I love drugs (the perfectly legal non-perscription kind)

Yesterday was a very sad day indeed. I took my last tablet of loratodine (allergy med) and said a little prayer. For it seems that the further I am from the US, the further my allergies amplify. Whilst in the Czech Republic, I had such a cough that my friends referred to it as 'the plague.' Upon returning home, my doctor informed me the cough was due to allergies left untreated.

My allergies have redoubled as a result of my being abroad, and the cough returns when I forget a day of allergy meds. Having miscalculated the number of pills needed before leaving the US, I had run out. Today, I gathered my dictionary translations for itch, cough and sneeze and I made my way to the Lekarna (Pharmacy).

I explained (in Slovene) that I have allergies and that I had run out of medicine. The woman asked me what my allergies were (I really have no idea) so I told her dust and pollen. Low and behold she offered me CLARITIN!! Oh how my heart sang! The very drug I was after (although I always buy the generic kind) is available in Slovenia!!

The strangest part of my tale, is that Claritin is CHEAPER in SLOVENIA than in the UNITED STATES. I paid something like $12 for 20 tablets. In the states, this would cost me at least $25.

As explained in my previous blog about the Czech Republic, Europeans have a different relationship with over-the-counter medications than we in the states have. You cannot simply walk into a Lekarna, pluck the drug of your choice from the shelf, pay and leave. You must discuss with the clerk what your symptoms are, and they recommend something for you. All the medicines are kept behind the counter. I took a picture to demonstrate.

P.S. I know I just wrote an entire blog about Claritin. . but this excites me so!

Hvaladajedan (Thanksgiving)

It all started with an oven. The oven in my flat is broken beyond repair. The owner will need to replace it. Without an oven, I didn't have a place to bake a Thanksgiving turkey. My friend Josh offered to bring his oven to my flat. While my flat has a very large kitchen, it has virtually no dining room. In addition, two of my roommates sleep in the living room. There wasn't much room to work with.

We ended up going to Josh's house. His oven was not much larger than a microwave. We were only able to cook one dish at a time.

I made a pumpkin pie!! Some missionary friends had recently been in Germany, and were able to buy a can of pumpkin from an army base. I had to buy a type of filio dough and make a pie-ish shape. BEFORE PICTURE.

AFTER PICTURE - They don't have condensed milk here, so I had to use coffee creamer. Coffee creamer is not as thick as condensed milk, so the pie was a little less solid than normal. It tasted normal.

The missionaries also smuggled in Stove Top and cranberry jelly. We added chestnuts, carrots and mushrooms to our stuffing. It was really good!

THE TURKEY. I couldn't find a whole turkey, so I purchased half a turkey breast. Half a turkey breast was 6 lbs. I can't imagine the size of the Turkey it came from.

Josh was the mastermind behind most of the actual cooking. Here he is being a freak and "carving" the turkey.

All in all, we had greenbean casserole, mashed potatos, jellied cranberry, turkey, pumpkin pie and stuffing.

Mathilde observing the damage.

Marta, Josh and Tasha.

Anna and Miljan enjoying their first Thanksgiving.

Miljan, Mathilde and Tasha.

It doesn't really feel like Thanksgiving because no one else is celebrating. I went to school today, and I must go back tomorrow. UGH!! Europe sucks during the Holidays!! I just need to remember that I only have 25 days left until I come home for Christmas!!

A touchy subject

It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something. - Don Cheadle (Crash)

Articles about foreign cultures seem to always reference the differences in personal space preferences. It makes perfect sense that countries with a condensed population would have a smaller "bubble." People cram into busses, trams and taxis. In rush hour, you must wade through the crowd just to get down the street. What the articles fail to mention however, is the increased amount of intentional touching.

I am not a 'touchy-feely' person, so to speak. I've never even had a massage, because I feel awkward having a complete stranger touching me. I may not be the best case study, but the difference in amount of physical contact here is drastic.

