A Quick Pic

26 February, 2006. 10.05 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

Here's a picture of my friend (and old student from Modra) Katka. On Saturday I went to Pezinok to visit her. Her family has their own winery and next time I am promised to get a complimentary bottle! It's back to work tomorrow. Next weekend I will attend a traditional Slovak pig slaughter in Surany.....

My Squandered Holiday

23 February, 2006. 2.05pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

This week is "Spring Break" for most secondary schools in Slovakia, and the weather is acting accordingly. Regretfully I didn't plan anything this week and therefore I've been hanging around Trnava. I was reluctant to travel alone, yet again, and when I was unsuccessful in convincing any friends to come along to Prague or Budapest (my first choices), I hesitated. As I've been teaching my students, "He who hesitates is lost." I am a perfect example. But the week hasn't been a total bust. At least I'm getting some time to think (and write, and read)!

Last week I celebrated Valentine's Day by giving all of my students (at Obchodna Akademia and SUT) sweets. Valentine's Day is generally not celebrated here so I was surprised when I recieved a chocolate bar from one of my university students. Not surprisingly, she's an English teacher and is thus more familiar with British and North American "traditions." After my evening class at SUT, my Valentine's Day became very interesting, and a little scandalous.... Let's just say it included a "secret rendevous" at a local restaurant, followed by the cinema (where we watched "Hovari sa" which is the Slovak subtitled version of "Rumour Has It"). Nothing more, and that's all I'll say here....

On Wednesday I attended my first ever professional football (soccer) match. Because the pitch in Bratislava is under reconstruction, the Champions League match between Petrzalke (a part of Bratislava) and Sophia (Bulgaria) was held in Trnava. My Canadian friend, Yuri, who lives in Trencin, came down for the match. It was a cold evening, but it was fascinating to note that football fans are indeed as crazy as they appear in movies! Unfortunately the match was won by Sophia.... But perhaps it was fitting because there were clearly more Bulgarians in the crowd than Slovaks!!

On Friday I had tea with two members of my favourite Slovak band, the Funny Fellows. I met Zuzana Haasová and Roman Feder (and their little daughter Romana) at the MAX centre. There we chatted for an hour and I purchased two of their CDs. You might recall that I saw this group perform at the Christmas Market in Trnava in December. I've been looking for their CD ever since and when I had no luck I sent them an email via their website, http://www.funnyfellows.sk/ . I was surprised when Roman answered back that they'd be happy to meet me one day and sell me the CD personally! Well, it turns out that they thought I was another "Brendan Edwards"--one who is a rather famous banjo player, apparently. But I don't think they were disappointed because as it turned out, Zuzana is also looking to take some private English lessons, so in the future it looks like she will be my student!

Friday night I joined Mila, Petra, and two new friends, Lucia and Marta, at Penzion na mlyne (Mill Hotel) to watch Lucia Lužinská and the All Time Jazz Trio. This was an excellent concert! But again, I shouldn't have been surprised, whenever Mila suggests a cultural event, it is always good....

This week has been rather uneventful, except to say that the nation is in mourning after the Slovak Hockey Team's unexpected loss to the Czech Republic. Despite having a far superior team (and a perfect record in the preliminary round), the Slovak team always suffers from a mental block when it comes to playing the Czechs....

Pekný Pictures

19 February, 2006. 4.54 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

A few pictures I neglected to post from our hike last weekend in Dechtice.

12th Century Church in Dechtice.

Mila, Petra, and Ingrid.

Making a snowman in the Carpathians.

Petra jumping in the sneh (snow).

