my loyal readers...

i am NOT a loyal blogger. i am sorry.

this past month has been a whirlwind. i'll start with a highlight: at the end of february, i went to the canary islands with a friend of mine. it was PERFECT. i went with my friend valerie, her sister, and their friend. they were all french, and it was certainly a cultural experience. they were wonderful women and i was happy to spend a week with them, and i was taught how to appreciate good wine, good cheese and fresh fish. while in the canaries, we stayed at a beautiful old hotel in las palmas, but we were able to travel to different parts of the island to see mountains, beaches, and even a small desert. even more, it was the week of Carnaval. one night there was a huge parade and everyone was dressed up, dancing and having a good time. it was fun. most importantly, it was good to have a change of scenery... palm trees and sun were a much welcomed change from the cold and windy streets of kosice.

besides the canary islands, i've been to some concerts, some parties, my friend stephanie visited and i found a new park in the city thanks to the help of my co-worker and friend misa. a typical day consists of waking up and enjoying a long breakfast, going to school, coming home and reading, watching a few episodes of Mad Men, and then meeting friends in the evening. i cannot express how blessed i am to be here.

i'm realizing that my time is starting to come to an end. two people at school today asked me when i was leaving, and when i met my friends tonight we were discussing summer plans. when i think about leaving the only things i feel are fear and despair. let me explain why. on the most basic level: i live alone in a perfect flat, in the center of the city, with a great (and famous) landlord, and with a phenomenal view. i work with amazing people. i LOVE my co-workers. i have a great principal, great vice principal, great direct co-workers... and what's more, great students. i truly love going to school everyday. teaching makes me come alive and i am surrounded by the kindest, most supportive and most interesting people. AND i live in a great place. slovakia is a beautiful country with great people. there are mountains and breathtaking nature everywhere. and kosice is a perfect city. it's large but without the international/tourist market. it feels authentic, warm and welcoming... and it's simply wonderful and loaded with opportunities for culture.

on a bit of a deeper level: i've made great friends here. they are great people-- supportive, interesting, fun. but what's most important-- they want to do things! i have always found it frustrating at home that when i want to go out, or go on a trip, or meet for coffee, or go shopping, or go to a movie, or go on a walk... that i have to pull teeth to find someone to go with me. ok, ok... maybe it's me! maybe i'm horrible to spend time with. but this sense of community and engagement is one that i lack at home. i'm not saying it's distinctly american, but i will say there is a sense of belonging and activity that i've always longed for at home, but have mostly lacked. here i have it. and it is so, so precious.

and finally, most selfishly, i have been totally free here. i have truly felt like this is a year for me, and it has been such a gift. i have been allowed to grow and experiment and change... all without the heavy pressure from home. maybe it's a consequence of being finished with college, but i feel so light and free. i have hardly any responsibilities, and those i do have i can do with pleasure.

i know that all of these things are rare in life. and like all things which are gold, they cannot stay. i know that when i come home i need to start thinking about life: money, future, grad school... but for now i'm basking in the beauty and freedom i feel in slovakia.

until next time...

xo
anna

is it spring yet?

greetings from slovakia,

as always, i'd like to start this blog with my routine apologies for not updating this more frequently. 

to be honest, my life hasn't been so interesting, so good or so busy to blog about. february is a cruel month, a tease in so many ways. i hope winter will be over soon, and that spring will bring nothing but good things. 

though nothing very exciting has happened, there are small events to report. last week i went to a concert with some friends-- the group was called Bloodgroup and they were really great. it was a fun, energetic concert... really a good time. i saw "black swan," which i highly recommend. one of the best films i've seen in a while. i went to a jazz concert on thursday. and last night i went to another concert at Kasarne... actually, it was a birthday party and a concert. i went with some of my friends, one of whom works for the European City of Culture (sidenote: Kasarne is a venue which has been established in preparation of 2013, the year when Kosice will be a European City of Culture). the birthday party was for a girl who works with the design team at Kasarne, and it was one of the best birthday parties i've been to. there was a lot of dancing, chatting, eating, drinking... everyone was having a good time. we danced for hours in a small office room. it was great. 

