Saturday, August 25.
Today I went to my first ever wedding! Valerias second host sister was getting married and invited me and Valeria to the wedding cause it was a super traditional one. We first went to the house of the bride to eat Gulaš and pastries. Everyone was wearing the traditional kroj (costume) and it was so beautiful. They started with some tradition of the groom arriving at the house and asking for the bride. Instead of the bride, he got a gypsy with a child, and the second time, a men dressed as a woman. Once the bride finally came, we all drove to the village church for the ceremony. It was all in Slovak so I couldn't understand much, but the singing and decorations were beautiful. After, we took a bus to an event center to eat dinner and listen to some speeches. The order of eating food and drinking certain alcohol was very specific at the wedding, but everyone at my table spoke English and was sooo friendly to me and Valeria. First we had a chicken soup, followed by stuffed chicken and potatoes, followed by dessert pastries. For alcohol, guests first drank champagne, then the traditional "slivovica" (from plums) and also "jablkovica" (from apples). After this, they had an open bar for beer or other alcohols. The dancing was a mix of very traditional songs/dances, and also normal folk music with typical slower dancing. Me and Valeria didn't know any of the Slovak dances and kinda did our own American/latino dances. We met two very nice girls (who go to my school) and they stayed with us the entire night teaching us about the wedding. A few random traditions took places and a traditional buffet opened with very Slovak food, but the biggest event took place at 12am, when the bride is "officially married". About 20 teenage girls in their traditional outfits came in with candles singer a very Slavic folk song in a line. They continued to sing while two of the girls change the brides hair from down to up, to symbolize the marriage. After this was about 40 minutes of circle dancing around the bride and her chance to dance individually with every single boy there (including me! haha). Around 1am, my host parents came to pick me and Valeria up and bring us home! It was a long and great day! Sunday, August 26. Today we had a huge family party to celebrate the birthday of my host brother, host father and host sister! Family came from all the nearby villages and I got to meet them all. They were all so sweat and brought me chocolate. My parents cooked more traditional foods and desserts and I made brownies and decorated it with an American flag (sorry for being extra.) My host cousins were all mostly under 4 years old, so there was lots of energy and screaming haha. Before sleep, after showering I went to the bathroom and noticed I was peeing blood. I got kinda freaked out, but told myself not to worry. Anyway, at 1am, I woke up with extreme pain in my right abdomen, (from a kidney stone.) I'd had this happened twice before in my life and it's easily the most painful thing I could experience. I texted in my whatsapp group of exchange students in CZE/SLO and they all told me to wake up my host parents. My host parents called my second host mom who's a surgeon, and she said to bring me to the hospital. The hospital was interesting looking at first. It looked exactly how I'd imagine a former communist hospital to look. At this point I was trembling a lot, so they knew immediately it was for sure a kidney issue. They took my urine and my blood and did tests. They gave me a strong painkiller, and eventually my kidney stone stopped moving and I felt no more pain. From their blood tests they found nothing inherently wrong with my kidney, but the stone did cause the blood in my urine, and a UTI. They put me on anti-biotics and told me to come back immediately if/when the kidney stone moves again, so they can see it on the ultra sound. It was honestly a terrible time, but my host parents were so nice and understanding and didn't make me feel bad at all even though we got home at 3am. Monday, August 27 Today my Rotary club hosted at a zipline climbing park in Brezina for an orphanage. There were about 50 kids there to climb and have fun. I went with my host sister and met Valeria and her host sister there. We climbed for about an hour then got to eat homemade gulaš and s'mores!!! Smores typically are not known about in Slovakia but I was teaching everyone how to make them! We played games with the orphans for a few more hours and then went home!
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Wednesday, August 22.
