Pictures from Martin

Here are the photos from our trip to the outdoor National Slovak Museum yesterday, which for some reason wouldn't load last night.    :-)

This was a carriage house, and you can't really tell the perspective, but the door is over 12 feet high and can accommodate large horse-drawn carriages.  Carriages, horses, and travelers could all be lodged overnight.

These beautifully painted wood walls were in a priest's summer garden house.

This is a bell tower near a church

House of a wealthy family from the Liptovsky region

More Liptovsky houses - these were more common

These sheep all had bells around their necks, and the sounds were so melodious!  

Tim and Jana having fun!

This one-room schoolhouse reminded us of Iowa ones!

I was fascinated by this fence - hard to see in this photo 

Jana's favorite place to swim - the water is so clear and blue!!
It was crowded on such a hot day. 

The view of Liptovsky Mikulas and the lake from high on a hill above the town

A village on the other side of the hill

The High Tatras

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Jana and her mother returning to their car after our lovely time at the
outdoor restaurant table, enjoying new Slovak treats and friends!!

Today we got to school and started working on our lesson plans for the first day of school next week.  Soon we were fetched to go get some paperwork signed concerning our visa applications.  We walked with the school secretary and another colleague, Zuzana (like Susanna) to help translate, and went to some local authority.  That all went very smoothly.  Then we walked briskly to another office across town to find out about health insurance through the school.  We think we're already insured through the ELCA, but we'll find out for sure next week.  We ended up being late to an all-staff faculty meeting in the auditorium which was all in Slovak.  Zuzana whispered translations for us!  The dynamics were just like an American staff meeting, so we felt right at home even not understanding much.  :-)  We were also introduced and warmly welcomed.  

Lunch was at the same hotel restaurant the teachers always go to on the work days - very close to the school and quite good lunches.  Today I had red cabbage and sausage with boiled potatoes - Slovak meal - and excellent!  And Tim went with the Italian option and had penne pasta with cream sauce which was also good.    The soup today was cream of broccoli - not like ours at all - thinner consistency and very flavorful.  We are really enjoying the soups here! 

After lunch we got some more work done, then we left to help Carol (who we are replacing) move some items which she had left in our flat (where she also lived), into her new flat for the month.  She borrowed a large 2-wheeled cart from the school custodian, and that really helped.  It looked a lot like Tevye's family moving out of their village, so I was singing "Fiddler on the Roof" songs!! LOL!!  Carol's flat is only a couple of blocks away, and we took 3 trips, so now she'll have all her stuff back.  We were grateful for the elevator!!  Then we rearranged furniture in the two bedrooms a little, so now we are ready for visitors in the spare bedroom!  :-)  

For supper, we sliced the last HUGE apple from the Bratislava seminary, filled water bottles, and walked to the central part of town.  We found a little sandwich shop and ordered 2 baguette sandwiches for only 3.50 Euros total.  It turned out they were HUGE foot-longs, so we each had half and saved the rest for tomorrow.  We enjoyed our supper sitting on a bench on the square, watching the fountains and crowds of young people gathering on a Friday night.  We stopped by a gelato shop for a cone - they are only .40 Euros (.80 for 2 scoops)  - a bargain!  And so good!!  There was a live band playing on the stage in the square, and they were really good.  They seemed young, but really talented musicians - mostly a girl band.  They did about half the concert in English and half in Slovak, and we really liked the music - good old rock & roll!!  

So that was our day - tomorrow we learn to take the bus to see the famous Wooden Church.  After sleeping in, of course!!  :-)

Medics, Museums, and Memories

First of all, we want to say thanks for reading our blog and sharing in our adventure in Slovakia!!  I finally figured out that I can see how many views our blog has, and we're delighted to know many people are checking in.  I know the pace will slow down soon, and there won't be as much to write, but for now, there seems to be a lot happening each day!

