When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Another month of my Slovak life has past :) I had some lazy days, but also many days with lovely moments. In the beginning of this year I had a meeting in Utrecht at the national agency, where we got prepared for this year in a foreign country. They asked us a question. When was the last time you did do something for the first time?
Now things are real, and I’m living the Slovak life. I try to travel the countries surrounding Slovakia as well. Slovakia has five neighbors; Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Ukraine and Poland.

The week started with Bratislavský majáles a festival with Slovak music and Slovak food in the Janko Krale park. It was much fun because I met almost all EVS volunteers of Slovakia. Spanish, Italian, Greek, Honduras, French, Macedonian, I’m actually the only one from a more northern country. I feel very welcome in this group of volunteers. We all have the same goal to make Slovakia nicer in different ways.

The first weekend of May I went with Giulia to Győr in Hungary. It’s a small city just on the other side of the border. It’s surrounded by four rivers. I liked the park on the island the most. There were students doing some special way of water sport. Standing with one knee on the floor of the boat, peddling with one peddle.



The second weekend I met Elianne in Prague. She’s Dutch, we met on the EVS training before I went to Slovakia. She showed me all the best places. We saw the opening of the Prague Spring concerts outside in the park. They say for every Czech there is a musician. Unfortunately it started to rain. I met other EVS who are also from INEX but from Czech Republic. Because twenty tree years ago Czech and Slovak people were living in the same country. On the last day I went to the Botanical Garden. This is one of my favorite activities when I visit cities. I already saw the gardens of Hamburg, Göteborg, Antwerp, Copenhagen and Bratislava. I like this because it’s often a quiet place in the city. Elianne and I were constantly comparing the Czech and Slovak countries and their languages. I heard Czech people have more humor and Slovak people have more enthusiasm. They also have much in common. For example food or the public transport system. But Bratislava and Prague are completely different. Prague feels for me more like a fairy tale city. Bratislava doesn’t have this for me. I love Bratislava because it’s small. There’s good ice cream. It has all facilities and there are not that many tourists. There are though many Japanese tourists, who I always meet in the line for the ice cream.

I have been cycling to Austria again with Sasha and Giulia. The weather was great. It would be perfect if I had my own bike here. It’s only two hours away but Hainburg an der Donau has a different atmosphere. Agriculture in Austria has more variety then I have seen in Slovakia. Lucerne, rapeseed, soybeans and different grasses.

I had the same feeling like a fairytale city in Banská Štiavnica, where we had democamp. In two weeks I will lead my first voluntary workcamp. This democamp we had last weekend makes me feel we’re well prepared for that. We learned to make how to make a program for the volunteers. With games; Name games, icebreakers, cultural games, and games for the whole workcamp. I tested my gratitude workshop which was going well. We were taught how to solve conflicts, this could be very useful. I already had a first aid training in the week before.

Last week I went climbing for the first time in Slovakia. Which was great, the rock is just behind the castle in a little forest. Though it’s still in the city. Only one bus stop away from the city center. I met beautiful people. It’s a pity I don’t have much time to go climbing this summer because of the camps.

I discovered some stereotypes about the Slovaks. I feel like I am starting to get a bit under the iceberg of Slovak culture after four months. I am speaking about the Iceberg Theory of Ernest Hemingway. Here are some differences between Slovak and Dutch:
They have special shoes to wear inside, sometimes sandals with socks. They have warm lunch, and then they eat sandwiches for dinner. This is the opposite in the Netherlands. Bratislava has many shopping malls, five, my favourite is Aupark because it’s close and near the park. On my way home from Aupark I can always hear the crickets make their sounds. Somewhere in the grass just next to the highway. These sounds remind me of the summers at my parents farm.
The park is not crowded with students who do BBQ’s like in Groningen. But there are many moms strolling with their prams. Moms have much longer holidays after they have a child than in The Netherlands. And children attend later to primary school. I saw kids having organized bicycle lessons in the park. Almost everyone lives in a byt, this is a flat. I see dogs everywhere, but I saw only a few cats. Probably they are in their byt. They say Slovak people are direct. This I haven't noticed because Dutch are the same.

Yesterday I went swimming for the first time in a lake with Quentin and his French friends, it’s at the last tram stop on the border of Bratislava. Because it’s hot already and the summer will be even warmer. So I get a bit afraid of the warmth that this beautiful country has to offer.

Today I had Slovak lunch, sweet dumplings with plum jam, recommended by my Slovak language teacher. It was nice to try and it made me feel more integrated. After four months I still do almost every day something for the first time here in Central Europe.

I want to thank all people which make my EVS so nice! And the dishwasher that spontaneously started working again after three years.