What a difference a year makes!!

Monday morning the alarm rang, we got ready to go, and we headed off on our short walk to school.  What a difference a year makes!!  This year it was just like any other year getting back to school and greeting all the other teachers.  We shared all about summer vacations, families, and all that has happened since we saw everyone.  The first teacher work day was fun AND productive too!  

First thing Monday morning when we got to our office area, we put up our gift from Curran and Julie.  Everyone smiles when they see Curran's joyful expression and his sweet note!
We miss you already, Curran!!

We don't really have a bulletin board anywhere near our desks, so we use our 'American Lector' cabinet to display our precious picture of Curran on the other side of the globe!!  

Since the school canteen (cafeteria) isn't operational yet, all the teachers can purchase meal vouchers for 1.10 Euros, and they're good for 3.00 Euros towards lunch in any restaurant.  The daily special lunches around town run from 3.00 to 5.00, and they are delicious full meals with soup and several choices of main courses, and some even include dessert.  So it's really fun getting to go out to lunch with our friends every day at such a reasonable cost!  :-)

Monday night we got the bikes out again and went to see Jan at the bike shop to pump up Tim's tires better.  Then we went riding around town for a while, but not very strenuously, since we both had a few muscles that were reminding us we hadn't ridden at all in 2 months prior to Sunday's long excursion uphill to Ploštin!!  LOL!!  It was starting to get pretty chilly, so we made a stop for groceries and headed back home to email our American teacher group and do some skyping.  

Tuesday we were busy again at school with preparations for the year.  After school, we came home and changed clothes for a car trip with Zuzana to a natural spring nearby.  Borová Sihot is almost to Liptovsky Hrádok.  I messed up and forgot the camera.  Bummer!!  We parked and walked to a pedestrian suspension bridge across the Vah River, then took trails parallel to the river until we reached the covered spring area where we filled up water bottles with lightly bubbly spring water - very crisp, cold, and clear!   After some more scenic hiking, we had some fresh peppermint tea at the hotel/restaurant there, and just enjoyed visiting with Zuzka.  It was such a nice and relaxing time!

Today was the big all-staff meeting to go over school policy, rules, etc. etc.  It lasted almost 2 hours, but fortunately for us, Tim and I each had our own personal translator to 'filter' out the parts of the meeting that didn't really apply to us.   :-)   Ad'a is a 'new/old' teacher returning from maternity leave and working part time this year.  She's absolutely delightful, and I really enjoy getting to know her!  On our way back to school after lunch today, I heard live music coming from the other end of the square, so we headed that way to see what was going on.  

This monument to fallen soldiers is at one end of the main square here in town.  There was a brass band playing (at right), and dignitaries, former service men, and possibly wives/families, who were all solemnly lined up to approach the monument, bow in reverence, and then move aside for the next in line.  We're pretty sure it's because of tomorrow's holiday in honor of the Slovak National Uprising against the Germans in WWII.

A few of those in line placed wreaths at the monument, and there were armed guards at attention on both sides the whole time.  

We stayed at school really late this afternoon - until about 4:30 - since there really is a LOT of work to get done.  Whew!!  Due to several changes in requirements and textbooks to be used, we have 9 new year-plans to complete.  They are similar to our good old Iowa 'curriculum maps', with multiple columns of information to fill out.  And every lesson of every month is supposed to be included.  Oh baby!!   And since I'm a little OCD about stuff like that, I'm taking last year's plans and not only changing all the info, but also making sure all the formatting, fonts, etc. are all consistent, so it's a big task.  It will be really helpful to have them done in the end though. And this year, we actually understand 'the big picture' as well as how we are going to carry out the plans!!  YAY!

It was rainy and cold after we got home, so we sort of hunkered down and relaxed this evening, read the Des Moines Register online, did emails, and even played a couple games of Yahtzee and Greed!!  It was nice to just lay low for once.  See, we are actually capable of doing that on occasion!!   ;-)  

Happy Thursday Holiday to our Slovak friends, and just plain old Happy Thursday to everyone else!!  

Return to Slovakia for Year #2

It's been a wild and crazy couple of weeks, and here we are back in Slovakia again!  The last week in Iowa was so much fun, getting together with friends and family as much as humanly possible.  We spent precious time with many at home, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to catch up on news, laughs, memories, and hugs!!  :-)   Our month at home flew by, and all of a sudden last Wednesday we were packing our bags to leave again.  

Our last stop was across the street to say good-bye to our favorite neighbor, Curran!  He and his mom, Julie, made an awesome present for us, which we'll put up in our office at school.  (I'll post a picture of it when it's in place!)  

