it's been nearly a month since i've last updated my blog. the reason? well, certainly i've been busy. certainly. but mostly, i've been without a computer. let me explain...
about a month ago, i was teaching a lesson to my students in 4A. the topic was "science and technology." so i had the students brainstorm some important technological developments in the last 100 years. of course, we talked about computers, cell phones, internet, etc. i asked, "do you think you could live without these technological developments for a month?" nearly everyone said no. i was surprised. i said, "come on! be open minded. of course you could do it. just think about it... our parents did it, their parents did it... why can't you?"
that evening, as i was happily watching a movie on my MacBook Pro, the screen turned white and i was taunted by a simple question mark remaining on the screen. of course, panic ensued... my computer had crashed. the next morning i brought it to the Apple Store... and here we are, a whole month later, and i finally have my computer back. unfortunately, i lost everything. all photos, all music, all videos... everything. it seems that i should be prepared to practice what i preach a bit more often.
so, to update you on my life from the past month is seriously impossible. it has been CRAZY! the week before christmas was full of nights spent in Kosice's Christmas Market, celebrating at school with my students, attempts at skiing, and then a trip to Istanbul.
i went to istanbul and met a good friend of mine, sinan, there. sinan is turkish, and he was born in the U.S., lived in turkey for about 10 years, and then came back to the U.S. for college. he was the best tour guide i could have ever hoped for. we had a great time. we saw the blue mosque, hagia sophia, a beautiful underground temple (i forgot the name... it was on the bachelorette... remember her date with frank!?), and of course the Bosphorus. the experience was heightened because i was reading Orhan Pamuk's "The Museum of Innocence" at the time, which is a really wonderful book that is set in istanbul.
what to say about istanbul? it was beautiful. it was amazing to see a city so full of churches and mosques... and so richly full of history and culture. every few hours we heard the call to prayer, we ate eggplant puree, stuffed grape leaves, and we experienced the buzzing night life of the city. most memorably, one afternoon sinan and i were sitting on the bosphorus, smoking hookah and drinking pomegranate juice and apple tea when we noticed there were a lot of palestinians walking around with palestinian flags draped around themselves... there were fireworks being shot off... and a really large loud crowd. we were so confused. finally, sinan asked the waiter what was going on, and he said that a ship was returning to the istanbul harbor. however, it wasn't just any ship... it was a flotilla, a humanitarian aid ship, that turkey had sent to palestine. along the way, israelis attacked it, killing 11 turks. israel had taken the ship and was holding it until late december, when sinan and i were sitting on the Bosphorus. it was so strange to witness a truly newsworthy event. see the article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12079727
after istanbul, i met my good friend eva in budapest. we had a great, but short time there. we saw the parliament, we saw the castle, we ate langosh, we went to the baths... it was a nice time (at least for me). then we returned to Kosice for new year's eve. for new year's, we met my friends olivier and valerie, and valerie's friends from France for a small dinner and drinks... then we went to the center and saw a concert and fireworks. it was the best new year's eve that i've had in ages. it was fun, lacking in drama, and generally a good time. also while eva was here, we took a day trip to Tatranska Lomnica, a popular destination for people who want to ski. the weather was perfect and it was beautiful to see the mountains in such nice weather.
eva left late on tuesday night and on wednesday i left for a trip to Dolny Kubin, a small town in slovakia. we were there for a few days for hiking, relaxing, and simply having a holiday. the highlight was a long hike in the Mala Fatra... we hiked up to about 1425 meters. it was unbelievably beautiful. as we were hiking we were able to see a lot of mountains, and the weather was changing so rapidly... i've never seen anything like it. unfortunately, my camera battery was broken, so i wasn't able to take any photos.
we came back on sunday evening, and on monday i returned back to school. it was a stressful return, as i didn't have so much time to rest and relax over the break. and finally, yesterday, i got my computer back! although it is void of information, it is nice to have the freedom and ability to communicate again. i survived the challenge i posed to my students :)
so, i suppose that's all for now. please let me know how you're doing.
with love,
anna
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