After Two Weeks...

After two weeks of being here I have decided that I am completely in love with Slovakia. The first week was slow, but now that my social life has become more existing the time is already flying. The first day of school I instantly became friends with the other exchange student (from Colombia), Ivan. Kids in my class were exceptionally welcoming also, and I knew right away that friends would not be a problem here. From then on, I had no clue about what was happening, nothing made sense and by the end of the day I was the most confused and frustrated I've ever been. However, getting plenty of sleep and trying things again the next day helped a lot, and I realized that it's ok for me to not know what's going on; I'm an exchange student. Being confused about things is something I've learned to accept, and accepting it has made things much easier. As school has progressed I have had a lot of fun with my classmates and helped out my English teacher quite a bit. Now that I have my bus cards and actually know how to use them, it is easy for me to be more dependent and makes going into the city to spend time with friends very convenient.
The other day I was in the city (Zilina) with a friend who loves photography while he was taking pictures of a festival that was going on. We had been everywhere interesting when he decided that he wanted to go somewhere new, so we went to the 13th Century church in Zilina. There we asked the man inside if there was any way we could climb the bell tower in order to capture some better pictures. To our astonishment he said yes, and led the way. Being inside the bell tower was beautiful and an amazing experience. The man opened the gear shaft for us too, as you will see in the pictures I posted.
On Sunday, my amazing host parents took me to Strecno, where a beautiful and ancient castle still stands. Since the castle is on a cliff, both the hike up and the view from it are breath taking. We toured the castle and saw the main rooms including the chapel, crypt, torchure chamber and kitchen. Being somewhere so old, and so filled with history is a feeling that cannot be described through text. I am so grateful for this experience; it is definitely worth all the hassle!