Friday Night in the center

Maren (a German girl from outside of Bremen who is doing an internship here in Ljubljana) and I were walking to the bus stop after dinner and two glasses of wine. We had ordered an ‘oh shit why didn’t he tell us’ size pizza from Ljubljanski dvor. The service was mediocre and we ended up having to ask for a bill and a box to take our leftovers home. The box was not free either; 100 tolars. I decided we should go into old town and drink at a nice little café with an old time atmosphere. We had two glasses of semisweet wine and played gin for a few hours. We left the place around 11.30, just before the last bus headed home to Šentvid. As we entered Kongressni Trg (Congress Square) our eyes both caught the man standing 5 meters ahead of us. He looked as if he was going to take a leak but he was standing in the wide open space of the small square. Normally, it is assumed that you should at least try to find the biggest, fattest tree in order to conceal your public urination. He had the concept a little jumbled with all the components put together in a strange way. He had chosen to piss on a sapling which he stood taller than and which his member was probably thicker than. Steam began to rise into the air as his hot piss arched into the cold night air. That poor sapling had no chance to fulfill its natural born role. It was too young; not mature enough. I looked at Maren and said something. She said, “Yeah”. I wonder if it was a statement on his part or if he really didn’t know that he would have been just as covered if he had been in the middle of the street. He could have drained on the sidewalk and it would have been of little difference. The strange things you see. But not the first time.

Vnetje

Oh, the glory of translation. I have always wondered how certain things were ever translated from one language to another. Especially, from such a small language into a bigger one. I will provide for you an interesting and topical example. Referring to the Slovensko-Angleško slovar (Slovene to English dictionary) lets take the word 'vnetje'. The first definition, and by being so the mostrelevantt, is inflammation. The second entry is vnetje ledvic which means nephritis. The third vnetje pljuč which means pneumonia. I have inflammation but I don't know of what. Let's just hope that three days worth of Azithromycin will kick its ass.

New wine season

Here in Slovenia there is St. Martin's day. On this day, they celebrate new wine season. They open a few casks and take the wine that is not fully matured and throw a party. I guess it is like Nouveau Boujoulais season in France. And it occurs around the same time. So there will be a big dorm party when that happens. Should be fun.

Morning excursion

After having stayed up until 4.45 in the morning on Saturday night, I woke again at 6.50 in order to go on my trip to the coast and visit the fine city of Piran. We made a stop in the town of Lipica where are bred Lipizzan horses. They have been doing this since 1580. Each stud has two names- one from his mother and one from his father. This allows the line of his heredity to be traced back to the founding stud. It was strange to hear the guide talk about a stud that lived around 1770. I mean these horses family trees are more filled out than mine. That is pretty sad if you ask me. But as with most things in Europe the history is just deeper. Fr. Zupanc, for example, had family tree dating back to the 11th century. He is related to some prince of that time as well as some pretty famous Slovenes (ex. Jozhe Plechnik).
I had lunch with Maren from Germany at a cozy little, seaside cafe in Piran where we ate seafood and drank some white wine. We discussed some of the generalizations about America that Germans have. Mostly negative ones as those are the ones that stick out in people's minds. We didn't have much time there to go exploring but I figure that I will go to Trst (Trieste) some time in the near future and I will see a city that looks almost the same. An interesting note on Piran- it was given to the Slovenes but used to be part of Italy. This is the case with most of the Damatian coast.
A wonderful trip all in all. Two more cities knocked off the map. Next I think I want to go to Postojno where there is a famous jama (cave).

The Adriatic Coast

This Sunday I will be heading to the Adriatic for a short excursion. It is part of the celebrations here for the 100th anniversary of the school. We will go to Piran which is on the end of a peninsula.
Learning Slovene is pretty slow because I have no one to teach me and little time to practice or do exercises. Maybe I will get some time to learn but one wonders.
I have been reading a lot as I do not have a TV. It helps the imagination all this reading. Anyway I hope everyone has a cool weekend like I hope to have.

November Second Week

This up coming weekend is the 100th anniversary of the Zavod of St. Stanislav. The whole country is basically invited to the celebrations. The prime minister and others will be there giving speeches. This was the first Slovene gymnasium built or allowed so this place is pretty important.
I have been working more intensively with the students. Holding my first classes on my own which hasn't too bad, I have started my in house tutoring service. I think I will be quickly overwhelmed with girls.

Budapest

This city is incredible. The hostel that I am staying in is a complete hippie hangout, but in the communist model. Hippies existed in the Eastern Bloc and flurished. This was possible because of the state subsidizing them. You could work during the day for what it was worth (that meant you showed up to your job), and for the rest of the time you could feed your mind all that you desired. That vibe still exists in Russia and to my delight here in Hungary. If you get a chance you should check out Hostel Maxim in Budapest (district IX, 9 Erkel). Its so cool that they have not even asked me for payment, and I have already been there 2 nights. One wonders if they would even noticed if I ditched out on the bill.
Other than that I should watch out on how much money I am spending. It's not so bad but I would like to travel again. Maybe next time I can find a ride to Sarajevo. Once something like that gets into my head I really want to do it.