IM BACK!

IM BACK! In Canada that is. And I've been meaning to fill you in on everything for well, almost a month now, because that's how long I've been home.

Coming home was strange, especially in the beginning. My flights went well but were long as you can imagine. That last flight seems to be the one that puts me over the edge. I was utterly exhausted by the time I boarded the plane in Toronto. I remember I was so tired I konked out almost as soon as I sat down and slept so deeply I don't even remember taking off. But that does make for quite a pleasant flight. When I landed in Edmonton I was numb. I don't really know how else to describe it. I was so emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted and it was surreal to me that in a few moments I would finally be with my family, the people I had longed to touch and talk to face to face for so long. I was taken off guard when I finally did make it through the gates to meet them. I thought I had to collect my luggage on my own first and then go out and greet them but then all of a sudden there they were!
That moment was one of the best moments of my life hands down. To say the least it was one of the most anticipated. Tears come to my eyes just thinking about it. My moms embrace has never felt as good as that first hug I got from her.

So people often ask me how it feels to come home. And I can't really come up with anything other than great. My year in Slovakia was fantastic. I am incredibly happy I had the opportunity to go and do and see all that I did but I am also SO happy to be home. It feels so good to be with my family again, to be where I come from, to be where I know I belong.

I don't mind the questions people ask me. In fact I love it when people are curious about my year abroad. But what drives me crazy is when people ask me 'how was your trip?'. Now don't get me wrong, I totally understand why people ask me this. And I know they don't intend to drive me nuts but REALLY????!!!! HOw on earth am I supposed to sum up ten ridiculously jam packed full months spent in a foreign country in a sentence or two. SO not possible. But I guess if I had to sum it up I'd say it was THE single most challenging thing I have EVER done but definitely, absolutely, %100 worth it.

But much to my surprise all that only lasted a week or so. After that I was amazed at how fast you fall back into routine. Now I feel like I never left. But not like I was never in Slovakia. Because I still have all those wonderful memories and stories in my mind. MOre so it just feels like my time in Slovakia was a dream or something. I know it happened but it's all so far away now.

One thing that is a little weird is Facebook. Whenever I open it I still see all my Slovak and Exchange student friends' statuses and things. So it kind of acts as a reminder that all that still lives on. But its' still weird to think that I'm so far away from all those people because it seems so familiar. And not only that I am so far away from that now but that I won't ever be a part of that the same way I was this past year. Slovakia will never be the same as it was because sure I can return and visit and see all those people again but when I do go I will be a visitor, a foreigner again, not a resident.

It's also been hard because now there are so many people I want to stay in contact with but who are so far away. And yes technology does make that contact a little bit easier but you can only stay in touch with so many people. Between the time changes and everyones busy schedule I haven't been able to talk to nearly as many people as I would like but with time I'm touching base with who I can. But of course I have talked to Mariely already and I'm positive we will be friends for life. I hope to go to Mexico this christmas or Summer (whenever I have the money saved up) to visit her and her family and then in a couple of years I hope she can come to Canada to visit me! I made a number of life long friendships wiht both Slovaks and the other inbounds. And those friendships are what are going to continue to keep my exchange alive.

Now I'm looking forward to finding otherways to be involved with Rotary. I have my presentation to the club on August 18th and I'm sure I'll do some kind of presentation at SAL. And come university (I'm heading to Calgary this fall) I want to join Roteract. And I'm super psyched about meeting the inbound coming to Sherwood Park next year as well as meeting the outbounds at orientation in the spring.

SO that's it! I can't quite believe my year has come to a close but as the ancient proverb says "all good things must come to an end".

ps. I loved blogging so much this year that I want to keep it up. I'm not exactly sure what my next one will be called but I do want to continue blogging through university. When it's created in the next few months I'll post the link so if you so desire you can follow me through university.

four days people. FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe 10 months have passed already!??? It's so crazy to me to think back to when I came. Because it seems like so long ago because I feel and think and am so different than that girl who got off the plane. But even though 'that me' seems so distant now I can still remember all the little steps along the way. All the hardships and triumphs and little day to day things. It's unreal to me that I've actually completed what I started.

