We just got back this afternoon from nearly a week straight of conferences. Last Monday, Amanda (another YAGM living close by) and I departed on a 5 hour journey to Račkova Dolina, a small Holden-esque building up in the High Tatra mountains, where we spent the week among 21 young-adult volunteers serving in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Between all of us, there were people from the USA, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and France and even more languages spoken. We had the opportunity to share and compare experiences, living situations, new vocabulary words, joys and challenges. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and see some of Slovakia’s finer countryside. I left conference number one feeling oh-so-happy and refreshed (albeit a bit tired because it can be hard to find time to sleep when spending time among such interesting people!).
Amanda and I then headed straight to Banska Bystrica for conference number 2 – The National Baptist Youth Gathering: Prvá Láska. There was no lack of Slovak music, Slovak speakers, Slovak food, and, well… Slovak youth. There were over 400 people in attendance and endless activities available to entertain the masses for the weekend. My main attraction, outside the program, was a huge volleyball tournament. I entered the tournament with my team from Lučenec, and we had a blast. There were teams representing cities from Bratislava to Košice and all over the country. My dreams of sleeping early were broken when the tournament started at 10pm on the first night (Our last game ended around 2am). We played 6 hard-fought sets of games and ended up beating Revuca in a tie-breaker game and went home with 2 bags of candy and a pretty fancy trophy. My week was certainly filled to the brim, but very fun and a nice break from the day to day activities in Lučenec.
Enjoy a few pictures of the beautiful country-side as seen around Račkova Dolina!
