Gina and her husband Jason Anderson welcomed my mom, step dad, and me with welcome arms to their house for a slovic meal. I had never met Gina and her family before but when I contacted her through a mutual friend she invited me and my family with no hesitation. Gina and her husband were in the Peace Corp for two years in Slovakia (spelling?).
They made a WONDERFUL dinner. If that was any indication of the type of foods I will be surrounded by, I am excited!
It was so helpful to hear their stories of their time there. They for sure put my mom's mind to rest on the potential crimes there (only mostly pickpocketing). I learned helpful tips such as to bring an odd number of flowers to a dinner party (even numbers are reserved for weddings and funerals). I also learned that soup is pretty much a meal standard. Apparently Gina ordered a soup there and when she took a bite (Oxtail soup), a literal spine rolled up. My first image went to the Indiana Jones movie when they were having Monkey Brains for dinner....definitely going to stay away from Oxtail soup. To funny.
Also going to stay away from the vodka shot that has a layer of bacon grease on the top...yumm....not.
There were many more tips that the Anderson's provided that is going to be useful information for when I am over there. Hopefully it will save me a little bit of cultural embarrassment from my lack of knowledge :)
Til next time.
They made a WONDERFUL dinner. If that was any indication of the type of foods I will be surrounded by, I am excited!
It was so helpful to hear their stories of their time there. They for sure put my mom's mind to rest on the potential crimes there (only mostly pickpocketing). I learned helpful tips such as to bring an odd number of flowers to a dinner party (even numbers are reserved for weddings and funerals). I also learned that soup is pretty much a meal standard. Apparently Gina ordered a soup there and when she took a bite (Oxtail soup), a literal spine rolled up. My first image went to the Indiana Jones movie when they were having Monkey Brains for dinner....definitely going to stay away from Oxtail soup. To funny.
Also going to stay away from the vodka shot that has a layer of bacon grease on the top...yumm....not.
There were many more tips that the Anderson's provided that is going to be useful information for when I am over there. Hopefully it will save me a little bit of cultural embarrassment from my lack of knowledge :)
Til next time.
I read through your entire blog just now with my mom... she suggests visiting Praque while in the Czech Republic, and if the opportunity arises, Bratislava, Slovakia as well!
ReplyDeleteShe says that the sites there shall "wow" you - and I must agree.
- hint: if you want REALLY good food, my absolute favorite in the entire world, you'd have to visit Slovakia. My favorite dish is found in practically every Slovak restaurant, "Bryndzove Halusky"; it's a dish that's made of like tiny potato dumplings with a cheese that is similar to Feta cheese. It's absolutely worth trying, but only found in Slovakia. :]
My mom also is telling me that my aunt, Jana (the one who contacted you over email once this year), works at an English-speaking school, and she's sure that if you had any problems, you could probably contact her for help with anything. She speaks good English as well as Slovak, and understands Czech very well.
That's pretty much it for now, hope your language learning is going well!
-- Jessica Dzuranyi.