Slovakia Day 17 – Late Start & an Early Finish

Today was the first day it really rained here. Sure, there has been some light rain in the past few weeks, but there never was a solid rain shower. It was nice, to be able to wake up in the morning and listen to the rain, and it was even better when I was told I could go to school late. Today was a very good, relaxed day.

When I got up this morning, I did my normal procedure of showering, brushing my teeth, etc. But right as I was about to leave, my host mom came in and explained to me that My P.E. class was canceled and I wouldn’t have to go to school for another hour. I was excited, and relieved, because I would be able to sleep another hour. That is one thing that is different here, at least the impression I have been given. They don’t really have substitute teachers, it’s either the class is there or it is not. There really is no in between. But, I have only been here for two weeks, what do I know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I also found out that our classes end at lunch, so I was able to go home early today. Right after school I went out to this very hole in the wall cafe, where we played this Slovak board game. If you told me that I would win a million dollars if I could explain the rules of that game, I would have to tell you to keep the million dollars because I had no idea what was going on. It was very fun though, and I was able to get to know some of my classmates that I hadn’t really talked too much.

If I am going to be perfectly honest, I don’t have much to say today. When I am finishing up my posts, I always feel a little guilty because on slow days like today I always steal a picture that I hadn’t used from a previous day. But, tomorrow won’t be slow, as we are going on some kind of field trip? I just got the permission slip and passed it from my parents to my homeroom teacher because I had no idea what it said. I do know, that we are going somewhere and doing something about/with the founder of the school, but that is all I have been able to pick up in others conversation.

Well, that is all for today, but I couldn’t end my post without the word of the day! Todays word of the day is:

červená – red

Pronounced chervenya, and I choose this today because I worked on learning my colors in Slovak today. Not an easy feat let me tell you, especially when you try to do it while everyone else is speaking in German.

 

All of these pictures were taken on a Sony A6000. If you are looking for a great lightweight camera that takes fantastic pictures, I would definitively recommend this setup here.

Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Slovakia Day 15 – Varecha, Medovniks, and some Trdelnik (What??)

As promised, today I went and took pictures and did some pictures on the fantastic festival that is called Radvanský jarmok. The more I found out about this crazy and amazing festival, the more I had started to fall in love with the city. Today I will tell you all about the CRAZY things that they do in this unbelievable city.

I woke up this morning, with a slight headache and sore throat. It was not unbearable, and after a little bit of water I was up and ready to go. I did notice however, throughout the day I was pretty tired. Anyway, I really lazed around for the first half of the day, only really leaving the comfort of my desk chair to go and eat lunch, which was a fantastic sunday soup. For anyone that doesn’t know, a large portion of Slovakia eats roughly the same soup everyday, which contains things like carrots, chicken or celery. Once I had finished the soup, I had told my family I was off. I was set to go out and discover what jarmok was all about.

I walked through the cemetery to get to the town square, and I felt a little silly that I was so well spooked yesterday. It is actually somewhat relaxing walking though there, because there really is not too much noise, and hardly any foot traffic. One thing I did notice while walking through there, was quite a few gravestones with dates in the 1940s. Not enough to make it outstanding, but there were a few.

The scenery in jarmok was much different than it was yesterday. Today it seemed that they were closing down most of the shops, and there was a lot less people out and about. However, the stalls that I was looking forward to visiting were still open so I was able to visit them.

I have to control myself. I have an unbearable want to write about something absolutely absurd and amazing, but I am going to have to hold off. I must save the best for last. Anyway, yesterday I described a cylinder type of sugar breaded dessert, and Trdelnik is the name of it. Yesterday, the one I had was fantastic, still steaming and cooked just right. Today however, mine appeared to have been sitting out for quite a while, and was burned all up and down the sides. Somewhat disappointed, yet I would still recommend that you try it (a fresh one that is).

