slovakia, part 3: Nove Zamky, the Salur hotel and new faces

hey friends! welcome back! thanks for reading my ramblings!

the view out of my window

the front of the Salur hotel. the window right above the R in Salur was mine. 

I absolutely loved our hotel. we called it "the ranch." it was homey. not fancy, just nice and simple. everything about Nove Zamky was nice and simple. I shared a room with Emily, (she's 17) and we each had our own bed. the funny thing about the beds in Slovakia is how low they were to the floor. but it all worked out and we loved it. (well, at least I did!)

the view from my bed 

 it was a little overwhelming that first night. we met Samuel and David Cekov, Pavle's sons. I rode in the back of the van (which you'll hear more about on another day) with David. he was wearing a purple t shirt and black jeans. I remember that much. I remember that he said a total of 23 words that night. (haha, that's not exact people. I wasn't really counting). I remember that I was SO tired and overwhelmed and so jet-lagged, that I made zero sense no matter what I said.

samuel and david cekov (otherwise known as my big brothers in Slovakia :) 

it was overwhelming because it was all SO new. Samuel and David sat across from me at dinner (I mean, supper...) and they would just randomly start speaking to each other in Slovak. it kind of pushed me over the edge. (it later became totally normal and I learned to just say, "guys...English please?") let's just say I was very happy to sleep that night. so happy. 

the next morning we woke up and ran downstairs for breakfast (which was always WAY TOO EARLY) and then we got ready for our day. we were going to see the school that we would be having our VBS camp in. and I was about to meet Andrej. 

Andrej was the man with the plan. he always knew exactly where everyone should be and when and if they weren't there, he figured out a way to get us there. he was funny in a very dry way and made me laugh hysterically more than once. he got us out of some sticky situations (like that one time when both my room keys got locked up at the church and I couldn't get in my room...) 

andrej

 and so we went and checked out the school. it was two stories and all our classrooms were on the second floor. no air conditioning, and boy, did it feel warm up there. as we were walking down a hallway, we saw a drawing of the Ten Commandments that one of the students had put on the wall. very different from the US.

after that, we got to go really see the heart of Nove Zamky. the Old Town as they call it. then we had lunch. then we went to a shopping mall. we felt right at home. :) except for the fact that I had to have David Cekov translate everything for me, because I understood nothing.

and then it was back to the hotel to have a meeting and meet some new people.

michaela, andrej and juli

we met Michaela and Juli that afternoon. I fell in love with those two women. big hearts, full for Jesus and children and their families. they were both radiant. Michaela and her husband Peter had two little girls and Andrej and Juli had a son and are expecting a daughter in October. Andrej and Michaela are brother and sister, in case you hadn't already figured that out by the picture above. and they were so great together. 

we also met two other special people that afternoon: Pica and David.

this was taken the morning they left...but we'll pretend it wasn't.

they stole my heart, those two crazy Romanians. Pica, from the very beginning was my big brother. he took care of me. made sure I was where I needed to be. he would call me over to him and say, "what songs should we sing tonight?" or "you go get in my car, you ride with me." he was great. he was hilarious as well. and his nickname for me was "gypsy." long story there, but for some reason, gypsy stuck and so we called each other that. (although he always pretended to be SERIOUSLY offended when I called him that). he Skyped his wife, Codruta, almost every day. she stayed in Romania and is expecting their first in October. (a little girl named Sofia). 

and then David. he was 15. I guessed that he was 18. (epic fail on my part, but hey, you win some, you lose some). he really loves Jesus so much. he loved the kids. and he was the life of the party. made us laugh 24/7. he is super talented musically and made up silly songs just to make us laugh. but more about them later...

there were so many new faces, and I was busy trying to fit a name and personality with each different face. and on Saturday, I was going to meet four more new people...