I still can't tell you how I feel about coming home. It's such a confusing thing but what I can tell you is that I want this part to be over. I want to be through this good-bye stuff. I either want to go back to my normal slovak lifestyle or get on home already. It is so depressing having everything you do be the last time. So depressing having to say good-bye to every person you see. And the thing is not one of them, NOT ONE person here can I not say goodbye to. I have to leave ALL of them. Imagine that. Everything you structured your life around for ten full months, everything you worked so hard to adjust to, you have to leave. It sucks. But it had happen sometime.

At this point I'm a little good bye partied out. Let me give you a little idea why....
Friday: Said a tearful goodbye to my councilor
Saturday:said goodbye to one of my best exchange friends
Sunday: Goodbye to the outbounds
Monday: Goodbye to the people at the foundation and my first host parents
Tuesday: Final goodbye to exchange student friends and My last host family
Wednesday (today): Goodbye to all my classmates and teachers and my last english lesson
Thursday: Goodbye to my favorite classmates
Friday: Goodbye to Rotary club
Saturday: Goodbye to my best Slovak friend
Sunday: Goodbye to Paul
MOnday: Goodbye to everything but the hardest part; goodbye to Mariely.

So yeah that's what my week looks (ed) like. That is a lot of freakin goodbyes in a very short period of time!!!! No wonder I'm emotional these days. Who wouldn't be? And then as if that isn't enough I have the excitement/nervousness of coming home eating away at me.

But at this point I think I'm doing alright. I have most of the hard stuff over and done with. School, host parents, councilor, and all my activities have been put to rest. As well I have pretty much finished packing as I had to move host homes yesterday. My last host family is going to Croatia for holiday so now I'm living in what was supposed to be my third home (the apartment in the city). So now I'm just finishing up and waiting/dreading the arrival of Monday Morning. I fly out of Zilina 525 in the morning and have one heck of a day travelling. I go Zilina-Prague-Paris-Toronto-Edmonton. I get into to Edmonton at 11pm Monday night. But I'm not too worried about the travelling part. I'm pretty good at that now. :)

So the next time I'll talk to you I'll probably be in canada believe it or not! Or nearly there.

Ceske Budejovice Canoe Trip - Windows Live

Ceske Budejovice Canoe Trip - Windows Live

Here are my pics to go along with the stories!

I think my tear ducts are all dried up. Or if they're not now, then they will be by the time I actually make it onto Canadian soil. Saying good-bye is hard. Way harder than I thought it would be. I wanted to come home for so long so I thought the good-bye part wouldn't be that difficult. I didn't think I was that attached to anything here. But I was wrong. It just takes leaving to figure that out.

I said good-bye to my councilor yesterday. That fantastic woman who got me all the awesome opportunities, yeah her. It was really hard but nice. We met and she took me shopping for a gift for me, which she absolutely insisted on. She bought me this beautiful necklace, actually stunning necklace, made in Slovakia with black stone. And then we went and picked out a few small things for all my little bros and sisters which was fun. Then I gave her my gift. It was a Hudson's Bay scarf, a Canada t-shirt, a Canada waterbottle, a pumpkin pie recipe, a book about Alberta, a post card of edmonton for her wall, and a card with a nice long mushy message in Slovak and English. She liked it alot and that meant so much to me. Her and her husband always say that I'm their daughter because she always wanted a daughter but had two sons so I know that I will always be loved by them no matter how far away I am. They really were two of the kindest people I have ever met and I will miss them. But they told me if ever I'm getting married they just might find themselves in Canada, so perhaps one day you'll get to meet them.

