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Yaxley
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| I've been back in the US for a month today. Some days went really quickly and others soooo slowly. My vacation went too quickly--the beach was wonderful, 5 days of great weather and the ocean. I even saw dolphins on a walk one morning! Now I'm moved into an apartment in Squirrel Hill, I'll post pictures once I take them! I have my own room and then we have a dining room, living room and--my favorite place--a little alcove with windows on three sides that is the perfect place for reading. My classes are fine so far, it's just the first week so I don't have much homework yet...but it'll come. On Friday I started teaching two upper-intermediate reading classes. Not only do I have only 8 students in each class, but they're all at about the same level and I even have a book and a curriculum! After Trnavska, I feel so spoiled! Even my students have books! And 2 Slovak stories: Two Sundays ago we were visiting with some friends and we got talking about pierogies. (No Janna, not the pierogies you ate in Poland, but I know they were amazing!) We were talking about our favorite kinds and one of the women said, "I like the lekvar ones the best." It was so weird to be talking in America to Americans who don't know any Slovak and then hear the word "lekvar." So everyone who thinks Chattanooga is the place to go in America, in Pittsburgh we at least know about Slovak food! (And you can visit me!) Then on Friday when I was taking attendance in my class I had everyone say what country they were from. And one of my students is Slovak! She just finished gymnazium in Cadca. So I'll get to practice Slovak this fall! That's almost as fun as being able to eat Cheesecake factory cheesecake whenever I feel like it--or have seven extra dollars to spend on dessert! | | |
| Italy is gorgeous! Mir and I went at the end of May for vacation and it was great, even the day where it rained and stormed all day. So here are lots of pictures from the trip: 
Me at the Colosseum. Behind me are the underground rooms and pits where they kept the animals and victims before the gladiator games. 
The Pantheon 
A view from the hill above Rome. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked to get there, but a few wrong turns later, it was worth it! 
An average sight in the old part of Rome--some ancient columns standing in the sunlight 
Michelangelo's David (or, at least a copy of it in Florence) 
Ponte Vecchio in Florence with rowers going under the bridge 
Il Duomo in Siena 
A view of Tuscany from our hostel. Yes, it pretty much looked that cloudy the whole time we were there. Actually, compared to some of the time, this sky was only partly cloudy. So the trip was great and not once did we have any money stolen, get escorted out of the Sistine chapel or have to call America to find the name of our hostel! Now it's back to work and camp preparations. But, if anyone happens to know of a place to live in the Pgh area next year, please let me know! | | |
| On Thursday I went with a friend to the opening of an exhibit of modern art. The whole time I thought about the acting and directing plays from my senior year--a few of you remember how horrible it was. While this exhibit didn't have any white canvases, it did have 'art' such as a wooden beam coming out horizontally from the wall for 8 feet. It had the seemingly requisite picture made out of condoms and the almost mandatory painting of lines drawn in several primary colors. Then there was the corner installation that looked like some wall painters came, started the job in the corner and then were suddenly raptured, leaving all of their brushes, rollers and paint next to the half-painted corner with the tape still on the trim. But no, the painters weren't raptured; off to the side was the plaque describing the work. Thankfully there were no acting and directing sculptures made of deer skulls and twigs--but the cardboard box decorated to look like a 4 year old colored on it and then used it as his 'fort' has about the same artistic value. One of the works was large letters painted on the wall that said: BYE BUY (No, not a misspelled exit sign but one of the actual art works.) Also, there was a room entitled: Your smell is unwanted. And, along with those words painted on the wall, there were 7 or 8 small boxes mounted to the wall with something in them that caused the room to stink. But, in my opinion, the most amazing 'artwork' was the piece of parasite art that reminded me of all of the things that I hated about the acting & directing shows: the people hanging on a clothesline with detachable limbs that the actors ("museum visitors") took home with them and the marbles dropped all over the little theater. The exhibit-if I can call it that-was hundreds of thumbtacks with a black marker design drawn on them dropped on the floor through the entire gallery. Every step I took, I had to watch for the thumbtacks. When I inevitably stepped on one, I had to either take it or I would go home with all the artwork stuck to the bottom of my shoe. And suddenly I had flashbacks of Jess chasing down all the little marbles in the theater between scenes since her run crew never showed up and she had to do everything from hanging the clothesline people to picking up the marbles. Ahh, modern art, it never ceases to amaze me! | | |
| Recently I've been watching a lot of Gilmore Girls. A lot of Gilmore Girls...like I'm simultaneously in the middle of seasons one, two and seven (via videotapes from my sister). The only problems with watching it is (a) I want to have scriptwriters to give me clever, witty things to say at all the appropriate moments and (b) it makes me really, really hungry for diner food. While the food in Trnava is wonderful, there's just nowhere that sells a thick hamburger with a side of fries and free ketchup. And no restaurant that gives free coffee refills. Or--and this is the most frustrating--there is nowhere in the whole country that makes diner breakfast food: French toast, pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns...just listing it makes my mouth water. Bohemian bagel comes the closest and I'm not willing to travel 6 hours to Prague for my breakfast; I wouldn't even last 3 hours on the new fast train. McDonald's McToast shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as a stack of blueberry pancakes drenched in syrup with a side hash browns and a sunny-side-up egg. (And really, how much can you expect out of a hamburger bun and a slice of ham and cheese?) Ah well, I suppose the palacinky, zmrzlina, tiramisu and Viedenska kava should make up for the total lack of diner breakfasts in Slovakia. Or maybe the country is ripe for a smoothie stand between the Slavia track and the Building and an American diner on Hlavna Ulica??? | | |
| Recently I've been watching a lot of Gilmore Girls. A lot of Gilmore Girls...like I'm simultaneously in the middle of seasons one, two and seven (via videotapes from my sister). The only problems with watching it is (a) I want to have scriptwriters to give me clever, witty things to say at all the appropriate moments and (b) it makes me really, really hungry for diner food. While the food in Trnava is wonderful, there's just nowhere that sells a thick hamburger with a side of fries and free ketchup. And no restaurant that gives free coffee refills. Or--and this is the most frustrating--there is nowhere in the whole country that makes diner breakfast food: French toast, pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns...just listing it makes my mouth water. Bohemian bagel comes the closest and I'm not willing to travel 6 hours to Prague for my breakfast; I wouldn't even last 3 hours on the new fast train. McDonald's McToast shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as a stack of blueberry pancakes drenched in syrup with a side hash browns and a sunny-side-up egg. (And really, how much can you expect out of a hamburger bun and a slice of ham and cheese?) Ah well, I suppose the palacinky, zmrzlina, tiramisu and Viedenska kava should make up for the total lack of diner breakfasts in Slovakia. Or maybe the country is ripe for a smoothie stand between the Slavia track and the Building and an American diner on Hlavna Ulica??? | | |
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