Happy 2009

Well, the bells rang midnight, signalizing the beginning of 2009... which brought many new things, a new day, a new year, a new currency... Yes, Slovakia is now officially in the Euro Zone, and whether or not that was a good decision, only time will tell. It was very interesting though, I went to the store to buy some juice and although I can pay in Slovak koruna, my change will be given in Euro. But not only that, but my Slovak koruna which I paid with, was placed into a locked box, just like a raffle ticket. That is it. That is the last time that that bill will be used as legal tender. It will get passed onto the bank and who knows what they will do with it. Destroy it? File it? Get stamped five times before being put into the depths of the mountains perhaps?

To start off the new year, I thought that I would start with a fast, to seek God and His will for the future... this year in particular. If anyone wishes to join me in such, please do so!

I think one of my favourite moments in New Years though is watching the fireworks from up the mountain. Everyone in town buys fireworks, and so the whole city looked like it was on fire! There were so many coming from so many different places, I didnt even know where to look! One of my friends made the observation that if Nitra was ever sieged, this is prob what it would sound like. To which I replied that he was probably right, but unlikely that we would be standing up there to watch it!

Happy New Year! God bless you and yours in 2009!