This was my first "relax day" in Slovakia. Both my host parents had to work in the morning and told me and my host brother to make them some type of food. I was thinking which "American" food I could make, and decided on a hamburger (for easiness lol). Me and my brother went to Billa (Slovak grocery store) and bought all the ingredients. I cooked the hamburgers and my brother decorated the plate. To be honest, the hamburger meat tasted not like a hamburger and it was the wrong color, BUT my host family liked it and they liked bbq sauce, so all is well! In the afternoon I went into town with my host sister to meet my mom and her old English teacher from when she studied nursing. Her English teacher was a very nice lady and did speak English pretty well. At night, I went to my first Rotary club meeting. It was very small (only 7 people total) as more than half of the club was in Mexico. To be honest, the meeting was quite boring as I couldn't understand what they were saying for over an hour. After we left the club, we began walking home and my mom started getting a bunch of texts and calls saying that Sam and I were on the Slovak national news station! They had finally aired my news segment haha! We wanted to surprise my parents and show them, but all my mom's friends got to it first! (Click here) After watching ourselves on the news, there was a 45 minute TV special about Connecticut! It was so random. There was even a small segment about Westport. My host family was so interested in seeing my state on the TV and where I lived! Thursday, August 23. Today was another "relax day" so my brother and I went to the town pool. It's about a 15 minute bike ride and it's located on the town "island" called Ostrove. There's about 5 pools and 3 big slides. We put all our stuff down and began walking towards the pool when I STEPPED ON A BEE. It stung me right in the center of my toe and was even more painful cause I had no idea what I had stepped on at first. I pulled out the stinger but half of it got stuck in my toe causing it to swell up really bad. The pool water in the town was also very cold, making the swelling go down. We had a good time in the pool but had to leave around 4:00 cause my host brother had his first floorball training. At night, my host mom invited over family friends of theirs whose two kids both go to Šturak, my school. We talked for a while and they told me all about my school and the activities. Theres lots of school trips, great, but no lunch period?? They explained that you eat when you can, so I guess I'll figure it out. They were very nice and will help me out on the first day of school in a little over a week! Friday, August 24. Today was the third "relax" day in a row. My host brother brought me back into town and taught me how to take the bus to school. It's pretty simple and I don't think I'll have any problems. We visited my YEO's English school and stayed for a few hours. Today also, was Valerias first day in Trencin. She's the other exchange student in my club and she's from Colombia. Since it was also her birthday, we had a dinner to celebrate with her family, my family and our YEO. Valeria was so sweet, we already knew we would be best friends! Her family was also so kind and funny. I cannot wait to meet all the other exchange students! Monday, August 20: My family and I woke up at 4:40am to take a train around 5am to the Slovak High Tatry mountains to hike for the day. It was my first time on a Slovak train, but wasn't anything unusual. The train was about 3 hours, followed by another 20 minute train to Štrbské Pleso, a lake to which we will start our 7 hour hike. The view of the mountains was beautiful and I couldn't wait to go up. My host family explained to me that we would hike 1.5 hours to a waterfall, then another few hours up the mountain until we climb over the peak to the other-side. From there, we'd go back down the mountain and eventually take a cable car back to Štrbské Pleso. (By the way, Štrbské.... typical Slovak word with only one vowel haha!) Anyway, the first hour of the hike was through the Tatry pine forest. There we ate many wild berries and felt water from the mountains. The water was freezing! Since it was all from the mountains it stayed cold all year round. Eventrually we hiked through the forest to the actual rock terrain, and then to the waterfall where we had "lunch." Past the waterfall, you must climb above it, literally on a cliff, where you hold onto a chain (definitely wouldn't be legal in USA). It was so cool to do this. The next few hours we climbs higher and higher up the mountain stopping at three glacier lakes in the mountains (usually to eat more). At one of them, we saw a Kamzik, a rare Slovak mountain goat. At the final one, we were pretty much surrounded by a bowl of mountains which made the loudest echo I've ever heard. I screamed "Milujem Slovensko" (I love Slovakia) at least three times!! It's hard to type this, cause just reading and even seeing the photos I attach below will be nothing compared to the true beauty of this place, but it was unbelievable. After the last lake, we climbed super steep terain, right up the mountain. To cross to the otherside of the peak, we once again, had to pull ourselves up with chains. The view was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. From there, we hiked down for another two hours. While hiking down, you could see the entire valley between the High and Low Tatry. Another weird thing about Slovakia, it rains in only short areas at a time, so when it rains, you can see the entire rain storm falling from a distance (Ill attach a photo below.) But through the mountains we could see a rainstorm over half the valley. At the end of our hike, we arrived at a mountain restaurant where I had mountain tea and a type of chicken haluśki (like Slovak gnocchi). In this restaurant was probably 50% Polish people, making me feel so at home haha! My brother, sister and I all decorated a full page in the visitors book with my welcome note from USA! When we finished, we took a cable car down to Strbske Pleso and walked around the lake. The view from there was probably the most beautiful thing I've seen in my entire life (not even lying). There were wedding photos taking place for 4 different brides, with 3 of them being Polish. Shortly after we went back down to catch our train home for the day. Another weird story, after we boarded the train, we were walking looking for a seat, as I notice a boy who looked just like an Australian exchange student in Slovakia who I'd talk to. We were both staring at eachother, until says "wait, are you Nick?" It was probably the most random encounter in my entire life haha! We talked about exchange and the district until he had to get off. The next two hours of the train I spent with my host mom and siblings talking and having fun. I love them so much, they are the best family I could have asked for. After our long day in the Tatry, my host mom told us she had another day off work tomorrow, so we'd get up at 7:30am to take another trip to Bratislava (the capital)! Tuesday, August 21: Today we woke up early in the morning to catch our train to Bratislava. The ride was about 2 hours and went by very quickly. First we went to the presidential palace whcih had an exhibition for the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Pact's invasion of Czechoslovakia. Then we went to the Bratislavsky Hrad (castle.) On the way there, my brother saw some boy from his school (who I'd met at the archeological dig) which was another random encounter. As you can tell, Slovakia is a very small country, and it's quite common to see people you know in all parts. We walked with them to the castle, then parted ways. We didn't go inside cause it was too long of a tour, so instead we walked around the grounds. It was so beautiful and had a great view of Bratislava. From there, we went to Stare Mesto, old town. It was a typical central European old town and so beautiful! We walked through, got ice cream, then headed towards the UFO bridge crossing the Dunaj (Danube). We went to the top to get a view of the whole city. Bratislava itself is a very tiny city but still beautiful! Following the bridge, we went to Aupark, a huge mall, for the apple store to fix the old iPhone I gave to my brother (it won't accept his Slovak simcard). We had lunch there at McDonalds, which I was intrigued about what to buy. I ordered some chicken sandwich thing with french fries, and realized there was no condiment station so I asked the cashier for ketchup. She charged us 20cents for it and handed me the smallest packet of ketchup I've ever seen. This was the biggest culture shock I'd had since arriving. A McDonalds with no ketchup??? It was so funny. After, we went back to old town where I bought some souvenirs and a Slovak flag! We took another train home, and the old man next to me was looking at porn on his phone, so uncomfortable haha! I'm absolutely exhausted but it was such an amazing two days! I am so lucky to have this family and experience. Friday, August 17.