Today started bright and early with the alarm set in the normally unacknowledged hour before 6:00 a.m.  LOL!!  Our companion for the day was our colleague, Jana, and she served as driver, translator, tour guide, and good friend.  She was amazing in assisting us in every way!!  Jana (pronounced Yahnah) drove us to Martin, about 70 kilometers we think, which took about an hour.  We had a 7:30 appointment at the University Hospital there for our medical exams for our work visas.  The whole process was unlike at US medical facilities, mainly because there are no waiting areas to speak of, other than a few benches in some hallways, though not in all areas.  A couple of times we just stood waiting outside doors in a hallway and stairwell.  Someone would come out of a door, talk a little bit, take forms, and go back inside & shut the door, so we would wait.  Once we got inside an area, everyone was very friendly and nice.  Now, if you are NOT interested in the Slovak medical system, feel free to skip ahead past this rather LONG paragraph.........It might be TMI for some people.   ;-)   

First we were handed sealed plastic test tubes with black swabs inside (like half of an over-sized black Q-tip), and told "you know what to do", but of course we didn't know at all!!  Evidently, the expectation was to go in the restroom and self-swab inside your rectal area.  O.K. - no problem!!  (We had expected urine samples, but no, this was the gig here!)  Next we had normal blood samples, and the nurse did a great job - not painful at all.  (This was the needle in the arm kind, with multiple vials taken.)    And finally, we had our chest x-rays.  It was all very professional and ho-hum, except for the part they just expect you to walk right out of the changing room, naked from the waist up, and go stand by the wall.  No modesty allowed - LOL!!  (Now I really appreciate those cute little capes always provided for mammograms in the States!!)  I felt really stupid because I stood with my back against the machine, and, not understanding Slovak, was manually turned to face the x-ray apparatus.  HAHA!!  Then I was gently positioned forward with my whole front side up against the panel, which was COLD!!  Oh well, it wasn't that bad, though in our week of orientation there had been several references to the chest x-ray, almost in a "rite of passage" sort of context!!  :-)  It surprised us that no doctor actually examined us at all - no stethoscope, "say AHHH", no blood pressure, temperature, or any of the usual things.  Just the 3 items mentioned.  Oh, and we had to walk back and forth between buildings in the complex as well.  Hopefully we both passed and will be granted work visas.  

So after 2 1/4 hours there, we were done at the hospital.  Whew!!  And then we had fun "playing hooky" from school.  The deputy headmistress knew how long our travel and the examinations would take, and since the work days this week end at 2:00, she told Jana to show us around a bit instead of rushing back for such a short time at school.  So we taught Jana the phrase "playing hooky" and had fun with that the rest of the day.  Of course we also all agreed that our descriptions to our colleagues tomorrow would describe "work, work, work"!!   :-)  The first order of business was to find food, since Tim and I were told not to eat breakfast before the blood tests.  We had baguette sandwiches and hot tea at a fast-food type restaurant in the center of Martin.  Delicious!  

Tim and Jana on the square in Martin, with the statue of the Slovak "Robin Hood"

Next we headed to the Slovak National Museum in Martin, which is a lot like Living History Farms in W.D.M. - different regions of Slovakia were represented by various restored and reconstructed historic examples of buildings from different time periods.  We actually had a beautiful hike along a babbling brook to get there, and it was a gorgeous day to be outside walking between the outdoor exhibits.  There was an English-speaking tour guide as well.  It was a fascinating museum, and we enjoyed our time there.  

Wooden church from the 1700's

Interior of the church

(I am having difficulty uploading photos onto the blog site now.  I'll try to add more photos from today, but later in the next post.)

Next we headed to one of Jana's favorite swimming areas.  The water was incredibly clear and blue, and it was packed with families enjoying the last week of summer vacation.  If we had our suits along, it would have been perfect weather to take a dip!  

On the way back into Liptovsky Mikulas, we stopped by the Orange store (Slovak version of Verizon!) so Jana could help us get our cell phone activated and put minutes on the SIM card.  The phone was left by one of the previous American teachers, but they put a new number with it today and got us all set up.  The school really wants us to have a cell phone so we are in touch when necessary.  We only paid about $8, and it sounds like minutes are inexpensive.  We don't anticipate using it much, but it's nice to have.