this weekend will be a quiet one. next week is the last week of school before our spring holidays. i'll keep you posted.

xo

anna

a good start to 2011

ahoj!

i'm not sure how many of you are still reading this; nonetheless, i will faithfully march on and continuing writing for anyone who cares :)

unfortunately, not a lot is new with me. a few weekends ago i went to visit my good friend, stephanie, in her "willage," tisovec. though it was a small city, it was so nice and so peaceful. we went out to dinner, ate brownies, watched 'arrested development,' and caught up. it was wonderful.

the following monday i judged the "English Olympics" for students in kosice. whew! it was a lot of work. i had to read two pages out loud, correct 3 different tests for twenty students, and give 2 oral exams to the same twenty students. needless to say, i was WORKED. i came home exhausted. tuesday, unsurprisingly, i was really sick. although i went to school and taught, it was pathetic... i more or less simply sat in front of my students and told them to have a conversation with each other in english. i could barely walk home in the afternoon, but as soon as i was there i sat. and sat. and slept. and ate oranges. before i knew it it was wednesday morning and i pulled myself out of bed and came to school, where i suffered through another day. what was worse, it was the week that grades were due.

normally the week where students receive grades is stressful on both students and teachers. however, i've never experienced this week as a teacher... let me tell you: i prefer being a student. it was hell. what is worse, many of my students tried to negotiate with me for better grades. for my young, empathetic self, this was really difficult. i've been building relationships with these students for months, and suddenly when i give them a "B" i have become their worst enemy. they viscously wanted "As," which i couldn't rightly give some students. without getting into too much detail, it was simply DRAMA at the school. my takeaway impression is extremely negative. i felt like the students disrespected me and completely shamed themselves, and it all left a horrible taste in my mouth. i hope it is a situation that i can learn a few lessons from and try to avoid next semester.

besides that, not much else is new. i went to a concert with my friend valerie (which was certainly a highlight of my month), and i've been watching a lot of "House" to cope with my less-than-healthy laziness.

i hope you all are enjoying this cold, dark month.

xo
anna

remember me?

good evening!

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

quick update

i am writing this blog with shame. i know it's been weeks since i've written. trust me, i've been busy! so rather than writing a very detailed blog about the current events in my life, i will give you simply a brief update to catch you all up to speed.

in the past few weeks, i've:

1. been hiking near kosice. it snowed, so everything is SO beautiful. we hiked in snow, ate at a "chata," or a lodge, and had a wonderful winter afternoon.

2. been to ANOTHER stuzkova. this one for my students of 4A. it was wonderful and entertaining; however, because i had heat issues in my flat, i couldn't stay all night. i had to sleep with my landlord and his family, so i had to be back early. now, fortunately, my heat issues are resolved.

3. seen my parents! they came to budapest and i met them there. we stayed at a luxurious hotel, that has had guests such as Iggy Pop, Carla Bruni, George Bush, Condoleeza Rice, Jamiroquai... be jealous. there were beautiful breakfasts, beautiful hot wine, beautiful rooms, beautiful service... it was absolutely wonderful. the city of budapest was OK too :) after budapest, we came to kosice. my parents came to school for a day with me, we saw the city, and we even went hiking in vysoke tatry (high tatras). i was sad to see them leave, but was glad that they left kosice loving the city and country as much as me.

these next few weeks will also be busy. it's hard to believe that christmas is quickly approaching. i wish there was another week before christmas so that i could rest a little bit... december 23 i will go to istanbul, and then on the 29th eva will be visiting me until the 5th. and then i have another small trip planned to another place in slovakia, and then school starts again. whew. i am tired thinking of it all. but as always, i feel so happy that i have this opportunity... and that i am busy doing fun and interesting things, rather than writing papers and reading for school...

i'm sending all of my best wishes and love to you during this holiday season.

anna

busy. tired.

