Post about Poland!

Oh my goodness, I'm sorry it has been over a week since the last post.  This past week has absolutely flown by!!  Every spare moment of every single school day last week was spent with me on the computer working on 'year plans'.  (Apologies to my Slovak friends that I was so antisocial in the workroom lately!)  It was quite an endeavor, because there were nine new plans to make thanks to changes in curriculum and/or books in all the classes.  And the format requirements changed so that every lesson is numbered consecutively for each class taught, for the entire year.  The plans were due on Monday, and mine were emailed to our department chair and deputy headmistress at 3:30 on the deadline day, after two solid weeks of work!!  But the good news is, basically every lesson plan for every class is now done for the whole year.  WOW!!!  This afternoon I filled in my lesson plan book for the next 2 weeks, in no time flat!!  :-)  

Wednesday was a wonderful trip to Vychodná for supper with Katarina's family.  Her brother, Juraj, drove us all there after school.  We had so much fun that I forgot to even take any pictures.  Supper was awesome - deer meat with cranberries, roasted potatoes, tomato/cucumber salad, and a delicious creamy-fruit dessert that Katarina made.  It was such a nice family evening together - filled with a mix of laughter, serious conversation, and fellowship!  

Friday at school, we celebrated Dušan's 60th birthday with fancy open-faced sandwiches, fruits, cakes, coffee, tea, etc. that he provided.  Here are Janka, the birthday boy, and Katarina Joy, with Tim!

Friday right after school we packed up the church car, which our pastor again volunteered for us to use for the weekend, and headed northwest of Liptovsky Mikuláš, to the SW part of Poland.  Two of the new American teachers are in Cieszyn, Poland, so we went to visit them.  The train and bus connections to get there would have been a nightmare - 6-8 hours instead of a 2 1/2-3 hour trip by car, so we were really grateful to use the car.

Driving out of L.M., we passed this horse-drawn carriage straight out of another century. 

This sight is not uncommon here, as these vehicles have practical use hauling items, even through the streets in town, and we see them every now and then.  

After some heavy traffic slowed us down on the way, we finally arrived at the right location in time for supper.  Krystal and Shirley live above this pizza place, about a block from the church and school.  

The gals treated us to a scrumptious welcome dinner with recipes from Pinterest!  :-)  

Their apartments were a lot nicer on the inside than the building looked from the outside, and they've done a lot of work cleaning and sprucing things up!  We stayed in a comfortable hotel nearby, that Krystal found for us with the help of a colleague.  The next morning, the four of us took a road trip to Krakow!   

As soon as we walked out of the parking garage, we were offered a tour of Krakow by golf cart, with recorded commentary.  It was a good deal, so we did it!!  It started out with the old Jewish Quarter in Krakow, including this synagogue.

The oldest synagogue in Krakow, which now houses a museum.  The square outside the synagogue was the site of many atrocities against the Jews by the Nazis.  

Next we went to the museum that is now inside the factory from the film, "Schindler's List".  It is similar to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

Some of the items left behind by Jews sent to concentration camps in WWII. 

We went into a beautiful church through these gates.

People were gathering in front of the church for a wedding!  

The bride and her father entering the church.

The bride and groom during the ceremony. 

The only remaining guard tower from the original medieval walls to the city.

The old town hall of Krakow.  

The Krakow Opera house was really beautiful.

St. Mary's Basilica on the main square of old Krakow.  I remember this from when I was in Poland on a choir tour with the Clarke-Loras Singers way back in 1976!!  

On the square in front of St. Mary's.  

On the Krakow square - this building is filled with shops selling souvenirs and many other goods. 

Another tower on the Krakow square

Tim, Krystal, and Shirley enjoying Krakow!  :-) 

Next, we headed to the salt mines on the outskirts of Krakow, in Wieliczka, for a tour.  

We walked through miles of tunnels, all made of salt.  Our tour guide encouraged us to go ahead and taste the walls, which of course we did!!   :-)  

The mine is no longer in operation except as a tourist site, because it is now too costly to mine the salt, not because the supply is exhausted.  There are many sculpture displays, all made of salt.  (We were forbidden from tasting the sculptures!!)   ;-)  

Some large caverns that had been excavated have been turned into chapels.  This one is the biggest -- it's HUGE!!  And there was going to be a wedding held there later that evening.  