And I still haven't had the chance to talk about last weekend! And it is definitely worthy of space on my blog! What a weekend it was aside from all the emotional stuff of saying good-bye. It was a camping weekend. A camping weekend in Slovakia. So I was a little nervous about the whole thing because I was kind of wondering if rotary wasn't going to just drop us off in a bush somewhere or something and say toodle loo. But they didnt' and as much a disaster as it was it was ridiculously fun. First things first I had to get there. To the Czech Republic that is. And in order to save money i went with Paul and Jenn (from a neighboring city) on the night train which meant getting on at 130 in the am. fun. So it was a bit of a hike, an 8 hour train ride into Prague, then a train-bus-train trip into Ceske Budejovice, but we made it. Exhausted and pre-emptively greasy however. Then we had a couple of hours to hang out in a mall while we waited for everyone to arrive which was fun. 40 plus exchange students loose in a mall, crazy things happen. Soon enough it was time for everyone to pile onto a bus with all our stuff which was supposed to keep us comfortable for the next four days. There weren't enough seats so I ended up standing slash sitting on my friend's lap. And that would have been ok if it had been the ten minute bus ride they told me it would be, but it so was not. It was over an hour. BUT we got there, there being out mini tent city. The camping part was not at all what I expected. We were barely in what I would call wilderness but rather a mini tent city on the edge of the river. But seeing as it was a canoeing trip I guess it made sense.
The first adventure came when we were setting up our tents. I hadn't actually seen the tent my rotarian gave me up. I just trusted him that it was a solid two person tent. And with my experience, a two person tent can usually fit three if not four people if you squish, so that's what we were planning on doing. ooops. bad plan. We set up the tent and found out it was indeed only a two man tent and not particularly sturdy. It more so looked like those tents you would set up for your kids in the basement. But out of need we ended up squishing three people into that little thing, very uncomfortably I might add. But the first full day ended up being quite pleasant. The canoeing was great down the Vltava and the sun was shining. We were having fun.
Day two is when it all started to go downhill. The second night we did some re-arranging so there only ended up being two of us in that pathetic little tent which was much better room wise. But let me tell you, that tent was no match for the rain. I woke up with a lake in my tent, a soaking wet sleeping bag, and freeeeeeezing. It. was. not. pleasant. Especially because the rain didn't let up. It rained and rained and rained for the next two days and that sucked. Not to mention how cold it was. There was a high of 13! and a low of 6! Not what I or anyone else came prepared for. It's hard enough roughing it in the rain let alone when you are on a canoe trip. So in the 13 degree weather we had to put on as little clothes as possible and get into a canoe. AND as it turned out, the first day we were just warming up our canoeing skills. It was just straight forward down the river. But the two days when we were miserable and did not want to get wet we had to go over rapids. RAPIDS! when it was 13 degrees out! The first rapids we hit two thirds of us went over and two thirds of us flipped. And you can't imagine how cold we were. Drenched, shivering, and having ot paddle our little hearts out to get to the end. It was so fricken cold! And things only got worse from there. There were five sets of rapids we had to go over that day and seeing as most of us were not experienced canoers and had flipped the first time the rotarians decided that we wouldn't be going over anymore that day so what did we do? We had pull out our canoes at the bank and walk with them around the rapids. Which was difficult but more than anything the whole thing was dissapointing. Because if the sun had been shining we wouldn't have minded getting wet and it would have been so much more fun. But such is life. It poured rain, so we walked. And even though the rotarians were trying to avoid us getting wet it proved harder than they thought to get back into the water after the rapids because of the currents. And at one point we had two boys go overboard, one hit his head, and the other was trapped with his canoe against a wall, with 3/4 s of his body submerged in the water for more than 20 minutes. So as the icing on the cake we had two ambulance rides. Both of them turned out to be ok, thank goodness, but it was one chaotic weekend. And the funny thing was, when we were at the height of chaos i could only think, wow, this reminds me of home. :D
Despite the misery we did manage to have some fun. There was one evening, we had a campfire, and I brought materials to make smores, so we were really excited! But it was a communal campfire so unfortunately we had to share it with a couple of really drunk czechs (which are not hard to come by when you're camping. I swear to you they all started drinking beer at 7 in the morning. with breakfast!). So anyways, we started roasting our marshmallows when these guys come up and say 'no no no! what are you doing!? we don't roast marshmallows!' and they proceeded to take my marshmallow off the stick and put one of their sausages on it. And then they said 'there, we roast sausages here. you can roast my sausage'. And at first I thought I was just roasting the sausage for them to eat but in the end they were nice enough to give it to me. Haha but it was funny and the joke for the rest of the night.

