My first week of Junior year started like normal, for the first three hours. I was starting in a new class, in a new school, in a new country. With all of that new stuff you’d imagine I’d write about being sacred, or some funny miscommunication, but what made it less normal is that after that first day of school I continued the week with my new class but not in my new school or in my new country and went to an even newer country with these new students.
My first week of school was nothing like anything I would get in my American public school. Our first school day was only three hours long and around 10pm at that night we boarded a bus to Slovakia. We crossed the borders of Austria and Slovakia stopping several times at gas stations on the way. We arrived at the base of our first hike at 6am. The only thing going through my mind was how the hell am I going to do this! I knew nobody, knew nothing about the language, got maybe an hour of sleep, and I’ve never hiked more than a sand dune in my life. But, that morning we hiked up Ďumbier (the highest point of the Low Tatras in Slovakia) and then down and around the rest of the Low Tatras. The hike was beautiful with very little rain and everyone’s spirits were so high. I managed to find friends who allowed me to go slow and we were talking and laughing the whole day. We officially hiked from 8am to 5pm and by the final stretch, many of us were wondering how we’re going to get through the rest of the week! That night we drove to the cabins where we spent each night around a campfire singing songs. It felt straight out of a movie.
The next morning, we took an easier trail and hiked in the Suchá Belá gorge. This hike felt completely different because for the majority of the hike we were stuck in a hole. The hike consisted of a lot of slippery ladders, bridges, and steps we had to get across. The ladders were so high up and as a first time hiker, I was terrified. It felt like an episode of Fear Factor! After we got to the main road we took a more average hike around the mountains, stopping by monastery ruins during a break.
Day four, we visited the Spiš Castle and spent some time relaxing in the city. That day to calm down was very much needed as all of us were complaining of feeling sore just by climbing down stairs. On day five, we visited the Dobšinská ice cave and swam at the Tatralandia water park. Day six was our last full day where we took the most beautiful hike of my life. We started at the very top of the High Tatras then took a trail climbing down going through all the waterfalls. The hike was very easy and so beautiful. That was the perfect end to the trip and in the morning of day seven we got back on the bus and drove home.
Thoughts, Prayers, and Feelings 