Košice and Other Matters

So. Last weekend, I went to Košice for a Rotary Weekend. Košice is located on the other side of Slovakia, fairly close to the Ukraine, and definitely close to Hungary, and is considered to most beautiful city in Slovakia. Coincidentally, it was home to... I want to say four out of twelve Česko Slovenská Superstar finalists from Slovakia, including Miro Šmajda, who placed second in the proceedings. I've been wanting to go there for quite a while.

We all had to get to Košice by train. For some people, this meant less than an hour riding. For most of us, it meant at least three hours.
Those of us in Bratislava got a fun ride of six hours. That's a long time to sit. Trust me. Fortunately, I had my crocheting with me, so at least my time on the train was somewhat productive.

When I arrived at the Hlavné Stanica (aka the train station) in Bratislava, a good ten minutes later than I wanted to be, thanks to the snow that makes the trolleybus system unreliable on the time factor, I found our merry band of exchange students: Carlos and Beth from the Bratislava Rotary Club, and Bruna from the Bratislava Danube Club. With Bruna was our newest addition: Leah, a girl from Townsville, Australia. Don't ask me why the Aussies start their exchange in late January. I honestly don't know. Steph, the last Aussie we had who departed in mid January, (she was stationed in Liptovský Mikulaš), told me that it had something to do with the fact that the Australian school year starts around that time.
At any rate, Leah is now staying with the Bratislava Danube Club, like Bruna. I got my ticket, and we proceeded to run for the train. Leah, Bruna, and I wound up in one compartment, along with some other people we didn't know, and Beth and Carlos were in another. As we traveled across the country, we slowly but surely picked up all of our comrads, and a few Rotex. Finally, we arrived in Košice, where we picked up the Košice members of our confederacy, and took an električen to our hotel. Everything was fine and dandy.

We had dinner, and then proceeded to go to salsa dancing lessons. Let it be known: I am a terrible salsa dancer. Being unable to figure out how to shimmy, and not being an especially good dancer period does not help your cause any. At all. Throughout, the Rotex and Rotarians (strangely enough, the Košice Rotarians and Rotex never did show up. The Rotarians and Rotex from Liptovský Mikulaš ran the show) were listening to us as an examination in Slovak. Read: We were, in theory, supposed to be speaking in Slovak amongst ourselves. Paul and I were stuck sitting next to the Rotarians during dinner. Do you know, it's possible to hold a conversation about how appalled you are about the low level of your French classes in very weak Slovak with random portions of English? Paul and I did. We also discussed the college admittance process. It was... weird. SAT and ACT sound way too similar in Slovak!

The next day, we went for a very dull tour of Košice. The tour itself wasn't so bad, but the tour guide couldn't be bothered to speak loud enough for everyone to hear. Oh so very irksome. After that, we went to hang out at the mall. A good number of us went to see a film (Up and Away, is the English title, I believe. The new George Clooney film, at any rate.) After that, we went bowling. It was quite fun.

On Sunday, we pretty much got up, ate, and went to the train station to catch a ten o'clock train for Bratislava. Everyone else's stops were en route. Guess what? It was snowing. Just like it had been all day Saturday. It wasn't quite a blizzard, but considering the fact that we wound up walking a good chunk of the way, due to stupid električen not coming, it certainly felt like it. At any rate, it was definitely pretty nasty. How do I know for sure? Our train was delayed. For three hours. So, we sat in the Košice train station. For three hours. Do you have any idea how dull that is?! Let me tell you: Very.

So, after our long wait, we got on the train, and went to our various homes. Then as I was getting ready to get off the train at Bratislava, my phone rang. I assumed it was my host family, calling to ask were I was, or something. As it turned out, it was Fernando, one of the Mexican exchange student. He lives in Nitra with my friend Alannah, which I assume is how he got my cell phone number. Anyways, he called me, because he had done something absolutely brilliant: He had left the bag containing his laptop and, slightly more importantly, his passport on the train. I wasn't with Beth and Carlos; I had been riding with Misae and Koi in another car, and after they left, saw no real reason to move (and I'll admit that I wasn't too keen on lugging my backpack and and purse through three compartments, just to resume listening to Eldest on tape and crocheting), so I told him that I'd call Carlos and ask him about it. At this point, I'm off the train. I called Carlos, and couldn't get a hold of him. My bet was that he couldn't hear his phone. Fortunately, I saw him, and managed to get his attention. I delivered the message, at which point, he began muttering darkly in Spanish, and ran to one of the compartments on the train. Meanwhile, Fernando called back, and I told him that Carlos was getting said bag. Around this time, Carlos returned, and asked if he could talk to Fernando. I passed over the phone, and the seriously scolding Spanish lecture began. Once finished, he handed my phone back to me. Just in time, too: My trolleybus had just shown up, and I had to run to catch it. Barely made it on!
Thus ends the Košice Saga.

I would also like to add that the customs saga is also at a close. If you would like details on the customs saga, please let me know. It deserves an entire post of its very own. The end result, though, is that I have a very lovely new toy. It is called a Kindle. It allows me to have too many books for my own good without adding the weight of too many books to my suitcase. It also is a lot smaller, and makes for easier carrying about. I like my new toy. Thank you to those involved in the purchase of this lovely new toy. It is much appreciated!

And... that's all there is. There isn't anymore.