So, over the weekend, I had the chance to visit Kosice for the World Hockey Ice Championships and then head to Western Ukraine with my fellow YAGM's for a visit. I don't know if I have ever had such a jam-packed, adventurous and fun weekend! That said, it would probably take just as long to describe the weekend as it did to live it, so instead, I leave you with a list of our weekend activities. Every line comes with a story. If you want an explanation for a line, email me or comment below.
Saturday:
530 wake up call.
900 arrival in Kosice
Sweatpants are great for riding the morning bus.
Sweatpants are not acceptable to wear in public in Central Europe.
May Day parade plus tree ribbons
Bake funfetti cake
Long conversation about communism and socialism in the kitchen.
(F – A – S – T) English
Amanda gets pulled up on stage – free scarf and t-shirt!
Wait for lunch almost 2 hrs. Leave.
---Street food!
Hockey game, USA vs Austria:
---new friends,
---Austrian cheering section,
---skoda hats, mini cars, usa flags,
---5-1 win!
Roma concert
Frozen vegetables on the menu in a Jewish restaurant
Cake eating and advent wreath birthday candles
“don´t touch my pink gorilla”
Sunday:
145am wake up call
White mercedes.
Get in mercedes with Slovak friend of a friend of a friend + his mom.
Get lost in Hungary - run into police
Cross border no. 1 to leave Hungary
Cross border no. 2 to enter Ukraine
---Liz accidentally passes as Laura to cross EU borders
Endless stories about Ukrainian police
Cows going home.
Meet Sonja plus cats on the roof
Meet Charlie, the blind dog.
Meet outdoor toilet
Rusyn language.
Breakfast egg fest
Family came to visit in 1945.
---Borders go up. Cannot go home. Well, now we live in Ukraine.
2 hr church service. Liz cannot stay awake
---US girls the only ones without long skirts and scarves covering their heads.
Market - ruska zmrzlina, vodka, belts
Lunch: sunflower sugar
Hens and goats
“Hike” plus 4 leaf clovers
Walk around town
---witness fight,
---biker convention,
---peace corps volunteers
Castle.
---Views. Torture dungeons.
---Museum closed, but we paid anyway. 2 headed sheep?
To the pastors house
Wonderful dinner, daughter lives in Seattle.. what?!
Talk in Ukrainian/Rusyn. Understand?
Power goes out.
Power back on.
Power back off.
Can’t flush toilet, whoops!
Power back on.
Toilet flushed.
BED.
Monday:
700am wake up call Slovak time (8am Ukrainian time)
Breakfast - eggs, dessert and pirohys.
Liz and Viera have the same b-day!
---Serious wishes for the future.
Gave our host gift of alcohol and she didn’t know what it was.
---“Maybe we can put it in tea”
Mini Cyrillic lesson.
Market round 2. birthday chocolate, 10 boxes of cigarettes, and apples.
Back wheel driven up onto platform to force more gas in the car.
Cross border no. 3 leave Ukraine
Paying for gas from the car via phone at the border.
Non-stop duty free oreos
Mad rush to the bridge.
Border agent calls a friend and lets them in front of us.
Cross border no. 4 enter EU. : 4,5hrs
Osama bin laden has been killed.
Liz learns to braid hair
Climbing on WWII tanks from Russia and Germany.
To Kosic - Laura gets a bus.
To Lucenec.
---home by 915.
---5 missed calls. whoops. phone in trunk.
---White Mercedes no longer white.
---facebook told host fam about my b-day.
------champagne, flowers and perfume follow.
------more serious wishes for the future.