Something that I noticed while walking down the street, were many vendors selling these heart shaped cookies. I asked about them, and they are called medovniky, and they are apparently just like gingerbread cookies, except honey instead of ginger. How true this is, I am not sure. There will be a language barrier for a few months until I can start to really understand the Slovak language. Anyway, I did buy a bag off relatively plain looking cookies, which I can say tasted just as they might appear. I don’t know if there is some kind of huge traditional aspect around them, but they just tasted like any other cookie. I don’t quite understand why so many vendors would be selling them, but I guess they must sell quite a few for there to be that many.

I did not go onto any of the rides today, mostly because I did not want to be the only one on the ride. That section of the festival was mostly desolate, really only occupied by the occasional parent being dragged around by their kid. I think it was safe to assume people really don’t start celebrations until later in the afternoon.

Red and white are Banska Bystricas official colors, which come from its coat of arms. My host family did not know anything about it, but here is what I could find online.

The origin or meaning of these arms is not very clear. The arms date from the latter half of the 13th century and are most likely derived from the arms of the Arpad dynasty, who became extinct in 1301. (Source)

These pictures were taken over the Hron River, which flows through the city, and ends somewhere in or near Hungary.

Finally, the part I have been most excited to write. Last night, I might have mentioned that a very interesting Banska Bystrica tradition took place. This tradition is that men walk around with spoon like paddles, and slap another girls ass with them. Of course, I am one for cultural enrichment so I set out and bought two paddles, one roughly about 9 inches in length, and one a little over a yard in length. I unfortunately, didn’t get to take part in any today, but don’t worry; I had gotten my fill last night.

That is all for today! I had a lot of fun, and ate a lot of good food! Of course, I couldn’t end a post without the word of the day! Today’s word of the day is:

Verecha – Spoon

Pronounced like verehhha (a h that comes from the back of your throat), and this is the name of the spoon that is used for my oh-so-favorite tradition.

 All of these pictures were taken on a Sony A6000. If you are looking for a great light weight camera that takes fantastic pictures, I would definitively recommend this setup here.

Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Slovakia Day 14 – Baptism, Radvanský Jarmok, and a Graveyard

I am very tired at the moment, and I have had a crazy day. I am not even sure where to begin, whether it be the baptism that I attended, or the crazy festival that I went to. Either way today I am going to have to write a lot, and I only have about 45 minutes to do it, as I am coming close to midnight. (Wow, I just realised this, but it has been two weeks already! Very hard to believe!)

I woke up today at about 10:05, with a knock at my door. My host dad tells me that we will be leaving soon, and I need to get up. I vaguely remember being told that we were going to a baptism, but I did not really know when or where it was. I quickly put some pants on and grabbed my sweatshirt and thought I was ready to go. When we got to the church I realised that I was somewhat in the wrong attire. I was wearing some dinky old jacket, while everyone else was wearing very nice suits and ties. I did not really know how to feel about that, but I pretended that I did not notice the people staring at me and tried to enjoy the service that was provided. I am frustrated that I was not able to take pictures, because I had forgotten my memory card AGAIN.  I keep meaning to buy another one, but I just haven’t quite found the right time.

After the service, we ran a quick shopping spree, dropped our groceries off at home, and walked off to lunch. Either no one really knew where we were going, or they didn’t want to tell me. Either way I was surprised when I got to the restaurant, and I was even more surprised when I saw the same people from the baptism. Although I was surprised, it did make sense in the end, that the whole family was going to eat lunch together on an important day. While I was at the restaurant, I got educated on an important part of Slovak culture, although I don’t know if I can share it. I met some fantastic people that all told me I had to visit them. I definitely will take up on guys offer, he and his family currently live in Bratislava, and they offered to take me all around the city. I hope that I will be able to travel around the country and see all the amazing sites that SLovakia has to offer.