Then Jana wanted to show us the view from a high hill outside of Liptovsky Mikulas.  It was actually farther along the ridge we had climbed the other night, but we drove up a winding one-land road that was lined with trees on both sides all the way.  The views were spectacular - of the town, surrounding villages, mountains in a panoramic backdrop completely surrounding us, and a higher view of the lake - WOW!!!  Jana says it's really amazing at sunset, so sometime we'll have to go up there later in the evening.  

And finally, we headed back into the town center where we met Jana's mother who had been shopping there.  We went to a restaurant and shared a Slovak treat and beverages at an outdoor table, again enjoying the beautiful weather today!  I still can't remember the name of the Slovak fruit-filled dumpling dish, but we tried another variety at this restaurant. The dough was much lighter and thinner, and it surrounded a fresh plum - they were fabulous!!  Jana's mother says they are homemade and fresh here, and we could tell.  We also had radler again - the lemon flavored beer that doesn't taste like beer!  Yummy!  It was such a pleasant end to our day of travels and sight-seeing, visiting and enjoying one another's company.  :-)  

Tim and I made a quick stop at Billa, the grocery store fairly close to our flat, and discovered it is at the bottom of a small, 3-story mall!!  Many of the things we had found after hoofing it all over town, could have been purchased right there.  Live and learn!! LOL!  We actually thought ahead and bought some food for the next couple of days for once.  By the time we arrived back here, we were recounting our enjoyable day playing hooky from school and getting to know Jana.  It was an awesome day!!  

First Federal Holiday

Today was a day off of school - already!  But since we will be missing tomorrow (Thursday) because we have to drive an hour to Martin for our medical exams, we decided we'd better get some things done.  Carol, one of the gals we replaced, is back to help with our transition, so she came over to our flat, and we worked on curriculum all day.  Yes, voluntarily, working on curriculum, on a day off......I'm sure my former colleagues think I've lost my marbles!!  But we have to re-do the curriculum yearly plans for several classes with a mid-September deadline!!  Pressure can do strange things to people.  LOL!!  

But before we got started, Tim and I had our Wednesday morning hot chai tea latte, just like back in Ankeny on our late start professional development days.  Thanks to Lisa Evans, who sent us here with chai tea bags from Starbucks!!  :-)   We went hunting for cinnamon and nutmeg at yet another grocery store again last night and finally found them --- they are in packets, not little cylinders or jars like at home!!  Eureka!  Anyway, we really enjoyed this taste from home, connecting us to our colleagues there!!  

The hot chai tea latte was almost like being at Starbucks with you, Lisa!!  :-)

We did work hard all day, with a lunch break for Slovak food, got a lot done, and Carol finally left after 5:00.  She commented that the flat has been improved - new paint, different furniture, etc., so we appreciate the upgrades!  We are still missing sheets for the spare beds, but we won't need them until we have company.  And Carol will be moving her huge pile of belongings out of the second bedroom this weekend.  Yay!  :-)  

Tim and Carol on the way back from lunch

After Carol left, Tim and I took a long hike to the ridge visible from our flat balcony.  We took a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks, then wound our way up back roads to get to the ridge.  We passed lots of beautifully tended vegetable gardens with fruit trees, and it looked like there were individual parcels of land, each with little garden sheds, and people were out working on their own areas.  When we got up on the ridge, the views were beautiful, back over into the city, across the valley to the mountains in the distance, and beyond Mikulas to the lake.  We enjoyed our hike!!  

One garden had a pumpkin growing up on a shed roof!!

View from the ridge looking at Liptovsky Mikulas --- our lime green flat!

View of the mountains beyond the ridge

Tim has been wanting to hike up to this ridge ever since we moved in!!

The lake just west of Liptovsky Mikulas

All of the vegetable gardens had beautiful flowers around the outside!

