Hell-Vacation

so.

SO, in a fit of solving my problems (or trying to), my mother got me a job here in charleston, selling purses on the market. This job lasts four million hours a day, and it is REALLY FREAKING HOT and the job involves HEAVY LIFTING.

otherwise known as, this is the worst job i have ever had in my entire life.





However, i have some cash-flow problems between the US and slovakia, so if i want to "make my student loan payments," I gots to have some money in my US bank account. On that matter, please let me know if you would like to donate to the "give sara money" fund.

other observations:

1. many of my friends no longer live in this area, which kind of blows (scientifically speaking)

2. I CAN BUY WHATEVER I WANT, WHENEVER I WANT. This is mildly disconcerting, but pleasant. However, i spend a lot of money SHOPPING.

3. It's been raining, hot rain, but rain nontheless. So i still don't have a tan


(SEE the dark clouds?)


4. dude, i am SO out of the loop when it comes to anything "new" - movies, cars, gadgets...

5. staying with my parents means lots of home cooked meals. To others, this may seem normal. To me, it's a miracle. The entire time i was in high school, our pantry held:
a)flour
b)stale cereal
c)frozen burritos.

(ok, the burritos were actually in the freezer, but you get my point.)

6. Life in slovakia is way the hell more relaxing than life here. I am ready to go back, now. please.

7. On the bright side, i am going to Asheville, North Carolina this weekend, to visit Ashley, eg Senora Tequila. I am excited.

doma sladka doma

that could also be spelled wrong, or in croatian
so i am home! Ahhh, south carolina. I (mostly)grew up in this fair city, the "jewel of the south" if you will, and i also went to college here, so there's a nice sense of hometown-y-ness. The last time i was in chucktown was about a year ago, right before SLOVAKIA. I was here for three months, the summer, really, and it is funny (in an anthropological sense?) to see what has changed and what's the same.

My bar is still here, with the same bartenders and graffiti-ed bathroom walls, but with a new no-smoking law. The first day i was here, i got stuck in there during a late-afternoon tropical storm sort of thunderstorm, and i pleaded with the bartender to let me stick my head out of the window and smoke. Alas, I was denied. It's not so bad, though, it's not like boston with it's freezing-ridiculously-wintery-weather to smoke outside in (Oh look! ice rain!). AND, it is secretly kind of nice to leave a bar and not be reeking of cigarette smoke. I thought about quitting, but then i realized that in a month i will be back in central europe, where non-smoking is a non-option. I mean, i can't even name ONE friend in the SJ who doesn't smoke! Jesus maria.

Jet lag totally blew. It took me two and a half days to sleep at the correct time, and today was the first time (three days later) that i kind of feel like a real girl.

OVERALL: i strangely have a tad of being homesick (already) for slovakia, but i'm digging the shopping opportunies and seeing some good peeps.

I fear this blog has become a big too much of a blah blah update, so here's a pretty picture:



Look! South Carolina Palm Trees!

Hodokvas, otherwise known as Time To Drink Beer and Dance

Eh, so kind of on the spur of the moment, I was invited to go to Hodokvas, an annual music festival held at the airport in Piestany, which is not too far from me.



i went with some friends from town who, unfortunately, were WORKING almost the whole weekend at kind of a ...disco tent? you know....european disco, not like Seventies disco. It was the unfortunately named "Cafe Del Fun." which, for some reason, is a name that really bothers me. I mean, how many languages are there in that sentence? Three? BAD.

So, we camped.



and we drank beer. Lots of beer, and lots of smoking, and lots of non-english speakers. As it turned out, Hodokvas was awesome for my slovak skills, i think i really improved this weekend...unfortunately just in time to go home for a month! But really, i managed to hold my own during some conversations. For instance, when Dana said that Kofola Sugarfree was disgusting, i agreed and said that coca cola light is better. in slovak. BRAVO JA.

Highlights of my weekend include:
1. Hanging out with this girl, Zuska, who doesn't speak any english. We've known each other for awhile, and have never really talked, but we managed to communicate this weekend. awesome.
2. shaking our booties at the amnesty international stage
3. a wealth of free beer
4. Delicious slovak festival food: ciganske pecenka, lokse, sausages.
5. Cypress Hill, the (incredibly old) sex pistols, this hilarious funk band Monkey Business, and Polemic.


Funny Fact About Hodokvas:
there were no trash cans. I'm being completely serious. can you imagine NO TRASH CANS? there was garbage EVERYWHERE. i've never seen anything like that, except MAYBE when we went to the Zlaty Bazant celebration or whatever in bratislava last month. It's like slovaks really enjoy having the freedom to throw litter on the ground. It took awhile for my american brain to turn off (eg, looking around for a trash can when finished eating, but once i did, i suppose i got into the willy-nilly trash-chuckin' free for all that it was.

Funny Fact About Sunday:
I was exhausted sunday morning. And sunburnt. And yet, i agreed to go to bernards to get, and i quote, ONE BEER after we returned home. so i drank a beer. and another. Repeat like five times. Oh, it was not fair, i didn't stand a chance. The beer was purchased for me and set in front of me just as, whoops! i finish with my previous one. OH i got drunk. as the slovaks would say, Ješuš Mária.
Hodokvas:1
sara: 0

hey OHMAHGAWD Y'ALL i am going home on thursday! Yippee (i think!).
I am SO GOING TO EAT MEXICAN FOOD. be forewarned. mexican food, and I AM GOING TO GO TO WALMART.
so.
oh, don't be worried, i'm coming back in a month....

~sa

Countdown to home, yes?

So, next week, on July 10th, I'm flying home to Chucktown, South Carolina. I'll be there, lollygagging around target and using all sorts of slang, for about a month. On August 14th, I'm a-coming back to Sv. Jur...and thus will begin my year of teaching english! Huzzah! I've already got quite the racket going on with the teachy-teachy, but it might just be because my secret goal is to have everyone in Sv Jur speaking MY language :-)

wanna see some summer pics? Huh? Do you?


~Vineyards, duh. and i think a sign that says not to throw away trash here. Although it could say anything else, really. Like perhaps "Purple Unicorn Vomit." You (I) really never know.


~here's Martina traipsing through the fields and grapes during one of our Super Secret Walks. (Mind you, i just like labeling things "super secret").




~Here's of srki's grocery lists. Cyrillic is what you get when you have serbian roommates. The only thing i understand is the 6 eggs listed first.

AND NOW....
UHROVEC!
Castle party! Buildin' an arch! No one told me we had to hike up a damn mountain to get to the damn castle!



~First View of La Castle. Although by this time i was already cursing and pouting due to the UN-aforementioned hike which was totally like at a 60 degree angle. or maybe i am just whining more.




~ARCH



~More castle!



~C'est moi....you can't tell, but i am on the ROOF on the castle here.

anyway, time for english lessons, gotta go, ciao te