One Day in Slovakia...

.....

*stops and takes a deep breath*

Whoa: Christmas is only a week away! Craziness! I hope that you are all enjoying the season, and wish you falling snow, some frantic shopping, and a nice cup of cocoa with a Christmas movie.

I will tell you the story of my day (which is pretty indicative of my life, at present ;). I woke up at five o'clock a.m. I was fully clothed, and little confused until I remembered the exhaustion that had compelled me to my bed the night before. I remember wanting to rest a little... There have been lots of Christmasy happenings (such as the Kapustnica tradition at our school - the making and eating of traditional, Slovak cabbage soup. The old director even came back for the two day event.), and a lot of school work to be done before the break. Thank goodness it is almost Friday!

But, back to five a.m. I woke up, decided to take a shower, and then it was only five thirty and I don't need to leave for school until seven! So, I got on Skype and talked to my family for the first time in a week. It was kinda fun to catch them so early in the day - towel over my shoulders and wet hair - while they were finishing their day - dark room, tv in the background, sitting on the couch. After talking to them, my flat mate pulled me into her room and walked me to her window, and when I looked out I saw snow! It was snowing; big, wonderful flakes that collected on the light poles and windowsills. Uzasne!

We walked to school in the slushy, freezingness, and were so wet when we got to school, that Laura went to class barefoot! It was a good day in school - poetry readings and youth and society conversation focused on the topic of Facebook - but, really, have you ever tried to teach high schoolers two days before Christmas break? Remember being a high schooler two days before Christmas break?? Conversation more often turned towards sleeping and ski plans, and there was much refocusing during the poetry readings (though I was very proud of them, and I got to hear selections from Wordsworth, Silverstein, Frost, and many more). I also introduced them to Quib. I will put a picture of Quib up sometime: he is my centipede.

After teaching, Laura and I decided to go to Tesco (the quasi-Target establishment here in Slovakia and Europe). She had a vague idea of where to go, so we walked through the slush again, hopped on a bus, and took a guess as to where we should get off. Three stops was it, and we found a bus that stopped at the destination, "TESCO." Pekne (nice). However, we watched bus 92 pull away while realizing that it was, in fact, the bus we needed, and the next 92 would not arrive until twenty minutes later....bummer dude. It was way to cold to stay outside, so we went into the pub behind the stop (Slovakia has pubs like Highlands Ranch has Starbucks). We warmed up, drank a beer, and tried to remember our waiter's name so we could pay, before bus 92 arrived and we got on it.

We rode....and rode.....and rode......and rode......and rode..........and realized that we were actually going in the wrong direction and had no idea where to get off! When all was said and done, we had spent an hour trying to reach a location that we did not, rode a bus to the end of its line, and spent another half hour getting right back to where we started: being a lot colder and wet then when we started out, but laughing a lot more. :D What a strange adventure!

After the drama of bus 92 to Tesco (which actually does go to Tesco, to our credit), we watched a Slovak movie with the German teacher....yeah. It was about a big, wooden nativity scene. After our eyes were good and glazed over, we ate Kapustnica with all the teachers. I got a certificate that certifies me as a Kapustnica "eater and preparer." It was very tasty, and full of cabbage, sausage, pork, onions, garlic, potatoes, spices, and mushrooms. The best part was that Laura and I were still cold and wet and soup was exactly what we needed!

I then came home, threw in some laundry, graded lots of journals (including such entries as "I Am" poems from my first year students, a story about cat unicorns, and a student who confessed to hating the muppets), and made cookies for a class Christmas celebration tomorrow. Whew. It is hard to believe that it is nine o'clock in the evening, until I go through the events of the day and I am rather impressed that it all fits into one day: one day in Slovakia :0)

Vesele Vinoce! (Merry Christmas)

Stastne Vdakydzanie!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ok, for a country that does not have this particular holiday, I have ended up celebrating it more times than I ever have before! I had three Thanksgiving celebrations this year! Oi vey!

Thanksgiving #1 was put on by the student council, at my school, a week before Thanksgiving. It was so awesome: they did it specifically for their "American teachers," but the whole school was invited. The kitchen staff prepared two HUGE turkeys and the teachers brought side dishes. It was cool to hear what students thought of the turkey because many of them had never had that type of turkey before!