After I got back from lunch today, I almost immediately was dropped off at the mall for what I will consider the most exciting (and expensive) part of my day. I had made plans with some of my classmates to go to a huge festival in the city, called Radvanský jarmok. A brief history on the festival, how true this is, I don’t know. The one man that lives in Bratislava that I was talking about explained it to me, but he was slightly “out of it” so to say, so I don’t know how correct this information is. Anyway, the festival has been a yearly tradition in Banska Bystrica culture for over 350 years. Radvanský, which was once its own town, now part of Banska Bystrica, had a large church. This church’s “patron spirit” was Mary, which somehow ties into a yearly festival. How it does, I don’t know, that was not explained to me. Originally, this festival was used just as a practical gathering to trade goods, but over the years it was turned into a fantastic event with many different types of food, drinks, and entertainment.

I plan on going back tomorrow, which is why I really didn’t take any pictures today. I wanted to be able to enjoy myself today, and not worry about having to take tons of pictures for the blog. I got to try many different foods, candies and drinks, which I loved. I have not had food that I have disliked yet, and I hope that doesn’t change. My favorite food that I had the privilege to try today was this fantastic cylinder of dough and cinnamon. I didn’t try to remember the name, because I was trying to enjoy myself and try all the foods. Sorry, I will get the name of it tomorrow!

I wasted plenty of money on rides today, but I have to ask myself, were they worth the price? The cost to me: 5 Euros ish per ride. What I get out of it? I get to spend 5-10 minutes getting a crazy adrenaline rush and being able to enjoy it with my friends. I don’t know about you, but I think that is definitely worth it. I am probably going to forgot some people, and if I did, sorry, but I want to thank Ke, Laura, Sophia and her cousin, Veronica, Richard, Thomas, Igor, and so many others. I was able to have one of the best times of my life because you guys were awesome tonight. Thank you!

I walked alone on the way home, and not going to lie, I was pretty spooked. It’s like the graveyard I  had to walk through was trying to spook you. There were no lights in the graveyard, except for the candles that were lit by the graves. And those were pretty spooky, because they looked like eyes, and I was being watched the entire way through. It takes a lot to spook a big guy like me, but this graveyard was pretty close.

That’s all I am wanting to write tonight, I am closing in on midnight and I am tired and sore. Crossfit really did a number on this out of shape guy. But, I can’t end today without the very special word of the day! Todays word of the day is:

Slavnost – festival

I believe it is pronounced like you would in english, but I might be wrong. I think it should be pretty obvious why I choose this word for the fantastic festival I attended today.

Tomorrow I WILL have a much more in-depth post! Look forward to it!

All of these pictures were taken on a Sony A6000. If you are looking for a great light weight camera that takes fantastic pictures, I would definitively recommend this setup here.

Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Slovakia Day 13 – Cross Fit, Painted Nails, and Short Rant

There is a fantastic festival that is going on in Banska Bystrica. There are rides that will make your heart stop, live bands producing fantastic Slovak music, and there is enough booze to get the entire country drunk! Of course, I didn’t end up going tonight. Never fear, however! I will be going tomorrow night, and I will make sure I take tons of pictures! But for now, here is what I did today.

I learned a few things about the Slovak education system today. I am going to try and be as objective as possible, and also I will try to be brief because I will want to try and put this into its own post, because I have a lot to say on the matter. Anyway, I have started to understand the system that we are using here, its benefits and its drawbacks. In Slovakia, they study certain subjects much longer than we would in America, and there is little choice on what subjects you get to choose. I don’t want to go into too much detail, again because I would like to make a separate post, but I feel like speaking out is not as encouraged as in the US. And not just speaking out too.

I know people will say: “Oh its just the language barrier” but no, I know when people can’t talk. These kids won’t talk, or rather, don’t know what to say. At my old school in America, there were a few kids who could keep up with me in an argument, and quickly think on the spot. Everyone here, struggles in that department. Even listening to them argue in Slovak, I don’t quite know how but I can feel the time delay in their responses and the lack of a structured response. With that said however, they are much smarter than you or I. They can do math problems I wouldn’t be learning until this year with no problem, and I would only just be learning them. When it comes to intelligence coming straight from the book, I don’t know of many people that can top them. Although this might not make sense, please be patient with me. I will write an article on the appeared differences between Slovak and American schools, so just wait until then.

