Road Trip to Čimo’s

We went to our teammate’s house for a day and a half this weekend. She lives about two hours away. We had practice Friday evening, and then me, Jen, and three of our teammates piled in the car and drove to her town. The ride seemed quick. We listened to music and played “Guess that Celebrity.”

When we got to her house, her dad had dinner ready which was very sweet. After dinner we went bowling. Jen and one of our teammates (Mima) had made a bet that the loser would have to buy the winner Marlenka. It’s a sort of cake-like dessert that Jen loves. I wasn’t in on the bet, but I decided to beat them both anyways. Just kidding…but I’m serious about beating them :-). We bowled two games, but by the second game we were all just goofing around. Jen was bowling between her legs, and everyone tried spinning around ten times and then bowling. I don’t think anyone hit a single pin. It was fun though just spending time with our teammates in a different atmosphere than we are used to.

The next morning we woke up around 9 and Čimo had breakfast ready for us. Thanks Čimo! :-) After breakfast we all bundled up in the warmest clothes we had and headed for the High Tatras. This was something that Jen and I were hoping to do ever since we found out we were going to Slovakia. According to a little Slovakian book that we have, the High Tatras are Europe’s most magnificent mountains (besides the Alps :-). It was about a 45 minute drive from Čimo’s house. The drive up the mountain was so foggy that we could literally only see about ten feet in front of us, but when we finally got up high enough it was BEAUTIFUL! We parked and then walked around for a few hours. It wasn’t really that cold. Our teammates told us to bundle up like crazy, but as the hike went on, I kept taking off layers until I was in some basketball shorts and a dri-fit long sleeve. We saw the ramp where people train to do ski jumping. We climbed all the way to the top of it (which was quite a task) and then pretended to prepare for our jumps. It is really quite ridiculous to imagine someone doing that…especially after being up there and seeing how high it is. I have a new respect for those athletes, and I will probably be excited to watch it during the Winter Olympics. After we finally came down from there, we walked to a restaurant and got lunch. I tried halušky for the first time. Jen got chicken and rice. It was good. And cheap! After lunch, we walked to the car and drove back to Čimo’s.

We hung out at Čimo’s for about 45 minutes and then got ready to go to the Aqua Park. Jen and I had read a little bit about aqua parks in Slovakia while we were still in the USA , but we really couldn’t picture what they were like. Who would think of going to a water park when it’s freezing cold outside?! Well, it was great! When we got there, it pretty much looked like a water park that we would have in the U.S. We were thinking, “There is no way we are going to be walking around wet and in our swimsuits when it’s 30 degrees out here!” But the cool part is the whole thing is inside! There are heated hallways that you walk around in to get from place to place. And all the water is heated, too! It’s like being in a Jacuzzi. A lot of people come just to relax in the water because it’s mineral water and supposedly good for you. We went straight for the slides and spent a solid hour and a half going on slide after slide. It was so fun! There are slides where you need tubes and slides where you just need a little mat. We had races down slides that were side by side. Then, we tried this new slide. It was great! Jen and I got a double tube so that we could go on it. We didn’t really know anything about the slide so it was even better. The first part of the slide allows you to see a bit and then it gets dark. Before you know it, you shoot out of the slide into this big bowl shaped thing that is OUTSIDE in the open air! It’s ridiculous. We had no idea it was coming so we were just dying laughing. You go around the outside of the bowl about 3 times (enough to make you frozen) before you are eventually sucked into the middle of it and into another slide….and then it’s over. I have never been on a slide like that before! We went on it a few more times and then we got a great idea. Instead of waiting in line for the double tubes, we just decided to use the mats. So me, Jen, Mima, and Mišca grabbed mats and climbed the stairs to the slide. We were going to go two at a time but then we decided to just all go at once. I went first, Jen second, Mišca third, and then Mima. When we all shot out into the bowl-thing, I started to get separated from the others so Jen grabbed my hand. After we went around a few times , Mišca started to get sucked into the hole. I tried to grab her to keep her outside longer but we both got sucked in backwards. Jen and Mima weren’t far behind. We were laughing so hard when we got out. And then we got in trouble by the lifeguards….but it’s ok. We had fun :-)
We went back to Čimo’s and had the Slovakian version of spaghetti (I like to say the Slovak word for spaghetti. It is spelled špagety, but in Slovensky, the letter ‘š’ is pronounced like ‘sh’ in English so it sounds like you have a speech impediment when you say it…just some random information for ya :-). The spaghetti sauce in Slovakia basically tastes like tomato soup/ketchup so it’s not really spaghetti like we are used to. After dinner, we packed our bags and drove back to Prešov. A couple of our teammates live in Koŝice, a city 25 minutes away, so after dropping some off in Prešov, we drove to Košice. After we had dropped our teammate off, we went to McDonald’s. One of Jen’s favorite snacks is French fries and a caramel sundae from McDonald’s. I got two cheeseburgers. I have never been a big fan of McDonald’s but boy did it taste good! :-) We drove back to Prešov, and on the way we taught our teammate Mišca how to say some slang phrases in English. It was hilarious!!!

Anyways, it feels good to be back in Prešov for a few days. We play on Thursday and Sunday this week (not sure who or where…we kind of find things out day by day :-). I hope you are all doing great!

Here is a verse for your week:
“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” -Ephesians 6:19-20(Please pray for us :-)

Until next time,
Jen and Tina

If you want to see some more pictures, copy and paste the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2173051&id=4709921&l=e4ffd3d0fe