A Year in Slovakia: Prvý mesiac

Prior to departing for Slovakia, I made a promise with myself to say “yes” to everything. Since then, I have tasted, tried, and done so many different things I never would have imagined. While I have enjoyed some and disliked others, I have found that the experience of just pushing myself to do these things is fulfilling in itself.

Making the effort of saying yes has also created me to realize just how much each decision weighs. Due to the language barrier, I tend to find myself in a lot of situations where I don’t know exactly what is going on. In the beginning, it was very frustrating for me because I felt like I had no control over what was happening in my life. I just had to nod and smile whenever anyone told me to do anything, not knowing what my other options were. Since then, through studying and forcing myself to listen and translate words I hear in Slovak, that language barrier has shrunk dramatically. While I still tend to go in blind in most situations, I now feel more comfortable with the few details I understand.

One event that illustrates this took place a few weeks ago when I was still less than a month into my exchange. It was a Sunday and based on my experiences the previous few, I was expecting to go to church, eat lunch all together and then relax until dinner. The day started off very similar until early afternoon, when all of the sudden my host mom turned to me, and said:

“Go change, we will go to nature” and shooed me off with no further explanation.

So I went to my room and slipped on some athletic shorts and a sweatshirt, expecting to just go for a short hike or bike ride. We then loaded up into the car and were off. I quickly started to doze off, exhausted from trying to understand a foreign language all day, and was soon asleep. 40 minutes later, I woke up surrounded by mountains and my host mother pointing to our left and saying “Pol’ka” over and over again. While I was asleep in the car, we had driven into the High Tatras and up to a popular hiking trail at the border of Slovakia and Poland. I was awestruck. When I had woken up that day, I had no idea that this was where I would end up, but there I was with Poland on my right and Slovakia to the left. The amount of immense joy and wonder I felt remains indescribable. Since then, I have decided that no matter how confused and frustrated I am, it is all worth it for those moments of pure bliss in this beautiful country.