Already looking huge after just 1 day of cross fit…. Just kidding, I just wanted to show my new hat! I have started to really like hats, and this one is super Slovak so that makes it even better!

I went to Cross-fit here in Slovakia for the first time, and believe me when I say I was not ready. I got home today from school and started to just pig out on junk food, not realizing what was coming. My host dad walks in around 5:20, and says to me “In 5 minutes we go, OK?” I ask him where and he reminds me that all of the spaghetti, chocolate, and soda that I had just drank would be returning the same way it came. It was very cool however, because I basically had a private trainer. It was only us two today for the first half, and we did some basic workout things. At the second half we paired up as a team and took on two other guys training in the same building. I was very tired at the end, and realized just how bad of shape I am in. Thankfully however, the absurd amount of terrible food I ate stayed put.

We both had our nails still wet at the time so was not easy taking a picture with my camera

Tonight my host sister painted my nails, and I was on board with the idea until she told me mid way through that we don’t own any nail polish remover. At that point, stopped caring and told her to just told her to keep painting. It was fun to be able to talk to her and get to know her better, she really is a great host sister!

Today’s word of the day is:

autobus – bus

Pronounced just it would be in English, and here is the reason I bring it up! I was trying to get off the bus today and right as I got to the exit, the doors closed on me. I swear I heard the bus driver laugh at me. I had to walk home from another stop away, which was at the bottom of the hill I live on.

 All of these pictures were taken on a Sony A6000. If you are looking for a great light weight camera that takes fantastic pictures, I would definitively recommend this setup here.

Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Slovakia Day 12 – Slovak Classes, Police Again, Pizza, and JDM Dream

I was very excited this afternoon. Do you ever read or watch something, and it just inspires you to do something even greater? I was able to experience that this evening, and to be honest, I am still super hyped for this. Unfortunately, it will have to wait a year or so before I can make this dream a reality. Read on to find out!

Today I had my first meeting for my Slovak lessons. We just set up times, but something I noticed while all three of us were gathered was that we all seemed very tired. Ashley, Nikole, and myself are the three rotary exchange students staying in Banska Bystrica, with Nikole and Ashley going to a different school than my own. We had decided to meet at my school, and we would have an hour lesson every Monday and Wednesday. I hope that these lessons help, because I sure could use it.

When I got home from school, my host dad told me that we needed to go to the police station. I was somewhat terrified at the fact that it might be another one of these. However, my host dad told me that it shouldn’t take any longer than 10 minutes. I had my doubts, but I went without a word, literally too because my host dad doesn’t speak much English. Once we got there, I signed a few documents and we were done. I want to share the reason that I had to go back entirely, but I think that for the safety of my stay I better not. I will leave it up to your imagination.

My host dad made some fantastic pizza today, and I got to know a little more about him because of it. In his struggle to communicate with me in English, I noticed that he sometimes uses German words on accident. I found out today that he used to work as a Pizza Chef in Munich, which would explain the fantastic pizza and the occasional German.

Finally, what I lead on in the first paragraph. I was watching a video where these two guys bought a VW Golf for $1000, and turned it into an alright machine for just $500 more. One of the things that they did to it, which really caught my eye was they plastered some comics to the front right side of the car, to give it a wrapped look. I really loved this, and thought to myself “I should do that!”.

So I set out to craigslist, looking for cars that would be suitable for this possible project. Obviously, I won’t be home for another year, but I was more looking for certain makes and models of cars, than specific ones. I already made a post on reddit asking some questions about it, but here is the list of cars that I found.