And that was that. Eventually I ended up back home in my cozy bed. :)

Slovensky Jazyk Slovak Language

Tak že. Ja chcem pisat’ niečo po slovensky tak vidiš viem vel’mi dobre slovenčina teraz. Čo budem pisat’? Ešte neviem…..možno ake bolo môj deň. Ano to je dobre. Dnes bolo dobre ale nie vyborne. Škola bolo vel’mi nuda. Nerobim niĉ lebo to je postlednie tyžden. Hrali sme carty and Mariely a ja pozerali sme Klinkal Grey’s. Po školy prišla som domo. Spala som a potom ja som išla na počitač na facebookou a mail. Nič bolo novy. Potom ja som išla do Helen Doron Anglicky Škola kde učim angličtina. Môj trieda to mala šešt deti a bolo super. Tešim sa zajtra pretože ja nemam škola a môžem spat’! Ja some vel’mi unavena a možno budem spat cely d’en. Tiež (ak nespim cely deň) by som chcela varit’ kanadske palacinky pre môj rodina. Oni kupili kanadske javorovych sirop tak myslim to bude vel’mi chutny.

And now a translation for those of you who don't understand a word I just wrote. I must admit I think I am one of the only North Americans who can speak Slovak. It will certainly look interesting on my resume.

So. I want to write something in Slovak so you can see that I know Slovak well now. What will I write? I’m still not sure....maybe how my day was. Yes it is good. Today was good but not great. School was very boring. I didn’t do anything because it is the last week of school. We played cards and Mariely and I watched Grey’s Anatomy. After school I went home. I slept and then I went on the computer, to check facebook and my email. Nothing was new. Then I went to the Helen Doron English school, where I teach English. My class had six kids today and was really good. I look forward to tomorrow because i don’t have school and I can sleep! I am very tired a maybe I will sleep all day. As well (if I don’t sleep all day) I would like to cook Canadian pancakes for my family. They bought Canadian Maple Syrup so I think it will be very delicious.

So there you go. Some proof that I really do know some slovak!

Good-byes

The inevitable has begun. I've had to start to say good-bye. I'm not going to lie, I do feel like I've finished what I came here to do. I feel ready to come home but that doesn't make leaving any easier.

I only have eleven short days left in this country which has come to be my home. Eleven days! Not that long ago I felt as though I had an eternity to get through and now, somehow, it's all slipped through my fingers. Logic tells me it's been ten months but my brain says something else. When I reflect on my year and look at the thousands of pictures I took, I can remember every event, every detail, every story. It's like a movie in my mind. I guess it must all be so clear because each memory meant so much to me. Everything I did this year was big. Everything took courage and strength. And the end is going to be no exception.

I get what other exchange students mean when they say they don't want to come home. I think more than anything, they are refering to the fact that they don't want to re-enter reality because after being away for so long that's essentially what we're doing. I am so far away from everything my life used to be. Work, school, studying, daily routine and responsibilties, family. And on top of that life back home seems incredibly boring. I mean I just went to the Czech Republic for the weekend. When am I going to get to do that in Canada? So I think a big part of it is that and the other part is, it's down right difficult to leave. I have to say good-bye to everything I worked so hard to earn this year. Everything. Because although I'm sure I'll return to Slovakia, it will never be my home again, I will only ever visit.

