One Day in Slovakia...

.....

*stops and takes a deep breath*

Whoa: Christmas is only a week away! Craziness! I hope that you are all enjoying the season, and wish you falling snow, some frantic shopping, and a nice cup of cocoa with a Christmas movie.

I will tell you the story of my day (which is pretty indicative of my life, at present ;). I woke up at five o'clock a.m. I was fully clothed, and little confused until I remembered the exhaustion that had compelled me to my bed the night before. I remember wanting to rest a little... There have been lots of Christmasy happenings (such as the Kapustnica tradition at our school - the making and eating of traditional, Slovak cabbage soup. The old director even came back for the two day event.), and a lot of school work to be done before the break. Thank goodness it is almost Friday!

But, back to five a.m. I woke up, decided to take a shower, and then it was only five thirty and I don't need to leave for school until seven! So, I got on Skype and talked to my family for the first time in a week. It was kinda fun to catch them so early in the day - towel over my shoulders and wet hair - while they were finishing their day - dark room, tv in the background, sitting on the couch. After talking to them, my flat mate pulled me into her room and walked me to her window, and when I looked out I saw snow! It was snowing; big, wonderful flakes that collected on the light poles and windowsills. Uzasne!

We walked to school in the slushy, freezingness, and were so wet when we got to school, that Laura went to class barefoot! It was a good day in school - poetry readings and youth and society conversation focused on the topic of Facebook - but, really, have you ever tried to teach high schoolers two days before Christmas break? Remember being a high schooler two days before Christmas break?? Conversation more often turned towards sleeping and ski plans, and there was much refocusing during the poetry readings (though I was very proud of them, and I got to hear selections from Wordsworth, Silverstein, Frost, and many more). I also introduced them to Quib. I will put a picture of Quib up sometime: he is my centipede.

After teaching, Laura and I decided to go to Tesco (the quasi-Target establishment here in Slovakia and Europe). She had a vague idea of where to go, so we walked through the slush again, hopped on a bus, and took a guess as to where we should get off. Three stops was it, and we found a bus that stopped at the destination, "TESCO." Pekne (nice). However, we watched bus 92 pull away while realizing that it was, in fact, the bus we needed, and the next 92 would not arrive until twenty minutes later....bummer dude. It was way to cold to stay outside, so we went into the pub behind the stop (Slovakia has pubs like Highlands Ranch has Starbucks). We warmed up, drank a beer, and tried to remember our waiter's name so we could pay, before bus 92 arrived and we got on it.

We rode....and rode.....and rode......and rode......and rode..........and realized that we were actually going in the wrong direction and had no idea where to get off! When all was said and done, we had spent an hour trying to reach a location that we did not, rode a bus to the end of its line, and spent another half hour getting right back to where we started: being a lot colder and wet then when we started out, but laughing a lot more. :D What a strange adventure!

After the drama of bus 92 to Tesco (which actually does go to Tesco, to our credit), we watched a Slovak movie with the German teacher....yeah. It was about a big, wooden nativity scene. After our eyes were good and glazed over, we ate Kapustnica with all the teachers. I got a certificate that certifies me as a Kapustnica "eater and preparer." It was very tasty, and full of cabbage, sausage, pork, onions, garlic, potatoes, spices, and mushrooms. The best part was that Laura and I were still cold and wet and soup was exactly what we needed!

I then came home, threw in some laundry, graded lots of journals (including such entries as "I Am" poems from my first year students, a story about cat unicorns, and a student who confessed to hating the muppets), and made cookies for a class Christmas celebration tomorrow. Whew. It is hard to believe that it is nine o'clock in the evening, until I go through the events of the day and I am rather impressed that it all fits into one day: one day in Slovakia :0)

Vesele Vinoce! (Merry Christmas)