"And if you look to your left, you will see the Slovak Mountains..."

This past weekend was the 4th and final excursion organized by the school. We went to the mountains of the Slovak Republic and stopped for a few random things along the way (of course!) Here's a little recap: *Trenčín Kost (Castle) -Not really much to write home about, mostly a bunch of cold rooms filled with paintings of dead, old people. (okay, so i'm being a little pessimistic, it wasn't so bad) In fact, it was a pretty fun adventure. But here's why. So, we're walking through all these rooms, following our tour guide (who is speaking only czech) and I had a pretty bad headache and had been coughing and sneezing all day, so while the rest of the group looked at more pictures, I sat on a stone bench in a little alcove by the window. There were a few other people sitting there, but we were all just kind of staring off into space. Well, little by little, the group begins to dwindle out and onto the next room. This australian girl Angela and I were the last two to leave. As I was about to stand up, I noticed Angela looked like she was about to cry, so I asked if everything was okay. She nodded at first, then slowly shook her head and began to cry. At this point, all thoughts of the rest of the group left my conscious. I waited for her to feel ready to talk, and when she did, she told me that her boyfriend from back home in Australia had died the night before in a skydiving accident (something like his 83rd jump). She then proceeded to tell me how lucky I was to be getting married. That's when I lost it too. We ended up crying together for a good 15 minutes or so, with Angela sharing her feelings every now and then as she was able. It was a pretty intense moment (and definitely ordained by God because up to this point, Angela and I had never been friends. In fact, we had never even really had a conversation before!) By the time we were able to compose ourselves and join the group, we realized they were nowhere to be found. We had about 4 different doors to choose from and found that all of them were LOCKED. We were trapped in this cold chamber at the top of this old castle. After a few minutes of laughing at our situation, we really started to worry because the next tour wouldn't be coming for another 2 hours and our bus was set to leave for the next place in an hour. We tried sending an SOS with the lights (though, it was the middle of the day so nobody noticed) and FINALLY found a spot where my cell phone could get service. We called my friend Stephanie who, after 2 dropped calls, was finally able to understand our situation and sent the guide looking for us. After probably 30 minutes (total) of being locked in the castle, the guide finally found us and we were free. Definitely one of my best memories so far. After the exciting castle experience, we went to our sweeeeeet accomodation chata Lúčky in the Demanovská dolina valley where we stayed in cottages again, only this time they were cleaner, bigger, and warmer! (we even had a little mini kitchen and eating area!) On Saturday, we started the day out with a "hike" through Fatra valley in the mountains. It really ended up being more of a stroll through some hills, but it was a beautiful day and the air was fresh, so it was fun! After that, we went on a "romantic (wooden) rafting [trip] through Strečno valley (plte) in the river Váh. Apparently, the river was used to transport wood from the forests to other places along the river for use in building houses and making paper and such. What they would do is tie the trees together, then float down them on the river. So our raft was supposed to be a sort of re-creation of this. I felt like Tom Sawyer on the Mississippi! It was fun though :) Sunday we visited the Demanovská caves where we basically gave ourselves a tour and the tour guide just pushed the button to start the enchanting music. It was neat.

Finally, we went to an old Slovak village that was flooded in the river but then dug out and recreated - Pribylina. It reminded me a lot of Cades Cove. A lot of people didn't like it and were pretty grumpy at this point, but I thought it was really cute and charming. But I kind of like old things like that. Maybe because I have a slight obsession with Christy and Laura Ingalls... Anyways, it was pleasant :)
I got bit by a goat :( I ALMOST FORGOT! On the way to the hostel on the first day, our guides surprised us with a trip to the EASTER EGG MUSEUM! We were pretty surprised. Mostly because none of us had ever heard of an easter egg museum. But apparently Slovakia is really famous for their easter eggs and sell them for an average of 1,000 euros an egg. Crazy.

I really loved the Slovak Mountains. They were beautiful. But I have to admit, I am pretty glad it was the last group excursion. It can be really tiring to travel in huge groups like we did because we spend the majority of the time waiting around for everyone. So I'm looking forward to smaller groups for traveling in the future :)


We were all pretty stumped by this sign. What do you think it means?

Easter in Poland!

