Letters from the USA!

We've had a few pieces of mail arrive this week, and it's very exciting!  Just like at home, every teacher has a mailbox at school, and ours are always empty, of course.  So we were quite delighted to see my absentee ballot from Iowa on Monday, a wedding "save-the-date" card (thanks, Erin and Chris!), a letter from Tim's mom about the Waldorf College choir tour to Slovakia, and finally Tim's absentee ballot today.  The ballots have been carefully marked, and we are hoping to send them in the diplomatic pouch from the US Embassy in Bratislava - we received an email saying that would be the best method to insure safe delivery in time to be counted.  

Tim and I took Carol out for supper Wednesday for her last night in Slovakia.  We wanted to take her to her favorite restaurant here in town, but we walked there only to find it closed for a couple of weeks.  So we tried her second favorite, but it too was closed for a week.  We are guessing business must be slow this time of year, between seasons with the summer tourists going hiking, biking, and rafting, and the winter tourists going skiing and snowboarding in the area.  Of course the spas are open all year round, but we figure it's not as busy now.  So finally, we went to another place that friends had recommended, and it was really good.  All three of us ordered pirohy and shared palacinky for dessert - it was fitting Carol enjoyed Slovak specialties for her last night here --- until she returns for the senior parties!!  :-)

Today after lunch, I met with the assistant principal at the elementary school about the class I'll be teaching there.  She showed me around the building - teacher workroom, office, copy machine, my classroom, and she gave me some materials to use with the students.  Evidently this is an extra-curricular conversation class with no more than 12 kids, aged 12-14, and it's not graded, just an opportunity for them to strengthen their English skills.  It should be fun!!  I'm relieved they were able to schedule it on Thursdays, which is my light teaching day.  

After school, we walked to the grocery store farthest away, across the river, and it was a very pleasant afternoon for the scenic walk to get there under sunny skies.  I wanted to pick up some more soup mixes, since the one we bought last time was really good, and the directions on the package are in English!  :-)   Since lunch is such a big meal at school, we often just have soup, toast, and some fruit for a light supper at home.  It's nice that food is so inexpensive here, and it's really good too!  The breads are all delicious, and we are really enjoying the soups, both at school and at home.   

Soups at school are served in big silver tureens,
and we all ladle our own soup into bowls.  This was
creamy potato with mushrooms --- Yum!