Synagogue Sounds

The concert at the Jewish synagogue on Wednesday was awesome.  We went to a concert there a year ago as well, and this one was better!  It seems that Liptovsky Mikuláš is an annual venue for "Bridges" concerts, bringing together artists from Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary each year.  There were TV cameras there recording the concert for broadcast later, and there was a huge crowd again this year.  We arrived to stand in line at 6:45 for the 7:30 concert, so we did get decent seats, though the front 2/3 of the middle section was all reserved, so we were on the side.  Alenka, our colleague, and her son, Saška and her three children, and another basic school teacher were all there, and afterwards we ran into two of our students who had also enjoyed the concert.  

This is the stage area before the concert, and the program.  The same candles as last year were set up all around the stage again.  

These two guys started things off with some really beautiful rock ballads.  Their music kind of reminded us of Simon and Garfunkel stuff.  

Then they added a younger trio - drummer, lead guitar/singer, and amazing bass player.  But the older guys were definitely featured as the stars of the show, and rightly so. 

It was a big and enthusiastic crowd, and this year they even opened up the balcony for standing room.  

The featured performers were classic rockers from the 60's and 70's, and they were really talented musicians.  People told us they were really famous back in the day, and we can see why - we really enjoyed their music, and they haven't lost their chops! 

After a mostly cold and sometimes rainy September, October is bringing some beautiful fall weather.  The early cold weather must have helped the trees start turning vivid colors too.  This was our view of the autumn trees and the mountains in the distance, on our walk home from school this afternoon.  

This tree has those bright orange bunches of berries, and the leaves are scarlet - such a burst of bright color!!  

Tonight I walked Tim most of the way to basketball, then split off to get groceries since we haven't been uptown all week.  It was so warm - almost balmy - and it really smells like fall with the leaves to walk through.  We may have missed out on all the hot summer weather in both Iowa and Slovakia, but at least we're finally getting some pleasant fall weather!!  I'm very thankful.     :-)   

Quick trip to Bratislava

Earlier in the week, Zuzana had gone with Tim to the train station to help purchase our tickets to Bratislava on the weekend.  We knew we needed reserved seats for a crowded Friday afternoon on the inter-city train, and we have learned we prefer the open cars rather than the small 6-person compartments, so Zuzka helped make our requests.  We hurried after school to change clothes, finish packing, and catch the train.  It was a relaxing ride, other than the fact that Tim was next to a passenger with a dog in a carrier on her lap!  LOL!  

Rebecca and Shannon, two of our new teachers in Bratislava, met us for dinner, and we had a wonderful evening talking with them and getting to know them better.  

 Saturday morning we met for tea with Pastor Nelson, who is the head of our program, and we spent a couple of hours getting acquainted with him and talking about his vision for our mission as lead teachers here in central Europe.  

Then we went over to Kyle and Ånna's flat for a delicious lunch with all the American lectors in Bratislava, as well as the pastor at the Lutheran International church and her family, and Pastor Nelson too.  We had some awesome soup with fall veggies, an array of cheeses and breads, grapes, and hot apple cider.  Mmmmm!!!  (Disclaimer - this is NOT Kyle and Ånna's baby, but rather Pastor Miriam and Jeremy's!!)   

It was really a fun time of fellowship, good food, and lots of fun, just hanging out with all the Americans at Kyle & Ånna's flat!  

With Shannon and Pastor Nelson.  After lunch he talked to us for a while about the overall mission in central Europe and encouraged us all in what we are doing.  We also spoke to the group a little, especially about the upcoming Thanksgiving meal which we are in charge of, long-distance!!  

We spent about 4 hours there, getting a chance for some conversations in smaller groupings after some people had gone.  It was great getting to know this neat bunch of new teachers better, and to re-connect with people we knew from last year who are still in Bratislava.  Before we knew it, we had to leave to walk back to the train station for our return trip.  Once we got on the train, we met up with Saška and Zuzka Bobková, so we got to talk to them for the last couple hours of the ride.  

