3 to 6 months so it is just a temporary solution. Since I don't have time anymore to dedicate one day a week to volunteering there like I had wanted (as I am travelling for more than 55 days in the next three months) I was a little disappointed but we managed to find a solution. Next week I will go and give a presentation on Canada and where I am from one day and then the following day they have given me permission to come and hang out for a couple of hours so they kids can ask me questions and things. But I am excited about the presentation (nervous too!). I am going to make chocolate chip cookies to share with all the kids and have prepared my presentation as well as a powerpoint and it is all in Slovak! It feels really cool to look back over my work and see how much I know in another language! If i get a chance maybe I will post a link to it so you can take a look as well if you like. So that will be the highlight of my week next week.

As well Ivan Lamos, the youth exchange officer for district 2240 (aka the head hauncho) just recently came back from the rotary conference in the US where my home district presented the Six Be's of Youth Exchange (you can read them at the side of my blog) and the Tree of Youth Exchange. I guess it was really well received by all who attended the conference I have been asked to translate it to Slovak. So I have been working away at that slowly. I'm going to do my best to translate what I can and then my friend from the English school is going to help me finish it off). I thought it was kind of a neat project though.

AHHHHH and on Monday I got to talk to Alex and Alexa (my best best best friends) on skype. Together! so it was twice as nice! It was so so so wonderful to get to just sit and chit chat with them for an hour or so, and I got to actually see their faces! It really was fantastic and i didn't realize just how much I missed them up until now. So we got some much needed catching up in and it certainly picked me up and got me going again. Thank goodness for technology. I don't know what i would do if skype didn't exist. honestly.

And now it's Thursday and I'm preparing to head out to the cottage again tomorrow. This time for three days (fri-sun) and I'm thinking it's going to be just as fantastic as it was the other two times. In case you don't know, I'm going with the Foundation (nadacia krajina harmonie) and it's the place where I experienced the sauna for the first time. But it should be lovely and fun, especially since it should be a tad bit warmer this time. But that's what I'm going to be up to! I'll fill you in on how it went when I get back!

LOVE

p

ps. I"M GOING TO GERMANY FOR THREE WEEKS IN APRIL AND I"M SUPER EXCITED. In case you couldn't already tell by use of large letters. But Rotary has approved and I think I've jumped through all the hoops. It's unbelievable all the people I have to inform of where I'm going to be and what I'm going to be doing but I don't think I've left anyone out and I am thankful so many people are watching out for me. But it should be a super trip and I can't wait to see all my family again!

Friday, March 5, 2010

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.