On the pedestrian bridge overlooking the ridge we walked along

Looking into town from the bridge over the RR tracks - the "steeple" is part of a large school

Pretty gladiolas in a garden near our flat - Carol introduced us to her friend Jana who lives there.

Veggie garden beyond the gladiolas was also beautiful

We had a light supper and will go to bed fairly early tonight since we have to set the alarm at 5-something to be ready for our 6:00 a.m. pick-up to drive to Martin.  Not looking forward to the early hour or the actual exam, but the rest of the day should be fun playing hooky from school with a fun teaching colleague, Jana.  (There are many Jana's here - it's a very common name!)  We are supposed to take some time afterwards to see some sights in Martin, which is a town of much historical significance in Slovakia.  More tomorrow!!  :-)  

Here are some photos of our flat - inside and out - just to give you an idea of our living space.  :-)  I won't include any pics of the spare bedroom until it gets cleaned out and rearranged.  

The front of our building - we enter through the door in the middle of the left side

Our balcony - (Tim says I'm not in enough pictures - LOL!!)

Our balcony is the second from the top on the right.
(to the left of the big tree on the corner of the building.)

There I am, on the balcony.   :-)

Our elevator - circa 1950 - but it works!!  

Our toilet --- notice no tank visible ---- yet ----

And there it is, up by the ceiling.  You just
pull the cord hanging down on the right to flush!

Our shower/tub - notice there is only one faucet for both shower and sink!
Interesting, but functional, and the water is always hot!!  :-)

Our kitchen, with window/door out to the balcony

The stove (it has a cover to make more space), sink, and cupboards

Cupboard, small fridge, microwave, and washing machine
Small, but they all work very well!!  

Our living room

Other wall of living room

And more of the living room - interesting fact - we have about 8 sets of
shot glasses in curio cabinets throughout the flat.   The Slovaks love their
Slivovica (plum or other fruit based alcohol!)

Our bedroom

Wardrobes / closets in our bedroom

Teacher Work Days

Here's the report on our first two teacher work days in Slovakia.....
For all you American teachers out there, we have observed some differences and similarities.  First, there is a whole week to prepare before the kids come, which is really nice.  And in 2 days, we only had one 2 1/2 hour meeting.  :-)  Sweet!!  And the work days are only 8:00-2:00, with time for lunch within that.  The government also requires that employers subsidize worker lunches, so we were able to purchase 10 vouchers for 10.80 Euros, that are worth 2.85 Euros each.  The really good thing is that restaurants all offer 3 Euro lunches that are amazing - each day we've had wonderful soup and bread followed by  a hearty meal of meat and potatoes or rice, and then a fancy filled cake dessert.  We spent most of our time in a large teacher workroom with a desk for each teacher, in department groupings.  Our English department colleagues are terrific - mostly younger - and very friendly & helpful.  We met so many people and are trying to learn names.  The English teachers (there are 10 including us) helped us figure out our schedule and what the designations for all the classes are.  We teach 16 classes a week (45 minutes each), which is a lighter schedule than the Slovak teachers.  But the usual number is 22-24 classes per week even for them.  Not like in America, for sure!!  Over here, they actually think teacher preparation time is a valuable thing!!  Tim and I will be teaching Conversation classes only, and we have each group of students for one, two, or three times per week - it varies.  Very confusing, but we're starting to catch on.  We each will have a total of about 120 students - 10 different groups of 12 students each - all between the ages of 14 and 19.  

Evanjelicka spojena skola in Liptovsky Mikulas - our new school!!  

Tim on the way into school our first day of teacher work week.   :-)  

Janka and Katerina took us to lunch and helped us with the vouchers, and then Katerina was our translator with the business secretary helping us to fill out paperwork in Slovak for our work visas.  We had been told to bring extra passport photos for Slovak forms and  documents, which we did, but they are the wrong size.  Grrrrr!!  So Katerina sweetly offered to take us to get new ones made at a photo shop after school on Monday.  It was great having her there to be sure we got the correct photo size this time.  