No matter where in the world we are, Curran is always our favorite neighbor!!  :-)  

We decided to re-enact the photo we took a year ago before we first flew to Slovakia!   ;-)      

Beth took us to the airport, but Grammy and Papa were there waiting to surprise us and see us off!!  Thanks for all the fun in Iowa!!  

Bye-Bye!!    

All of our flights went well - to Chicago, Dusseldorf, and finally Vienna.  We caught 3 busses en route to the Lutheran seminary in Bratislava, where the new American Global Missions workers were completing orientation and training for the Teaching in Central Europe program, just like we did last year.  We got to meet the 12 rookies over lunch, on a bus trip to the Bratislava Lyceum (H.S.), and during dinner.  We came back a few days early especially to meet them and to attend their commissioning service Thursday night.  Tim and I have been appointed as the new 'lead teachers' for the program this year, serving as facilitators for the group, so we wanted them to get to know us a little before they headed out to their locations.  It was also fun re-connecting with Arden, Claudia, Miriam, Bill & Cathy, Katie and the other teachers in Bratislava while we were there.  

Friday morning Arden drove us down to the train station, which was really nice!  From there it was an easy ride to Liptovsky Mikuláš on a VERY crowded train - good thing we had reserved seats because many people were standing the whole way!  

The first thing we noticed in our flat was the newly renovated shower area!!  WOW!!  It looks so beautiful!   The walls and floor are all tiled now, with new towel hooks too.  

We walked to the grocery store for a few necessities and defrosted the freezer, but otherwise it was nice to walk in and already feel settled in after unpacking suitcases.  Patka, Rivi and their new dog, Eddie (I'm sure they don't spell it the American way, but that's what it sounds like!) came to welcome us back, and they brought some delicious goulash, bread, and home-made cakes so we wouldn't have to cook right away.  How sweet of them!!  We then slept for 11 hours straight!!

Saturday was the birthday party for Michal, one of Tim's basketball buddies, so Stefan picked us up at noon and drove us to Liptovsky Trnovec.  

It was a goulash party, so it lasted all day, with the pot of guláš cooking over the open flames for hours.  This is Michal, the birthday boy, Tim, and Stefan, our chauffeur!  

Stefan insisted on taking a picture with me in it too, so Michal wielded a 'sword and shield' to protect us - LOL!!  

Basketball bro's enjoying sausage and bread before the guláš - Miro, Michal, Stefan, Tim, and Jan.

There was a lot of fun conversation and good food!  

Bicycling shirt from America for the birthday boy!  

Enjoying the garden party!!  

The party was still going on longer, but we went with Erik, Jana and their kids to see a firemen's competition being held nearby down by the Mara (lake).  I'm sure we could have been at the party late into the evening, but we needed another good night's sleep to get adjusted to the time change!   

There was a pump down by the shore, so the teams had to hook it up to draw water from the lake, then unroll hoses to get the water pumped uphill to the target.  

The teams were amazingly efficient.  There were about 6 or 8 sets of hoses to be hooked up, including this splitter half-way up the hill.  

Then at the top of the hill, there were two red canisters on pedestals which had to be knocked off using the water spray.  The times were all under one minute!!  Wow!!  

Our hosts for the event - Erik, Riško, Janka, and Miška - with the view of the lake behind!

This shows better how steep the hill was that they had to run up, then attach the hoses and knock off the canisters!  

After another good night's sleep Saturday, we got up early for our walk to church.  It was so nice seeing so many familiar faces and being welcomed back to Slovakia!   After church we walked through the square where there was the same antique car show as our first Sunday in town last year.   There were also posters for other cultural events during the month of August, and we noticed a children's folk festival in Ploštin for this afternoon.  So we got the bikes out, pumped up the tires a bit, and headed out for this nearby village, which we had ridden to once before.  

We got to town in time to see the tail end of the parade, like the one at the Vychodná in July, with all the participants marching in costume, and all the parade watchers following up the hill to the amphitheater.  

We followed this couple up the hill (very STEEP hill!), and it turns out they were the moderators of the event.   

This is the view from the top of our climb.  We assume this huge wood pile was set as a bonfire for later in the evening, but we didn't stay long enough to find out.  

The village of Ploštin below.

The natural amphitheater had rock wall behind it, covered in trees.  There was a stage set up as well as benches for the audience.  

What a gorgeous natural back-drop to the performers on stage!  

We stayed for 3 or 4 groups, but finally left after an hour and a half because it started to look like rain might roll in, and it was a long bike ride home!  Luckily, we stayed dry!  

