Cultural Learning Interactions

Visiting the home of a citizen other than my host family:

This past weekend, Mike, Zala and I spent an evening at a friends house--Sanja (pronounced Sahnya). Sanja made us a dinner that was the BOMB! She made two kinds of pasta--totolini with a gorgonzola cream sauce, and elbow macaroni with olives and zucchini. There was also carrots and an awesome onion dip before dinner, two kinds of salads and, of course, dessert. The dessert was very simple--just strawberries, bananas and Slovenian dark chocolate. Slovenes entertain with food and conversation which I am all about! It was a really nice evening. Oh--I would be remissed if I did not mention the old and very freightening lady who is a neigbor to Sanja. She is a peeping-tom (or tonya?) in the wierdest way imaginable--I mean pathologically-cinematic-freakish. She is so old and just stares out of the window at you with this peircing gaze that feels like it might suck the soul out of you. Creepy, right? It was all good, though. We ate inside and actually weren't even sure if this lune that Sanja had been talking about would surface during our short visit. Sher did and poor Zala got so creeped out and startled by her stare that she belted out an enormous scream! It was hilarious!

Shared a meal with a citizen other than your host family:

I went for Easter weekend with my home-stay family. It was so nice! They were extremely happy to have Americans visit. It was funny. I think a lot of people in small villages around Slovenia only see Americans on television and in movies, so they get excited to meet Americans face-to-face. For example, Mike and I went to this really nice Slovene restaurant (called a gostilna here) in Ljubljana called Šestica (pronounced shestitsa--which means little 6) and the server was this older Bosnian man who asked isf we were real Americans--whatever that means. It was sort-of like this when we went to Razonec (the small village where my homestay family has their family). Istok's (my homestay dad) brother, his name is Borut, was so exited to talk to us about American war films. He invited us over to his house and force-fed us wine from his vinyard. There is no such thing as an empty wine glass in this culture, especially if you are a guest! In any case, this long weekend in the southern part of Slovenia was EXTREMEMLY nice--even though it rained quite a lot while we were there.

So--the food we had over this weekend! Praise Jesus for potica (potitsa)! It is a national treasure here! Every grandmother has her own recipe for this amazingly dense and sweet bundt cake! Potica has walnuts, dough, sugar, rum and loads of other amazing ingredients like spices and stuff. We also had this large loaf of bread that was stuffed with a chunk of ham. They wrap the dough around ham and bake it with herbs. Also amazing! Of course the wine! The family owns a vinyard that is run by the younger of the two brothers. They also had home made apple juice which was unlike any apple juice I've ever had. So fresh! What else--plenty of bread and decorated eggs to go around! Very simple food--but really great company and a warm homey environment.

Had an in-depth conversation with a young adult your age other than host family or mentor:

I have had loads of in-depth conversations with Zala and her sister Tjaša. They is very smart and are invested in their studies of languages and culture. The Jerman Kuželički family also has an impressive grasp of European history (like most Central Europeans I am learning)! So I have been asking a lot about Yugoslavian history and general European history. Also--Zala's friends are all college aged people, so I am constantly interacting with people my age who are interested in hearing the American perspective as much as I am interested in sharing it, and inquiring about their persepctives! Honestly, the conversation here is of high caliber. Everyone is chill and open and they are willing to take the time to discuss absolutely anything –especially over a cup of kava (coffee).

Visited cultural centers or historic sites:

I have seen more castles than I ever thought I would! Medievil castles, modern castles, palaces--they are on every hill-top it seems. I think my favorite castle to date was in a small village very close to Ljubljana (in a village I cannot remember the name of--did I mention that I am TERRIBLE with names here!?). It was an 11th centtury castle with a view of this lake and the Alps that I will never forget (thank you, camera!). Also, one of the arches that was once a window has a collection of stilactites growing. That is how old this castle is! Full dobro!