Right now I kind of feel like around every corner is another good-bye another ending. It's emotionally draining and overwhelming. But there's also that edge of excitement because I know that with every good-bye I'm one step closer to coming home. So at any given time I can be feeling anywhere from estatic and depressed. I really do feel sorry for those around me.

This past weekend was the big good-bye however. It was the last meeting with all the exchange students and my god was it difficult to leave them all. I miss them so much already. It sounds cheesy but it's the truth when I say they were my family this year. Because when nothing else made sense, when no one else understood what I was going through, they were there going through the same stuff. Despite only seeing eachother once every two months this year we became really close as a group. Inseperable in fact. Whoever said 'you don't know what you have until it's gone' was so right. Because now that they are gone I know there are 42 other young people out there in this world who would have my back, who would welcome me into their home, who would take care of me. The friendships we forged are indescribable and will live on despite the distance without a doubt.

ps. the total count is in. I've gained 19 pounds. I guess it could be worse but I will definitely be hitting the gym when I get home. Funny story to go with this though. I have been having this issue you see. All my pants have been ripping. And not just anywhere but always in the crotch. I've gone through several pairs. It's really quite annoying. And I thought I was alone in this predicament until it came up while camping and as it turns out all the other exchange girls are having the same problem. So either Slovakia has really poor quality pants or we all have thicker thighs than when we came. I'm betting it's the later one but I prefer to tell people it's the first. Either way it's Slovakia's fault.

pps. I just have to share this because I am absolutely horrified. You want to know whats in style here right now????????? MULLETS! but as if that's not bad enough, they have mullets with dreads in them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mmmhhhmmm I swear every fourth guy walking down the street has a mullet with at least one dread. It's awful. I CANNOT wait to come home to clean, short haired, sharply dressed canadian boys. oh how I can't wait.

Autisticky Skola

So I had the opportunity, last Thursday to visit the local school for kids with disabilities in zilina. It was so much fun! I'm really glad I had the chance to visit. As it turned out one of the Rotarian's wives is a teacher there and after I did my presentation to my host club and expressed my love of working with kids with special needs they set it up for me. I thought it was a really nice thing for them to do and I really enjoyed myself.

The school is a small private school for kids with all kinds of disabilities and has a really great system I would say. There are eight classes i think with each class having 3-4 kids in it. The kids are grouped into class according to ability not age and there is one aid and a teacher in each room. The classrooms themselves are quite small but well designed. There are work stations seperated out for each child so that they can have a space to do their individual activities as well as a desk in the center for one on one work with the teacher. Each kid has an individualised education plan with unique objectives and outcomes and so each child has a personalized schedule for the day. The have all kinds of learning tools and games and puzzles and crafts and things to aid the children in learning. As well there was a gym with a slide and mats and things where they can work on gross motor skills. So that's the school on the main floor for kids ages 6-18. They also run an adult program and a pre-school upstairs and there is a dentist which comes in to do dental work on the students.

The day I went was a special day. Traffic safety day so a couple of police men came with traffic lights, a motorcycle, and cop car and were showing the kids how to ride their bikes safely and cross the street and things. It was a big hit and each kid got to sit in the driver's seat of the car and turn on the lights and siren which really made some of their days. I had a lot of fun and met alot of raelly neat kids. Roman was one of the coolest kids I've ever met. He had autism and was 15 years old and very smart. If you told him you're birthday (day/month/year) he could tell you what day of the week you were born on. It was crazy! And he also had the ages and names and addresses of all the staff memorized and could list them off on command. He was a really neat guy and I had a lot of fun chatting with him.

So all in all it was great visit.