Sam and I woke up early in the morning to bike back up Brezina (ugh) and help Rotary collect stones for the new castle fence. We were a little late but it was no problem as everyone welcomed me and tried to speak English. There, the organizer, Julius, told us how many archeological discoveries they'd found while digging and to look out for them. Within the three hours of digging, I found over 30 pieces of plates, bowls, and many other things. It was the coolest experience ever!! Around halfway through, the Slovak national news station, RTV, came to talk about our project. Sam went to them and introduced me as the American exchange student, to which they interviewed me in English about what I was doing/finding there. Crazy to think I would be on the Slovak national news station only after one day! After 3 fun hours, Sam and I returned home as my family and I were going on a "surprise trip." All I knew was that we were hiking somewhere. They packed the bags to hike and we took a bus to a small Slovak village in a beautiful mountain valley. We began the hike with my host family showing me many different natural herbs and plants and how they are used/help the body. We picked and ate many natural berries and apples, it was crazy how much they trusted and understood nature. We hiked and hiked and hiked, until finally we reached the top. The top had a big cross, and overlooked miles of the Slovak countryside. It was absolutely beautiful. My host family taught me how to use grass to call to the Slovak national hawk. At the top of the mountain was a book where you could write a note in remembrance of you being there, so my host mom wrote a note in Slovak and I wrote one in English. At this point, we were far from all civilization so I made a comment to my brother about how you could probably see so many stars from there. (I've told him already about how much I wanted to see the milky-way and Slovak stars). My host mom overheard me and told Sam to get the book and translate her note from Slovak. The note said something like "We are here hiking Vapeč with our new son, it will be a great experience for him as he will sleep overnight on the mountain with our other son." And they all look at me and say "surprise!" It was the cutest thing in the world!! They created the surprise trip for me as they knew I wanted to see the Milky-way. Shortly after, my host family went to hike back down, and it was just me and Sam. He brought out a speak and we just ate candy and listened to Post Malone haha. Before night came, a group of 4 Slovak people came next to us in the mountain to sleep as well. They were so funny and were getting really drunk. The sunset was so beautiful, but around 11, me and Samo went to sleep with alarms set for 1:45am so we could wakeup and see the Milky-way. Tbh, with all the noice from our neighbors and rocky floor, I wasn't able to fall alseep solidy, but when 1:45 came around, we both were fully awake looking at the sky. It was so beautiful, you could see so many stars and the shadow from the milky-way. In this moment, I was so happy to be in Slovakia with such amazing people. I am so lucky to be here. Saturday, August 18. At some point in the night, me and Samo fell back asleep and woke up again in the early morning. The people camping next to us were packing up to leave, and we just waited for a while and filmed the view. Around 9am, we began hiking back down the mountain to the town where we stopped for a Kofola, and then went to the bus stop. Waiting for the bus were two of the girls who camped next to us, so we all talked for a little. By 11 o'clock, we were home in Kubranska (Trencin) and had just one hour of rest. Next we went to a nearby town called Dubnica to try a traditional Slovak food, langoš, and go to a natural sparkling water source. We hiked about 30 minutes to a little park. The water source was underground, and you could go fill up your water-bottles as much as you wanted. The water tasted so interesting. There was a lot of iron in it, but it truly was naturally sparkling! After getting the water and langoš, we stopped off at a house of my host parent's friend. Besides the 100 chickens she owned, in the back of her house was an abandonded and crumbling Slovak house from 1871. Back then, the house was huge and for rich people, but now it was empty and falling apart. It was another great two days in Slovakia! Friday was my true first day in Slovakia and it was a great day! Around 12pm, my host brother Sam and his friend Adam gave me a bike tour of my town. We started going around random residential areas and parks until we ended up on Ostrove, the town "island." There, there is a town water park and a restaurant with original Kofola. Kofola is a Czechoslovak invention consisting of herbs and sugar to resemble Coca Cola which wasn't available to them during the Communist days. It is quite a popular drink here and I really do love it! We sat there for a while and discussed how cool it was that I could understand the lyrics of