National Uprising Day/Farewell Waqar

The new apartment was christened in good style on Tuesday. It was a holiday - August 29th - National Uprising Day. If you're interested:

http://www.spectacularslovakia.sk

Our new apartment is on the street named after the uprising - ulica 29 Augusta (August 29th Street) so it seemed necessary that we throw a party! It also happened to be Waqar's last day in Blava before his return to NYC. Manuela (intern from Germany) had also just finished her last day, so really, "uprising celebrations" took a back seat.

See the album "National Uprising Day/Farewell Waqar" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

Slovak Advertising

Can you guess what this advert is for?
It's so obvious - house siding and window panes, of course.

See the album "Signs" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

New Desk!

My office-mate, Masami, left for another position in Japan, and along with all of her house plants, I have inherited her desk!I can have my lap top AND a binder on the desk at the same time. Actually, I have the office to myself right now - a little lonely to tell you the truth! I'd rather have Masami back with all of her strange Japanese candies she forced on me, and our constant negotiation (always very polite, of course!) over the temperature the AC should be set at. She is a super nice lady and I will miss her! That is one of the difficult things about working here - you get to know some people really well, then their internship/contract is up and they're gone. Paid (wow, now there's a concept!)employees tend to work on monthly/yearly contracts also. But the good thing is that there are always new people to meet.
shan

Slivovica

Slivovica - (pronounced: sliv - o - veet - sa) the national drink: "For centuries during Slovakia's long stint under Hungarian rule, the area's peasant population had little access to wine or beer. Slovak wine generally went to nobles throughout the kingdom, although the lower-quality stuff did serve as an every-day drink in wine-producing areas. Beer, the beverage of the rising burgher class, cost too much for most peasants to buy, and it was illegal to make it without a license from the king.
These social relations held through much of Central Europe, but they didn't stop people from drinking. A grand tradition of home-distilled liquor, made from fruit grown in the family garden, arose. The most famous is slivovica, a fiery clear brandy made from plums. Traditionally, a meal starts with a shot of this strong nectar. While the stuff you find in pubs and bottled in supermarkets is too often just firewater, a homemade slivovica can be a marvelous, warming drink on a cold night. Similar distillates are made from cherries, pears, and raspberries."

I think it is fairly clear that we had the "firewater" variant...
shan

More about Slivovica

Spectacular Slovakia

Balaton, Hungary

Links:

Lake Balaton

More than Balaton

Living Lakes

After the Mojito party hangover, the next day we were off to Hungary! Ilona, a co-worker, has a Hungarian friend, Emoke (pronounced ee-mooooooo-ka)who invited us to her birthday party at her parent's cabin by Balaton. This is a huge, very popular lake where many people go to vacation. We were told the drive was a little under 3 hours, although this turned into about 4 1/2 hours. Francesco and his girlfriend (Mariella {sp??}) drove us and we were treated to some first hand Italian impatience following Ilona's car ("I make-a them eat the map") However, we arrived safely and were treated to an amazing BBQ, some traditional Hungarian shots (slovak equivalent -slivovicia - aka lawnmower fuel)and good music. Glen played the typical cdn-male role and took over the BBQ duties.

The participants: 2 CDNs, 5 Hungarians, 1 Hungarian-Slovak, 1 Pakistani, 1 Japanese, 1 Italian, 1 French, 1 Spaniard, 2 Portuguese. And no, none of the world's problems were solved at this event.

After a slow start in the morning and a fantastic breakfast, we headed to the lake where we spent the whole day. Bought some floaters and "relaxed". In quotes because Waqar and I actually had to work quite hard paddling the Italian around.

The next evening a goulash was prepared on a kettle over an open fire which was AMAZING. Hungary certainly has Slovakia beat on good food.

Another day on the "beach" - there is actually no beach - it is cement like around a swimming pool, then back home. We were lucky because we just missed a massive storm. The 2nd car which was on the way to Budapest drove through it. It was so bad that 3 people died in Budapest when they were swept into the Danube. There are still some people missing from boats. Very sad because it was on their big national holiday; many celebrations and events in Budapest that day.

Anyway, we made it safely home despite an INSANE driver, Peter. Sylvia and I are still stiff from getting knocked around in the car and even Glen had some terrified moments.

missing nice, straight cdn highways with clearly marked signs!
shan

See the album "Glen's Arrival" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

The Brooker's Are Together

Finally! I arrived in Bratislava on the 18th of August just in time for the Thursday night Mojito party put on by some of Shannon's co workers. Shannon picked me up at the airport and stuffed me in her "rat trap" until after work. Thank heaven we are moving into our new apartment on Thursday.
Shannon looks great and loves what she is doing, me on the other hand. I compared me being here to the 3 evil black leather wearing characters on Superman 1 or 2 trapped in a glass cage and sent out into spaces. As June Carter would say "I'm just trying to matter" yah right, help me.
It's beautiful downtown and can't wait to start exploring. Hope everyone is doing great and Shannon and I miss you all very much.
G
Mojito Recipes:

Cuban Mojito Recipe

DrinksMixer

See the album "Adam's Farewell" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

"The Big Suck"

Thought I would let everyone know that I arrived in London despite the terrorist alert at Heathrow Airport. I was three and a half hours late as I sat on the runway in Calgary for 2 hours waiting for the lightning storm to end. Then to top it off I had to sit on Heathrow's runway for an hour and a half while they cleared a spot for our plane. Next stop, Bratislava. Wish me luck.

Krack

Seriously, the only thing keeping me going right now.

Cabin Fever at Chateau Bob

Well, now that I have no home or phone I thought I should spend my last days in peace. I decide to go to the cabin for a relaxing time golfing and water playing. It was fantastic. Every morning we spent an hour or so reading the paper and drinking our Tim Horton's coffee on the boat at Lake Windermere. WOW, it couldn't have been more relaxing. These are a few shots we had while reading the Calgary herald. Shannon I hope you like these. The rest of the family came on Thursday night and Friday, it was great seeing everyone out there before I leave on my mission from god. Even little Katie came out to see me off. The Tilbury's, Weeks, Grandma and Grandpa Doerksen, Bo and me were out celebrating August 4 for some reason. Everyone missing our Shannon.

Bye Everyone

links:

Windermere, British Columbia

Columbia Valley

The Aligator

Matus took us to one of his hangouts in Blava - The Aligator. It's this scary dungeon-like club that is know for its live hard rock/alternative/punk music. Just the place for us UN interns.

See "The Aligator" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

Koliba Ropes Course

John, Mamura, Kathryn, Matus and I decided to try our luck at the ropes course in Koliba (a hill on the outskirts of Blava) Matus, Kathryn and I took the "advanced" route, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake for me. About 3/4 of the way into the course, there was a monkey bar to cross. Sound easy. NO. Already exhausted and weak, there was no way I was making it across. I tried, but ended up having to get "rescued" by one of the staff. Which basically involved me hanging there like a ragdoll until I was hooked up to another rope and dragged across. Not one of my most shining moments. I've included a picture of my rescuer. It wasn't so bad after all :-)
I also really enjoyed all the tourists who stopped to gape at us on the course. Especially that one kid who kept making monkey noises at me. Real cute.

See "Koliba" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.

Silvia's Birthday

We celebrated Silvia's birthday (our lovely intern from Barcelona) at Primi's, one of Bratislava's best restaurant/night club.

See "Silvia's Birthday" at

Shan's Sony Image Station Photo Albums

for more pictures.