Nitra

Barbed Wire Roses

While the Spanish may have lost much of their devout religious fervor after the fall of the dictatorship, they have in no way lost their passion for paid vacation.  As a result, we were afforded a generous 10 day break to travel Europe during Holy Week celebrations. Olivia, a close friend from work, invited Kelly and I to Slovakia for Easter break.  Olivia planned a return to visit friends and students from a bilingual school she taught at nearly two years ago.  On the trip, we visited Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czech Republic and Vienna, Austria.  I will recount the highlights of this trip by city, so be patient, there is more to come!

  

NITRA

Nitra is a tiny, dim town in the heart of Slovakia.  Most buildings reflect the concrete, austerity of the communist era, but a few retain crumbling vestiges of the ornate décor and faded pastel glory that stood so long ago.  The town was purely a land of contradiction.  Spring crept along every surface. From sidewalk cracks burst tall green grasses and trees flowed over with brightly, pedaled flowers.  As we walked along, small religious shrines and monumental crucifixes revealed the new religious zeal that conquered the hearts of the people soon after the communist regime relinquished power over their beliefs. And behind the dusty windows and crumbling facades was the angry beast of capitalism devouring the young with the poisoned obsession for high-heeled shoes and the latest shining cars.  

  

 Upon arrival, we were met with a cold, dim afternoon haze. We rolled suitcases along a busy road, past a school and down a hill where we were greeted with the frenzied welcome of Maria José and a large group of Spanish speakers taking refuge in a warm café.  We settled in for a creamy cappuccino before heading to Maria José’s apartment.  While the outside mirrored the cold communist architecture of the city, a concrete building with stark square windows, the inside glowed from bright yellow walls covered in pictures of tropical fish. At first glance it appeared to be a perfect reflection of Maria José, a woman coming from the beaches of Malaga.   We soon learned, however, that the fish were in fact inspired not by the Mediterranean, but instead by the Slovakian man with whom she has fallen deeply in love. 

He is about fish. 

He is about reproducing tropical fish. 

It sounds like an interesting couple.

Maria José was wonderful!  Uninhibited and enthusiastic, she would lose herself in hysterical half hour monologues.  While I was enraptured by her presence, Kelly, perplexed, went on a personal quest to find the lost ‘S’s that were missing from this Andalucían’s speech.  As the week went by, we picked up a variety of phrases we knew to store in our minds but never to use:

Example 1:  A friendly greeting

¿Que tal tú chocho?

English translation:  How is your pussy?

Example 2:  A friendly request to stay out of someone else’s drama

No me salpiques con tú mierda

English translation:  Don’t splash me with your shit

In addition to Maria José, we met dozens of other adventurous Spaniards who have chosen to live abroad in Slovakia.  Some have established roots in the town; others exist in a transitory state between staying and leaving as the years pass.  Many come as teachers in the Spanish bilingual high school in town. 

 

As bilingual teaching assistants in Spain, Kelly and I were more than curious about this school.  When we entered the building, it immediately felt like we had walked into the high schools we remembered from home.  Pictures of alumni covered the walls and students mulled around metal lockers or chatted as they walked with books through the hallways.  There was no running, no screaming and no fighting.  Kelly and I took a deep breath.  We visited a senior class, just months away from finishing high school.  The kids had the classic faces of desperate boredom characteristic of Chronic Senioritis.  They spoke to us in a mix of fluent Spanish and fluent English, choosing between them according to whichever they felt best suited the moment.  We were impressed! 

Inspired by all this language learning, we also picked up a few necessary Slovak phrases:

            Hello                                  Ahoj            

            Please                                Prosím

Thank you                         D’akujem

            How are you?                   Ako sa máš?

            Ok (Vale)                          Dobre

Our friendly guides

            Yes                                   Áno

            No                                    Nie

Too say the least, the Slovaks had us beat!

Nitra was by far the most interesting of the places we visited.  We were among friends who shared with us their lives there.  We took it easy and enjoyed the ride, preparing for the adventures ahead in Budapest and Prague.