I don't like to repeat myself but then again, this has been also an intense week. Well, actually the weekend was also quite active because the 'Bratislava for All' days, when all the galleries and museum were open for free to everyone. We saw a lot of tourists these days and also I became one of them.
Saturday morning Matiss and I were meeting with Mirka at 10 in some bus stop in the way to Devin Castle, in the outskirts of Bratislava. It's a very nice and peaceful side of Bratislava, and for me it seemed like a little town crowned by this eye-catching ruined Castle whose picture I'm sharing with you from, one more time, google images.
We spent there the whole morning, having a relaxing walk in front of the merging of the Moravian and Danube rivers, just a few metters away from Austria. Then we came back to Bratislava city center to find a lots of people and we had lunch in a place recommended by Mirka in Hviezdoslavovo Naméstie -Verne, great atmosphere, nice food, the only reasonable prices in this square.
After we visited a Modernism (aka, Art Nouveau or Secessia) exhibition featuring Alfons Mucha, then joined the Bratislava free-tour guide -maybe a little bit disappointing comparing to the one in Prague, made in Spanish by a native Spanish speaker-, entered the Primacy Palace to meet the mayor of Bratislava and finally back home.
On Sunday I joined my flatmate Stephanie with the intention to enter Michal's Gate and go up and check the view from the top of the tower, but at around 2 pm it was pretty crowded so we decided to take some lemonade and she took me to a surrealistic exhibition in Bratislava City Gallery. There was this installation with books and mirrors forming an optical illusion of a never-ending library, very nice!
Then I met another EVS friends who were already forming a queue to enter the catacombs and we stayed there waiting for more than an hour to go down some steps and stare a tiny little cript with bones and a quick explanation in Slovak. It was somehow frustrating but at least I enjoyed some nice talk in the sun and yummy cheap ice-crem -they have it in every corner here in Bratislava. Later we also enjoyed a beer in a hidden terrace in the center, a place Dasa told me I should go with nice weather and she was so right!
On Monday Tomas, Matiss and I went in the afternoon to Ulita, a youth center for a Roma community here in Bratislava. We had planned some activities for them as a 'Sport Day' event, but we went out of the script following the pulse of the kids interests. I must say they looked slightly wild and a little bit rude for me, but I've never experienced working with kids before and I can not tell if there is a difference. Only the language barrier was a minor stress source for me, but -as I was told- you don't really know if you'd prefer to understand them, lol.
And then Tuesday came and I had a meeting I was in fact looking forward to have. In the on-arrival training we had a simulation game and the trainers helped us to organise our free time and explore our hobbies. I told this girl that I wanted to improve my photography skills, maybe with some cheap workshops but she couldn't find anything suitable. At last she recommended me to get in contact with one friend of here who lived in Bratislava, 'a very open and kind girl, I'm sure she would help you'. And, geez, she was right!
Tejka was very kind to invite me to go together with she and her friends to climb. We agreed that she could teach me some basic theory and then I could practice by just making pictures, but we actually focused more on the climbing. Anyway, I enjoyed a lot the experience -I climbed myself as you can see in the nice picture she took of me-, took some good pictures and laughed hard with them in the context I would call the 'we survived' beer. Po?
Uh, I like to take pictures by night! I took this one in the bus stop under Most SNP.
Nevertheless, I was so soared yesterday! All my back and arms were quite stiffed so I sadly decided to skip my Yoga and concert program and have some rest at home. After I was actually glad I did like that because I had many emails to read, some Slovak to study and so on that I needed that time.
And then we arrive to the present time, Thursday. Today I had my 3rd tandem conversation Spanish-Slovak meeting with a girl who is friend of a friend of mine, so it was kind of a language 'blind date'. She is quite kind I must say and tried hard to explained me some grammar things I've trouble with.
Concerning work yesterday we had the greatest news: we've found all 3 partners we needed for our youth exchange project! I was a bit stressed because we had the deadline next week and we had some rejections as answers but finally we have them: Belgians, Greeks and Italians, together with Slovaks -I believe it would be a quite enriching project connected with youth unemployment.
Yeah, that's all for today I think. Tomorrow we'll have Matiss birthday party, he's turning 20 -just like INEX or Slovakia itself as an independent country-, such a nice age! And Saturday there's this kind of second-hand market event with free live music, also looks promising. Let's enjoy - Pod'me zabavit'!
Good night princes of Maine, you kings of New England -The Cider House Rules
Sleep tight! :)
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