Prešov!!!!

Petra I think noticed how happy I was to be in a city again, which is very true, although I also really love being in Prešov. The excellence of today was capped by the next episode in the gynecology television serial, which for the record is called Ordinácia v ružovej záhrade (I don't know what this means). This one gynecologist, who is a widower, had had a heart attack previously, and he asked one of his nurses out for a glass of wine, which they drank, and then went to dance, but she was nervous that he'd have another heart attack, so then he ordered them cognac, but she wouldn't let him drink his, she ordered him green tea (želeny caj) instead, and drank his cognacs. They kiss, and just as that's happening, his grown adult daughter sees him, but they don't see her, and the next morning she, in a fit of rage, starts wrecking his office, which is beneath his home. It's so excellent, and I am soooo happy to realize that I can actually watch this show on the internet!!!!! I was worried, because I must admit I am kind of hooked on it, and it will help me learn Slovak. Emília Vásáryová, who was one of the stars of Horem pádem, is on this show. Petra's mom explained how most of the protagonists are kind of all connected in some way.

However, Slovak serials, though they may also be popular in the Czech Republic, are not the only thing that happened today. We went to Prešov! When we got there, I had to go to the bank, as I've been unable to use the bancomat, but able to use the credit card swiper in stores... It's been a huge problem which was finally resolved today. Then, we went to Tesco, which is a British chain store, like KMart or Target. There, I got an excellent suit, which I am really happy with, for only about $40. It's gray, with green lining, 3/4 sleeves, and a Jackie O-type collar. We also got these excellent bread things filled with brinza cheese, bacon, and prune. They're like pastry that's stuffed, bite size. They stunk up the whole store, so that by the time we finished, it was like super important that we get some because we'd been smelling their goodness the whole time.

After our capitalist adventure, we went to the Greek Catholic Faculty, because Petra wanted to go to the library there to see if she could find anything for her Licentiate dissertation. After that, lunch at Čukrareň Victoria, which is a really excellent place, because it's like a bar, fancy bakery and restaurant all in one, and very old school classy decoration. Then we went to the Franciscan church, which I remembered as having an excellent trompe l'oeil, but it was better that I had it in my memory because I was kind of disappointed this time. The Greek Catholic cathedral has reinstalled the Rusyn martyed bishops Chira and Gojdich in side chapels, very nicely ala John XXIII in St. Peter's.

Finally, we had a meeting with the director of the new SNM-Museum of Rusyn Culture. This was wonderful beyond belief, and I'm so excited about the whole thing. The director seems so wonderful, and I'm so happy we had such a good meeting. As is fitting, a half hour history lecture preceeded my questions, of which I had to ask very few because she seemed to know exactly what I wanted. She made an amazingly great impression and seems to have her act together more than most.

Ahhhh. Happy.