Today started with the English department meeting, which was very helpful.  We were asked to introduce ourselves, tell a little about our education background, and any comments on what we've observed at their school.  Everyone was assigned extra duties, and ours include being in charge of a speaking contest in which our school's students will compete in another town.  Yikes!  We are also in charge of the role-playing portion of the "Maturita" which is the tremendously important set of final exams all students are required to take at graduation time, to determine college entrance scores.  Part of the Maturita is oral/speaking for a jury of teachers from our school and another school (20 minutes), with 5 minutes in role-playing with a teacher --- Tim or me.  That is a lot of pressure!!  I'm sure by then we'll be O.K. with it.  During the meeting today, one of the teachers we replaced came by.  She was here 4 years, so she was asked to come back for our first month to help with the transition, since all the classes except one will have new textbooks, so all the curriculum she wrote will have to be rewritten for the new materials.  (That's a difference --- they write the curriculum to match the textbook!)  The yearly plan (curriculum) has to be submitted by Sept. 19, so the three of us will be working diligently to get it together.  For about 4 classes!!  

Tomorrow is a national holiday, so there is no work day, but Carol is coming over here to our flat so we can work here.  That's because Tim and I won't be at school Thursday (so Carol will go to school and work on the curriculum herself), since we have to go to another town for our Slovak physical exams.  We keep hearing it's quite an ordeal for all the American teachers, so we'll see how that all goes!!  One of the teachers will pick us up at 6:00 a.m. to head to our 7:30 appointments.  The assistant headmistress told the teacher to make a day of it, show us around the historic town where we'll be, go out to lunch, and not bother coming back to school that afternoon.  :-)  Sweet!!  So we'll make up for that day by working tomorrow and won't have to feel guilty.  LOL!!  

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, our luggage did indeed arrive on Monday.  It was actually waiting for us in our apartment (the land-lady let them in) when we returned from getting the visa photos after school.  So we spent a good deal of time getting the large bags unpacked, and now we feel much more settled.  The teachers also told us some other places to check for fitted sheets, flat sheets, pillowcases, and mattress pads to help with our bed situation.  We had to wander around to multiple stores to find everything.  It still isn't ideal, but much better now.  The nights have been perfect for sleeping - cool evenings and beautiful warm days!!  

This is the view of Liptovsky Mikulas from a shopping center across the Vah River from town.
We are still in awe of the beautiful mountains surrounding us every time we look or go outside!
  

This dinner was an attempt to re-create some restaurant meals we've had here!
Salmon baked with olive oil and lemon pepper, zucchini boats filled with 3 colors of peppers, onions, cheese and baked, home-grown tomatoes given to us by the deputy headmistress, and the typical bread rolls sold for .06 EU.
Oh, and some of the Slovak white wine!  :-)

Not many pictures today - just long descriptions.  Feel free to comment --- I wonder if anyone reads the blog besides our parents.  :-)   (Thanks, Moms and Dad!!)  

More new faces and places

Sunday started out with the alarm at 7:05, and it was much easier getting ready now that everything is organized and put away, instead of living out of a suitcase.  Tim and I both enjoyed our first breakfast here in the apartment - Tim was thrilled to have cereal with raisins and COLD milk, a banana and orange drink, and I had scrambled eggs and bacon.  We were downstairs outside the flat by 8:35 to meet the landlady, Luba, and her daughter, Lenka, for our walk to the Lutheran Church in town.  No pictures inside the sanctuary yet as we were rushed, but next time I'll try to post some.  It was of course a beautiful old structure, with the pulpit high up off the floor against a wall, just like the church in Bratislava.  I loved how the bells pealed after the service!  We actually sang along, following the Slovak words, and we think it's a great technique to learn pronunciation because you are seeing the language visually, hearing it aurally, and trying it out on your tongue, all simultaneously.  Multi-sensory educational techniques at their best!!  :-)  Lenka translated for us during the service and helped us find our place in the worship book.  

