A Visitor from Bratislava and Seniors' Last Day

Friday afternoon (a week ago already), Tim went to the train station to greet Becca, one of our American lectors at the Evanjelické Lýceum (Lutheran bilingual high school) in Bratislava.  As mentioned before, I was home sick that day, so I just waved out the window at them! 

Becca had a tour of our city center, including the St. Mikuláš church.  

Becca and Tim took the train to Štrbske Pleso, the famous mountain lake in the High Tatras, and then they took a trail up into a valley behind the lake - a different one than Tim and I took on our hike earlier this month.     

They tried to tell me it wasn't any fun, just so I wouldn't feel so badly about missing out, but the pictures don't lie.   :-)     It was a beautiful day, and the views were fabulous!!  

I wish I could have joined Becca and Tim for this beautiful mountain hike!! 

They went up to another chata and had lunch there.  So beautiful!!  

The view of Štrbske Pleso far below proves how high they climbed!     

I was feeling a little better on Sunday, so I did go along to church on Sunday, where Peter translated for all three of us.  Then Peter and his new bride, Betka, joined us for tea at a coffee shop on the square.  We also got a tour of their new flat, which is quite close to ours.  It was fun having Becca here for the weekend, and we hope to arrange a few more visits with our American colleagues in the next month as well.  

The week was busy at school, and it rained every day.  We are very tired of the cloudy, chilly, and damp days, and we're pleased to see sunshine and warmer temperatures in the forecast for the upcoming week!!  Of course, according to our friends here, this weather was to be expected, as the "names days" during this past week are several cold men.  (Remember, each date of the year is assigned a certain name, and those are celebrated as names days much like an extra birthday for people here.)   On Thursday, we brought homemade American chocolate chip bars and sugar cookies to all three senior classes to celebrate their last day to actually attend regular classes.    :-)  

Friday was the last day at school for our seniors.  They had a program in the chapel for all the teachers during our long break in the morning, saying good-bye and thanking everyone.  After an opening prayer by Lenka, Sisa (front left) welcomed us at the beginning.  

Filip thanked the teachers for all their work, care, guidance and direction --- first in Slovak, and then in English for us!   :-)  

The students and teachers all sang a song together, which is traditional for the occasion of the seniors getting ready to take Maturita, evidently.  Unfortunately, my camera doesn't seem to change focus as I zoom during a video, so the quality of the picture is terrible, but at least you can hear the song at this link.   (Click on the link below.)  

Senior song - EGJT

All the teachers received flowers from one of the classes, and pens with personalized notes from another class.  Of course in typical Slovak fashion, the gifts were delivered with personal and sincere thanks during a handshake, followed by a double-cheek kiss.  

Each class makes a poster which they carry around town in the afternoon and then display in a store window for the next few weeks.  This model of the earth was in 3-D, and it was awesome!!  

This class poster was actually in two picture frames - very beautiful!!  

I didn't catch the Oktáva group for a class picture, but here is their photo board anyway!  

Their faces on their class doors will remind us of these fun kids when they are gone all next week, studying for their Maturita examinations which will be the following week.  

We will definitely miss all of our super seniors!!  

After thanking the teachers, the custom is for the seniors to roam through the halls of the school, bursting into each classroom to bid the other students farewell.  

They were singing all the time and definitely enjoying this traditional disruption of all the other classes going on!!   Click on the link below for a small sample.     :-)  

Singing in the Classrooms 

The seniors write their names on the chalk boards of all the classrooms, and in a few other unauthorized places around the school, such as the coffee machine!!   LOL!!  

The seniors also carried baskets of candy, and they threw or handed sweets to all those they encountered - the students in class and teachers in the hallway  - as they went through the building.   Special plates of cakes were delivered to each of the teacher offices as well.  The seniors' last day is always a fun one!!  Click on the link below for one more short sample of the singing fun in the hallways.   

Seniors Singing in the Hallways

These two Oktáva guys (seniors from the 8-year bilingual program) have always been our 'door masters' at lunchtime, as everyone heads over to the cafeteria in the primary school.  We'll miss their smiles every day as they hold the door open for us!!  Notice that Tim wore his green tie in honor of the seniors - most of whom wore their green stužková ribbons for this last day at school.  

So next week the school will be a lot quieter without three classes of seniors, and hopefully they will all be studying diligently for their oral Maturita exams.  We are looking forward to being a part of the Maturita process the last week of May, as we will be interlocutors for the role-play portion of the examinations.