Friends, family, fans...

I am feeling sorry that it has been awhile since my last blog post.

Fortunately, it’s because I’ve been so busy! So last time I wrote, I had just returned from the High Tatras with my friends Thomas and Patrick. The week after was relatively uneventful. However, on Friday night I went to Kasarne Kulturpark to see a band from Switzerland. Kasarne is an old military building which is now being used to host cultural events, mostly in preparation for 2013, when Kosice will be the Cultural Capital of Europe for the year. The performace we saw was called Compagnie Drift-Black Peter, and they were so, so interesting. Rather than attempting (and likely failing) to describe them, here is a youtube video of their performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KM7okqErt8

Then on Saturday, I went to Liptovsky Mikulas to meet my dear Fulbright friends, Katrina and Stephanie. Katrina lives in LM, so we saw her flat and a small portion of her life there. It was a good night, but I was so tired from the night before that I had to go home early. On Sunday, Katrina’s boyfriend, Palko, drove the three of us to Krakow, Poland for a ETA Teacher Training conference for Fulbright. The drive was absolutely beautiful. We drove through mountains, small villages… it was gorgeous. And fortunately, Palko was able to drive us. Otherwise, it would have been a nearly 11 hour journey because the train system to Krakow is so complicated.

The conference in Poland was OK. We met other ETA’s from Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. It was great to meet some new people, and we had a lot of fun together. The actual conference was only mediocre, so on Tuesday I skipped the sessions and went to Auschwitz. No one else wanted to come with me, so I went on my own. I was a bit nervous to go… whenever I think of the horrible, evil things that happened at these concentration camps, I almost feel sick that humans could behave in such a way to fellow humans. The whole trip there (about 1.5 hours), I was emotionally preparing myself for what I might see. However, when I got there, I was surprised how much of a “tourist attraction” it seemed to be. There were people getting their photos taken in front of the crematorium, groups of students making jokes… it seemed odd. However, when I found myself in a room alone, I started feeling really anxious. Also, there were some rooms where large groups of people were locked for weeks, left to starve to death. Those rooms, even with people around, were too difficult to really look at. There is something about seeing the physical reality of a place that is simply too overwhelming.

On Wednesday afternoon, as we were waiting for our driver, Palko, Katrina and I decided to get a piercing. We found a place, and they told us that their piercer would be there in ten minutes. So we waited, and suddenly a man came into the room… he was dressed in a black triangular skirt, a black button-up shirt, and big black shoes. His face was pierced everywhere. His eyebrows were shaved and femininely re-drawn. His ears had gauges that were likely 2 inches in diameter. His hair was bleach-blond and slicked pack. He had small, horn-ish implants in his forehead. And most scary of all, he was wearing contacts that made his whole eyes black, except for the irises, which were silver. He was as pale as a ghost, and his fingers were long and skinny… and his nails were also overgrown. I was scared. However, as soon as he started talking, I realized that he was incredibly nice, warm and friendly. Certainly, he was one of the strangest-looking people I’ve ever seen, but his charming personality somehow made his look seem normal… or at least appropriate. So, we trusted him and 30 minutes later, Katrina and I had new piercings. We stayed around and chatted for a little while, and they (his friends at the parlor), told us that he is a really famous piercer, and that we should feel lucky we had our piercings done by him. No big deal :-)

I returned to Kosice on Wednesday evening absolutely EXHAUSTED. I drug my body to school, and a few teachers even told me “you look so tired!” Always a nice thing to hear. But, I made it through the day, and through the week for that matter. Friday evening, I returned to Kasarne with some friends and we saw some Slovak bands perform, Plastic Swans and Swan Bride. They were interesting, at least. And certainly not horrible.

Saturday I met one of my students for a lesson, and then in the evening I met my dear friend Vesna. I am so happy to have met her. Spending time with her is so comfortable and natural that whenever I’m with her I almost feel like I’m home.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and stay warm back in MN!

