The month has almost past, so here is another story from
Slovakia. Things are changing fast. Spring has come. And everything looks more
cheerful with the green colours. There is more light, no snow anymore. Yesterday
I found out that it gets dark about one hour earlier than in The Netherlands
because Bratislava lays more east.
Daily life is exciting. I bought this fluffy angora sweater on a bazar in an old school, everywhere I go I leave rabbit hair ;) But it's so soft.
Slovak people drink different coffee.
The supermarket shelf for instant coffee is quite big. There is no slow coffee
hype here. Instead I could say there is a fast coffee hype. But the coffee in
the office is okay.
I like the work in the office. For example I am making a game ‘Spot it!’ for Inex. We can play this game at the camps for the summer. For this I need to draw pictures, it helps to learn Slovak. Now it’s spring we often have lunch outside in the garden. We are organizing a game night and we will arrange a special April Fool’s day for the people in a centre for special needs. We will be clowns and I will play a song on my guitar. I like these challenges although there are many things that I’m a bit afraid of.
I start to appreciate communist buildings more. The sunset
on the flats can be really beautiful sometimes. And as I have learned from my Greek
friend, you should look at the details of the blocks if you want to orientate.
They are painted in nice colours. Many shops are hidden in these blocks and
close by is a yoga studio. This has a cosy atmosphere inside. My first impression was that blocks are
coldly. But if you look better you can find secrets in this city. 
I found a
nice climbing hall here as well, but I don’t have so many people to climb with
as in Groningen.
We had full weekends; on my weekend in Brno (Czech Republic)
they had the best coffee in a small hostel called ‘Mitte’. In Brno I was
surprised that I could
hear a woodpecker near the castle when we lay in the
grass. This would be pretty rare in the Netherlands. But in Slovakia you can
hear them too.
We had a training for camp leaders in Senec, a small place
near Bratislava. This was very useful because I don’t have so much experience
with being a leader. Now I know different ways to communicate with groups,
before I never thought about this.
On my free day I went to Vienna with Quentin, my EVS colleague.
We went to Schloß Schönbrunn where people were doing handstands in the grass. And
we climbed the St. Stephen's Cathedral. Up in the tower was a very nice man who
told us that they clean the cathedral every month with a climbing team. This building
is made of sandstone, which is very sensible to pollution.
Last weekend I had my first weekend voluntary camp. It was in Eco
Slatinka. A beautiful small village in the middle of Slovakia, there was no
internet or tap water. They had
a wood-burning stove and oven. The weather was
beautiful. We made a bonfire every day. In the morning we were saving frogs by
helping them to cross the road. They want to go to the river on the other side
of the road after their winter sleep. In the afternoon we planted apple trees
with special names. The alley we planted was named translated to English
something like ‘alley of European understanding’
And then last but not least. Today I met a chimney man and
we shook hands. In Slovakia this brings good luck, if you touch the chimney man
or if you touch a button of your clothes when you see him.