Sunday morning, we met in the church for choir rehearsal at 8:15.  This is the choir including both my small group and the additional singers from the former large choir.  They really sounded great with so many strong singers!  

I had one of my students take photos since Tim and I were both up front.  For our second song, we had just the small group sing, since the new members didn't know this song as well.  The pastor's son plays violin with us, and you can't see him on the left, but Martin was playing the guitar for this song too.   In the church announcements for each week, it used to say "Small Choir" on Mondays, and "Large Choir" at a different day/time.  This week, the only thing listed was "Choir" at our regular Monday time.  So I guess we've officially merged!!  :-) 

After church, some of our small choir members asked us if we wanted to go on a hike with them.  Since they've asked several other times when we've already had plans, we agreed.  They picked us up at 1:15, and it turns out there were 3 carloads of people on the hike, so we had quite a group!  

The first part of the hike was through the tall pines, and it was fairly steep but not too rugged, the whole way up the valley.  

Our group included 3 young boys, a 2-year old in a carrier, four couples, and a Baptist pastor who lived in Houston a long time, so he knows perfect English.  

We were heading up into the Žiarska valley - in the distance, about centered in the picture, you can see the chata (cottage/restaurant) that was our destination.  (This is the same trek we made last spring by ourselves by bike, when we had to walk up the last 4 km because it was too steep to ride.)  This time though, we took the back trails instead of the road, since we were on foot.  It was even prettier going by this route! 

We made it!!  Everyone had brought snacks to share as we rested a bit up at the top.  

Two choir members on the right - Martin, the guitar player, and his wife Martina, a soprano.  They are such fun!  

This photo is for Lute!  One of the guys in our group didn't speak English, but he was wearing this jacket, so I took a picture of the back.  It's so cool that the Cross Country championships were right in Liptovsky Mikuláš in 2010.  Wish we could have seen it!  

Ready to head back down the valley!  

We didn't get back home until 7:30 that night, and we were a little tired, but the hike wasn't really strenuous, it was just a long day!  We always look forward to our evening Facetime and Skype opportunities on the weekends, and we never fail to appreciate the fact that technology keeps our family and loved ones close.  We don't feel so far away from home when we can feel like we're sitting right in the living room with people in Iowa (or Oklahoma now!) for a long conversation every week!  The blessings of technology are wonderful!!  

This week at school has been even crazier.  We have had a lot of teacher absences in the English department lately, which means subbing.  It's always fun to get extra time speaking English with our students though!!  :-)  I also have an extra 8 classes of teaching at the Basic School this week, so that really adds up.  In addition, I'm teaching one after school class to the teachers there, and now the after-school conversation class for 5th-8th graders has also started.  I'm trying to put together a packet of materials for our teachers in Poland and Košice, who haven't been provided with any textbooks or other materials, so they don't have to re-invent the wheel for every lesson!!  

Tonight we are attending a concert of some sort at the Jewish synagogue, with Saška Bobková and her kids.  We're looking forward to it!  

Basic School Opening Ceremonies

I'm behind again - sorry to the faithful readers who've been checking and finding no new postings!!  But now, here we go.......

Last Monday, Sept. 30, was the official opening of our new elementary building.  Classes were cancelled for that school because of all the activities, but of course many students were involved and did attend the events.  The high school held classes as usual, but Tim and I prepared for subs all day since we were asked to attend the opening events.  (Actually Tim had to teach first hour, so he met me at the church after power-walking there!)  

The day began with a church service including an impressive array of pastors as well as the Bishop of the eastern district of Slovakia.  Our colleague and friend, Peter, translated for us.  There were many parents, students, all the teachers of course, and town dignitaries there as well.  