Hello friends and family! Sorry I've been MIA lately. Believe it or not, I've actually had to do real school work the past couple of weeks! But don't worry, I'm all caught up until next Wednesday and have a few spare moments to update you all at LEAST through Easter... So, for Easter weekend, my roommate (Magda, for those of you just joining us) invited me to celebrate with her family in Bielsko-Biała, Poland. It's a "small town" about 90km SW of Krakow. I was a little hesitant about what the weekend would be like because Magda had been very vague about what to expect aside from reminding me again and again that her family wouldn't be able to speak English with me. So basically I was going into the weekend expecting to entertain myself with books and such while Magda got some QT in with her fam. Which I was totally cool with. After all, I was gonna be in Poland, eating homemade Polish food. That was sweet enough for me! Fortunately, the weekend was so much more than that. I might even go as far to say that it has been my favorite weekend in Europe so far. But I'm getting ahead of myself... So, Friday morning came and the plan was to leave as soon as possible. The problem - I didn't have my passport. Certain things required me to mail my passport back to the consulate in the states where they would affix my visa, mail it to my parents who would then mail it back to me. According the UPS, my passport was due to arrive in Brno sometime on Friday and as soon as it got here, Magda and I would pick it up and head to the train station. On Friday morning, I went to track where my passport was only to find it was in Prague and the expected arrival date had been changed to Tuesday. Problem. I thought (hoped!) that maybe the website was wrong and Magda convinced me we should wait until at least 5 to see if maybe it would just show up. So we waited. And it never came. The decision came down to: 1. Wait until Saturday to see if it might come then 2. Stay behind in Brno while Magda went ahead to Poland or 3. Go to Poland passport-less. As much of a risk as it was, we decided to brave it and headed to the train station. (Luckily I didn't hear the story of my korean friend who was detained in the Polish police station for 5 hours while he waited for his friend in Brno to bring his passport to Poland and rescue him until AFTER we got back) We were on the train and off to Bielsko-Biała by 6. I won't give you a play by play of everything we did in Poland, because that would be kind of boring. Instead, I'll give you the recap of my favorite parts: -Magda's parents - I honestly couldn't tell you their names (Magda wouldn't even tell me!) but they were so wonderful! As it turns out, her dad was able to speak English enough to entertain me with endless stories of family vacations, fun stories of little Magda, and some of his more exciting adventures in life. He was so funny and very fun to be around. I laughed a lot. Her mom was so great too. She couldn't speak any English (though by the end of the weekend we both had learned a good bit from each other of Polish and English) but she was so loving and made me feel right at home. She also fed me VERY well (I had to remember whether I was in Poland or back in North Carolina with the Banfields for how much they were feeding me!) :) Which brings me to my next favorite part: -THE FOOD. I ate SO much good food. I am not exaggerating when I say - there were VERY VERY few minutes that I was awake and not eating. Let me just give you a little idea of what it was like: On Monday morning, I woke up around 9:30, well before Magda and Conrad (her "little" brother) I was showered, packed, and downstairs by about 10. Somewhere around 10:02, Magda's mom had placed a huge plate full of meats, cheeses, breads, and cucumbers in front of me (typical breakfast for these parts of Europe) I willingly ate everything she gave me (since I had just woken up, you know) and drank the first cup of tea she brought. It was probably around 10:45 by the time I finished my meal. Around 11, Magda woke up and came downstairs. By about 11:02, both Magda and I had bowls filled to the brim with homemade chicken noodle soup (Magda's favorite, and I completely understand why) I was not very hungry, but it smelled so good, so I ate it all. After we finished, Magda and Conrad and I headed to the church for mass. We were gone from about 12-1:30. At 1:30, we came back to another heaping bowl of chicken noodle soup. Again, I ate the whole bowl, thinking it would be our lunch. Wrong. It was just the appetizer. As soon as my bowl was empty, it was traded out for a heaping plate of mashed potatoes, veggies, sauerkraut and some sort of mystery meat (magda wouldn't tell me what it was - but it was so gooD!) By now, I was comPLETELY full and wondering to myself how in the world I was going to force a whole meal down. I knew I couldn't refuse it because for 1, Magda's mom didn't speak English and wouldn't realize I was turning it down because I was full, not because I didn't like it and 2, because she had prepared it especially for us and I hate being rude and turning someone's hard work down. So, I determined to finish all the food I had been given. It took me about 75 minutes (no joke!) but I did it. And when I finished, I literally thought I was going to vomit (I know, that's gross. but its really how i felt) As I was trying to find a position that wouldn't make me hurl, Magda's mom came by with a big bag of chocolate, insisting I have "JEDEN! JEDEN!" (One! One!) She's so sweet and so I HAD to take it. You can probably imagine how good I felt after that piece of chocolate. And that's not even the end. It was about 2:30 and we had just over an hour until we were planning to head to the train station to come "home." I knew if I had stayed awake, I would be fed more (or at least given tea) so of course I took a nap. I woke up to Magda's mom handing me a family sized carton of yogurt and a silver spoon. Guess what I did. I ate that whole thing of yogurt. haha. It was great, really. The food tasted so wonderful so in the long run, it really wasn't a big deal that I had to eat so much :) -Visit to the mountains: -Watching home videos of Magda and her family :)

