life here in kosice seems to be settling into a normal pace. last week i had a week full of lessons, coffee dates, tesco runs and (thanks to a couple of sunny days) a few nice walks around the city. i love the way this city feels when the sun is out. as seen through the shades of my Romantic imagination, it feels like people on the street are dancing, little children are giggling, soft music is playing and birds are singing. the sun is a warm spot light on all of the action. it feels like the scene in Enchanted when everyone is dancing through Central Park. it is simply lovely and heart-warming... in every cheesy and nauseating way.
there weren't many events in my week worth speaking of. i started an "english club" with some of my students, i went shopping with some colleagues, and i finally started my slovak lessons. all good things, but nothing extraordinary.
on friday, i spent the afternoon with my friend vesna. it was fun to spend time with her because she is quite busy with university and i don't get to see her very often. afterwards, i met my friends stephanie and katrina at the bus station and train station (respectively). stephanie and katrina are two of my fulbright friends who are living in different parts of slovakia. they came to kosice for the weekend and it was SO MUCH FUN. on friday evening we went out for traditional slovak food, which was delicious. we also drank some burciak (sp?), which is a really early wine. it was amazing. then we came back to my flat and just spent time catching up. it was so relaxing to talk to people in a similar position as myself.
on saturday we had a really full day. we all woke up, oddly enough, at 6:00 a.m. i made coffee and we had a light breakfast over good conversation, and then we met one of my students, tinka (my colleagues daughter- she is SO sweet), who took us to the mall. we did a little shopping, came back for a rest, and then went out to a chocolate cafe and had amazing hot chocolate. if any of you come and visit you will be lucky enough to experience this treat. they serve delicious hot chocolate. and it is literally hot chocolate, none of this "cocoa" powder crap. i had a hot chocolate with walnut bits, and it was unbelievable. after successfully drinking our day's worth of calories, we went on a walk, did some more shopping in the center, and then came back to my flat to get ready for the evening. while at my flat, nelli called and said that tina was having a concert with ritmus, a famous rapper. fortunately, we were able to go! even more fortunately, we were put on the guest list. so we went out for a few drinks at jazz club and then nelli came to pick us up. it was such a fun evening. although the music wasn't what i'm typically accustomed to listening to, it was so fun and interesting to experience... and i really enjoyed the music. ritmus is a slovak rapper, and i certainly couldn't understand even one little bit of what he was saying. nelli's daughter tina is so beautiful and has such a wonderful voice, so she was easy and quite enjoyable to listen to. after the concert we were able to talk with her for a little bit, i felt so special :) the night was so good for me because i got to spend time with two great girls from fulbright who i simply love spending time with, and i also got to go to tina's concert with nelli-- which felt special.
also this weekend, i had two horrible horrible horrible experiences at tesco. ok, that was dramatic. but i still feel embarrassed thinking about them. first: on saturday evening (with stephanie and katrina) we went to tesco to get some food for breakfast. the tesco in kosice is four floors, and when going from one floor to the next you have to walk through security monitors (the things that beep if you walk out with something). well, i walked in just fine. however, each time i walked through after that the security things kept beeping! i think i had to walk through three before i finally left the store. it was mortifying. then, on sunday, i went to tesco to do some weekly shopping. i had just showered and left without any makeup, wearing house clothes. i thought it would be a short, discrete trip. before i got into tesco, i stopped at an ATM. i put the money in my pocket, but for whatever reason i put my wallet underneath my arm (as if i thought that was a safe place). i went through tesco, did my shopping, and went to the check out. once everything was being rung up, i started to search for my wallet. it was gone. fortunately, i knew i only had about 10 euro in my wallet and the rest of my money was in my pocket. i was a little panicked, and the cashier knew instantly... she tried to ask me something. i couldn't understand. then the people in line were looking at me and trying to re-explain what the cashier was saying-- in slovak. i said "i don't speak slovak," but they kept trying. i took out cash so she could see that i would pay, and she rung everything up. i paid, and then she made a phone call. i stood there feeling lost and helpless. all i wanted to do was walk back through the store and look for my wallet... i was sure i had simply dropped it somewhere. but when she hung up the phone, she said something to me and pointed upstairs. i took the hint and went upstairs, luckily there was a roma-looking person behind me who had taken an interest in my situation. he said "wallet" and pointed up, and he came up with me to what looked like a customer service desk. i stood there and an angry looking woman said something to me that i didn't understand. i looked at my new roma friend, and he tried to explain again in slovak. i was clueless, red, hot and entirely embarrassed. all i wanted to do was leave. then i saw an older woman with (what looked like) her daughter come up to the counter, and the woman said "po anglisky" (or something) to her daughter and pointed at me. she came up to me and said "do you need help?" and i said "YES!" and then the angry woman and the roma friend explained everything to her. she asked me "what happened?" i told her i lost my wallet. she asked, "what did it look like?" i said it was small and red. she said, "what was in it?" i said only about 10 euro. instantly the angry woman revealed my wallet. she had it at her counter but didn't want to give it to me unless i could prove that it was mine. it was all such a headache... and i feel like i made this huge stir at tesco when all i wanted to do was buy some toilet cleaner and chocolate. never again will i expect that i can go to tesco discretely... or really anywhere for that matter. ahhhh, the joys of being a foreigner.
and today was slow and sweet. nothing special. i had some lessons, met my "english club" and talked about childhood memories, came home and received a wonderful package from home, and then spent the evening deep cleaning my flat.
wishing you well,
anna
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