It seemed late… Or perhaps early.
It was difficult to say with any certainty as I stepped of the bus onto the
snow slickened streets of Strebske Pleso. Though only 19:00 hours local time
(7:00 pm) the lack of sleep coupled with an 8 hour time change from Mountain
Standard left me in an interesting state of energetic exhaustion. I gazed
around me and noted the sights… positioned at the bottom of a ski hill a small
village of huts selling local fast food clustered around an outdoor yurt-style
bar. People garbed in the latest styles of both alpine and Après’ ski attire
strode between the charming outdoor bar and the opposing chalet style building—
my residence for the next two weeks—the Hotel FIS.
Outdoor Yurt Bar
Fast Food Cabins
Music sounding suspiciously similar
to the American top 40 playlist drifted through the crisp night air as I lugged
my heavy ski bag through the elegant sliding glass doors and into the hotel
lobby. As I entered the comfortably lit - traditional ski lodge inspired –
interior my attention immediately turned to the unfamiliar sound of voices
speaking in a foreign tongue. Slovak, the official language of Slovakia, is
distinct to the small country and not easily confused with other European
languages. Its unique blend of eastern European sharpness coupled with
tongue-tyingly quick rolling syllables make it sound both beautiful and
unintelligible at once. “Ahoj” (said like Ahoy,
but not really…) the woman at the front desk greeted me smiling. This is the
Slovak equivalent of hello, and the first of many words I would stumble over
repeatedly as I unsuccessfully try to grasp the subtle musical quality of this
nuanced and beautiful language.
After a short snafu regarding rooms
and a lack thereof, I was handed a room key-card and pointed towards a dimly
lit hallway where I would presumably find my place of lodging. My roommates Kyle
Bro-chanski, Patrick Ratty P Rogers and myself hefted our ski
bags bulging with two weeks worth of clothing, gear, and various other
incidentals and prepared to trudge tiredly to our room. To our pleasant
surprise our room happened to be as close to the lobby as physically possible,
saving our travel weary legs further punishment. Swiping our key and opening
the door we proceeded to struggle mightily to figure out how to turn on the
light switch. After a considerable amount of failing, it finally dawned on us
that the room key itself was responsible for engaging power for the entire
room. “Let there be light”! Exclaimed Kyle as he heroically plunged his room
key into the wall mounted power switch. As our room was bathed in soft yellow
light I pondered the clever conservational implications of this system. This
was but the first of several methods Slovakia employs to conserve energy and
mitigate its impact on the environment. Poignant, as our travels happen to be
centered around a certain class entitled “Environmental Assessment of an International
Athletic Event”. “Sweet”! I thought to myself. “I assess this as awesome”!
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