Magda and her parents singing a Polish song in the car on the way to the mountains :)



-Did I mention the food?? -Easter traditions!! In Poland, it is tradition to throw water on each other on Easter Monday. When I woke up, Magda's mom sprayed me with perfume (she's too nice!) and her brother poured water on me. I felt like a part of the family :) Overall, the trip was really enjoyable. I loved getting to know Magda's family and really do hope to go back again someday (Magda DID tell me she would babysit our kids while Sam and I visited Auschwitz, since I didn't get to do that due to my lack of a passport) Magda and I had great quality time being friends and not just roommates, which was so fun. It was so sad when we had to leave, I really could've stayed there the rest of my time in Europe. When we got on the train and gave her parents hugs goodbye, none of us had a dry eye. It was so sweet. I really love Poland. :) train ride home. we had sweet aisle seats :)

a little bonus video for you. :)

Bohemian Rhapsody, The Czech Remix

This past weekend, the school organized a trip for us to Eastern Bohemia. For those of you who need a geography refresher (because i KNOW all of you knew at some point) the Czech Republic is divided into two regions - Bohemia and Moravia. I live in Brno which is in the Southern part of Moravia. Prague is in Bohemia, right about the middle of it. The line between the two is somewhere along where the nose meets the face of the rhinoceros (does anyone else think the country of czech republic looks like a rhino's head?) If you can't get the visual in your head, here is a picture:

Anyways, the trip was organized in such a way that we might experience all things Czech (as though living in Brno wasn't enough). We didn't have anything on the itinerary that anyone living outside the Czech Republic would recognize (unless you were for some strange reason interested in certain things, in which case you may have heard of something) But for the most part, ordinary people wouldn't have any idea such things existed. This made for quite an interesting weekend. Here's the round up of all the things we saw, including (of course) the fascinating (sometimes sadistic) stories that accompany them...

Friday 3 April 2009

• Litomyšl - the birthplace of the composer Bedřich Smetana (who is like a Czech god, given how much they love and are proud of this man) In Litomyšl we had guided tour in the Renaissance chateau which was pretty but nothing too spectacular, just your average countryside chateau...

• Třebechovice pod Orebem - visit to the Museum of Nativity Scenes (unique mechanical Créche). This place was so random, but I thought it was so neat. They had the world's largest nativity scene (and yes, i am talking about the whole jesus in a manger with mary and joseph and the wisemen..) It was completely hand carved out of wood and designed to move. It portrayed not only the manger scene, but the whole life of Christ from conception (Gabriel visiting Mary) to ascension. It was so elaborate and really pretty awesome. Apart from the world's largest, they also had about a dozen other handcarved nativity scenes, all of which had Jesus lying in a cute little rocking manger. Which I thought was humorous.
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• Jičín - visit to the House of Robber Rumcajs, Manka and Cipísek. This was the most random thing I've ever been to. It was just someone's house they had turned into an exhibit for this Czech cartoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Oug6vZVxg The Czechs are very proud of their cartoons (all two of them - Rumcajs and Krteček http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upUnrtXoV4M )





• After Jičín, we drove to our hostel which was in a tiny, tiny town (they didn't even have a single store!), Motel Charlie where we stayed in adorable little cottages:

Saturday 4 April 2009

• Prachovské skály - hike through the famous rock formations. this was probably my favorite part of the trip. we did a 3.5 km hike through these beautiful rock formations. the weather was incredible, the hike was beautiful, and it was just so good to enjoy fresh air (apparently it was the freshest air in the czech republic haha) here are a few pics from that adventure:








• Hrad Kost - The Bone Castle. This place was where our trip turned gruesome. In the basement of the castle was a whole "museum of torture" that had all sorts of devices the Czechs used to torture and execute people back around the 18th and 19th centuries.

