The amount of pictures shows how much fun I had this weekend/past week!
Chelsea, Sepp and I all went for an ELCA 'staff meeting' at Liptovský Mikuláš. It was so nice to see some of my fellow ELCA teachers and share our triumphs and our tribulations over traditional Slovak food. I am sorry to say, but Bryndza might be growing on me!
And we got to ride on a train! Not just a normal train, but a compartment train. Yup, just like the Harry Potter trains. I really did not think that they existed. BUT THEY DO! And, furthermore, they are amazing! I took a picture of us even before we left the station because I was so excited.
The second picture is of the gorgeous High Tratas from Poprad. They are gorgeous! They are a short mountain range, in regards to the Rockies. But what they lack in length they make up in pure beauty. These Tratas seem to just pop out of nowhere from the plains. Even though I am pretty close to the Low Tratas, they are just hills in comparison.
My next picture shows my excitement of Food Stamps. Once a month, I get a food stamp for 2.89€ for everyday that I worked. These lovely little coupons (I do pay a bit for them), can get me lunch anywhere in the city. But, even better, I can buy groceries with them anytime! It is wonderful! I feel like I am stealing food from the grocery store whenever I use these.
My classes are going wonderfully. And most importantly we have introduced our students to baseball! For the past two Tuesdays at 4pm, we have played baseball until the the sun has fallen behind the hills. I am amazed at how good these kids are at it for playing for their first time! Most of the boys are better than me! I really just like to cheer on my teammates. It is so much fun to play with the only purpose of having a good time.
Other excitements in my life: Nivea cream (the most amazing lotion ever), chinese Tiger balm, Fruit of the Forest Tea with sugar, and my Slovak dictionary.
You might have heard, Slovakia hit the newsstands last week.. It was not in a good light though, the government here failed. Now I really don't understand this nor how the Slovak government works nor what effect this failing is going to have on the people. But I do know that even though the government is no more, everything is still running smoothly and I will not be affected at all. I have been trying to understand it, but I am thinking I need the Slovak Government for Dummies or something. Here is a link to a wonderful article about it: Slovakia to Rescue Eurozone.
Finally Occupy Wall Street. I hope everyone is paying attention to that. I predict big changes are upon us and I must say it is about time. It is moments likes these that reminds me how lucky I am to be born when I was.
Dovidenia!
To get away from our students, see a bit of the country, and to visit some friends, Sepp and I went to Košice this past weekend. The original point in going was to run a fourth of a marathon. As you shall see, that did not happen, but I still had tons of fun!
We left on Friday with an overfilled bus full of our students. As we got farther and farther away from Tisovec, the amount of our students dwindled. And, as the weekend was about getting away from the penetrating eyes of the kiddies, that was a blessing. Now, this is not to say that I don't enjoy my students, but sometimes life is hard in a fish bowl. You just want to be an unknown face in the crowd. And luckily Košice offered that!
Upon getting to Košice three and a half hours later, we met with up with Sepp's friend AJ (who happens to be another American teacher but through the Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod) and our hilarious colleague John. John and AJ live in a huge (and I mean huge! It use to hold up to 14 people) flat in Košice and both teach at a bilingual school there. It was so much fun to hang out with John and AJ all weekend. We went shopping, ate tons of food, met a bunch of Slovaks, looked at some art installations, and people watched.
People watching; my new favorite pastime. Ok, probably not since I have been a lifeguard and paid to watch people. But the novelty never wears off! Košice was having a weekend long celebration in honor of the Peace Marathon (that marathon we were suppose to run in). So all the bars and pubs were open late and art installations were put up around the city. John, Sepp, and I didn't really want to walk around and look at all of the art, so we watched all of the people for three hours while AJ checked the art out for us! The weather was gorgeous for a Indian Summer evening and no coats were needed! My findings: 3 pairs of bright red pants, 2 pairs of neon orange, 5 pairs of bright green, 10 of white, 3 hot pink, 4 bright blue, and many many more colored pants. I am thinking it is the season of bright pants!
On Sunday instead of running the fourth marathon, we decided to run a 4.3k. (It was cheaper and less work) Then we didn't sign up in time, 2200 people signed up ahead of us. No joke! Therefore, we all ended up watching AJ sneak in and run it for us. Watching the marathon was a delightful end to a wonderful weekend.
Even though I had a super busy weekend where I didn't plan for any of my classes and I came back super tired and still trying to recover over a cold, I was still strangely refreshed come Monday. My mini-vacation was marvelous!
P.S. These are really all of the pictures I took this weekend. I am such a terrible tourist!
P.S.S. Yes, this post is weeks overdue. I might be a bit behind...
And we got to ride on a train! Not just a normal train, but a compartment train. Yup, just like the Harry Potter trains. I really did not think that they existed. BUT THEY DO! And, furthermore, they are amazing! I took a picture of us even before we left the station because I was so excited. 
