Skiing at Jasná

One thing we did as soon as we returned from the High Tatras on Tuesday was to watch the YouTube version of the Cornerstone Church's Easter production.  That's Paul and Alana's church in Ames, and they put on amazing dramatizations that are always original material, based on Biblical teachings.  Paul and Alana were both part of one awesome Christmas production before they went to Taiwan, and Paul was in this one, so even though we missed it, we got to see it online!!  I'll include the link for anyone who is interested in watching "Three Days Later".  (It takes about 40 minutes, and it's just awesome.  Paul has his hair and beard dyed black, so we hardly recognized him -- he's the first character who appears on stage.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7LQiWf65-5E

Our short week at school was a busy one, with some extra subbing to do and planning some new materials for next week.  Wednesday night we went uptown on errands, then just hung around, did laundry, and recuperated from vacation - LOL!!  We did have an April Fool's joke from Mother Nature, getting about 6" of snow Tuesday overnight, then more on Wednesday.  But it warmed up and the snow is all melted now.  Thursday evening I made 6 loaves of banana bread from 'clearance' over-ripe bananas and took them to share at school.  Friday for volleyball there were more 'studs' there than usual, so I kept score two games and enjoyed watching the high level of play!!  Tim of course stayed for basketball and a names-day party for three of the guys afterwards.  Friday we also picked up a couple of extra copies of the local newspaper at a small newsstand kiosk.

Remember the earlier blog post about being interviewed by a journalist??  Well, the article she wrote came out this week.  I'll include the link to the online edition, but it's of course in Slovak, so those in America won't be able to read it.  Google Translate or Bing might be options, but they aren't very good at all.  But it might give a limited sense of what we really said I guess!   LOL!!  

http://liptov.sme.sk/c/6752034/pracu-na-slovensku-beru-americki-manzelia-ako-svoje-pozehnanie.html


We had been invited earlier this winter to go on a school ski trip, but when that didn't work out, our headmistress and the basic school headmistress cooked up another ski outing for today.  IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!  The Chaloupka family loaned us some spare ski pants, jackets, and ski gloves, and Saška Bobková picked us up in her 'ski van' (their car) at 9:00 this morning.  On the drive to Jasná (the famous ski resort here that draws tourists from all over central and eastern Europe) we heard that it was super crowded, and there were no parking spots to be found.  So Saška's husband and his co-worker at their ski-rental shop shoveled out part of a snowbank to make a space for her car right in front of the shop!!  What a great way to create a parking spot!     :-)  

Here's the whole group getting ready for our first ride up the ski lift!  (It was foggy, but then we weren't distracted from our lessons by beautiful scenery - HAHA!!)  

Our wonderful ski instructors did a great job teaching us how to negotiate on the slope.  We only did one 'blue' slope - the easiest, beginner level - but we definitely learned a lot and got much more comfortable thanks to excellent coaching from lifelong ski experts!  

Janka, Roman, and Saška, as well as young Roman (who took the picture) were incredibly patient with us all day!  We stopped for a break for some beverages after a while.  

With Roman, Saška and Janka outside the little restaurant where we stopped.  It was right on the slope, so easy to get to on skis.  

With Saška's husband and his business partner at the ski rental shop.  These guys were great - shoveling out the snowdrift for us to park - fitting us with ski equipment - such fun!  

Roman Jr. and Roman Sr. were Tim's private ski tutors and bodyguards all day, and Janka and Saška were mine!  We must be really 'special-needs students' to require 2-on-1 instruction!!    :-)    After we gained confidence, we encouraged them to go ski on some more difficult runs which they could enjoy more, but they insisted on staying with us.   

Roman is in my I.A5 class at school - a super young man!!  

With my bodyguards in blue!!  Such fun ladies to ski with!!  :-)  

Tim and Roman, ready to head to the parking lot after a fun day of skiing!

With Ad'a, one of my awesome IV.BP students at school, who is also a ski instructor at Jasná.  We had seen her a few times giving a lesson earlier, and afterwards she told Tim she was amazed at how fast he was going down the slopes!!    :-)    He was really hot-dogging it by the end!!   ;-)   Both of us really gained confidence thanks to our patient instructors.  We have definitely become big ski fans now!!   Such a FUN day!!!