::WARNING - this next part is pretty gruesome. if you are disturbed by real stories from the past about death and murder and torture, SKIP THIS SECTION!::





the german version of a guillotine.
because in france, if you were executed by the guillotine but it didn't kill you, they assumed the gods were sparing you and let you live. in germany, they kept this rule, except that they made their guillotine blade weigh tons and tons of kg to ensure nobody survived. because of this, they also had no reason to sharpen the blade. ouch.




this was another tool used for executing criminals. they would break all their bones using the iron part on the outside and then weave the body over and under each spoke so it would hang from there in the town square for all to be warned.



the czechs used a 5 step process in torturing their victims. if someone was said to be commiting any crime (gossiping, witchcraft, theft, etc..) they would torture them either until they confessed, or made it through 3 rounds of torture (5 degrees in each round).

the first degree was where they would tie ropes around the wrists and drag the person around until they had rope burns all along their forearms.

the second degree were those little clamps you see in the middle - they were used to clamp down on the thumbs and eventually break the bones in the thumb.

if you didn't confess by now, they moved on to the third degree...



these fabulous looking things.
they strapped these bad boys on your shins (sort of like a shin guard) and squeezed until basically your shins were busted all to pieces.

if you still didn't confess....




4th degree of torture: the stretcher.
they used this to stretch the victims until all their joints were popped out and bones were broken. if they still didn't confess, they were stretched AGAIN, but this time over candle flame so that they would have searing holes in their skin.

if you made it through all 5 of these stages, you were allowed a few months to recover and be healed before they put you through all 5 again. if you made it through 3 times, you were deemed innocent and free to go.

needless to say, nobody really made it past the first round. :/



another brutal form of execution.
criminals were forced to sit on this chair and weighted down and basically left to die of blood loss.


I told you it was pretty brutal. Sorry if you've lost your appetites. Sunday was a much less violent day...


Sunday 5 April 2009

• Dvůr Králové - czech republic world renowned zoo. honestly, it was not much different than a zoo in the states, save for the much lower fences surrounding the exhibits and the duplicate exhibits around the park (i'm pretty sure there were about 9 different places that had antelope) It was really fun though, and the day was perfect because we were there post-rainfall, mid-morning to lunch time when the weather was warm not hot and the animals were hungry but not tired, so we saw a lot of activity among the animals, which always makes the zoo more fun. Here're a few of my favorite snapshots from that experience...

Overall, the trip was really fun, laidback, and a good glimpse into the Bohemian Czech culture. I hope you enjoyed your journey through my memories of East Bohemia!

mám ráda slunce - i love sunshine.

I need to write about my weekend in East Bohemia, but I think I will save that for another post and just talk about the sun and its effects on the city of Brno.

The sun has officially been shining (save for when this side of the world is turned away from it) for the past 6 days. Which is a miracle, I think. But I have no complaints.

Last Thursday was the first day of spring in Brno as far as the people of Brno were concerned. It was like the city came alive. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping (and i'm not talking about the pigeons!) and all the sudden the main square was packed with smiling people, laughter, and an abundance of little booths and markets. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought I had accidentally entered a different city. But it was the same old Brno, just alive and sunny! I loved it here before, but I love it even more now that there is life. Let me just share a few of my new favorite things that Spring has introduced into this city:

-Soft Serve Gelato: I thought gelato was the best it could get. But I was completely wrong. They've set up a soft serve machine right in the middle of the city (not in a shop or anything just a little stand sort of like you would see a hot dog stand in new york) and you just walk up, pay your 20 koruny (crowns, approx $1) and they give you a GINORMOUS cone with the most delicious ice cream you could ever dream up. I'm not even kidding. It was such a euphoric experience for me. And those of you that know me, know that I am a freak for good ice cream. And this stuff was the best I've ever had. And while it is almost double the price of gelato, it is definitely worth every korun. Incredible stuff.

-Easter!: All over town people have set up stands selling all sorts of traditional easter goods ranging from elaborately painted eggs (real and wooden) to musical instruments and wreaths and cookies made from the traditional honey cake. It's so fun. On Thursday Jeongmin and I wandered all around town checking out the stands.

-SUN!: The sun has literally transformed the people here. They are nicer, more patient, and more willing to listen to us attempt to speak Czech. Which has been so fun! The sun has also provided plenty of opportunities for more exploring. Jeongmin and I have been running every evening and we found this beautiful park just down the hill from Vinarska! The first time we ran there, I was feeling a little nostalgic because it was so much like the greenbelt in Maryville! It definitely makes me want to run more. Or at least go on more walks.


