UNFOLDING A FAIRYTALE AND EAST EUROPEAN PARTIES (part1)

The train began to roll down the tracks, while my emotions were competing about being happy or miserable. I had spent two weeks in one of Slovakias biggest cities, Žilina, and the days had gone by so quickly that I wanted to jump off the train and keep on staying; the other half of me was cheering of excitement to once again have an unknown path in front of me.

Friendships had been made with the Slovak people I was staying with, and I was going to miss them. They called themselves Enjoy family, and sure had a lot of enjoyment inside of them. I met them during Slovakias amazing Uprising reggae festival, and had great luck during my misery Sunday morning when the music was about to die and the festival wrapped up with wandering souls all around the campus. My train from Bratislava to Katowice was bound for 10 AM, and there was no way I could get myself on the train in time. In the middle of my stressful breakdown one of the members of the Enjoy family came through to say hi – and told me I was more than welcomed to join them up to Žilina; there was trains running to Katowice from their city, too.

All of them showed me a charming openness happening in the cozy apartment located on third floor in the outskirts of Žilina, and when leaving them the same night I left with a wish to return; and I gave my promise to return before boarding my train.

 “Welcome home,” said Majlo with a smile on his face, which couldn´t possible have been less stereotypical Eastern European. I pulled off my shoes and placed my backpack in his room. He gave me another hug, and I was thrilled to spend the weekend with them.

They were three people living in the apartment.

Majlo, whom was closest for me among them. His English was more than intermediate after living in the States for a few years, and through that he managed to make me feel included by translating what the other people were saying all the time. He had a big heart and playful eyes, and always made sure of that the people around him had the best time of their lives.

Then there was Foďo. He was an IT expert with ambitions and a high position – a position and work place he never got up for in time. The first couple of days he was very secluded and kept on excusing himself for his poor English. Eventually he loosened up, and took me for small road trips and we shared life stories over bottles of wine in the late hours. He promised me to continue practice English after I bounced. Every time our conversations were about to die because of the language barrier, he laughed heartwarming and smiled.

At last, but not least, there was Stanko Janco, a tall hyperactive realtor, whom always had a topic in mind. He had been staying over in the States, too, and was easy to converse with. There was always a joke or a high-toned giggle when the silence hit the group.

In the neighboring building Lemo stayed, he was the second owner of Enjoyclub. I met him during the Uprising festival, and I must say I was into his behavior; he always moved around with a certain touch of elegance and peacefulness, and always kept his voice confident and convincing in a comfortable and soothing rhythm.

Just across the street Laďo lived, a bold young man. He couldn´t speak a word of English, but we figured out how to communicate through body language and translators around us. Laďo was an absolute President of parties and enjoyment, and carried a huge smile on his face at all times.

Adrian was living a bit away from “the hood”, and he was a fit soccer player. During the two weeks we got to know each other through his broken English and my broken Slovak.
There were others, too, but the ones mentioned above is the part of the group I hung around most of the time.

The first night in Zilina I was exhausted from my 80 km stretch on the bicycle, and I collapsed on the soft bed provided to me very early. Majlo had a surprise for me the following day that he had been extremely secretive about. I had turned my circadian rhythm for the past week, and he told me that there was no way that I could get him up before 9AM.

Right before 8AM the next morning I was standing above Majlo repeating his name; I was curious on where we were headed. He got up with a smile and still didn´t want to give me any information.

When we drove off in his car he handed me a dark green envelope; the same color as the Enjoyclub logo. Inside I found a gift card to something that could look like a waterpark, but he didn´t let me get insight to more than that.

We drove pass tall majestic mountains and wonderful nature for about one hour, before Majlo parked up outside a large building in the middle of nowhere called Tatralandia, Slovakias biggest waterpark.

I was impressed; it actually was the largest waterpark I had ever been to.  It consisted of one massive first floor, and a similar sized outdoor area; it was filled with different kinds of slides, and pools giving you massage, heath, minerals and other relaxing sensations. In the lower level of the building there was a sauna and spa area.

When we slipped into the first pool I analyzed the surroundings. There was surprisingly few children around, and crowded with young adults in groups or couple. Most of them were chilling out with beers that was served by the bar counter in the pool.

“Majlo! They are drinking beers in the pool! I´ve never seen anything like this before! It would be so illegal up in Norway!” I said with excitement in my voice. He laughed at me, and bought us both a beer due to my fascination.

A lot of colorful slides, laughter, pools and beers later we entered the lower ground; where we were going to pamper ourselves with sauna and other healthy water stations.

“Majlo, I never thought two adults could have so much fun in such a childish place!” I grinned when we came outdoors again. The sun had gone down the horizon, and our bodies were fresh and filled with new energy.