Even the chandeliers were made of salt!!  

Some of the most wonderful sculptures were in the chapel.  This one of the Last Supper was really amazing.  It is only 12 cm. deep, but the perspective is done so well that it looks like it's much deeper.  

With a salt miner!  

At the end of the tour, there was an automated set-up to take group photos which were later emailed to you.  We had some fun with a couple of poses!  

It was about 2 hours back to Cieszyn, and we were all ready for a good night's sleep after our day of sight-seeing.  Church wasn't until 10:00, so we all got to sleep in a little, which was really nice!  

We parked in this lot across from the church, and these buildings are the parish hall and offices.  Such pretty flowers in the window boxes!!  :-)   To the right, facing, is Shirley and Krystal's apartment building.

The largest Lutheran church in Poland.  This area has been heavily Lutheran since 1540.    This church dates back to 1720.

The church's name is "Jesus Church" 

It's really enormous - with a seating capacity of 6,000.  Now though, I doubt it can hold that many, because the top balcony has a library all the way around, with many rare and valuable items housed here.  

There were several baptisms during the service.  The altar has a painting of the Last Supper, and the statues are of the four Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The organ is magnificent - with 2076 pipes.  We saw posters for an organ concert to be held there next week -- wish we could hear it!!  

With Krystal and Shirley after church.  

After church, we headed off towards Market Square in Cieszyn for an outdoor lunch.  

On Market Square, enjoying the fall sunshine.

Admiring the mid-18th century hotel and other buildings on the square.

On the way to visit the castle ruins at the edge of the old town.  

This is the only remaining tower from the Gothic castle.

Views of the Czech Republic across the river, from up on the hill near the castle ruins.

This graffiti on the wall around the castle ruins made us laugh!!  Azja (Asia), Czech Republic, Poland, and the U.S.A. were all there - but not exactly in the right directions??

This gate tower served as a defensive tower, and it has been partially reconstructed as it would have been in the 13th/14th centuries.  

The Well of the Three Brothers is a famous tourist destination too - connected to a legend about how the town was founded when brothers were joyfully reunited at this spot. 

Heading up the cobblestone street leading from the well back to the square.

This metal door was at the base of a wall, right on the sidewalk, presumably to load coal into the basement of the house.    :-)  

After our tour of delightful, historic Cieszyn, we went back to the gals' apartments and 'talked shop' a while about school questions.  It is always very interesting to compare situations in the different schools.  After talking to Jacob in Košice, Matt in Martin, and now Krystal and Shirley in Cieszyn, it's obvious that while our job descriptions are the same (English conversation lector), the expectations, resources, and situations all vary significantly from school to school!  It's good to be able to talk about how to best serve the needs of each school, and to best utilize the skills and gifts of our awesome new mission teachers!!  

The drive back to L.M. only took about 2 1/2 hours, and we took it easy for Sunday evening, skyping with family and relaxing after the weekend's travels.  Monday was church choir again, and volleyball started too.  We had a good crowd at both!  

This year, Tuesday afternoons at our school have been set aside for staff meetings and Bible studies, with no classes scheduled for 7th/8th periods.  Today was the first staff Bible study, and the topic was prayer.  Teachers are to pray with students the first and last class periods of each day, so our pastor led a discussion on prayer, since some teachers are not as comfortable as others praying in front of students.  Zuzka translated for us, and it was really interesting to hear all the comments.  We were really struck by a couple of things - 

• We are incredibly blessed to be teaching in a Christian school, where it is O.K. to talk about and to God any time, with colleagues as well as with students!! 
• Tim and I have both been blessed since birth by our family faith heritage.  Growing up with models of Christians of all generations surrounding us is not something to be taken for granted.  

We also feel very grateful for the prayer support from back home as we continue our mission here in Slovakia.  Thank you to our church family, friends and relatives who are praying for us.  Know that we are praying for you as well!!