I must say that it has been a humbling experience coming here to Bratislava. Scott and I had little time to prepare for our stay here in Bratislava, let alone time to take Slovak language lessons. I have been overwhelmed and as I have already mentioned humbled by the generosity, patience and kindness strangers have shown me during my stay thus far. My first question is often, “Do you speak English?, more often than not the person will answer, “A little”, and we will then commence with an attempt at understanding one another. It is truly amazing how many individuals here speak English, something for which I am eternally grateful.
I was at the dry cleaning shop recently and sorely wished I had brought my dictionary along with me. None of the employees seemed to speak any English and I was trying to explain, including a bit of charades, that I needed a copy of the receipt. It was all very disheartening but finally one woman who was able to speak a bit of English asked if I needed to bill it, I nodded my head and said yes. I walked out with my dry cleaning and a sort of receipt, much relieved to have that experience over with. Unfortunately once I made it back to the hotel room and proceeded to hang up the clothes, I realized they had given me the wrong pair of trousers. This is a reminder to everyone; check to be sure they are your garments before leaving the dry cleaners. Thankfully the cleaners is just around the corner and this time I was armed with my Slovak-English dictionary (it is not all that helpful but I was desperate). My finger held the pages to the Slovak words for trousers and wrong. It was much easier this visit, shaking my head and laying the trousers up on the counter, I tried to correctly pronounce the Slovak words for wrong trousers. The situation was cleared up in a remarkably short time and I was happily on my way back to the hotel, this time with the correct pair of trousers in hand.
Enjoy the journey!!!!
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.
~Mahatma Gandhi
