Still Learning about Slovakia!

On Tuesday afternoons at school this year (after 6th hour) there are no classes scheduled, and this free time is dedicated to our all-school church service once a month, staff Bible study one week, department meetings, and staff meetings.  It's kind of nice to have time when everybody can get together.  Well, this week was Bible study, but instead, there was a presentation by Ján, one of our translators at church, on his recent mission trip to Africa.   He gave a really meaningful witness about using your skills and talents to serve God wherever you are called to be, whether it's somewhere far-off and exotic, or right in your own school, town, or job!  

Wednesday was another new adventure.  Saška, the basic school principal, told us she'd pick us up after school to drive us to a spa fairly close to Liptovsky Mikuláš.  Slovakia is well known for its many natural hot-spring spas, and each spa is supposed to have therapeutic benefits for specific health issues.  I didn't take the camera because I wasn't sure what the set-up would be, if it would be too humid, or if there would be a secure place to keep it.  This spa has a warm outdoor pool with many water-jets, bubbles, etc., and then a connected hotter pool, also outdoors.  It was a beautiful late afternoon/evening, and the views of the surrounding forests and mountains were gorgeous!!  It was so amazing to relax in the pools, out in the open air.  The water temperature from the spring is so hot that they actually have to cool the waters to be used in the pools.  There was a special price-deal including the use of saunas, so we took advantage of that feature too.  Inside, there were 5 kinds of saunas/relaxation areas - the 3 saunas were Finnish (heat), Roman (steam), and menthol (also steam) - then there were some places to just recline and relax in the warmth of the sauna area - and there were 4 small foot-pools (my name for them anyway) with rounded stones on the bottom, 2 with hot water and 2 with cold water.  It was refreshing to step from one to another!  Afterwards we felt incredibly relaxed!!  What a fun 3 hours!!  

On Thursday after school I was teaching my Basic School class, so I missed it, but Tim went to this year's Imatrikulacia (I'm sure I spelled it wrong, so I'll change it later!)  It's the annual initiation-type event organized by the IV classes for the new classes, which we participated in last year, dressing up in Slovak costumes and singing a Slovak folk song for the crowd.  :-)  Well, Tim thought this year's event was awesome - they opened in prayer, then there was a solemn 'pinning' of each inductee by a sponsoring older student, which was really nice.  Then they did some fun stuff with the kids, like having them wear goggles with obstructed vision and walking through cones, etc.  Just being silly, to 'initiate' them.  I'm sorry I had to miss it! 

Friday there was a lot of excitement outside the school, including this scene.  One of the senior classes was working on a video to be shown at their stužkova, so they were filming some pretty crazy action.  I have to admit I let one of my classes all go peak out the windows for a few minutes to see it all.  :-)  Before Tim got there with the camera (unfortunately he had to hoof it back to our flat to fetch it), there had been a white horse, a sled being pulled by an old junker car, and some of the girls in the class all dressed up in high heels walking towards the school from afar.  We can't wait to see the finished video!!  

Today we slept in until the sun woke us up, and right after breakfast we got a call from Zuzka asking us to go for a hike with her and Timko.  We rode our bikes to their flat in Podbrezini after lunch.  From there Zuzka drove us up the Žiar valley so we could go for a walk on this beautiful, sunny afternoon.  

Part way up the valley, there's an old mine shaft that has been opened for tours in the past few years.  Near it we found this clever 'sculpture' featuring a face created from an uprooted tree stump.  

We checked out the mine, and the gate was locked, but some people eventually came out after their tour finished, so then we were able to get in and take a tour.  

(Our mine tour tickets!)  We had a wonderful tour guide who shared a lot of fascinating information.  He was part geologist, part philosopher, and part story-teller -- very entertaining.  He spoke a little English, but Zuzka translated most everything for us, thank goodness, or we would have missed out on the majority of his wisdom.

We each got to wear a head-lamp, which was great for viewing inside the dark cave.  At one point, the guide disappeared on us suddenly, and our group had to find our way back to where he was.  (It wasn't too difficult really - we just went back the way we came!) 

Our guide explained some of the legends about the dwarves (at right) who lived in the mines.   Basically, the dwarves rewarded and brought good luck to those who were hard-working, kind, and acted justly, but they punished and brought bad luck to those who were lazy, cruel, or hurt others.  He went on to say that in past centuries, people were Christians, and their values and morals permeated their legends, which served as a sort of moral compass for life that reinforced their beliefs.  It was far more philosophical commentary than we expected from our mine tour guide, and he was really awesome!  

A vein of granite in the mine.  This mine was mostly a source of iron pyrite, but many other minerals, and even gold in small amounts, can be found there.  

Please excuse the blurriness of this photo - I was balancing on this plank as I was taking the picture of Zuzka up ahead, and trying not to fall in the water below!   LOL!  It wasn't deep, but it would have been a cold plunge up to my ankle!  

There was no electricity in the mine, so these oil lamps were attached to the walls periodically, and they are fashioned after those used way back in Neolithic times, when they used animal fat as fuel.    

When our guide pointed out this little critter, we were sure it was fake, like all the dwarf statues positioned on our mine tour route.  He was explaining how these (newts or salamanders??) hibernate in caves and/or mines, when it started to move!  It was about 6-8" long, and the guide said it was a female who would hibernate and then lay eggs in the spring.  

Zuzka, Timko and Tim after our mine tour.  

We continued hiking up the valley along the mountain stream for a while, then finally turned back and headed down again.  It was such a warm, pleasant fall day - 70 degrees on our thermometer after we biked back to our flat.  We have been skyping with family ever since we returned!  

When we look back on weeks like this, we just continue to shake our heads in amazement at all the fascinating experiences we continue to have, many of them thanks to the kindness and hospitality of our dear Slovak friends.  We are still learning so much about this beautiful country, and we feel so blessed to be here!