Now I'm busy packing for my upcoming canoe trip in the Czech Republic. It should be soooooooooooooo much fun! I have a tent and sleeping bag and a backpack to put all my stuff in so i think i should be set but we shall see. I'm taking the night train to prague and then spending the morning there. Then there is another train after lunch to ceske budejovice which is the city where i will be canoeing. the train ride will be a little brutal. I get on at 130 in the morning and then dont' arrive to prague until 9 am but the night train is much cheaper. And by now I would say I'm an a pretty good traveller so it shouldn't be too terribly difficult, but an adventure for sure.

Rotary District Conference - Windows Live

Rotary District Conference - Windows Live

Just a note, I did not take all these photos. I let frank have my camera for a little while and well........ you can see what happened.

Distict Conference Trebic

I was thinking Trebic was a bit of a random town to hold the district conference (which is the big end of the year meeting for the entire rotary district: Czech and Slovak Republics) but then I found out it wasn't random at all. In district 2240 it's tradition to hold the conference wherever the district governer lives. SO it was in Trebic. It was a very beautiful little town and of course we got a tour, including the jewish quarter and a synagogue which was cool. But the main event (obviously) was the conference itself.

As the inbounds were had to put together another talent showcase for the Rotarians as their lunchtime entertainment. That was interesting as you can imagine becuase organizing a bunch of rambunxious, hormonal, teenagers who have been without parents for ten months is NOT an easy task. But we finally got something together, after hours and hours of screaming, and shouting into the wee hours of the morning. And much to my surprise it turned out to be alright. We all wore our blazers to the performance and I had on my canada toque. And oh did we look good (please note the sarcasm in that statement) but we all looked good together so it was ok. If you want to see the actual perfomance I have the video on my facebook page. And I will try to post the link here.
After our lunchtime performance we all headed back to the absolutely disgusting dorms we were staying in to get ready for the ball that evening. And when I say disgusting I'm not being a stuck up little princess, I'm simply stating the truth. They were grody. Of course the girls got stuck on the boys floor so I had porn on my walls and in the bathroom. the shower had no shower curtain and there was hair coming out of the drain and you could draw pictures in the dirt ground into the carpet. Oh yeah it was wonderful. But it was kind of ironic later that night because we all looked to so good and put together in our suits and dresses. You could have never guessed we made ourselves look that good in that place. Nonetheless we had fun there and I gather rotary saved some money on the accommodation so it was all good.
And what was lacking where we stayed was completely made up for that evening at the ball. The venue was a castle. Yes you read correctly, a castle! It was so cool! The weather was beautiful so it was outside in the garden which was marvelously kept and there was a bqq with fabulous food being cooked and inside in the ball room was a concert. It was stunning. We went on a tour of the castle which was cool because they had all the rooms fully furnished and functioning and people acting out a play as you went through. Unfortunately it was in Czech though so I understood very little of it. At first I thought Czech and Slovak were very similar to each other, like say British and canadian English, but now that I know slovak I see that they are not. they are definitely each their own language and there are several different words for things. The only reason the slovaks and czechs are able to understand eachother is because they were forced to, having lived together for so much time. Even now, since they are seperated, they say a lot of the younger generations have trouble understanding eachother because there is not the same exposure as there once was.

But yeah that was the district conference. And then the whole ten days were almost finished. We had one last night together which was filled with music, crying, singing, and stories, and minimal sleep (two of the guys play guitar) and it was wonderful. wonderful but sad. Although I'll see most of them again next weekend on teh final canoe trip I saw some people for the last time last week. And you'd think we wouldn't be that close because we only saw eachother once every two months all year but we are. We are so SO so close! So the goodbye was really hard. I think exchange is one of the only experiences in which you get so incredibly close to people (because you share such an understanding of what eachother is going through) and then you are forced to say goodbye. And not just good-bye but good-bye for a long time because we all live in different parts of the world. There's no doubt in my mind that I will see some, if not all, of them again at some point in my life but for the time being it is tough. Coming home is going to be tough. There are so many things associated with it, it boggles my mind. I'm beyond excited to see everyone again at home but terribly sad to be leaving all the other inbounds.

