First Snow on the Mountains!

It got much colder on Thursday, and it snowed up in the mountains!!  I've never seen snow in September before - but at least it wasn't down here in town, only at higher elevations.  We were a little chilly in the breeze yesterday, but it did warm up again quite a bit today with the sun shining brightly.  

This was taken looking out over our kitchen balcony.
First Snow on the Mountains!!  Beautiful!!  

Thursday was a normal school day, and then after school there was an all-school meeting for the parents of both the basic school and secondary school.  Since there are about 600 total students, there is not a space at school big enough, so the event was held at the city hall.  It's a beautiful facility, and the meeting went smoothly.  

The city hall auditorium - very impressive venue!!
We estimated it would hold about 500 people.
(This is taken from our seats fairly near the front before the meeting.)

We've had two lovely meetings with different Slovak couples and Carol the past two afternoons.  One gal has been studying English with Carol, and we are going to take over her lessons.  Her husband speaks English well, and he is a choral conductor at a university at Ruzomberok, so we are planning on attending his December concert!  :-)   The other couple teaches Slovak lessons, so we are going to start our language study on Monday with them.  Both couples were really nice and we had fascinating conversations!  

Well, today was our third trip to Žilina to apply for work visas, after all the previous red tape snafus.  We set the alarm for 5:00 a.m. (and everyone knows how we feel about THAT time of day!!), and we were walking to the train station a block away by 5:45 a.m.  The train ride was spectacular because of the mist over the countryside in the pre-dawn hours.  We got to see the sun peeking over the mountains from the train window - what a spectacular sight!  We left especially early to get to the immigration office before it opened, since Friday is a short work day with a noon closing time.  We were there by 7:30, and we did have some success.  However, all was not completely problem-free, which we have come to expect. I won't even go into all the details because it is incredibly complicated and doesn't really make much sense, but it is what it is.  In the end, Tim's application was accepted, and his papers are now filed officially with many red stamps inked onto the documents, and his cute little picture is pasted to the top!  :-)  But I have to go back again on Monday and do it all over again, because my application needed to have separate official copies of all the lease agreement forms between the school and the landlady (3 separate documents), each one with notarized signatures.  Even though we are a married couple living in the same flat, with both our names on the documents, we each need original signed, sealed, and delivered papers.  O.K. then.  And now we've learned of a new time-sensitive issue.....they've changed the procedure, you're really not supposed to get the medical check until after submitting the application, so the medical check we did in August at Martin is only good for 30 days, and mine will expire Sept. 30.  The FBI check is good until Oct. 6 since that's 90 days after the date it was actually sent out, so that's helpful.  Each time we go to Žilina, there is some new surprise!!  We feel really badly because of all the inconvenience this is causing for so many others -  the expense for the school for all these trips across the country, the additional effort and time to obtain more paperwork and more notarized signatures, all the teachers who have to sub for our classes (no subs are ever hired - we all sub for our colleagues), and our colleagues who must accompany us on all the trips to translate.  But the Slovaks at school say it's par for the course and part of how the government operates, so we just try to be patient and be positive.  I have to admit I was pretty bummed this time when Tim's paperwork was finally accepted and mine wasn't.  Oh well, Monday morning will be a new day........      :-)

Because we took the train, we couldn't head back to Liptovsky Mikuláš until 2:00, so we did have a little extra time in Žilina again today.  We stopped at a coffee shop for some hot tea, walked through a farmers' market in the square, and ate at a restaurant with a nice fixed-price lunch menu.  So in the end, after batting .500 with the immigration officials, it was a fun day spent with Pat'ka getting to know Slovakia better!!  

Tim and Pat'ka near a market on a side street 

The House of Culture - posters in front listed upcoming
symphonyconcert programs that sound marvelous!

This man in traditional attire was playing cowbells for this group of children on a field trip.
They were singing along to the childrens' songs!  

They were absolutely darling!!  He was also selling cowbells
in all sizes at his booth at the market.  

This picture is for Chris B. and Mary H., my band buddies.....
do you want more cowbell???   :-)   

These are gingerbread cookies usually made for Christmas,
decorated in traditional style, which Pat'ka got for us at
the farmers' market / craft market in the square!  

These are 2 miniature vase souvenirs we've gotten - the one on the right is painted in a style typical of the Liptov region - the one on the left is from northern Slovakia.  It is wire woven into decorative patterns outside the vase, and the style originated from when thrifty Slovak women would save the pieces of a broken ceramic item, send it to the repair man who would glue it back together then hold it in place to function again by weaving wire on the outside. This later became a decorative art, not just a repair method.  Amazing!  

We got back to school at the end of the school day to talk with the Headmistress about our day's success and non-success, and to make arrangements with Miro to drive me to Žilina again on Monday morning.  At least with Miro driving, we won't have to leave until a more reasonable hour in the morning - 7:15!!  LOL!!   I won't have to make out sub plans either, since Tim will be able to cover for my classes.  And now, here we are, heading into a weekend.  In Europe!!  Wow!!  

Our wonderful colleagues who alternate trips to Žilina with us....
Pat'ka, the deputy headmistress in charge of the English/Bilingual
department (among other things), and Miro, who teaches bilingual
history and English.

Friday after school - with Dasha (another teacher), Pat'ka, and Miro!