Our last event of the weekend was an evening concert back on the square in Liptovsky Mikuláš.  Peter, our teaching colleague, was the drummer with this band playing all instrumental versions of 60's and 70's hits.  Peter did an awesome job!   :-)  

For anyone who has gotten this far in the blog, it's time for a little reflection.  We have been inclined to draw comparisons between our recent journey to Liptovsky Mikuláš and the same journey one year ago.  Our emotions were so much different this time.  Last year, we knew nothing about what we would experience, and everything was quite overwhelming each step of the way.  This time it was so easy arriving in Vienna and making our way to the seminary on our own, taking the train from Bratislava into familiar territory, and walking around town here again without confusion!  We have laughed a lot about all we didn't know a year ago --- for example:  the name for a grocery store is 'potraviny' --- we didn't even know where to buy food last August!!  :-)   

But more than that, we are experiencing a strange sense of coming 'home' here, just like when we arrived back in Iowa.  We have had so many excited greetings from friends here of "Vitajte!" (Welcome!), "Vitajte na Slovensko!" (Welcome to Slovakia!), and one..... "Welcome Home!" ....  yes, it does feel like 'home' here too.  We still miss our dear family and friends back in the U.S. very much, but we have a second home here in Slovakia with our new 'family' and friends.  Part of it is certainly that we returned to our cosy little flat, but it is a wonderful and very unexpected feeling to be back 'home' here.  We thank God for the blessings of such amazing and loving people in our lives - all over the world!    :-)   

Still in Iowa

Just a short post because I know some people keep checking the blog ---- we are still back home in Iowa.  We are really busy trying to squeeze as much in as possible.  From the Iowa State Fair to backyard barbecues to Olson family game nights, we are seeing lots of people here and enjoying our time greatly.  It's awesome to be home.  

The "to do" list is huge, and we're not sure if we'll get everything done, but we're plugging away.  If it's any indicator of how busy we've been, I still haven't even had time to go get my hair cut yet - HA!!  :-)   The time in Iowa is going quickly, and we'll be heading back to Slovakia on the 21st - only one more week.  So for now, we are enjoying the moments here!

Once we get back to Liptovsky Mikuláš, I'll get going on the blog again, so the folks back home can keep track of our experiences there in our second year.   Meanwhile, here are a few pictures from the summer........

Cousin Maurine sent this picture from our time in Puglia!  

57th Anniversary Celebration for Papa and Grammy in West Des Moines.
(left to right: my dad, Beth, my mom, Tim, Paul)

AND.... Alana's birthday celebration.  Both on the same day, Aug. 4, but we celebrated on Aug. 2nd with a lovely dinner, hosted by Grammy and Papa!!
(Paul, Ed & Gloria = Alana's parents, Alana)

Celebrating a birthday and an anniversary for special loved ones!!    :-)  

Grammy and Papa with the Olsons (minus Lute) 

Because Lute was at Riverside Bible Camp all summer, working as the maintenance director for the summer staff.  Here he is on the Quilt Auction day at camp!  :-)

In Readlyn with the "oldie-goldies" who once taught together at Wapsie Valley H.S.  

The whole gang with spouses got together for a barbecue at the Davis house.  There was much story-telling and laughter all evening, that's for sure!  

We went up to NE Iowa to spend a day with Lute, the next generation teacher at Wapsie Valley Jr./Sr. High School!!  Tim calls him "the new and improved version of Mr. Olson".    ;-)  

Katarina Comes to America!

So today, I'll just give a photo-based 'Readers' Digest Condensed Version' of our days since the last post of the reunion in Italy with the Doughty-Damge-Tambini clan.  It has been a busy time back in Iowa, and lots of fun.  For all of you Slovakia friends - we miss you and will see you again soon.  For all of you Iowa friends and relatives - we have been packing our days full of sight-seeing with Katarina, showing her as much as possible of our beautiful state before she headed on to Wisconsin, Chicago, and then New York.  So we haven't had a chance to get in touch with many people here until now.  CALL us, come and visit, we want to see you!!  We really want to connect with as many of you as we can before we return to Slovakia on August 21!!  We've missed you all sooooo much!!!     :-)  

Beth and Tim in their souvenir shirts from Greece, enjoying the view from the balcony of our flat in Liptovsky Mikuláš, just before leaving for Vienna and our flights home.  

Juraj, Katarina's brother, was our chauffeur to Vienna.  Here we are after loading the car on Tuesday afternoon.  We stayed overnight in a hotel near the airport since we had to be there so early for our 7:40 a.m. flight to London, then Chicago and on to Des Moines.  