This coming weekend is going ot be out final farewell and it should be really great but emotionally loaded. We are camping and I am so psyched! We have to bring tents and we are going canoing from one campsite to the next down the vltava river. OH ITS GOING TO BE SOOOOO COOL!

Krakow and Prague

Part two and three were sight seeing in two magnificent cities; Krakow and Prague. It was just the inbounds again and we all piled onto a bus (which brought back memories of the Italy and Greece trip). This time however we were pleasantly surprised by the accomodations rotary provided us with. In both places we stayed in hostels which were right on the square in the middle of the city! So cool! So in Krakow there were ten girls in one room and 16 in the other all in bunks and then there was one bathroom shared among all the guests. But it was so much fun being all in a room together and being right in teh centre. We had a lot of free time to just go and explore the city since we were staying right there. And explore we did. Krakow was so incredibly beautiful, definitely one of my favorite cities so far. The square itself is the biggest one in Central/Eastern Europe and has so many superb buildings. And Krakow is so cheap! Even compared to Slovakia and that is saying something. But they are still on the zlaty (not the euro) so that makes a big difference. There was a beautiful market in the square with authentic little arts and crafts and a whole bunch of amber and wooden carved boxes (typical for Krakow). And I bought some. :)

We toured around Krakow in the morning with a great english speaking guide so I was able to understand everything which was really nice. We saw the Jewish Quarters, the centre, and ate at an authentic restaurant where we had pickle soup (which was delicious!) and dumplings with pork, very similar to Slovak cuisine.

After two days in Krakow and before heading to Prague we had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the visit. I knew it would be sad and there were a couple of girls who had been there before who said it was very moving and it even made them cry but I didn't think it would be as powerful as it was. It was, I would say, the single saddest, most moving thing I have ever seen. Just being at the camp was enough let alone getting to walk through it, see the barbed wire, the barrocks, the gas chamber. Let me tell you I cried and I still get goosebumps thinking about it. It was unreal but it really made what happened a reality, there will be no more simply 'brushing off' the holocaust for me. We got a guide and he took us on a tour through a big portion of the camp. I saw the gate with the infamous inscription 'work means freedom' in german, the barbed wire fences surrounding the area, and I actually went inside the barrocks the people were kept in. I walked through the gas chamber just as all those innocent people did. I saw with my own eyes the cells they punished them in, the methods of torture they used. And let me tell you all of that was enough to make you sick but what was the most meaningful was belongings they kept. Because during those times the soldiers were ordered to keep everything of the prisoners, all their belongings were sorted and stored and are still around to this day. I saw an entire room filled with the prisoner's shoes, another with their hair, another with suitcases, another with combs, one with glasses. It was incredible to see the mass amounts of things there and I can only begin to fathom how many people actually went through there. After seeing that I was crying and on the verge of having a melt down because it was so overwhelming then they took us down a long white hall and on the walls were hundreds of pictures of the innocent people who were forced to work there with there birthdate, death date, and time spent in the camp. Not a single person lasted longer than six months and some of them were only 15 years old. I looked in those people's eyes, I saw their saddness, and all I could think to do was say sorry. Sorry Sorry Sorry.
As intense as that visit was I think it is incredibly important that part of that has been preserved. People from all over the world need to see and hear about what happened there so that those horrors never ever re-occur.

And there was Prague. Prague is everything everyone says it is. It is a must see city. Again we were staying in the centre in a hostel and again it was SO much FUN. We did a lot of sightseeing and had lunch on a boat as it took down the river. It was sad because it rained all day everyday we were there but it didn't take away from the beauty of the city itself. We visited the city hall, the cathedral, and two castles. One of the castles was outside the city and was so incredible! First off the grounds were beautifully kept, the garden was so elaborate and the attention to detail was incredible. We had some free time for lunch there and to wander and discover and it was wonderful. There were peacocks roaming free in the garden! And they were so beautiful! And instead of having water in the moat, get this, there were bears! And when we went in to get a tour of the castle I discovered whose castle it was; Franz Ferdinand the guy who was assasinated and consequently caused the world war! I thought that it was pretty cool that I got to tour his house. He was crazy obsessed with hunting though and inherited this humongous collection of armour and weapons so his house literally covered, floor to ceiling, wiht dead, stuffed animals, guns, and armour. It was crazy. He killed over 300 000 animals in his life and went hunting every single day of his adulthood. There was so much I would say he had a slight obsession.....