Pekný Weekend

13 February, 2006. 7.55pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

This past weekend was very nice (pekný). Friday was a quiet evening (although I was lucky enough to pass by a public TV just as Bulgaria was entering the opening ceremony of the Torino Olympics... Seconds later the Canadian athletes walked in, followed by the Czech Republic, then I was on my way....). On Saturday morning I awoke early to catch a bus to Dechtice. This is the village (about 20 minutes north-west of Trnava) that Petra and her family live in. Along with my colleague, Mila, from SUT, we took a beautiful walk through Dechtice with Petra, her two sisters, brother, and cousin. Dechtice is in the Carpathians and is home to one of the oldest churches in Slovakia. This beautiful little church and cemetery were established in the 12th century. It has been renovated and reconstructed, of course, through the centuries, but it is still functioning today. We then continued on our walk into the hills above Dechtice–the weather was perfect: about -5 C, with light snow, and almost no wind. Local hunters cut a path through the snow into the hills, but otherwise the snow was untouched. I have only about a half-dozen memories of such perfect winter conditions in all my life, so I really appreciated this walk. I am told that this same walk in the summer and autumn is equally beautiful, and I believe it. After our walk, Petra’s family treated us to a wonderful lunch at their house, which included a surprise birthday cake for me! Mila and I returned to Trnava in the early evening and needless to say after all that fresh air and exercise I slept like a baby on Saturday night!

On Sunday afternoon I walked to Mila’s flat and watched a little bit of the Olympics with her son Michel. Following dinner, Mila and I went to the centre of Trnava to watch the much-anticipated concert of Diabolské Husle (Devil’s Violin). This is a Roma band, which if I’m not mistaken may be featured in the Canadian film, Red Violin. Their performance was stellar. The cimbal player, Ernest Šárkzi is probably one-of-a-kind in the whole world. By far, this is the best music I’ve seen performed in Slovakia thus far (and I’ve seen some great music!). Distinguished guests in the audience included the piano player from Slovak Superstar (rather than singing karaoke, like on American or Canadian Idol, contenders sing to a live piano player on Slovak Superstar). As you may know, relationships between Slovaks and Slovak Roma are not good, so to see such a positive audience reaction to the music of Diabolské Husle is hopeful, to say the least.

Next week is the winter holiday for the schools in Slovakia. I am trying to convince Petra to come with me on a trek to the Czech Republic.... No success yet, but I’m sure the week will not go to waste....

Tomorrow is St. Valentine's Day--Slovaks generally don't celebrate this day, but I think I'll bring some candies to school for the students....

Temporary Residence Permit recieved

8 February, 2006. 2.44 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

I am happy to report that only moments ago I recieved my Temporary Residence Permit. I am now officially legal in the Slovak Republic, until the end of July, 2006. Technically, even without the permit, I would still be legal for two and half more weeks--foreigners can stay in Slovakia for up to three months without a permit. At least I can breath easy now. This also means that I can legally recieve my salary. Until this time I've still been living off of Canadian funds, so now I can officially access my Slovak salary.

My 30th

7 February, 2006. 2.22 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

I celebrated my 30th birthday last week. Twice, actually. Once in Bratislava, and then again this past Saturday in Trnava. Unfortunately with the flu and cold season in full swing, and it being a long weekend for educators, the turnout was not as large as I thought it might be. Nonetheless, nine people still turned out at La Dolce Vita Pizzeria (although I'd never met two of these people before!). After a nice evening of conversation and moderate wine drinking a few of us went to Planet 4 disco. As I feared, I ran into about half of the 5N class, all of whom made a point of coming by to say "hello." I suspect this will be one of my last visits to such an establishment (in fact, it has been years since I've been in one anyway).... It is tradition here to organise and pay for your own celebration, but on the other hand Slovaks are quite generous in their gift-giving. Although the food and drink at La Dolce Vita cost me almost 2,000 Sk (still, not very much in Canadian dollars!), I probably recieved at least that much in chocolate and wine as gifts!

On Wednesday (the actual day of my birthday), three students who live in my dorm (Monika, Gabi, and Barbora) surprised me when they knocked on my door in the evening to present me with a homemade birthday card and some chocolate--they also sang Happy Birthday! This was a very unexpected, but touching surprise.

It's snowing again in Trnava today, and I've been battling a minor cold since Friday....

Some of my guests at La Dolce Vita.

With Erika and Zuzanna at La Dolce Vita.

Some of my birthday gifts (minus the chocolate and alcohol already consumed).