Beth and Katarina on the bus to the terminal in London on Wednesday morning.  For those of you who don't know, Katarina is a teaching colleague, dear friend, and one of our two 'Slovak daughters', who came home with us for her very first trip to America!!  It was such fun traveling with these brilliant and beautiful girls!

Welcome to America, Katarina!!  Here we are at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, before our flight to Des Moines.  We were sooooo excited about being this close to Iowa!!   

And this is the Welcome Party at the Des Moines International Airport on Thursday evening!!  Lute and Paul were waiting to greet us with these awesome signs.  The hugs were wonderful too!!   

Lute is the maintenance guy at Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp this summer, so he went into Art Fun Time that day and asked the counselor (a former student of mine at Ankeny!) and campers to make signs for us.   Becca and the H.S. week campers did a super job!!  

When we were back in Slovakia thinking about all the wonderful places to take Katarina in Iowa, I checked online for the Iowa Cubs baseball schedule.  They were to be out of town for the rest of her time here, so we went directly from the airport to Principal Park for an evening I-Cubs game the very first thing.   No jet lag allowed - just good old American baseball, with a supper of hot dogs at the ball park!!   :-)  How's that for a welcome??  

Cubbie Bear even came over to welcome Katarina to America!!  :-)  

The game wasn't super exciting, and we were getting a little tired, so we finally left after 8 innings with the score 1-0.  Katarina remarked that it seemed like people weren't really all that attentive to the game, just relaxing, talking, and enjoying the evening outside.  Exactly!!  We had a fun time explaining the game to her, but she understood instinctively that baseball is as much about the experience of being at the ballpark on a summer night!  

When we got home about 10:30, there were more 'Welcome' signs waiting on the front porch.  Our favorite neighbor, Curran, and his family made us signs too!  How sweet!!!  

We were so excited to be back home!!  The Anlikers also left a sweet treat on the porch with the signs --- some amazing banana bread which we had for breakfast our first morning back in Iowa --- YUM!!!  

After a great night's sleep, the first thing in the morning we met Curran, his mom Julie, and his sister Kelsey to thank them for the posters and banana bread!  

Katarina and Beth shucking sweet corn purchased from the back of a farmer's pick-up truck.  Now, Katarina finally understands why we never even tried sweet corn in Slovakia, because she has tasted IOWA sweet corn and knows the difference!!  (No offense meant for Slovakia of course - sweet corn isn't the same in other U.S. states either - Iowa's sweet corn is by far the best anywhere in the world!!)  

Lute asked us if it was O.K. to invite the Riverside staff over for dinner Saturday night, so he took charge of grilling the hot dogs for about 35 of us.   

It was a beautiful evening for the gang to all be outside on the patio and in the yard.  Lute got everything all set up and organized - he's a great host!!  :-)  

More Riverside Lutheran Bible Camp staff members enjoying supper at the Olsons' house!  It was such fun having everyone there.  

Carly and Ellen - friends of Lute's from Hope College - were on their way from Michigan to visit more Hope friends in Colorado.  So of course, Ankeny is the perfect overnight stopover, and we had arranged for their stay back in Vienna when we saw Ellen there!  Katarina and Ellen already met in Liptovsky Mikuláš, so they immediately renewed their friendship too.  The whole party kind of evolved because of getting together all the Hope folks, since some work at Riverside too.  Go Hope!!   :-)  

Lute had gotten out gloves and baseballs, a football & a basketball, and frisbees, so there were kids all over the yard and driveway after supper playing all different games.  Katarina commented that she is really learning how big a deal sports are here in America.  We Iowans love to play!  

Ellen taught Katarina how to play catch with a baseball and glove, and Ellen pronounced Katarina "a natural" because she caught on to it so quickly!! 

We were so glad that Ellen and Carly visited us!!  We love Hope College visitors!!    :-)  

Saturday morning meant a trip downtown to the Des Moines Farmers' Market for the famous (and delicious) Breakfast Burritos - YUM!!  

At the Farmers' Market with the old Polk County Courthouse in the background.  

We all laughed so much when we saw this item on sale at one booth.  Tim says this EVERY DAY in our office at school in Slovakia!!  This one is for you, Janka Kusa!!   ;-)

It's crazy how this photo looks like it's been photo-shopped, but it's authentic, and taken at the downtown Des Moines Pappajohn Sculputure Gardens.  

