hiatus

i'm back in the US. a lot has happened in the past bit...when i get a chance i will post again soon. e-mail me for details.

give it time

i love sundays

a spider like this (or bigger!!!!) tried to join us for dinner last night but was caught before he could do so. i was in zvolen visiting my friend lucia (the LDS girl that speaks english) and we were at dinner at a really nice restaurant. the people at the table next to us were freaking out and i looked over and a spider was in the middle of their table. IT WAS THE BIGGEST SPIDER I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! i saw the spider and jumped up and started freaking out. we signaled the waiter over and he came and grabbed the spider WITH HIS BARE HANDS and took it outside. the rest of the time at the restaurant was enjoyable. my food was sooo good. it was simple, just carrots and mashed potatoes and chicken breast with a salad on the side but the flavors were just soooo good. after that we went to this huge outdoor concert that was free. it was really fun...i guess there were some famous slovak bands there. i had no idea what they were saying but it was just fun being in the concert atmosphere.

i really look forward to sundays/the weekends so i can hang out with lucia and the missionaries (i love the people here in levice too). time is starting to go by fast. i start teaching this week and on friday i go to sweden. i hope my camera comes soon! i have a lot to do this week...maybe i've been taking my free time for granted.

sometimes i find myself trying to figure out God's plan for me...guessing why certain things happen and what not. i feel like i know why i'm here in slovakia but i'm sure in a few months when i look back on the time i've spent here the reasons will have changed. i've only been here a few weeks and i already feel like so much good has been done in my life...a good change; good lessons learned. i have so much to be grateful for. i think all americans should take a trip to a country like slovakia so they can see the difference in lifestyles and be grateful for what they have and maybe change the bad things in their lives for the better.

everyday when i'm walking to the store or on the weekends when i'm riding the train through the slovak countryside i kind of freak out for a minute because i can't believe i'm actually in europe, living here. it's not some kind of dream and i won't wake up from it in the morning. IT'S REAL. I'M REALLY HERE. and even though at times i am so homesick that my body aches for america and my family and the smell of provo in the fall, i'm glad i'm here.

for my utah friends...

Yard sale this weekend to benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund for the team representing Matt Dinger. It is 9/12/09 from 7am-12pm at the corner of 900 South and Main Street in Orem. If you can't make it, check outhttp://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87377191

no mas ketchup

last night we went to dinner to celebrate our friend martina's name day. i decided to try the "mexican tortilla" dish which actually consisted of 2 thick crepes filled with peas, carrots, kidney beans, and corn mixed with ketchup and the crepes smothered in ketchup and covered with cheese. i think it might've been okay if there wasn't so much ketchup. i ate 1 of the 2 to be polite but i still felt sick and even felt gross when i woke up this morning.

at the restaurant there was a young american couple with a baby and when they were leaving i ran up to them and asked if they were american and they said yes...basically i introduced myself and came across as really desperate and told them i wanted to be their friend and was happy to find other americans and i gave them my phone number. he is here playing basketball and she is just here "living it up"...i hope they call...

i ordered a new camera and should be coming in the mail soon!! i can't wait to take more pictures. this weekend i am going to zvolen to hang out with lucia, the slovak LDS girl. we are going to a free outdoor concert and i'm excited!!

lately i've been talking about my religious beliefs. if you're unfamiliar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also commonly known as "Mormons"), check out www.mormon.org. you will find some good information regarding my faith.

running in heels

i've been thinking of a title for this post all day. sometimes i wish there was some kind of recording device hooked up to my brain to record my thoughts because i would like to think they are way more eloquent than any kind of writing i do on this blog. sometimes i think that i'd like to write a book about my life, a memoir if you will, about me and everything i've done/everything that has happened to me. if i were to write said book, i might ask (or beg) someone else to write it for me because i think it would be done much more beautifully.