Love from SR,

anna

already november?

dear friends and family,

life is crazy here in slovakia. i'm not sure where to even begin. i must say that i'm on a bit of a sugar high, so this entry might be a little scattered...

so after i returned from prague, i taught for a few days. on thursday evening, i went to one of my classes (5FB's) stuzkova. stuzkova is a big ceremony that classes have for their graduation. a lot of my students called it prom, which i suppose it is somewhat similar to. the students invited all of their teachers as well as their parents. it started with all of the students very ceremoniously walking in, wearing their beautiful dresses, suits, etc. everyone looked gorgeous. a few words were said, then the students were pinned with their green ribbons (traditional for stuzkova), then the students had a dance with the teachers, then with their parents, and then we had a very formal meal. after the meal there was a bit of a program, and then a lot of dancing. around midnight the students all drank wine from the same jar, and at the end the class teacher broke the jar... leaving pieces for the students to take home as souvenirs. and then there was more dancing, and more dancing, and more dancing. and of course, like every slovak event, more drinking, and more drinking, and more drinking. it was a great night. the next morning, after the students had been out partying all night, they came to school and brought bottles of wine and cake for the teachers to enjoy in the teacher's lounge. they were even drinking in their classroom... which i don't think is allowed, but they were doing it anyway (and no one told them not to). in short, it was a crazy night... followed by a crazy day.

then on friday, i left for the high tatras with patrick, a french teacher from the bilingual section. we drove in his car to poprad to meet a friend of his (a french lecturer at a university), thomas. on the way, we were pulled over by the police. it was a bit of a fiasco... there had been an accident and apparently we didn't respect the road signs to stop. the cop wanted us to pay him 60 euro. instead of paying, we waited about 20 minutes and told him we didn't have the money, and eventually he let us go. it is a shame, really, that cops can do that in slovakia. he simply wanted cash. he wouldn't give us a ticket, he only took patrick's license and threatened to keep it until we payed him 60 euro. once he discovered we didn't have it, he had no choice but to let us go... such a strange system.

finally we arrived in poprad and met thomas. we had a relatively quiet night, and woke up early on saturday to go hiking in the high tatras. we had to drive about twenty minutes to get to the mountains. when we were there, we met two of thomas' students. they were really nice and joined us for about the first hour of our hike. after this hour, we ate a quick lunch and then parted ways. thomas, patrick and i then took about a four hour hike. the first hour was straight uphill. it was a bit of a challenge, but i managed quite well. i was surprised. i was so nervous for this hike because i'd heard the high tatras were difficult, and i haven't really worked out for a few months. but, fortunately, i was wearing hiking boots. i felt like the boots were magic! they made the hike so much easier. after we'd reached the top, we headed down for about three hours. the high tatras were so nice because there are some beautiful, amazingly clear lakes. the hike was difficult, but rewarding. at the end, we had to take a bus back to where we'd begun, and then we were able to drive home. although it was only 5:00 p.m., it was already dark! then after some hot showers, we went out for a few quiet beers. the perfect end to a perfect day.

on sunday we drove to a national park called "Slovak Paradise." although it's a funny name, the hike was so much fun. on the way up we encountered a lot of waterfalls, caves, rivers... we had to climb up ladders, go across makeshift bridges... i felt like i was in some sort of outdoor-adventure park for adults. it was great. the walk down was less adventurous, but a good walk nonetheless. even though i'd managed to maintain my balance along slippery ladders, logs and rocks on the way up, somehow i tripped on the flattest ground on our way down. i've got a pretty good cut on my hand to prove it.

i'm sorry i can't really recount the hikes in full detail. but i suppose the important things to note are 1. they were BEAUTIFUL. 2. i didn't die. 3. it was one of the best weekends i've spent in slovakia thus far.

it's amazing that it is already the 9th of november. where is time going? i wish things would slow down a little bit... these next few weeks are crazy, and i'm nervous that this year is going by too quickly.

missing all of you,

anna