Once Prague was through we were off to our district conference in Trebic.....so read on!

Outbound Orientation.

I'm back from one of the most epic trips of my entire life and I've been on a lot of trips this year so that's saying something. My goodness was it jammed packed full! In order to properly document (more so so I can remember everything later on when i read my blog, but also for your reading pleasure) I'm going to split it up into several blog posts. Essentially it was four different trips all smushed into one thus making it that much more intense and amazing.

First was the outbound orientation in Spissky Nova Ves, a small city in Slovakia which is famous for the national park, Slovensky Raj (aka Slovak Paradise). It was a gathering of some Rotarians and a whole lot of youth. All the inbounds were there and the outbounds (kids from slovakia going on exchange next year). We toured the spissky castle which was beautiful and guess what i found there? A snail!!!!! Now that may not sound that cool to you guys but to me it was. I realized I've only ever seen snails in the water before but this one was on land and he was so cute. Later on in an ice breaker we were asked what animal we would be if we had to choose and so I chose a snail.....I mean who wouldn't want to be that cute and relaxed. Haha but yeah. The other main event that weekend was a hike in the national park i mentioned earlier. It was SO beautiful there and we hiked to the top of this cliff and then got to stop and look down at where we came from it was such a cool feeling literally being able to hang over a cliff and look down that far. Getting up there was no walk in the park however. But I've become pretty accustomed to the whole Slovak 'hiking' which really means we're going full steam up a mountain so it all turned out to be ok.

The inbounds also put on a talent show for the outbounds and that was just....well....hilarious. Each country was asked to put together a little something in groups of three to five people. Myself and the other two Canadians got all decked out in everything canadian and sang/shouted O Canada while waving the flag about and dancing. Some of the american groups sang Yankee Doodle, take me out to the ball game, and Paul (oh how I wish you could meet him because he is such a character...) hula hooped while peeling an orange which was a big hit. The girls from Thailand and Japan got together and sang a song in their language and danced a typical dance while wearing beautiful traditional clothing. There's was a very beautiful presentation. And there were the mexicans and brazilians. And well, they danced because that's what they do best. And once they hit the stage there was no going back and the show turned into a disco.

It was really neat having the chance to meet with all the other kids going out on exchange, especially the ones going to Canada! I think there are 6 going from Slovakia alone. It was a bit difficult though because they are all going to the East (two are going to Quebec) and to be honest I don't know that much about Eastern canada, especially the french-canadian culture. But I think they still appreciated talkign to a Canadian and I loved being able to share a little bit about my home and country with them. It made me think about my outbound orientation last year and how Jakub (the guy from Slovakia I was talking to) was so proud of his country. MY parents and I thought that maybe that was just a Slovak thing but now I see it's what exchange does to you. Cause if you weren't proud of your nationality before, after completing exchange you certainly will be. I have never been so proud and so sure that I am Canadian and nothing else. And when we talk about it all the exchange students feel the same way, each about their own countries. It also made me homesick talking about Canada so much which I didn't really expect. I haven't felt that homesick for quite some time so that was a bit of a surprise but I think it's because they are asking you all these questions about your home and what you like and how the people are and it really gets you thinking about what you don't have here and all the things you miss but those feelings passed soon enough.

And that completed part one of four.

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

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

Italy and Greece - Windows Live

Italy and Greece - Windows Live

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. :)

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.

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......

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