Thanksgiving #2 was with Chase and his co-workers on Thanksgiving day! It was so fun to be with families (there was an adorable little boy named Olie who is one and very stoic and likes computer keyboards) - surrounded by good food and good company.

Thanksgiving #3 was here in Bratislava, this past Saturday, with all of the Young Adults in Global Missions who are serving in Slovakia, plus a few friends and family members. It was a crazy weekend! We had people crawling all over our apartment (along with the worms...I will get to that story later), made TONS of food, and got to catch up. On Saturday morning, a guy peeled apples for 1 1/2 hours, we made two pies, fruit salad, green bean casserole (thanks mom!), mashed potatoes, and more salad in our apartment! It was hard not being around family, so being surrounded by friends and laughter was the greatest blessing!

Story update:

1. I have had quite the opportunities for travel, and find myself spending many weekends away from Bratislava. I traveled to Vienna again a couple of weekends ago, had a lot of visitors, and also went to a small village called Pribolce for a folk festival! My roommate's boyfriend Miro is in a folk group, and he was in a big competition. The groups dress up in tradional outfits (Miro's shirt, vest, and hat were his great-great-grandfather's!), and dance and sing! It was awesome to watch the "weddings," "pig killings," and village life that was portrayed. It was also great to stay in a small village for a weekend. Miro's family hosted us - even though I couldn't communicate very well with them (they do not speak English), they were extremely generous and giving.
2. Our kitchen currently has some invaders: worms! The other day, I pulled the sugar out of the cubbard and SCREAMED! The inside and outside of the bag was crawling with little, translucent, squirming worms! EW! I quickly threw the sugar away, got my roommates really grossed out, and tried to stop squirming. The next day, my roommate Amy was standing in the kitchen. She happened to look up, and was thinking that they ceiling was really dirty...when the "dirt" started moving! MORE WORMS! We actually had to borrow a ladder, and take napkins to the ceiling to kill the worms. We estimate that about twenty were killed from our ceiling, and about 15 more were killed in our cupboard. Talk about a fun afternoon activity: de-worming. *shudders!*
3. Classes are still awesome, and my first years are crazy! We have been doing a drama unit, complete with improv activities, presenting plays to the class, reading plays out loud, and writing their own scripts. It is hilarious how much American culture comes into their plays: I have at least three scripts about Barack Obama, and had one performance about drug dealing in the Bronx.
4. I have officiall made my own drama debut in Slovakia. I acted out Rapunzel for my students on day, but have been in two scripted plays this week. One was prepared for Thanksgiving #3, and the other was for church. I have been receiving many phone calls from adoring fans, a little hate mail (jealous people in this world), and am excpting the agent cards to come pouring in. Seriously though, I do think that children's theater productions (especially children's theater) will be my back-up plan in life.
   

Happy end of November! Love and miss you all!

:0) Maika

Thanksgiving #2
(on our post dinner walk)

Hungry girls

Aminka's apple pie. :D Yum.

Amazing Thanksgiving Deco

Gustav's first Thanksgiving abroad, with Carsten and Becks

It is November: the leaves are colored, fading, and disappearing. The wind is crisp, yet turns humid right before it rains or in the morning when it is foggy. Actually, there is a lot of life here in Blava: my roommate thought she had bed bugs cause she kept getting bit...then she found four really full mosquitoes in her room. Gross.

October ended with a four day weekend, so seven U.S. teachers got together and traveled .... to VENICE!! So crazy! I have always known people who dreamed of going to Venice, or watched movies (like James Bond) that were shot in Venice, but never dreamt that I would have the chance to go there. I love Italy! The landscape is full of trees, the tiled roofs are quaint, the food is soooo excellent (puts the Slovak ketchup sauced pizza and pasta to terrible shame), and the mosaics are gorgeous. We mostly walked around, drank, and ate, and enjoyed getting lost among the many canals and bridges. It was really fun to walk around on Halloween and see people of all ages in assorted masks and costumes. My favorite part of the trip was taking a boat ride to the Island of Murano to watch the glass blowers. The glass blowers were so skilled, the glass was so intricate and sparkly, and I got to sit in a gondola on the island! It was a quick, two day trip, meaning we spent almost as much time on the trains as we did in venice (I slept on the floor of the train for the first time, and bonded with our British compartment mate who kept dropping things on me all night!), but totally amazing. Gustav went too.