today i woke up late, left the house late, and ran barefoot to the train station to catch the train to church that i almost missed. i ran barefoot because i was wearing heels (not real heels i guess, more like wedges because i am afraid of heels) and they wouldn't stay on my feet. i passed a bunch of people who i'm sure thought i was crazy. i made my train and got to church on time. there were more members today. this time there were 5 of us plus 1 investigator plus 4 american missionaries. today we fasted for the missionaries to find people to teach. tuesday, wednesday, and thursday of this week mark the anniversary of a milestone in the church in slovakia. a few years ago the missionaries and members joined together to get 10,000 signatures on a petition to have the government recognize the LDS church as a religion in slovakia. this petition was completed in that short time (3 days) and it was a miracle. this week in order to mark this anniversary, the missionaries are doing nothing but work on tuesday, thursday, and friday. no studying or anything. there whole schedule will be dedicated to contacting people. please keep the missionaries here in slovakia in your prayers.

something that i love is going to the store by myself. next to nothing is in english and it is fun to figure out what i want to buy. there are pictures on the packages for the most part and pick out some words, so usually i can figure out what i'm buying. it is a good way to force myself to learn something of the language. the baked goods here are SO GOOD. something else i've been doing is running through town. the first few runs i went on i just did on the track a few blocks from here. a few days ago i went on a run through the countryside and it was really pretty, but kind of hard because there were no sidewalks.

it is still hard to not know many people who speak english. i had a good sunday today which made me feel hopeful. a lot of the slovak people i meet ask me why i chose to come here. i feel like i don't have a good answer for them. i wanted to? i thought about it and prayed about it and felt good about it and here i am...though sometimes i question my sanity. oh and p.s. my camera is STILL BROKEN.

mmmrrrrrrrr

i really wish my camera worked. i hope to be getting it fixed soon because there are so many things i would like to show people back home. this week we have been registering new students and i've met a few of mine. we also started the methodology course and i am actually getting kind of excited to teach. we're testing some of the students' conversation skills. i mostly just sit there and listen to the test going on by another teacher. one of the questions they ask often is "what would you do if you won 1 million euro?" i would say pretty much every student has said that they would like to help poor people in africa. these students are probably between the ages of 15 to 19 and i think it is amazing that they want to do that. compared to the USA, slovakia lacks a lot, but most people can function on what they make without getting into debt (i'd say that besides buying a car or a house, debt is almost non existent). i think when most people think of slovakia they probably think this country needs a lot of help, while the slovaks do not feel this way and would rather help others. i think it is just great.

yesterday i bought a ticket to sweden to visit my friend jasmine who lives in sweden!! i go in a few weeks just for a short weekend but i can't wait!! lately i've been thinking in spanish or getting ready to reply in spanish to slovaks who try to talk to me in slovak. it has been kind of weird but at the same time it is kind of a comfort to know that i still know it.

i've been kind of lazy lately and been sleeping in longer than i should. i'm going to try to make it a goal to wake up early and go running. once school starts i won't be able to run at night anyway so i should start getting used to running in the mornings anyway.

hopefully my camera gets fixed soon!! i really am so bummed. on that note, my dear cousin, who i once tried to save the world with and who is wise beyond her years, wrote this lovely post.

yo

thanks everyone for your comments, e-mails, thoughts, and prayers. a few things:

1. MY CAMERA IS BROKEN. i tried updating the firmware, batteries are all charged, and it is not working. i'm going to give it some rest for a few days and see what happens.

2. yesterday we went to a nearby city called nitra. it was beautiful--it was big and had a lot of old buildings mixed in with new ones. it is where a lot of the universities are as well. there were a lot of people walking around. of course, since my camera is broken, i couldn't take any pictures. we have to go back tomorrow, and hopefully it will work.

3. i am working on getting my business license and permit to work in slovakia. they are making us jump through hoops to get them both. hopefully we will get them done. i'm pretty sure we will.

4. truth be told, i am homesick. anyone have any remedies? i kind of want school to start so i can have more things to occupy my time.

5. I LOVE THE TV SHOW FRIENDS! it is soo funny...i have laughed so hard lately when i watch it.

6. that is all for now...