After the worship service, everyone walked back to the basic school for another program that began with a poem recitation by a student, about the wonderful concept of 'school'.   The bishop also formally blessed the building during the program on the school steps.  It's pretty amazing how God blessed EGJT through all the faithful workers who helped this building to be refurbished for our school!  

There were some classes of children who sang songs as part of the program too.  And of course there were speeches --- by the bishop, the headmistress, the mayor, and the school board president (or the equivalent).  

After the school-blessing program, there was an open house, so everyone went inside and toured the new facilities.  We hadn't seen much of the building yet, even though we've been eating lunch in the basement canteen (lunchroom) for a few weeks already.  It was fun to see all the new rooms, and the artwork of the school done by students was really neat!  

Then there was another program in the new auditorium.  This little guy is such a cutie, and we run into him in our apartment building sometimes.  He loves to practice English with us!  He was in a skit about how exciting the first day of school is!  

These two little sweetie-pies played a piano duet during the program.

The dancers were really good too - we were amazed at how well all the kids performed!

More singers, complete with choreography.  It was quite a program!

Then of course there were speeches and presentations of flowers.  This is our combined school headmistress, Janka, and the principal of the basic school, Saška, whose family we went hiking with the day before.  Janka was in charge of the building project, so her efforts were much appreciated!!  

After the program in the auditorium, there were refreshments for the honored guests - it was a gorgeous spread!  There were more speeches after everyone gathered, a prayer, and then formal toasting.  (Of course red and white wine, but also orange juice and water for all of us teachers on contract time and for drivers!) 

This amazing cake was made by some parents - it was covered in marzipan, with the school painted on the bottom, and the praying hands, heart and cross on the top.  Wow!

We left the reception fairly soon, because the teachers were supposed to attend another party later, at 4:00 p.m. - so after the toasting, a small taste of the refreshments, and a little visiting, we slipped out. 

So at 4:00 we went down to our school cafeteria, but it didn't look like the normal lunchtime scene, that's for sure!  Our table of delicious food was overflowing with goodies.  I'm always so impressed by how beautifully things are presented at Slovak parties.  So festive!!  

This won't come as a shock, I'm sure, but there were more speeches at this event, and Saška was given a huge bouquet of flowers for putting together the day's activities.  

When they finally cut the special marzipan cake, they also gave Saška this!!  It was perfect - we all wanted to 'give her a hand'!!  :-)  

It was a wonderful day, and we were glad we could be there for all the festivities after all the work that so many people have put into the reconstruction project and the day's events.    We had to hurry out of the party early because of church choir rehearsal, but we heard later that it went on for another couple of hours.  It probably ended just about the time we went over to the school gym for volleyball later!   HA!

The week at school flew by.  We both did some subbing, and I finally was able to get started figuring out the new computer grading system.  I was really excited that I actually found a way to enter our grades with each specific assignment and date listed, though in our training we had been told that wasn't possible.  I guess all those years of enduring frustrations with Infinite Campus finally paid off!!  ;-)  I will say that the option of choosing "English" made all the difference -- I never would have gotten it done in Slovak!!  

We had our first Thursday night volleyball - this is another different group of people - since the Friday night group from last year couldn't get the gym at the same time this year.  They are meeting at a different time and night, so Erik organized a new group instead.  It was lots of fun!  

This is one of my favorite classes - the V.BP's.  Richard was using the tiny stub of a pencil (on the left) in class, so I presented him with a brand new Iowa State Cyclone pencil to use instead.  Deb (Tim's sister) had given us a bag of special school supply items to use in Slovakia, so this was the first opportunity to put the pencils to good use. Her gift was much appreciated!!   :-)

Hiking Babky

Sunday we woke up bright and early for church, a little bit stiff after our Saturday hike.  But the best remedy is obviously.......more hiking!!  Or anyway, that's what we did!!  :-)  Saška, my Basic School principal, picked us up at 11:00, then we added her husband Ignace and daughter Zuzana in their village of Bobrovec, and we headed up into the west Tatras.  