English songs haha! After this, Sam and Adam brought me to the Castle on the hill with a beautiful view of Trencin. To get there, we had to bike up the forest covered mountain called Brezina. I swear to god I've never done anything harder in my life. But once we were at the top, the view of the city with the castle was all worth it! After the castle, we biked into the town square for the first time! It was so European an absolutely beautiful. My host brother brought me to the best sandwich store, then the best ice cream store. Both were so amazing and natural (Slovaks use almost no chemicals or fake ingredients in their foods). Following lunch break, we went to meet my YEO, Lubica, at the Rotary town cafe. My Rotary club operates and holds meetings in a "caste cafe" (located in the former castle prison) which employs people with mental disabilities who couldn't otherwise hold a normal job! While sitting there and talking my host sister from another family came in and recognized me immediately. She was so nice and sweet! She told us about a Rotary project happening in Brezina to recreate a second layer fence around the castle and said they could use our help. So once again, Sam, Adam and I biked up Brezina to find the Rotarians. There, they told us to come back tomorrow morning to help dig! So, we continued on to the town mall, then back home for dinner. After dinner, we went to Adams house to play Fifa and enjoy the view from his house over Trencin. I am truly exhausted, but it was such an amazing day! I'm so lucky to have such an amazing "first" host family.
Ahoj from Slovakia!!! This is a look on my past two days:
Wednesday 8/15: Today was the day I left for Europe!! My flight was at 6:30pm so I had the entire morning to finish my packing and eat. At around 2:00 my entire family and best friend, Matt, came to the airport with me. The airport experience was pretty sad as me and my sisters have never been more than 2 weeks apart from each other in our entire lives, and now we said goodbye for a whole year. I said my goodbyes to my family and Matt, and headed through the airport. My blazer already has many pins, so for sure I stood out. It felt like almost everyone in the entire airport as staring at me, some even glaring haha! But I minded my own and headed to my gate. The airplane to Amsterdam was huge. I sat next to two Americans going on vacation in Florence, Italy. I don't remember too much about the plane ride, except for the 3 crying babies all around me, and watching Call Me by Your Name, which was way too explicit for the airplane. I got maybe 1 hour of sleep, and landed the next day in Amsterdam! Thursday 8/15: Amsterdam was quite overwhelming at first. I was so tired and my brain really wasn't functioning haha. I wandered a bit and found out I must wait in a passport check line to get to my second gate, which I did. It was roughly 3am in USA time and the line was about a 30 minute wait. As tiring as it was, there were many Americans in the line who asked my about my blazer. Since it says "ESSEX" (Eastern States Student Exchange) everyone figured I was from Essex, Virginia. I explained that I was actually just an exchange student from Connecticut, and was on my way. The person who stamped my passport complemented my pins and let me go with no questioning! At this time I was very hungry and went to a general cafe to eat. After buying a Croque Monsieur, I was looking for a place to sit, and some boy, also alone, told me to feel free to join him! I was so happy I had someone to talk to to pass the time and stay awake! His name was Rutger, he was also 18, from the Netherlands and going to Prague for the weekend (where he will move for university in 2 more weeks). For the next two hours, Rutger and I ate, explored the airport and talked about our travels. Before I knew it, it was already time to board for Austria. For flight, I sat next to two young Austrian kids who assumably didn't speak English. As soon as the captain turned off the takeoff signal, I put down my tray-table and fell straight asleep. My next memory was of the flight attendant waking me up for landing! The entire landing I looked out my window at the beautiful Austrian fields and towns! It was beautiful. Once I landed, I was on my way. At this airport, baggage claim i behind security lines, so I was alone to carry my 2 massive bags, and 2 smaller bags. Anyway, I rented a cart to carry it all and exited the security zone. There, I finally saw my host family waiting for me with a sign! It was so cute!! On the drive home, we saw many small Austrian villages and stopped in an Austrian supermarket which my family said has better quality products than in Slovakia. It was roughly a 2 hour drive home to Trencin! There, we got a picture in front of the town sign, and my family gave me a house tour and dinner (with a cake they made for me and my brothers birthday.) What a crazy two days! |
AuthorNick Bilotti Archives
March 2019
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