Goodbye Hungary; Hello Slovakia

I hope everyone is doing well. I just arrived to my second village, Tallos (Tomalsviko) Slovakia. But I'll get into that later.

First, my send off was phenomenal. My second host family took me to the train station, where I met with other volunteers before heading to Komarno, Slovakia. My host brother Willie actually started crying when we got out of the car and his mom e-mailed me today, telling me that he cried for about an hour after I left. That also delayed lunch for the family, which was surprising cause Willy usually is the first one at the table. (Awww. Kind of luck me at age 11. Wait, kind of like me now.)

Anyway, it was pretty hard to leave, but I was happy to see my friends and to tackle a new chapter. I also was comforted with the notion that I'll be visiting my family in Ztown again in the future.

And finally that I would receiving my GFR shirt again. You probably heard but I lost it in Budapest. (I have my hunches about how it got lost, but there are no accusations.) Anyway, I am pretty excited that Nancy spent the 20 bucks to mail it and I will once again be living vicariously through this shirt -- though it doesn't really change much. :)



So we arrived to Komarno at close to on-time and we were greeted by a member of Parliament, an interpreter and a bunch of hospitality. We were treated to dinner on the first day and lunch the second; enjoyed a free weekend stay in a 4 star hostel (which is like a 1 star hotel, but better than what I could have expected); and we met with the vice-mayor and I was interviewed by the local news. (The local reporter was probably prompted by my question about "What are your priorities and your specific agenda?)

Anyway, we had a great time and we're all meeting up in two weeks in Prague to tackle another country. (I also got an extra bonus by my friend Ridge (from Louisiana) being in a neighboring village. Our host families are teaming up during the next few weeks.)

So my host family picked me up at 10:30 Sunday morning and we made the 50 minute drive to their hometown, which is about 40 miles east of Slovakia's capital, Bratislava. The town name is officially Tomalsviko, but they call it Tallos because this is the Hungarian part of Slovakia, where most people are of Hungarian heritage, but are no longer in that country because of redistricting following wars in the 20th century.

1st let me tell you that they are as heartwarming as my first family. These next few weeks will be a bit more difficult considering I am in a village of 1500 and no one in my family is fluent in English. With that said, I look forward to the change of pace and my host borther Tomas (13) speaks pretty good English, which means we can talk about 70 percent of the time. His parents (Karol (Dad) and Hajnalka (mom) do not and his nine year old sister (Hajnika) doesn't, but we're already having fun. (WE've enjoyed rummy and other Hungarian card games and just visiting as we talk about history.)

They live near downtown, which is pretty small, and have a pretty big house, which also is home of their grandmother. While they do not have a car, they have high-speed internet and a 50 inch flat screen TV. (It was pretty cool watching the Tour de France yesterday and bits of the British Open. They've also been gracious to turn the TV on English.)

They also have a mini farm. Like my other families, they grow a lot of their own fruits and vegetables. But unlike my other family they have an even larger garden and they have pigs, which they actually sell in the Winter. They also have a small river at the end of their property.

I actually start teaching on Tuesday, so I hope to give you more updates after that.

Take care and thanks again for everyone who sent me a birthday wish. It was fantastic.

Marc