Overall, things here have gotten even better (if you can believe that!) Classes are starting to pick up, which is to be expected I think. And the days are getting longer and more activities are consuming those extra minutes, but all in all it's really great. I am spending this Easter weekend with Magda in Poland and though I'm a little nervous (none of her family speaks English and Magda is very vague about what to expect haha) I'm really excited to get to experience a traditional Polish easter. I'm also hoping to make it to Krakow and Auschwitz, since I missed the school trip because I was sick. So we'll see.

One thing that is not so exciting, however, are the traditions the Czechs and Poles have for Easter. In Poland, it is traditional to throw water on each other on Easter. Basically you try not to be the first one to get soaking wet. So that will be interesting. In the Czech Republic, though, it's much worse. The tradition is that girls are supposed to paint really pretty eggs on Easter Sunday and then on Easter Monday, the boys come knocking on the girls' doors and when the girl opens the door, the boy whips them with some form of a switch (which they are also selling at all the stands around down in varying sizes, pictures to follow) and in return for her beating (which is supposed to give her good health and fertility) she gives the boy the pretty eggs she decorated. If the boy comes after noon, then the girl has the option of pouring water on the boy when he gets there, but only if he doesn't do it first. It's crazy. And you might be thinking, oh wow what a crazy tradition they had back in the day. Because that's what I thought at first. But no, it's still alive and well, especially here in Brno. It's all anyone talks about. All I know is I will not be answering the door on Monday ;)

Well anyways, I need to write a paper now. Here're a few pictures of mine and Jeongmin's sunshine day in Brno:


This is one of the medium sized switches they sell.

Jeongmin and I decided we wanted to become street performers. I would play this sweet flute and she would dance. We're still working out the details ;)

This guy scared us pretty bad, so to make up for it, he agreed to take a picture with us. Apparently he's from a lot of Czech fairy tales. which should tell you a lot about Czech fairy tales :/

Probably my favorite kind of Apple juice - Cappy. It's so delicious.

So excited to play in the sun!

when the darkness closes in...

I wasn't going to write this blog. Part of me still doesn't really want to. But I know that in order to paint an accurate picture of my time here, I need to include everything - the good AND the bad. Not that much has really been "bad." I mean, I'm in Europe. It's hard to find things to complain about, because the good outweighs any inconvenience or mishap that may come along. But there are those days you wake up and simply don't feel like staying awake. I've had a few of those days lately.

It all started on Saturday night when I was getting ready to "go" to Sam's concert in North Carolina (via Skype, unfortunately). It was about an hour before the concert was supposed to start when my internet cut out. I thought maybe the cord came unplugged or something, but after a few frantic moments of plugging, unplugging and replugging and then scrambling to find my papers from orientation to relogin to the network, I come to find out my wonderful school/dormitory had decided I had reached my limit and blocked my internet for four days. Great. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that I had been so excited to get to watch Sam perform. After a minor breakdown, Magda was SO wonderful and let me borrow her computer so I could still watch. Which was such a blessing. I can't even express how grateful I was. But then Sunday came, Magda received word that her uncle had died and left for Poland, leaving me in an empty room with thoughts of death (I know, morbid, but it's the truth) and no access to the internet. I started thinking about what I would do if I got a call like Magda's telling me someone I loved back home had died. I wouldn't be able to hop a train and get home in a few hours. Anyways, it got me all emotional and I spent Sunday feeling pretty depressed and homesick for the first time since I've been here. It's crazy how one small little thought can snowball and consume your heart in a matter of minutes. And how that one small thought can drastically change a good day into a bad one.

Anyway.

I spent Sunday night and most of Monday contemplating a lot of things, and feeling pretty sick. I'm not sure what's up, but my body has been pretty brutal to me since I've been here. We have been having on again/off again wars. But anyways. In the middle of all my self-absorption, God, in his infinite grace and love for me, led me to a passage of Scripture in Psalms:

"Then I realized how bitter I had become, how pained I had been by all I had seen. I was so foolish and ignorant - I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you are holding my right hand. You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever."
Psalm 73:21-26

I really am so blessed. When I stop to think about where my life is at any point, I can't help but praise God. Even if my internet is blocked, or my body is aching and revolting, or the people I love most are thousands of miles away and a ginormous body of water separates us from each other, or any number of other "bad" things, God deserves my praise. He remains the strength of my heart. I am so blessed.

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

Psalm 63:3