When I got back from Venice, I prepared to teach my last week on Hamlet and The Portrait of Dorian Gray. I have been trying to think of different activities to try in class, and fit in all of the things from the "year plan" of what we are supposed to do. It is amazing that the year plan is a document open to interpretation. This week, I transformed the "interview a character" part of the year plan into "interrogate a character" and we had a mock trial. It was a riot: the students totatlly got into their roles, I made them address me as Your Honor (I had a gavel of course), taught them to make objections, and so on. There are certainly some prospective lawyers in my class!

Cauko everyone!

Majka
(This is how Slovaks spell my name. It is the "cutest" most Slovak form of Maria)

Gustav and I enjoying some pasta....Lady and the Tramp style

We watched a guy make this. It is red because it is still that hot.

No words necessary

My flattie Laura and I....IN VENICE!

Taken from the Rialto Bridge

Halloween in Blava

YI!

Recently, I have been up to two things: reading, and lesson planning. When I am done with those two things, I read and then lesson plan. AH! I started Hamlet with my fourth year students last week. Talk about crazy and stressful! I feel this overwhelming sense of pressure to do a good job, teach them all about the themes, character foils, structure, background, etc. while also helping them find something to enjoy about the play. My most successful lesson was when I illustrated how Hamlet pretends to be mad and "test" Ophelia. I had the students draw a picture of what he might have looked like, and then had them help me draw one on the board. Talk about a terrible, possessed stick figure! I think they got the idea though (especially after I used a student to help me act it out!). All in all, I do love Hamlet, and enjoy teaching it. "Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - Hamlet

Here is a shout out to all the ed majors who read this: Lit. circle! I totally did one with my first year's today and they loved it! It was hands down the best lesson of our novel so far (abridged Dorian Gray), and the most dynamic and animated English conversation that has taken place in the classroom. Certainly one of those "feel good" teacher moments, when you realize that you have motivated your students.

In other news, my roommates and I brought Halloween to Blava last weekend. There are a couple of pictures below, as well as a few of Gustav and I in Hungary. So crazy that I can go to Hungary for a couple of hours on a Saturday!

Love you all!

:0) Maika
Hungary and Gustav

There was an animal theme...Hugh was just a perk.

My flatties and I were cats!

Guess which one is mine??!!

The Tatras

I am pretty sure I fell in love this weekend: the Tatra mountains in Slovakia are AMAZING! After school on Friday, five of us hopped on a train and spent the weekend in a small village close to the Tatras. On Saturday, we hiked for nine hours up Mount Rysy. It was the most dynamic hike I have ever been on, and the part where we were hanging off the mountains on chains was absolutely my favorite! The pictures help illustrate the story better than I could with words, and it was great to be able to capture some fall color before winter strikes.

In other realms, my classes are going well. I showed the Princess Bride to my first years and they loved it. (The really ridiculous part was that during the movie, I was in the back quoting the whole thing! It is probably good that they didn't catch on to this. :) I am wrapping up an oral traditions unit with my first years, and they are writing me all sorts of folk tales, fairy tales, fables, myths, and other wonderful pieces of writing. I had one student write "Sugarella," which is about a girl who can't have salt or she will turn into a salt pillar! It is great to read their creativity and see their enthusiasm.

And story: trains in Slovakia are madhouses! There are bars of course, but there are also bottle cap openers under every individual table on the train. On our last journey, we spent some time in the bar area, just listening to the drunken Slovak men sing folk songs. It was a riot. On another train, a Swede approached us and started talking to us about how the United States was full of guerillas, that all the jobs were in China now, and that everything was S#@* - he said that a lot. He was the kind of guy that you think is interesting at first, and then just can't believe that he is so prejudiced and jerky. While one of the members of our group was kindly listening to him (there was no disagreeing with the man), the train stopped at a station and there was a knock on the window that I was leaning against. I looked out the window and saw a big *flash!* There was a whole group of teenage boys taking photos of us! So strange! I also ran through the bus with gloves on my pig tails - I blame it on the delirium that accompanies six hours of hiking! The main point is: if you come to Slovakia, you must ride a train. :D

:0) Maika

This is my train ticket and the fall colors!