My criteria for these cars are: RWD, JDM, manual trans, and no newer than 1995. Pop-up-headlights are recommended but not required ;). I spent a good couple hours scavenging my local craigslist, letgo, and other sites, and here are the cars that I found.

• 300zx (there were a lot of these, for +/- 1k, very likely this will be it. Only reason I don’t like it is that the owners abuse these poor things.
• RX7 (A few of these too, and they are reliable so it would be a little less stressful for me)
• Miata (I love Miatas, but I am worried because they are on the pricier side. If the low end miatas were $500 cheaper I wouldn’t be on here asking this haha).
• 280zx (I don’t know much about 280ZXs, so IDK about this. They are fairly cheap though.)
• MR2 (Again, I would buy a first gen MR2 so fast, but they are a little more pricey than the others in this list. I guess that is the mini-ferrari tax.
• Mitsubishi 3000GT (this car is very sexy, but there are not many on the market near me. Mid range in price too)

I will look into finding some pictures of what I would like to do, or I might download a cheap 3D design software and try throwing something together. Who knows. It’s late, so I will finish this off with the word/s of the day!

Velmi je to chutne – It’s very tasty

You would say it like Velmi ya to hutne, and I chose this phrase because the pizza I had today was very tasty!

All of these pictures were taken on a Sony A6000. If you are looking for a great light weight camera that takes fantastic pictures, I would definitively recommend this setup here.

Sony Alpha a6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera with 16-50mm Power Zoom Lens

Las Cruces – A Gem

Driving is something that I have a large love/hate relationship with. I love driving, being able to see unique cars and people, being able to see the countryside, and being able to experience the thrills of LA traffic. Being able to drive from my very suburb in the LA basin to the relatively middle of no where town of Las Cruces was something that  I probably would never forget.

 

The city of Las Cruces, or “The City of the Crosses” sits right below the Organ mountains, which are one of the most stunning mountains I have ever seen (and trust me when I say they are amazing, I live at the foot of a mountain!). After driving for a few hours, the casual rolling hills and the occasional plateaus I must admit got slightly repetitive. However, the Organ mountains are unbelievably amazing. The city of Las Cruces is a gem in the southern region of New Mexico

Go Kart Adventure – Dropping for a Monster!

I haven’t been able to really be able to post much because I have been in Michigan for the past few days. I first flew into Detroit airport on July 12th with my younger brother, however the very next day I drove up to Lewiston, where I have been working on, driving, and abusing the poor go kart that we have.

We first arrived at our cottage in Lewiston, my first thought was swapping the engine out on our go kart. We have had this go kart for years, and the engine in it had finally quit. I am not sure of the model, but judging the feel of it I will guess that it is a 6hp engine, made by Tecumseh. However, after probably 10+ years of abusing that engine, I doubt it was producing anywhere near its advertised horse power. Thankfully, we had gotten a 6.5hp 212cc Predator engine.

The first thing that we had to do, was check for comparability, and see if we would have any issues with the mounting of it. After everything was checked we started to dismount the old engine. The old engine had blown pretty vigorously I am told, although I wasn’t there when it happened.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

After taking off the engine, we go to working on getting the clutch and the throttle to correctly align. The clutch on the new motor had not correctly aligned, as it was designed for the older motor. Because it didn’t align, the clutch stuck off of the drive shaft about an inch an a half, which was a pretty large distance when you consider that the drive shaft is only 4 inches long. Our next issue was the throttle, as the throttle on the old motor was in a different place than on the new motor. Because of this, we had to trim the throttle a bit, and cut away some of the plastic covering. After that, it was just minor adjustments to have it set!

Adjusting the sprocket wheel and the clutch

Working on the throttle

After a long night of working on the, we finally got to try the go kart out! It REALLY moves! The old engine was supposedly 6hp, but after years of wear and tear, I am sure that it wasn’t anywhere near the advertised horse power. With this new engine, I was absolutely destroying the trails. It threw me back into the seat and I had the time of my life.