For example, Miljan's family came to visit. We were all standing around talking, and his father put his arm around me. Something like only my father would do back in the states. He left the arm there for several minutes. He didn't intend to cause any harm, he just wanted me to feel comfortable. To the family, it was totally normal. To me, it was absolutely weird.

In class today we talked about kissing as a greeting. In France, the first time you meet someone; it is common to kiss them on both cheeks. The first time you meet someone! I have a few French friends here, and every time we meet, we must kiss on each cheek. I think back to my physical interactions in the states. I think I could go for weeks without touching anyone, unless my mother demands a hug. Think about it, we go to work, and unless you work in a field like medicine, where touching is mandatory, you don't really have to interact.

I don't have a spouse, so I wake up by myself. I drive to school by myself. I sit next to other students. I go to lunch with friends. I drive home or to work. I watch television, do homework or take calls at work. Again, no touching taking place. Even in social gatherings or parties, we get drinks and we sit across the table from one another. Really think about it, how many physical interactions do you have per day? Per week?

In Slovenia, I still don't have spouse, so again I wake up alone. But I go to school and I sit next to my friends Adel and Juliana. We are always touching. If they have a funny story, they put their hand on my back, or slap my knee to enhance a punch line. Almost every day when I come home, Miljan gives me a hug and asks me how my day was. If we have a party, or we go to a bar, everyone must kiss everyone upon introduction. Throughout the pub, people are putting their arms around one another, dancing closely and usually kissing.

I still wouldn't call myself a 'touchy-feely' person. I'm finding touching less awkward, but I do not feel the need to initiate such actions. I'm not sure yet if this is something I will miss when I get home. We shall see.

Spelunking and Korean Night

Well, I was a busy lady this weekend. On Friday, my class took a trip to the Skokjan Caves, which contain one of the world's largest underground canyons. The enviornment there totally reminded me of Lord of the Rings. . .

This is a picture taken outside of the caves. There's a huge waterfall where the river empties into the cave. The river is called the Reka Reka (River River). Pretty brilliant. I took this picture, but the following pictures are not mine. No photography was allowed inside the caves. . and my camera didn't get a good picture with such low light anyway!

Underground river mirroring the stalactites and stalagmites.

Sweet bridge like the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm!! A friend of mine kept chanting "You shall not pass!! Fly you fools!" haha (Lord of the Rings reference).

Another pic of the same bridge.

On the tour you walk around the top of the canyon and look down into the river.

Then we went to this church. It was built in the 1400's and never modernized.

Stone wall around the church.

One of the frescos in the church. The dance of the dead, showing that we are all equal in death. There was a child, a beggar, a businessman, a nobleman, the queen, the king and the pope.

These three lovely Korean ladies (Jisooh, Sanghyun & Sungho + Euna (not pictured)) made us a huge Korean dinner.

They made korean style sushi with ham, egg, tuna, cucumber etc. . sooo good!

Sanghyun & Sungho

They also made some spicy korean ramen. (Miljan & Sungho)

Everyone enjoying the dinner party. (Simon, Miljan, Mathilde, Cecil & Ana)

After the party, every dish in our flat was dirty. Today after 3 loads in the dishwasher. . I finally finished cleaning it all up! (Marta, Jisooh & me)

For the 'rents

Dad, Mom, you asked what my room looks like now that i'm settled in. Well, here you are. There is a window above my door that light comes through from the hallway. My roommates like to leave the hall light on all the time for some reason, so I covered the window with aluminum foil and duct tape. :)

Living in the moment because I can't express the future or the past. .

Slovene language is CrAzY!! In English, we have six standard personal pronouns. I, You, He/She, We, You all and They. In Slovene, they have special pronouns for when only two persons/objects are present. They call it dual, and Slovene is the only language to use this type of structure. For example:

Medve is 'we' for two people. Vidva is 'you all' for two people. Onidve is 'they' for two people. The rest are in the same order as the English pronouns posted above.

