Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.
Slovak rapper gets NYC promotion
People passing through New York City's famous Times Square recently could have seen a billboard featuring Slovak rapper Luisa.
It was part of Spotify’s global programme EQUAL that supports women in music through education, inspiration and networking opportunities, the Refresher.sk website reported.
“By the way, it’s me on the billboard in Times Square in New York City,” Luisa wrote on Instagram. “I swear it’s not a Photoshop.”
Apart from the Slovak rapper, the EQUAL CZ&SK playlist features other singers like Barbora Piešová, Ewa Farna, Sara Rikas, Annet X and Helena Vondráčková.
Secondary school students launch their own Slovak tea
The original tea made by four secondary school students. (source: Patrik Hrabaj/Lovatea)
Even though he is just 18 years old, Patrik Hrabaj from Žiar nad Hronom, in central Slovakia, has founded an original business.
Together with three classmates – Matej Ťahúň, Matej Kret and Matúš Fajčík – he created a new tea brand, Lovatea, which combines original recipes handed down through his family for several generations, plus quality Slovak honey and fresh lemon. These are turned into handmade tea capsules, which are then packed, stored and dispatched to customers.
“The feedback has been positive; they praised the flavour, the easy preparation, as well as the capsule’s look,” Hrabaj told the MY Zvolen regional newspaper.
To found a new company, he used the help of professional mentors and went with them through the basics of launching a business, such as conducting a customer survey, creating a business plan and a team, presenting an idea, and creating a website.
Hrabaj admitted that he and his classmates are still trying to find ways to finance their project. They have received various grants and won both regional and national rounds of the Rozbehni sa! (Get Going!) business incubator, which is financed by the Culture Ministry, Investments Ministry and the European Union, but still need to invest their own funds. Part of the money they earn is given to a volunteer organisation that helps vulnerable groups, cancer patients, seniors and children without homes.
Čadca's famous stone spheres are gradually returning
One of the recovered stone spheres. (source: Radoslav Blažek)
Slovakia boasts a rarity that can be found in only a few places around the world: stone spheres.
These unique, naturally occurring rock formations, which some people have interpreted to be the eggs of dinosaurs or dragons, or even the remnants of extraterrestrials, are also situated in Romania, Greenland, the USA and New Zealand.
Over the past few years, some of the stone spheres were taken by locals, and now decorate their gardens. New management in the town of Čadca, in the northern Slovak region of Kysuce, has launched a rescue action to save the tourist locality known as Megoňky (a stone quarry in use until the 1980s), the MY Kysuce regional newspaper reported.
One of the stone spheres, with a diameter of 1.5 metres and a weight of about eight tons, was returned thanks to Róbert Jedinák, who has been working as a forester in the area. A few years ago, he noticed that some people had started digging the sphere from the ground. It later fell into a stream, and then disappeared. He rediscovered it together with his colleague, Stanislav Kováč, about a year ago.
“We were searching the terrain after flooding, and found it in dense undergrowth,” he told MY Kysuce. “We reported it, and helped return the sphere to the tourist locality, so visitors can enjoy it.”
Since then, a total of nine stone spheres, which locals call Megoňky after the locality where they were discovered, have been brought back, and another two will come back soon. The town’s representatives called the rescue action “The Family Returns”, and said the town is trying to persuade others who have taken spheres to return them to the tourist site.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:
Many Frenchmen who participated in the Slovak National Uprising called Slovakia their second home, says Didier Rogasik of the French Embassy in Bratislava.
Michael Meehan started an online community to help people reconnect with their Slovak ancestral heritage. It's since grown into a vibrant community of nearly 23,000 members.
Farma pod Vtáčnikom, in the Upper Nitra region, is a popular tourist attraction. This year, it distinguished itself by securing six awards at the Egon Gyarmathy Memorial.
The Choleva brothers started off selling bicycles and doughnuts. Recently, The Financial Times put them on its list of the thousand fastest-growing companies in Europe.
Vineyards in the the Požitavie area were affected by the Ottoman wars and taxes. Read more in our History Talks section.
Political meme of the week
(source: Rosie Naive Art)
Caption: “Danko wants to have Slovak flags displayed at every single state-owned building.” “So he actually wants to show the real condition of the state?”
With this meme, artist Rosie Babicová, whose works can be found on the internet and social networks under the name Rosie Naive Art, reacts to a proposal submitted by the Slovak National Party (SNS), a member of the governing coalition, to publicly display the state flag on all state-owned buildings. It is part of a draft law which its authors say is aimed at bolstering the protection of Slovak state symbols.
You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
