Dovidenia Modra

Although the closing ceremonies to the Slovak Language Course were last evening, we still had class today until noon.  Today Catarina was the instructor, and we really had a great day.  Here Amy holds her certificate while sporting the hat that she was given this morning from Catarina.  Just why we received green baseball hats is a wonder to us, but we appreciated the thought behind the gift.

We really felt that we needed one last photo with a shot of some of the bird nests in the background, just to save for our memories.  Not that we would ever forget such an experience.

Last night, at the closing ceremonies, the theme that was continually repeated was "We'll see you next year in 2013."  Well, I certainly do appreciate the invitation, but don't foresee that happening.  We did end up meeting some fabulous people, and learning a LOT of the language, which was our intent for attending.

So, I'd say that the end result was a HUGE success for both of us.  Plus we both were able to work on our patience skills.  Last night, as I reviewed the info for today's class, the Compatriots were out and about, right outside our window, hooping it up to about 1:00 in the morning.  They might as well have been in the room with me, but I just kept plugging away at the language book, and Amy seemed to have no problem sleeping through all of the commotion.  I ended up, once again, only getting about 2 hours of sleep, but didn't find myself alone with that complaint. The Thai woman next door said that she was exhausted having lost sleep last night, and that she even went outside and asked the students to please go inside the building rather than sit outside our windows.  Oh well....kids will be kids.....but I'm kind of old for that, I think.  Actually, if I lost my hearing, it might not be so bad.....But then, I'd have really been lost in trying to hear the language spoken!

Class was really a lot of fun today, and I participated much more than in the past.  I just didn't care if I made mistakes, and Catarina was interested in hearing what I had to say.  When we were leaving and saying goodbye, Catarina told me that I was a unique person and that she knew that she would never forget me.

I'm still trying to figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing......

At the moment, we're at Helga's flat being stuffed with every type of food imaginable.  I really can't figure out how she thinks we can eat so much.  I'm hoping my pants still fit tomorrow for the trip.

Well....good-bye to Modra.  We made great friends, explored the countryside and learned the language.
Hovorim po trochu Slovensky.  ( I can speak a little Slovak!)