The beginnings of the trail were through the pine forest, and there were roots to use as 'stairsteps' in several places.  Jessie, the family dog came along on the hike too!  

This rock formation is Mnich, or "Monk", but they weren't sure the origin of the name except for legends that monks once lived in this area.   

We had to go around Mnich on the trail.  

And here we experienced shades of our Tisovec hike -- chain 'railings' to hold onto as we hugged the rock on a narrow ledge to go around it.  They even carried the dog over this section, which didn't give us a lot of confidence!!  LOL!!  

The views on the way up just kept getting prettier and prettier!  It was a bit hazy, but still a great autumn day for a hike in the mountains.

This bridge led up to a chata (cottage) where we could sit and rest for a while.  (This time I brought my own walking stick, which I had found last year on a hike.  The others had professional hiking sticks that double as ski poles!)  

This chata is where Ignace and Saška first met, so we enjoyed that romantic history as we sat on the deck and had Kofola (Slovak cola) and hot tea, along with snacks we all brought along to share.  Zuzka had made some delicious cakes - yum!!  

After our break, we continued higher, and we came across this deer stand.  I couldn't resist having Tim climb up and pose as a hunter, in honor of his sister, Sue!!  :-)  

The higher we got, the more spectacular the views, of course!  

After a while we reached some beautiful areas of meadows and dwarf pines, above the normal tree line.  It's always fascinating to observe the changes in plants and vegetation as we reach different ecosystems at higher elevations on our hikes.  

During this stretch, there were oodles of wild blueberries, cranberries, and even some currants growing along the path.  We stopped often to harvest another delicious mouthful of berries.  I'm sure I stopped the most often, since my fingers were dyed a dark purplish-red by the end of the hike!   :-)  

We finally reached our second destination - Sedlo Preduvratie - a peak with a view!    We always love these charming markers for trails and scenic destinations.    :-)

Views of the west Tatras, looking over the dwarf pines.  So gorgeous!! 

We were on the lighter color green peak behind Tim and Saška, and then headed along this ridge to the next stopping point.  It was much easier hiking along this grassy ridge instead of the rocky one on the previous day!!  

As we continued climbing, there were some really steep drop-offs, but this time only on one side.  So I mustered up the courage to climb up on this rock and over near the edge for a picture in my fabulous hiking pants.  (Note - I got the pants last year because they're light-weight, wind resistant, easily washable, and comfortable for hiking.  Also because tons of people here wear them for hiking, so regardless of what you might think, I don't stand out here as looking strange, at least not because of the pants!!)   LOL!!  

We finally reached the second peak, and there we discovered some of our wonderful students who had already hiked up to enjoy the view!!  

Babky means 'old women', and there's a legend about how the peak was named.  It seems that long ago, there was a shepherd caring for his sheep high on the mountainside here.  There were three old women who kept coming around and annoying him with questions, so eventually he grew tired of them and turned them into three peaks.  Evidently shepherds like the peace and quiet we experienced up on this beautiful mountain!  

And the views were definitely worth the climb!  We could even see Liptovsky Mikuláš and Liptovská Mara (the lake) in the distance.   We spent some time relaxing and enjoying God's creation, and enjoyed more of our snacks too, including some delicious sandwiches that Saška had made.  

The hike back down was steep enough at times, that we all walked back and forth across the incline instead of straight down, to save our knees from strain.  The hiking sticks helped a lot again too!  When we got back to their house in Bobrovec, Zuzka and Saška cooked up some absolutely delicious mushrooms that Ignace had gathered from the mountain - they were huge, flat ones, about the size of a salad plate!  Now we understand why people go mushroom hunting - YUM!!  

So, that's phase 2 of our weekend hiking adventures.  We really enjoyed both days of hiking, and we'll never get tired of mountaintop views of Slovakia!!  God provides such beauty as well as amazing friends to take us to see His creation!!