A Year in Slovakia: Ľudia

Tell us about one person you have met on your journey, even if only for a day, or someone who has been with you the entire time.

Countless people have flowed in and out of my life, each with their lessons, and many have left too soon. In response to that, I would like to tell short stories about a few influential people who I’ve met within my year long life here. For each person (or people), I have written their given name by me.

God is a Communist Woman

Okay so I never was properly introduced to this woman so I had to give her a name that I knew I would remember. Afterwards you’ll see why. “God is a Communist Woman” was an older woman who was the first person on my exchange to touch my head and heart in ways which I will never forget. It was early October, during my first time volunteering at the hospital when I knew very little Slovak. The nurses told me to go to a woman’s room who had been there for weeks and could really use someone to talk to. When I went in, I explained that I was an exchange student and how I was still learning the language so I would not understand everything. She did not speak a single word of english and yet we were able to maintain a conversation — and a conversation I will remember for a lifetime. We spoke of God, of life, of love, and of happiness. She told me about her inability to worship God during communist times, as the church was suppressed and banned from society. She explained her struggle to maintain her faith and then her later realization of what happiness was on earth. She was nearly ninety years old, therefore she had lived through WWII, Slovakia’s communist reign, and the Russian invasion. I had never spoken with someone who I had known for such a short amount of time so freely and about things of such importance. To this day, I have no idea how I was able to understand. At that time, I had been struggling just to have a basic conversation with my host family, yet there I was following a deep conversation of things I can barely comprehend in English. I remember leaving her with this feeling of hope, not just about Slovak, but about life in general. This woman had lived through her countries darkest moments, yet she was grateful for everyday God gave her. She taught me to keep perspective, hope, and faith. Her lesson is one from my exchange which I won’t forget.

My Aussies

Gervaise and Nav. These two australian boys taught me an entirely different lesson than the prior. I’ll start with Gervaise, as he was the first to enter my life. Back when I met him, he was this rebel boy with a bowl haircut. I remember thinking there was no way we would ever be friends… but how wrong was I. He lived in a town about 20 minutes away by train that had an amazing rock climbing gym. The one and only thing we had bonded over our first time meeting was rock climbing and with that we began weekly climbs. We would climb for hours and hours, taking little rests in between where he would just talk and talk. He was an “oldie”, meaning he had arrived as an exchange student in January of 2018 while I had only arrived in August, so he would always try to make these wise remarks but I would just laugh in his face. After a few weeks, our climbs turned in coffee and days spent together. By the time November hit, I had a brother. I knew I could rely on him for anything and he was only a call away if I was in trouble. He taught to laugh in the face of my fears and anxieties — to just say screw it and go for whatever I wanted. Then in December, I met his other half: Nav. Gervaise and Nav together was hilarious chaos. There was rarely a time with them that I wasn’t on the floor laughing. But it wasn’t together that Nav taught me his lesson. Nav was different. Nav was the one that taught me that caution is not always the way to make memories. With Nav, I traveled through Slovakia and experienced life beyond my city’s borders. He taught me that somethings in life are just worth the risk, causing me to obtain this take-the-risk-or-lose-the-chance mentality. They both left in January 2019 and for a while, I was left lost without them but have regained my footing, living each day with their lessons in mind.

Leo

While the others on here were temporary parts of my exchange, Leo has been with me through it all. I met him my first week of school but we didn’t become friends until a few weeks later. On the second day of school, one of the English teachers had me follow her around and help with one of her new exercises — “speed dating”. There were two circles, inner and outer, and everyone had a partner on each side. We were given topics and had to talk for a minute before switching to the next person. I met Leo this way. He was this tough looking kid with the giddiest smile. When I had gotten to him, it was immediately like I knew he would be one of my people. It was hilarious because in the minute we had together, he talked so much and so fast, but still couldn’t get it all in so he just took the spot of my next partner and then the next. He told me that he had gone on exchange to New Zealand the year before so he knew what it was like to be new and would be there for me if I needed anything. At first I thought this was an empty promise, but now I’ve realized, to him promises are more valuable than anything else. I remember after leaving the class, I was already thinking about when I would be able to talk to him next. I saw him a few times after that but every time I chickened out. It wasn’t until my third week into school, I finally managed up the courage to talk to him. It was lunch and he was near the tea table with another boy I had met from his class. I took a deep breathe and went up to them.

“Hey! You’re Leo and …. Adam, right?”

This one sentence changed my entire exchange. If I hadn’t gone up to them, I think my life here would have gone entirely different. That day, after lunch, all three of us went out together so they could show me around our town. Since that day, they have become some of my best local friends. Adam is one of my greatest confidants and Leo is without a doubt my person here. We have gone on countless adventures and I know that I could ask him of anything, and he would say yes without hesitation. He taught me everything about this town, introduced me to all my friends, helped me with my Slovak, and just has been there for me. I hope one day he’ll understand just how important he has been to my exchange in Slovakia.

Moje Deti (My Kids)

Two weeks ago, I started teaching as a volunteer teacher at a Roma Kindergarten. I have only gone twice but already these children have become my own. On my first day, I was so nervous about what would happen. Doubts had begun to creep into my head, sprouting from judgements I repetitively heard from Slovaks. But the second I entered that Roma school, all my doubts were throw out as I was attacked with hug after hug from my new students. I spent the entire day sitting with them, playing little games, pretending to eat make-believe food, reading them books, and then running outside on the playground. I made sure they understand that I was there for them and the amount of their importance in this world. So many Slovaks look down on their people, even when they are as young as my students. I wanted them to understand that I would not be like that and that they should never fear judgement from me. I am also shocked by how smooth our communication has been. Slovak is neither of our first languages as my first is English and their first is a Roma dialect, therefore we speak on very similar levels. It is so exciting how my brain is able to switch over to only speaking in Slovak without having to think about translating each word now, which makes it so exciting that I can actually understand when my students tell me stories. Through my experiences so far, I have already had the chance to see just how off-base many judgements and prejudices are against the Roma community. I am very excited because I hope this experience will create a chance to have open dialect about their situation between their population and the Slovak population in my town. Within my two classes there, I have already learned many lessons, but I know many more lie ahead in my journey with my Roma kids.

I could truly go on and on, but already I feel that this post has exceeded it’s reading limit for most. There are so many more influential people I have met along this journey, and I hope they know their great importance in my life.

For now, farewell, dovidenia, and thank you to my Slovak amazing community.