Before I left the US, and I told people I was going to learn Slovene. . they would comment on how hard it was to learn. I understand now!! In Slovene, all the adjectives and objects change endings based the type of sentence.

This is white coffee: To je bela kava.

I would like a white coffee: Želim belo kavo.

When the direct object is a feminine word, all the a's flip to o's.

This is probably boring. . and none of you care to learn Slovene. . so I will simply show you two of my recent writing assignments.

Moj Izlet

V ZDA ponavadi grem na izlet spomladi. Spomlad, moja sestra in jaz sva šli v Florido. Spali sva v zelo dobrem hotelu. Jedli sva morske sadeže, pili sva tropske pijače in sva plavali v morje. Sva kupili parfum, sončna očala in uhana. Sva kupili pijače medtem ko sva plavali na bazen. Stroški za pijačo so bill 20 evro!! Izlet je bil drag!

My Trip (We are learning how to express the past tense)

In USA it is common to go on a trip in the spring. Last spring, my sister and I went to Florida. We slept in a very nice hotel. We ate a lot of seafood, drank tropical drinks and swam in the ocean. We bought perfume, sunglasses and earrings. We bought drinks while swimming in the pool. The drinks cost $30!! It was a very expensive trip!

Praznik

Za mojo družino, naš priljubljen praznik je neodvisnost dan. Pred 4 julij, moja celotna družina potuje na Kansas. Moja babica živi na kmetiji na Kansas. Vsako leto, moja družina imam veliko zabavo na praznovanje. Jemo meso z žara, pijemo kolo in gledamo ognjemet. Naši sosedje pidejo gledat ker vejo vedno imamo velike ognjemeti. Jaz mislim naš pokazat je bolje kot Strokovni sejmi. Mi imamo veliko zabavo.

Holiday (November 2-3 were National Holidays in Slovenia similar to Memorial Day)

For my family, our favorite holiday is independence day. Before the 4th of July, my entire family travels to Kansas. My Grandmother lives on a farm in Kansas. Every year, my family has a large party to celebrate. We eat barbeque, drink cola and watch the fireworkds. All our neighbors come to watch our fireworks because we always have a big show. I think our show is better than professional ones. We have a huge party.

Sorry I didn't post any pictures. I lent my camera cord to my other american friend here. On Friday we're going to visit some caves. Slovenian caves are a pretty big tourist attraction. I'll blog about it. ASK ME QUESTIONS!! OTHERWISE I WILL KEEP POSTING BORING STUFF!! AND ALSO, PUT YOUR NAMES ON YOUR COMMENTS TO I KNOW WHO TO SEND NASTY-GRAMS TO!!

Moj Rojstni Dan

Before I moved to Slovenia, I had anticipated that this would be a really sad birthday. All my friends and family being so far away. Fortunately, I was dead wrong!! I had a wonderful birthday!! In the morning, I arrived at school. My friends gave me a plant and some Croatian bread.

After school we went out to lunch at a really trendy place similar to a Panera. After lunch we went out to tea at my favorite tea house. I didn't bring my camera, but my friends took pictures that I can add later. It was turning out to be such a good birthday, how could it get any better??

My roommates threw me a party and I received a lot of presents! (Yes, that is a goldfish and no, I don't know what I will do with him).

Miljan bought a white t-shirt and had everyone write something special on it. How sweet!

He also bought a cake similar to tiramisu complete with trick sparkler candles. Needless to say, I didn't blow them out in one try.

Just a picture of some of my friends. From left to right: Matilde (France), Tamas (Hungary), Syman (Germany), Alenka (Montenegro), William (France), and Miljan (Serbia).

From left to right: Natasha (USA), Ivan (Macedonia), Marta (Poland), and Tamas (Hungary).

I just wanted to let everyone know I had a great birthday!! Thanks to my family and my new friends!!