Bratislava Adventures!

Hello again!

So after saying goodbye to everyone on Monday morning (August 27th) we all parted ways and headed off in our seperate country groups. There are five of us from the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission Program that are in Slovakia for the year: Me, Mary (from Oklahoma), Kristin (from Pennsylvania), Jessica (from Pennsylvania) and Mark (from Virginia). Mary headed back home after orientation week and she'll meet up with us on Sept. 5th, but the four of us got on board our flight to Munich! The flight wasn't bad. I took Benadryll to help with sinus pressure, and it put me to sleep almost right away! As soon as we got into the Munich airport and went through security again, I instantly noticed how loud we are, as Americans. The time I was abroad, someone had to bring it to my attention before I noticed, but now I can see it right away. I paid attention to the looks and/or glares we got when conversed...and so it begins. I think this will be an eye opening year in so many ways, and one being the stereotypes people have of me because I carry an American passport. We were even advised at orientation to buy a passport cover, to draw less attention to ourselves.

After a five hour wait in the Munich airport, we boarded our small plane to Bratislava for a 50 minute flight. As we were boarding we met two American men that had been in Bratislava many times to work in the past 10 years or so. One of the men was a gypsy, and worked with a Lutheran church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It's interesting because there are many gypsies in Slovakia (Roma Gypsies), and I'm still not exactly what it means to be a gypsy. He works with a program similar to the one we are on with Young Adults in Global Mission, and he was really excited to meet us! He told us we were his heroes and said he was praying for us. He answered a lot of our questions about the country and was very encouraging. "Oh, they're just going to love you over there! They're such friendly people!" He taught us a few words, and he said that my pronunciation was very impressive! YEAH! Good sign, I hope...I guess we'll find out at language training. Anyways, he was very helpful, and made sure we made it into the right place for immigration and baggage claim and then waved goodbye.

We found our country coordinator right away, Daniela, and she is amazing!! Very sweet and welcoming, and brought us to our hostel. Later in the day we met the four German volunteers we will be having orientation with, and will be meeting up with throughout the year: Ann, Emilye, Maike, and Linda. It has been really interesting, and a great experience getting to know them! I almost feel like I'm preparing to serve in Germany, because I've learned a lot abou their culture through conversations with these four. They all just graduated from high school (ages 18, 19, and 20) and are from different parts of Germany, also serving for a year in Slovakia.

Ok, time to sleep! Goodnight all!