On Sunday we took Katarina to Paul and Alana's church service at Cornerstone in Ames, because we wanted her to experience a uniquely American mega-church style contemporary service.  Afterwards, we all went out for lunch at Hickory Park for barbecue.  
Front = Alana, Grammy, Katarina, Paul
Back = Michelle, Papa, Beth, Tim

After our ice cream desserts at Hickory Park, Paul and I taught Katarina about tying a maraschino cherry stem with our tongues, inside our mouths.  Yeah, one more totally trivial American concept!!  LOL!!  

On Monday, Tim and I took Katarina hiking at Ledges State Park near Boone.  

Here we are atop Table Rock, overlooking the Des Moines River valley, on our nature hike.

Our next big outing was to the Iowa State Capitol, where we had the best tour guide ever  - my brother, Edward!  

The girls by the cornerstone of the State Capitol in Des Moines.

Edward explaining some of the history of the building.

My brother arranged things with the Governor's staff so that we could meet with Governor Brandstad in his formal office.  It was a surprise for Katarina!!   :-)

All those colors on the wall behind their chairs are different types of marbles.  Our Iowa Statehouse is such a beautiful building!!  

With Governor Brandstad in his office!!  He was so gracious and kind to us, and we had about 15 minutes to visit with him.  Thanks Edward!!   :-)  

The former Supreme Court room in the Capitol (now used as a conference room.)

As part of our Statehouse tour, we even got to go on a special trip up to the very top of the cupola on top of the dome.  

The views of downtown were really impressive from atop the Capitol! 

On the staircase leading to the famous painting "Westward" above.  

Outside the capitol after our wonderful tour and meeting with the Governor.  Yes, we were all the way up inside that tiny cupola at the top of the golden dome!!  WOW!!  After the tour, we all went to the East Village for lunch at Zombie Burger ---- YUM!!  

Katarina loved all our wildlife in Iowa.  Our critters here aren't as shy as they are in Slovakia.  Here is a chipmunk who sometimes comes up onto our deck.  

Visiting my parents' townhome in West Des Moines.  Grammy gave Katarina a Garfield dictionary with cartoons for some of the definitions.  (Judith's lilies were so pretty!)  

Then we went to the lake at Jordan Creek Mall - Papa with the girls!  

Grammy and Papa often feed the ducks and geese at the lake, so they gave the girls a couple bags of bread to use.  

There were even some big goldfish trying to get in on the action.  

We enjoyed the beautiful day outside by the lake!  

This Canadian goose was eating right out of Katarina's hand!  

Our next stop was Scheel's hunting department, where Katarina met this buck!  

And an American moose too!

Taco Tuesday at the Yankee Clipper --- a tradition with the Green and Linden families!!  It was so good to get these dear friends from both sides of the Atlantic together!!  
(Kristina L., Dawn G., Michelle, Katarina, Nancy L.)

Beth with the guys at Taco Tuesday!!  We didn't get a picture of Erin LaBelle - bummer!  
(Chris LaBelle, Beth, Tim, Jeremy Green, Tanner Linden)

Saying goodbye to our neighbor, Curran, who wore the Slovakia T-shirt we gave him!  Then we met Tim's mom at Perkins off I-35 in Clear Lake so that she could see Katarina again here in Iowa.

We had a lovely picnic lunch near LaCrosse, Wisconsin, overlooking the Mighty Mississippi River on Thursday before sending Katarina on the next leg of her journey.  

We met Carol Anderson, one of the two lectors we replaced in Slovakia, at LaCrosse.  Katarina visited Carol, then Kathy, both in Wisconsin.  We were sad to send Katarina off after our whirlwind week in Iowa!!  

Beth has already re-connected with Katarina in Chicago, and the two of them will be flying to New York tomorrow to stay with my sister, Patrice, and her family in Connecticut.  They will tour New York City and continue Katarina's American adventure!!  

We have had several chances to get together with family and friends in the past few days, helped Paul and Alana move into their new apartment in Ames, celebrated Alana's birthday, Tim played his first round of golf in a year with Paul and Alana's Dad, and I went to the Riverside Bible Camp Quilt Auction and spent some time with Lute.  This morning we were incredibly blessed to worship at our home church - Immanuel Lutheran again.  It was awesome being back among our church family!!  This afternoon we took my folks up to the Black Family Reunion in Manson, so we had a great time catching up with aunts, uncles, and cousins by the dozens!  And on the way home, we stopped and spent dinner & the evening with the Swensons in Boone.  Such a good time!!  We are serious about trying to see as many people as possible during our short time in Iowa - it will be a magical month here!!