Catching Up

So, finally, the posts on our trip to Egypt are finished, and now I'll catch up on the two weeks since then, which have passed by so quickly.   We flew back into Brno on Saturday Feb. 22, arriving there before noon.  The bus from the airport to the train station was easy-cheesy, and we picked up some nice fresh baguette sandwiches for lunch on the train ride to Bratislava.  That leg of the journey was also smooth, and we checked into our hotel next.

Our hotel happened to overlook the formal gardens behind the Presidential Palace.  Nice!!  

Saturday night we met Becca and Shannon, two of our Global Mission American lectors in Bratislava, and we went to a Czech restaurant for a relaxing supper and good conversation.  We turned in fairly early since we were tired from getting up well before dawn back in Egypt!!  Sunday morning we went to choir practice before church at the Bratislava International Church where all our American friends go.  It was great getting to sing with the choir and have fellowship with everyone there for an uplifting worship service.  After coffee hour  we checked out of our hotel and went to catch our train back to Liptovský Mikuláš.  We had arranged to meet two more of our lectors on the train, and we all had seat reservations in the same compartment so we could visit on the way.  Stephen and Kaleigh were heading to Poprad, an hour or so past us, for their upcoming week of spring break.  That worked out great to spend the time together on the train!  The train was absolutely packed, with many people standing in the aisles and looking for free seats, so Tim took Stephen and Kaleigh to the dining car for lunch while I stayed and watched over all our things.  Slovakia has government-designated spring breaks, and our central portion of the country had the previous week.  Therefore we hit the perfect storm with everyone returning to our area after our break, at the same time as all the western/Bratislava folks were heading out our way to the ski resorts, mountains, spas, etc. for their break.  There were LOTS of travelers, for sure, so it was very fortunate that we had gotten reserved seats.  

The first week back at school went quickly.  Like always after vacations, it was really fun to see everyone again and share stories about the time away.  There were a couple of birthdays at school - our headmistress and Zuzana - so we enjoyed celebrating with them.  We also had our monthly school church service, again with students leading some more contemporary worship music.  We both did some speaking/recording for the listening sections of the upcoming Maturita exams - I did it for religion and Tim for Math - since they need to have the reading done by native speakers.  It's kind of a fun challenge and we felt like radio news broadcasters!   :-)   And of course in the evenings all week, I was trying to load pictures and get the blog posts done from our trip to Egypt.   

Friday evening was the annual teachers' volleyball tournament hosted by our school.  There were ten teams from different schools in the area, and we were there from about 2:00 until nearly 10:00.  It was so much fun, and our team did much better this year, winning half our games and coming in 5th, so in the top half instead of last!!

Team picture from right to left:  Martin, Janka, Erik, Nad'a, us, plus our 'seventh player', Vierka, who was the best cheerleader ever!!  Our team represented our primary school, and Vierka's husband played for our H.S. team, so she had to cheer enthusiastically for BOTH teams the whole time.  :-)   

Of course there was plenty to eat and drink the whole time, plus music and singing after the volleyball was finished.  Nad'a, Igor, Vierka, Danka, Martin, and Zuzka - great people!  (This time I went left-to-right starting with the guitar player, Nad'a!) 

Saturday we were invited to Zuzana's flat in Podbreziny for a family celebration of her birthday.  This is Zuzana's brother-in-law and her husband, Ivan, with Tim

With the girls - Zuzana and her sister, Iveta, who made that beautiful cake!  

Zuzana made these delicious sandwiches.  I hope I remember how to make them - they were really yummy, and so pretty too!  

We didn't realize that it was also Timko's birthday earlier in the month, so it was actually a double celebration, with TWO birthday cakes!!  Note the Iowa Hawkeye T-shirt too!   :-)

Celebrating birthdays with Zuzana, Timko, and Ivan!!  We had such a fun time and lots of delicious food too.  

Sunday morning at church, I decided to take pictures of our view every week during the service.  Zuzana and Iveta came and sat behind us so that Zuzana could translate during the sermon, and like always we were back under the arch leading to the organ, so that we didn't disturb anyone.  But if you look carefully, you can see the pastor in the pulpit which is mounted high up on the wall on the left front!  

And this is our view to the right side of the balcony where we sit.  It's crazy that we now have 'our pew' here, just like so many folks back in U.S. churches do.  Some things are the same everywhere in the world, I guess!!  

Sunday afternoon was a beautiful, clear day, and we could actually see the very tip-top of Kriváñ from our balcony --- it's at the far left.  

Close-up with the zoom!   Kriváñ is the peak on the Slovak copper coins, because it's very distinctive and recognizable.  

This is the mountain view from our kitchen table.  Some days it's too cloudy to see them, but in clear weather, the mountains are amazing!  

The mountains over the hills and rooftops as seen from our kitchen window.  The day was so beautiful and also fairly warm, so we headed out on a long walk along the Vah River.  There were lots of people with the same idea, all out enjoying the Sunday afternoon scenery and fresh air!

This first week of March has been a quick one too.  Church choir started up again Monday night, with the first rehearsal since Christmas, followed by volleyball later that evening.  Tuesday night we gave adult lessons, and Thursday we went to a concert here in town featuring a popular Slovak jazz singer, Peter Lipa.  

We walked into the concert venue (a large restaurant/pub), and there were no tables left with a view of the stage.  As we were standing in the doorway looking around, Tim's basketball friend, Michal and his wife Biba waved to us from the balcony, so we joined them at their table for the concert!  

The singer was a good entertainer, and his band members were all a lot younger, but all of them were really excellent musicians.  

They did a lot of music, American and Slovak, and they took a lot of pop songs and performed them in more of a jazz genre.  There were multiple encores at the end, as the crowd loved them and wouldn't let them stop!  It was such a fun night!  

On our walk back from the concert, we went through the town square, and the stage was still set up for the awards ceremonies for the World Junior Ski Championships which were just held at Jasná, the ski resort just outside of town.  We didn't get to see any of it, but this just goes to show you that our area is really premier ski country!! 

And now for a couple of 'out-of-sequence' items………..

This picture is copied from our school website, where there are many photos posted from the Ball.  I'll include a link for anyone who wants to see LOTS more quality pics from the 2014 Ball.  I also found a copy of a recording of the music performance, which is posted on the YouTube link below.

Click here to see:   Photos of the School Ball on the EGJT Website

Click here to hear on YouTube:   "Love in Any Language" - at the 2014 EGJT Benefit Ball

And here is one last photo from Egypt, from our friend Vlado, who took this pic at the restaurant during our falafel lunch in Hurghada.  Great memories!!