Other sites: Over Spring Holidays, I managed to travel about in 5 different countries:

First stop was Vienna, Austria. Holy Moly--I love Vienna! I am so glad we decided to stay for three days! We did and saw so much! We went to the museum of modern art where there was the most kickin´Andy Warhol exhibit. We went to Belvedere Palace, the summer home of Prince Eugene. One of my favorite things was going to this electronic music club called Elektronic Gronner--it was an intense euro-electronic experience for sure. Oh!--I also have pictures with Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and Strauss! We went to the national cemetery!

After heading back to Ljubljana, we made a stop in Bratislava, Slovakia--not as chill and artsy as Vienna, but still very nice (and only an hour away from Vienna). The people in Bratislava were not the most warm and welcoming, but it was really nice to poke around the city, check out the castle and feel the spirit of Slovakia for a few hours.

Zagreb, Croatia was the next stop! I think I will always associate Zagreb with čevapčiči!--the most amazing (Balkan?) sausage-like meat. It reminded me of hamburgers. We ate it on this soft toasted bread that reminded me of ciabatta, but it was not exactly ciabatta. It was served with onions on the side and this red pepper sauce that was amazing! I really like Croatia. The people are pretty religious it seems, but the atmosphere and pace of Zagreb was perfect after visiting Vienna and Bratislava.

So naturally after these excursions we took a break (laundry day!). But by the next day it was off to Piran, Portorož and Lucja, Slovania. This is what the natives call the ˝seaside˝--aptly named given that it is on the Adriatic. Piran was probobaly the highlight of my intensive week of travel. The weather was perfect and the Medievil city was not so crowded. The buildings, the ally ways and the views of Croatia and Italy from the castle were amazing!

SO! The last destination in this crazy week was Venice! Honestly (and I know this might sound weird to Americans) Venice was just alright. It was gorgeous--the weather was perfect, the buildings, church, central square and canals were amazing, but it was a bit of a touristś haven. By this I mean that the city was incredibly crowded, a bit dirtier than I got accustomed to in Ljubljana and sort-of catered to a touristy travelers eye. The way we got there, though, was full noro (completely awesome). We traveled on the Prince of Venice, this catameran, jet powered vessel that traversed the Adriatic to Venice in only 3 hours. I think this is the fastest way to travel to Venice from Slovenia (car, bus and train would have taken longer than 3 hours or something). I love the Adriatic! The water is so much cleaner than what I am used to in the States!

All-in-all, I have to say that it was the most amazing and exhausting week of travel!

If you are interested in my pictures from these places, check out my facebook page!

Participated in an 'after school' activity to learn more about the lives of your students:

So I have played tennis with the older sister of one of my students. She is an amazing athlete who plans to go to an American university to play before eventually going pro (I mean this girl can PLAY!). I have really enjoyed playing tennis because I miss it and becuase I play exculsively on clay in this country (amazing!). Even though I lose horribly every time I play against this future tennis super-star, I have a great time and laugh a lot (usually at myself. . .). The last time I played, Mike and I attended a dinner we were invited to by the family. They are Čeck. It turns out that I have the little brother as my student, and Mike has the older sister as his student. Slovenia is small! In any case, the dinner was amazing and we had a great time talking with the family about a varity of topics--European history, tennis, figure skating, food, you name it! It was really nice.

Burek:

I learned how to make burek! And I have made it twice now! It is this awesome cheese pastry dish that is made in many Slavic nations. All it is is pastry, cottage cheese, sour cream, salt and oil. Of course, I added black pepper to balance out the flavor to my American tongue, but I cannot wait to share this recipe with my friends and family! Also, every country has there own version of this dish. In Slovenia, there are various meats and fruits that are put in it. Sometimes the pastery is very thin and other times it is fluffy—like stromboli or something. There is so much to be experimented with for this dish! I´m thinking artichokes, people! Next: potica! (if that is even possible to make out of Slovenia--the world might implode!).