Maggie Kriz - 1 Mesiac a 17 Dni..... Pre Boha!

I just looked at a calendar and I honestly can't believe how quickly this year is going. Celine and Aline always talked about how fast the year would go by but it is hard to imagine until you are living abroad. My family just came to visit me and it was really amazing to see them but also a bit awkward for me at first. It is hard to get into the swing of having a real mother again after living more or less independently for so long. I think it took us both about a day to adjust but after that it was back to normal.

We went to the beautiful city of Barcelona and it was truly amazing. We stayed in the gothic quarter of the city and it was perfect. Our hotel was within 15 minutes from all the major tourist attractions and was literally right around the corner from the gothic cathedral. My favorite museum in the city was the Picasso Museum. I have always admired and loved his artwork and it was fantastic to go to the place where it all began. It was quite an experience to stand before his early sketches and paintings and then to be able to see how he evolved and found his own style, it is something that I will never forget.

We also visited La Palau de Musica Catalana which is an amazing concert hall in the heart of Barcelona. The architecture of the building was amazing; I love that the architecture in Barcelona is an art form rather than just a means to cover people's heads. Every building seemed to be inspired by nature and the details that were used in the construction were breathtaking.

It was interesting with my parents here because I had to work as the translator the entire visit. I often found my self talking to my real family in Slovak because I kept forgetting what language I was supposed to be using. It is rather rewarding, though, because you learn really how well you can speak the language, it was amazing when I realized that I could not only say everything that I want but that I can also translate for other people both from Slovak to English and English to Slovak. (The skill also helped me in Poland and the Czech Republic when we got lost, thank god the languages are so similar....)

As of right now I just have one week and then I will be going on a trip to Greece and Italy (luckily not by plane, my family got stuck in Europe for an extra week because of the ash, of course, I wasn't complaining) with rotary. I am really excited to see both countries and am especially excited to eat the food that comes from the two countries.... GYROS AND PASTA, HERE I COME!!!! I will be home in exactly 1 month and 17 days today and it is crazy to think about but I am also excited to return to my beautiful little mountain town for another summer of working at the Boys and Girl's Club!

See you all soon!