With our landlady, Luba, and her daughter, Lenka after church

With Jana and her mother Jana, our school's Headmistress
In front of the church we attended today

After the service, we met the Headmistress of the school, Jana, and her daughter, also named Jana, who translated for us after Luba and Lenka left.  The Janas gave us a walking tour around the old town, some of which we had seen during our wanderings, and some new places, but we learned a lot from their explanations.  The church on the square in last night's picture was originally Lutheran - but it is now Catholic.  She said it dates to the 12th century, so something doesn't square with the history of the Reformation, or maybe we didn't understand clearly, or maybe it started Catholic then changed and changed back!  In the same part of the square where we saw the folk performers last night, there was an antique car rally going on today!!  There was even one old Ford model there, along with many other European cars.  The drivers were all dressed in period costumes for their vehicles, and of course there was a large crowd there to see the spectacle!  Fun stuff!!  

The former Lutheran, now Catholic church on the square

One of the antique cars

More of the parade of cars

After we left the square, we ran into the parade of cars again!

We then headed to a small village outside of the town where we ate at another darling restaurant, sitting at an outdoor table.  It was the most amazing meal of all!  We started with hot tea for us and coffee for Jana and Jana (pronounced "yahna"), because the deputy headmistress, Patka, who we first met when we arrived on Friday, was playing organ for the service in her village nearby and was coming later.  Next was soup with chicken, noodles, and vegetables - very tasty.  That was followed by a plate with 3 kinds of meat - beef, chicken breast, and pork, all with a light gravy sauce, plus some roasted small potatoes, a little nest of rice, and a slaw-type salad with cucumbers, cabbage, and tomatoes.  It was more than we could eat, but all delicious.  We had wine with the meal too, and I think they ordered a really nice one which has won awards.  (Slovak of course!)  And finally, ice cream.  Patka came part way through, so the meal lasted a long time as we enjoyed conversation.  They are all absolutely delightful people!!  

This picture is for Papa - our ice cream sundae dessert.
They ordered everything for us, so we didn't have a choice!!  :-)

Eating on the outdoor patio in the village with the ladies from school

Next, Jana and her daughter departed, and Patka gave us a tour of her village and the nearby resort area at the lake created in 1975 by a dam on the river.  We walked a while down through a picnic meadow to the lake, then joined her good friend who had stopped at a bar/restaurant for a late lunch while on a bike ride with another friend.  I had more hot tea, and Tim tried her recommendation - a glass of the grape juice from the adjacent vineyard, from which they make their famous chablis wine.  It was delicious!  More interesting conversation followed before we headed back to be dropped off at our flat.  

Views during our drive through the countryside

The lake, with mountains in the background

Looking at the hillside across the lake

So beautiful!

On our walk with Patka, the deputy headmistress from the school

We had a cup of tea, and the grape juice on the outdoor patio
at the left side of the building

We've been reading the Des Moines Sunday Register online, which is fun, and Tim must be feeling right at home, because he fell asleep with the "paper" (computer) on his lap, just like on a normal Sunday afternoon at home in Ankeny!!  :-)   I'm kind of surprised he didn't wake up to the loud noises that sound like gunshots outside.  We're less startled by it now that we know it's people out beating their rugs!!  There is a large structure like playground equipment out back where people hang their rugs and beat them with huge fly swatter-like tools that I've only seen in museums back in the USA.  

A carpet beater!

It truly sounds like gunshots as the beating sounds echo off the apartment buildings!

We walked to the HyperNova again late this afternoon, and found out it is open until 9:00 p.m. daily -- which is great because nothing else except restaurants and coffee shops are open from Saturday noon through Sunday!!  We had a light supper with delicious home-grown fresh tomatoes that were a gift from Patka - just like Iowa!!  

Well, school starts tomorrow - at least our teacher work days do.  We are supposed to go  to Patka's office at 9:00 a.m, since she has an appointment before that.  What a reasonable hour to report for our first day of work!!  :-)  The weather is much cooler today.  I hope our suitcases arrive tomorrow with some warmer clothing!!