I have officially moved into the new place. It's still in disarray from the move and the fact that the floor is still being put in in the kitchen. However, I absolutely love the flat. It's got enough space for two people to be able to live in it without feeling like there's no space to be alone when one needs it. (I tend to covet "alone time," as do most, if not all, of the members of my immediate family.) As soon as I'm able to get things put in order and finish the unpacking I hope to get some pictures, or maybe even a video, to post.
Allison arrives in about three weeks or so. I have come to learn we share some similarities- we both don't feel teaching is our strong suit, we're both warm-blooded, we both love to read, and she is a celiac, which means no wheat or gluten in her diet. Having a diet that also cuts out wheat and gluten (along with almost everything else), this excites me because a) I love to cook and it's no fun just cooking for one, and b) I won't feel like such a leper when trying to "justify/explain" why I cook the way I do (as I find myself doing so often because no one seems to understand the concept of my diet). It's always helpful when the other party concerned has a specific diet as she is more likely to try to your veggie&fruit-based foods because, well, she can't eat much of anything either.
Anyway, things are well here. The weather's been cooler lately (lots of rain and overcast, cloudy days) and the breeze has felt wonderful. Last night I found myself downright cold and had to shut balcony doors and put on a hoody. Anyone wanting to get out of the oppressive U.S. heat is welcome to visit at anytime! :)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Moving and Permission to Live
It's been a while since I wrote. Between moving and not having WiFi for my laptop, it's made it difficult to get online. The dormitory where I'm living has a public computer kiosk in the reception area, but who wants to spend a lot of time updating while students and professors read over your shoulder! But lest you think something has happened to me or that I've fallen off the face of the earth, I thought I'd update you on the latest developments of my life.
1. I received my Permission to Live in Slovakia sticker today from the Foreign Police. Woo hoo!!!! I was surprised how quickly everything was processed and printed out. I guess that's the beauty of renewing and not applying for the first time. It's always a good feeling to be squared away with the Foreign Police and not having to live in uncertainty about whether the "Congratulations, you're getting kicked out of the country because you failed to follow a law, and you have 30 days to leave" invitiation arrives in the mail or not. That's one Black Tie gala one does not want to get invited too.
2. I moved into the dormitory. In BB there is a university, Mateja Bela, that has its campus spread out all over the city. I happen to live in the same building that houses the School of Law (Pravnicka Fakulta, I think). I have my own room, bathroom and balcony (bonus), but share all that with an interesting room odor I can't quite put my finger on; the odors from the Bio Factory down the road in the neighboring village of Slovenska Lupca (the factory smells like a dirty diaper and I usually smell it when I wake up in the morning... this is probably why I don't eat breakfast); an army of ants that I can't figure out where they're coming from; and the communist-era earth-toned wallpaper and tattered drapes. I have a kitchen to use but it's also for the entire floor of residents, which I did know going in. What I didn't know though was it's teeny-tiny, has no oven, smells like a mixture of stale heat and old food rotting in the sink drain (Slovakia doesn't have disposals in the sinks) because students/profs don't put things in the trash, and is generally not very clean. I have seriously contemplated doing an "Emily approved" cleaning job a couple times, but refrain to keep from getting in trouble since a cleaning crew is on staff to "clean" the rooms and kitchens. The cleaning crew doesn't seem to have much of a standard in the way of cleaning and neither do the students/professors who use the kitchen (but then maybe I have too high of a standard of cleaning thanks to my late mother who made sure I knew what "proper" cleaning was, according to her definition, by the time I was five). I was told this dormitory would be, quote, "luxurious," but I'm realizing that the still-stuck-in-Communism lady who runs the dormitory's idea of luxery and my idea of luxury are too very different things. And you know it's bad when a Slovak, who is employed by the school no less, tells you that it's terrible living in the dorms and having to use the kitchens... which makes me feel better that I'm not being the snobby/snooty American. But that's moot because...