Back at the apartment we found Stanko and a girl named Mischa, whom I also met my previous time there after Uprising, who were pouring up shots of vodka and tapping their feet to party music. Mischa filled a glass for me.

“You know what they say…vodka connects people. And it really does,” she said with a huge smile.

“Na strovje!”I replied and swallowed the burning vodka down my throat.

The following morning I woke up with headache, alcohol pains and a pretty bad breath. It turned out to be a very unproductive day, but when the sun again left the world in darkness, I managed to prepare myself for another night at Enjoyclub. There was a catchy jazz/funk band on stage that night, whom lifted the energy of the crowd and made them shake all stress away, and I was making sure to not consume as much alcohol as the previous night.

Sunday morning, the sun was shining and a new execution with Majlo was going to happen. We drove off up to the hillside outside of Zilina, where a traditional Slovak restaurant was built around a grass field where horses, goats and other farm animals were stepping on in the free. I filled my stomach on yet another Slovakian dish, and due to my vegetarian lifestyle I did not have many options to choose from. The dish mainly contained of potatoes and cheese. A lot of cheese. Majlo convinced me to give Kofola, the Slovak version of Coca Cola, another try. The first time I gave it a shot was during my bicycle trip, in a shop close to the Czech boarder, where they had no other liquids than vodka, beer and Kofola. I almost vomited during the first sip; it could remind of a cheap gross non-alcoholic rum mixed with Coke. My second attempt went off better; I didn´t feel like throwing up, but it was far from tasty.

We took a stroll on the field outside, with a panoramic view of an old castle, and like any other ancient fortress in Slovakia, it felt like traveling back in time to when fairytales were written. Both of us sat down on the soft grass and spoke about the past.

Žilina, Slovakia

NORSK/NORWEGIAN:

Toget rullet sakte avgårde, og inni meg ble jeg fylt med blandede følelser av glede og lengsel. De to siste ukene i den slovakiske byen Žilina hadde rast forbi, og atter en gang jublet jeg inni meg for å ha en ukjent vei foran meg; men denne dagen fantes det også ett stikk av lengsel i gleden. Jeg hadde knyttet gode vennskap blant slovakerne, og jeg kom til å savne dem. Enjoy family, kalte de seg. Jeg møtte dem på Slovakias supre Uprising reggae festival, og hadde hell i uhell søndags morgen da musikken døde ut og festivalen takket for seg. Toget mitt fra Bratislava til Katowice skulle gå klokken ti, og det var ingen mulighet for meg å rekke det. Midt i stresset av dette dukket ett medlem av Enjoy family opp igjen - og sa at jeg var velkommen til å bli med dem til Žilina; derfra kunne jeg hoppe på ett tog til Katowice. Alle viste meg en sjarmerende åpenhet i den lille leiligheten i tredje etasje, noe som hadde gitt meg ønsket om å returnere; og jeg hadde avlagt ett løfte om å komme tilbake da jeg hev meg på toget samme kveld.

"Welcome home," smilte Majlo til meg. Jeg løsnet skoene og plasserte sekken på rommet hans. Han ga meg nok en klem, og jeg gledet meg til å tilbringe helgen der.

I leiligheten bodde tre av dem. 
Det var Majlo, som var den nærmeste for meg i gjengen. Han snakket veldig bra engelsk etter å ha bodd noen år i USA, og klarte derfor å inkludere meg ved å oversette det de andre sa. Han hadde ett stort hjerte og lekne øyne, og sørget alltid for at de rundt ham hadde den beste tiden i livet sitt.

Så var det Foďo. Han var en IT ekspert med ambisjoner og en høy stilling - en jobb han alltid forsov seg til, forresten. De første dagene hadde han vært litt sjenert og unnskyldte flere ganger hvor dårlig han var til å prate engelsk. Deretter myknet han opp, og tok meg med på bilturer hvor vi pratet, sippet vinflasker på kjøkkenet mens han fortalte om seg selv, og lovet meg å fortsette og øve på engelsk etter jeg forlot Žilina. Hver gang samtalene våre stoppet opp, smilte han hjertelig og lo. 
Til slutt var det Stenko Jenco, en lang hyper eiendomsmegler av ett slag, og alltid hadde noe å prate om. Han hadde også bodd i USA, og var lett å konversere med. Det fantes alltid en spøk eller en høy latter når stillheten inntraff fra ham. 

