Home sweet Gulag

So I arrived in Bratislava today. Strangely, I had no problems with travel despite the fact I had to catch two planes, a bus, a train, and somehow contact my hosts within a 14 hour period. I'm happy to say that I succeeded and I made it safely and on time to Bratislava. I actually met an American student and a Hungarian professor on the train and we had a lovely conversation about European culture and life in general. It turns out that we all had a strong interest in fantasy and science fiction novels. Who knew? Anyways, because I talked the entire train ride, I couldn't nap, so I'm extremely tired right now. Even though its only 5pm local time, it feels like 11pm. I feel like I could sleep for weeks. I probably will. My hosts are supposed to take me shopping and then I plan on crashing for the night. Hopefully I can tell you more about Slovakia once I've slept. I also have to tell you about switzerland and Budapest and the American wedding. So much to say, so little brain power to say it all. But in the mean time, I've posted pictures of my Slovakian apartment.

http://picasaweb.google.com/chariteach/SlovakiaMyHome

I actually like my apartment, even though I refer to it as a gulag. The building is pretty ugly but the interior was recently renovated so my room is quite cheery and clean. I can't say the same for the elevator. The lift (aka closet as it can only hold 3 people at a time) has a plywood floor and 6 shades of paint peeling off of it. I would take the stairs but my room is on the 6th floor (7th floor American). I have access to a group kitchen and a tv room down the hall, but other than that, I don't have much. However, the room should do quite nicely for 3 weeks. Well, I'm really tired so I'm going to sign off. Hopefully I will see some of you online tommorow.

I miss you all very much!