Italy 5

This morning I slept in a little bit, so I didn’t get to breakfast until about 9:00. Still delicious, as always. After breakfast, I went to our room and read, while Barca went to her parents’ room to study for school. Her parents went cross country skiing. I’m not sure what everyone else in our group did. I do know that one couple went home today. And the father and son that came the day after we did also left. (They got stopped at the border and had to wait for like a half hour because the son forgot his passport, and the authorities were convinced he was kidnapped. But they got home safe, so it’s all good.)

Today I mostly hung out. I filed and painted my nails (purple, of course).  I finished my book. (It was really good, great twist at the end.) I was reading when housekeeping came in to clean. Funny story. The lady came in, and started speaking in super fast Slovak, so I said I didn’t understand, sorry, I don’t speak good Slovak. So she asked, “German?” (only, in German, of course.) And I shook my head no, and asked “English?” to which she replied, “No. Italian?” And again, I had to shake my head no.

Side note – I think that I am at a distinct disadvantage, coming from America. By the time kids here (in Europe, I mean) are my age, they speak at least two languages, if not three. I only speak English, and I’m learning Slovak (duh) but I feel like a loser when all these people can switch languages as easily as I try on new shoes. It’s mind-boggling.  And I wish schools in America would start teaching languages at a younger age. Like, first grade would be a good place to start. Anyways, enough ranting.

Eventually we (through sign language and such) managed to communicate that I was going to a different room so she could clean. So I called Barca, and went and read in her parents’ room for 45 minutes. Then I went back, and our room was nice and clean, the blankets folded into hearts (no idea why) like always, the pillows folded to create a heart-ish triangle shape. And Snuggles sitting happily in the fold in my pillow. This was new, since I usually put him in my suitcase before I leave (since it’s mildly embarrassing that I still sleep with a stuffed duck, but whatev. Not anymore, since I’m telling the internets lol), but today I forgot to. I appreciate how nice housekeeping was to him, not just plunking him in the corner or something. Kudos to you, housekeeping.

After I finished my book, I watched “The Shawshank Redemption” for like the 5^th time. (Great movie.) Barca came in when I was almost done with it, and I think she found it a bit amusing, the parts she was listening to, anyway. After that, we went on a walk to take pictures. Well, actually we spent about a half hour putting on makeup and changing clothes first, but oh well. We got a lot of silly pics, but a few really good ones too. I found the ones with the cows most hilarious. Ok, so there are cows here. Big deal. Well, to Barca, they were. She hadn’t seen that many cows before (unlike me - Hello, I’m from Holton!), and so she was a little scared of them. Which I found funny.  (Right after I made sure Barca was ok with this paragraph: Barca- “I just don’t see cows everyday since they are not living in Piešťany.” Me- “well it’s not like I see them everyday either. What, do you think I live in a barn? I don’t live in a barn!” Barca- laughs and laughs. Pff.) (So I just acted out a cow trying to attack Barca, and she said I looked like a squirrel with rabies. Thanks. -_- )

Yum

We ended up going inside once we were totally frozen. Inside, we just hung out for a little bit before dinner. For dinner tonight we had “Italian Cuisine”, which to me, was regular food.  That surprised just about everyone, when I said that this was normal food for me. And it was. Fried zucchini, tomatoes and mozzarella, melon and prosciutto, seafood. All normal for me, but not for my Slovak family. It was very very good. After dinner, we went down to the game room. When we got there, I was super excited. I got to see TINKERBELL!!! Mind you, it was in Italian, so I didn’t understand near as much as I would have liked, but still. It was Tinkerbell! So I watched Tinkerbell with the other 5 year olds, and Barca watched the adults play poker. After, we came upstairs, and saw an Italian musician in the lobby. A bunch of little kids (a few of my friends from watching Tinkerbell, too) were dancing, and I took an adorable video.  But we only watched for like a song and a half, and now we are upstairs being random.