I naboblokka bodde Lemo, som også var eier av Enjoy club. Jeg hadde møtt ham på Uprising, og likte væremåten hans; han beveget seg alltid med en viss eleganse og forsiktighet, og snakket med en intelligent stemme i en behagelig rytme.
På andre siden av gaten bodde Laďo, en skallet smilende ung mann. Han kunne ikke engelsk, men vi klarte å kommunisere gjennom kroppsspråk og tolker. Laďo var absolutt en livsglad partygutt med ett stort smil til en hver tid.
Adrian bodde ett stykke unna, og han var en veltrent fotballspiller. På de to ukene klarte vi å stamme oss gjennom engelsk og slovakisk for å lære hverandre å kjenne.
Det var andre i gjengen deres, også, men de som er nevnt ovenfor er de jeg brukte mest tid sammen med.

Den første kvelden var jeg utslitt etter nesten 8 mil på sykkelen min, og jeg kollapset på den myke sengen de ga meg veldig tidlig. Majlo hadde en overraskelse til meg dagen etterpå som han hadde vært veldig hemmelighetsfull om. Jeg hadde snudd døgnet den siste uken, og han sa at vi ikke kunne starte turen før i ni tiden neste morgen. 
Klokka åtte sto jeg over ham og gjentok navnet hans; jeg var nysgjerrig på hvor vi skulle. Majlo våknet med ett smil og ville fortsatt ikke røpe det. 
Da vi rullet avgårde i bilen ga han meg en mørkegrønn konvolutt; den samme fargen som Enjoyclub logoen. Inni lå ett gavekort til noe som så ut som en vannpark, men mer fikk jeg ikke vite. 
Vi passerte store majestetiske fjell og skjønn natur i en times tid. Majlo parkerte utenfor ett svært bygg med navn Tatralandia, en av Slovakias største vannparker. 
Jeg var imponert; det var faktisk den største vannparken jeg hadde vært i. Det var en gigantisk første etasje, og ett nesten like stort uteområde. Der var det fullt av ulike sklier i alle slags fasonger og farger, massasje basseng, varme basseng og aromatiske basseng. I underetasjen fantes det et stort sauna og spa anlegg. 

I det vi skled ned i det første bassenget klarte jeg ta inn omgivelsene. Det fantes utrolig få barn, og flest unge voksne enten i grupper eller par. De aller fleste slappet av med øl som ble servert fra basseng baren.
"Majlo! They are drinking beers in the pool! I've never seen anything like this before! It would be so illegal up in Norway!" sa jeg med en opprømt stemme. Han små lo av meg, og kjøpte en øl hver til oss ettersom jeg syntes dette var veldig fascinerende. 
Flere sklier, latterkick, boblebad og øl senere gikk vi ned i underetasjen; hvor sauna og flere andre avslappende stasjoner møtte oss. 
"Majlo, I never thought two adults could have so much fun in such a childish place!" gliste jeg da vi kom ut. Sola hadde allerede gått ned, og kroppene våre var fylt med ny energi. 

Tilbake i leiligheten var Mischa, en jente jeg hadde møtt hos dem etter Uprising, og Stenko i full gang med vodka shots og oppladning til kveldens party. Mischa helte opp en shot til meg.
"You know what they say...vodka connects people. And it really does." smilte hun.
"Na strovje!" svarte jeg og slukte innholdet i glasset.

Neste dag våknet jeg med skallebank, alkoverk i kroppen og dårlig ånde. Det ble en lite produktiv dag, men da solen sank ned i horisonten klarte jeg å forberede meg til enda en kveld på Enjoyclub. Det var ett fengende funk/jazz band som løftet energien blant publikum, og jeg passet godt på å ikke få i meg like mye alkohol som kvelden før. 
Søndagen skinte med en ny utflukt sammen med Majlo. Vi dro opp i heia utenfor Žilina hvor det var satt opp en restaurant i ekte slovakisk stil, og på tunet utenfor gikk det hester, geiter og andre gårds dyr. Jeg jafset nedpå nok ett slovakisk måltid, og ettersom jeg er vegetarianer var det som vanlig ikke mye å velge mellom. Retten sto hovedsakelig av poteter og ost. Majlo klarte å overbevise meg om at jeg burde gi Kofola, den slovakiske versjonen av Cola, ett nytt forsøk. I en butikk på sykkelturen hadde det ikke fantes noe annet enn vodka, øl og Kofola, og jeg hadde brekt meg ved den første slurken; det smakte som en ekkel billig alkoholfri rom blandet med cola. Mitt andre forsøk gikk bedre; og jeg brakk meg ikke, men den var langt ifra god. Vi spaserte rundt på gressplenen utenfor med utsikt til en gammel festning, og som alle de andre gamle borgene i Slovakia, var det som å dra langt tilbake i tid til da eventyr ble laget. Vi la oss flate på gresset og så den synkende solen heise seg ned bak den middelaldrende festingen mens vi snakket om fortiden.

Majlo, Lado, Stanko og Roman