Save the Last Dance for Me

With everything that's been going on lately, I have barely had any time to catch up on things. No, wait, that's a lie, I practically slept this whole weekend, so I had plenty of time.  Well, I'm blogging now, and I have a couple things to catch up on.

First off, I thought, going in, that Slovakia was going to be less of a favorite (out of all the places I've been so far).  Turns out, I enjoyed myself a lot trying to learn about the culture.  The key idea, is to want to have a good time.  I had all these negative thoughts going in, but once I volunteered for activities and opportunities, I found myself having a really great time. The trip there was intense, winding up and down hills and mountains in a van, getting really motion sick, but I battled through it.

So, upon arriving, Slovakia was very foggy, misty, murky, what have you, and you could barely see 5 feet in front of you.  The place where we were staying was up on a hill, so the weather was heavier.  However, we were staying on a farm, a farm ran by this wonderful family who sustained a life there for about 27 years.  They run a camp/community center where they try to assist locals and neighboring visitors with fun activities and events of all sorts.  The father, works all day on the farm, and altogether, produces fresh milk, makes homemade cheese, jam, bread, etc.  All of the food was delicious, especially the fresh milk from the cows.  On the farm, they had 3 pigs, 1 pony, 4 horses, 3 cows, 2 goats, 4 dogs, 5 cats, 1 rooster, and 8 chickens. Holy cow. I was not ready for all that animal.  But, it was very enjoyable, especially the farm dogs and the cats.

Some of the activities over the past couple of days included:
- Attending the cultural center in Černy Balóg
- Making handmade leather bracelets
- Visiting a traditional Slovakian home
- Weaving cloths
- Trying traditional Slovakian food
- Attending a historical lecture on Slovak "loggers"
- Taking a train to the logger workshop
- Taking part in logger activities
-Walking through a nature route
-Learning the traditional Slovak dance

Me in traditional Czech clothes. I know, get a good laugh now, because it won't be funny later.

Dora and I sawing the log. Pretty clean cut we had.

The view from the farm on the last day. After all the misty weather, the sun finally showed.

Now, according to the title of this blog, "Save the Last Dance for Me", I have done a lot of dancing in the past few days (no, not the hip-hop/pop kind either). The song in the title, is sung by none other than Michael Bublé, my idol.  I found it appropriate because it came across my iPod during my trip there in Slovakia, and I was always one for volunteering the dance portion of my stay.  For a good listen, Click Here. So, at the traditional Slovakian home, me and all my classmates, danced around and around, learning the moves, and dancing to the accordion.  The next day, we had a professional Slovak dance team come in and teach us a dance.  Personally, I did really well, and led most of the group with my dancing.  The instructors were very impressed, and if all else fails in life, I'm running off with them to Slovakia to dance in a Slovak costume, haha.

To sum up the trip, we stopped in another Slovak city called, Žilina, where we visited a "reborn" train stop for artists and people alike to express themselves in a new medium.  We also participated in a book-making workshop, where I crafted 2 book covers for these small notepads.  It was a lot of fun arts and craft time.  I ended my trip this past Friday, and I met up with the most fun-loving girl out there, Kelly Allen.  She and I are on BOP together and I continued my dancing with her as we attended the Lucerna Music Bar for the 80's & 90's Music Video Dance Party.  What an amazing time. So much fun. So, on this music note, I'll leave you with another song, not Michael Bublé, but a shout out to someone special. Enjoy. Click Here: Ho Hey - The Lumineers

Kelly and I at Lucerna Music Bar. We're so abroad.