3. I'm moving to a different flat! Allison, the fellow teacher from Texas, and I will be living together in a flat in an area of town I used to live in when I first came to BB (an area called Radvan). From what I've heard, the flat is pretty big and it's currently having some "reconstruction" done to it. It has a balcony, a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a shower room and toilet room, and two small closets for storage. (Slovak apartments don't have clothes closets in them. Usually there is a small pantry built in somewhere to hold food items, so the fact that we have two is very interesting.) I will hopefully get to see the apartment later this week and then get to move in. The school, Narnia, my employer, has already put in some furniture, but I will get to go through and inventory what else we'll need after the move in. The most exciting part is that I'll have a washing machine. You drag your wet laundry all over kingdom come without the use of a car long enough and you start to appreciate a washing machine that's not somewhere other than "home."
I think that's it from this side of the world. I'll update again when I'm able. I hope to be moving on Friday to the new place, so I'm going to go enjoy my time with the ants and smells while I still can!
1. I received my Permission to Live in Slovakia sticker today from the Foreign Police. Woo hoo!!!! I was surprised how quickly everything was processed and printed out. I guess that's the beauty of renewing and not applying for the first time. It's always a good feeling to be squared away with the Foreign Police and not having to live in uncertainty about whether the "Congratulations, you're getting kicked out of the country because you failed to follow a law, and you have 30 days to leave" invitiation arrives in the mail or not. That's one Black Tie gala one does not want to get invited too.
2. I moved into the dormitory. In BB there is a university, Mateja Bela, that has its campus spread out all over the city. I happen to live in the same building that houses the School of Law (Pravnicka Fakulta, I think). I have my own room, bathroom and balcony (bonus), but share all that with an interesting room odor I can't quite put my finger on; the odors from the Bio Factory down the road in the neighboring village of Slovenska Lupca (the factory smells like a dirty diaper and I usually smell it when I wake up in the morning... this is probably why I don't eat breakfast); an army of ants that I can't figure out where they're coming from; and the communist-era earth-toned wallpaper and tattered drapes. I have a kitchen to use but it's also for the entire floor of residents, which I did know going in. What I didn't know though was it's teeny-tiny, has no oven, smells like a mixture of stale heat and old food rotting in the sink drain (Slovakia doesn't have disposals in the sinks) because students/profs don't put things in the trash, and is generally not very clean. I have seriously contemplated doing an "Emily approved" cleaning job a couple times, but refrain to keep from getting in trouble since a cleaning crew is on staff to "clean" the rooms and kitchens. The cleaning crew doesn't seem to have much of a standard in the way of cleaning and neither do the students/professors who use the kitchen (but then maybe I have too high of a standard of cleaning thanks to my late mother who made sure I knew what "proper" cleaning was, according to her definition, by the time I was five). I was told this dormitory would be, quote, "luxurious," but I'm realizing that the still-stuck-in-Communism lady who runs the dormitory's idea of luxery and my idea of luxury are too very different things. And you know it's bad when a Slovak, who is employed by the school no less, tells you that it's terrible living in the dorms and having to use the kitchens... which makes me feel better that I'm not being the snobby/snooty American. But that's moot because...
3. I'm moving to a different flat! Allison, the fellow teacher from Texas, and I will be living together in a flat in an area of town I used to live in when I first came to BB (an area called Radvan). From what I've heard, the flat is pretty big and it's currently having some "reconstruction" done to it. It has a balcony, a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a shower room and toilet room, and two small closets for storage. (Slovak apartments don't have clothes closets in them. Usually there is a small pantry built in somewhere to hold food items, so the fact that we have two is very interesting.) I will hopefully get to see the apartment later this week and then get to move in. The school, Narnia, my employer, has already put in some furniture, but I will get to go through and inventory what else we'll need after the move in. The most exciting part is that I'll have a washing machine. You drag your wet laundry all over kingdom come without the use of a car long enough and you start to appreciate a washing machine that's not somewhere other than "home."
I think that's it from this side of the world. I'll update again when I'm able. I hope to be moving on Friday to the new place, so I'm going to go enjoy my time with the ants and smells while I still can!
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