Breathtaking; simply breathtaking

I spent most of the hike with Becks and Carsten

Flatties! Me and Amy.

The chains and snowy cliff :)

Sampling the National Dish

Well, I decided to give up school lunches for a month. It is kind of like fasting: you gotta take some time without to appreciate and focus on what you have. The saga begins again next month...

I gave my first exam today. Since we were doing an oral traditions unit, the exam was oral. It went over well, and now I just have to spend some time grading everything. Grading and keeping a gradebook is by far my least favorite activity...I try not to have a bad attitude about it. :0)

I was introduced to two Slovak things this week: the national dish Bryndzové Halušky (potato dumplings with sheep's cheese.) It was really good, but I wonder about the cheese. It is unpasteurized and that is a little scary. But, after a gorgeous fall day and a lot of walking, it certainly hit the spot.

Other news here includes my students naming Paul Bunyan as the great-great-grandfather of Chuck Norris (they are absolutely obsessed with Chuck Norris here!) I also learned that October is national popcorn eating month. This was followed by the lesson that our microwave sets popcorn on fire...you have to learn some lessons the hard way! I am also starting the Princess Bride movie with my first years tomorrow. I have always hoped that my love for this movie would come in handy. I about had a heart attack from happiness when I saw this movie listed as a resource for this lesson. "Inconceivable" is totally a vocab word. :0)

Dobrý večer!

:0) Maika

This is one of my favorite pictures. :)

Shadow Games!

Cool Relections

"The Nature"
(As my students would call it)

Dobrú chuť!

Lebo Palica

Interesting things that have happened lately:

1. I walked home from school one day and counted the following:

• Three older ladies: two with red hair, one with purple. It is a big thing for older women to dye their hair in radical colors!
• One guy walking down the cobblestone street carrying a computer screen - cord dragging on the ground. ??
  
• Six police cars - sirens blaring - rushing down the street. I think I am a little afraid of the police here. There is the "run-in" incident, but in general, the police wear really big, white gloves, drive with their windows down, and stick either their hands or head out while they are driving. Hmm..

2. I rode the jungle bus. I ride bus 80 to school everyday. Usually, it is a one car bus with a plain, and dirty, exterior and tearing, or really worn and plain, seats inside. There are nice buses here, and then there are the 80 buses....yeah. But, today, at 7:34 a.m., I rode the jungle bus 80! There will be a picture someday because it must be seen - words can't really capture its amazingness.

3. I am learning Slovak!....kinda.....not really.....a little. I can successfully say things like please, thank you, stick, sweet dreams, have a good day, next, can I please have....?, why?, what's up?, what is this?, how do say it in slovak?, this, good-bye, and because of the bear (or lemon). :0) I am actually obsessed with the word stick: palica (sounds like "Paul-eats-uh" with an accent on the first syllable.) I think I would like to learn how to say it in a couple more languages. Hey, you never know when it might come in handy ("palica" was actually the only word I understood from the chaplain's sermon last week!!)

Čauko!

:0) Maika

Tales and Rača

Okay, if you have never been to a wine festival: GO! Seriously, what are you waiting for? (Maybe to come visit me - so that I can take you).

I was in Rača this weekend at the wine festival there. The festival consisted of two streets that were lined, on both sides, with booths that sold wine and food. The wine was the "new wine," or burciak, from 2008. It was very sweet and delicious and there were lokše, which looked and tasted like lefse! There were about ten of us that went together and, needless to say, fun was had by all. There were also a lot of pictures (enjoy)!

And school...I had my first bad school day yesterday, and it all came down to grading and the nature of the assignment I gave. It is strange to be teaching the equivalent of American high schoolers, while balancing the fact that they are operating in their second language. The assignment was a paper, and although I am giving them a lot of support and chances to conference and re-write with me, it was a little ambitious to give to a class that I do not know very well, at the very beginning of the year. I know where I want to lead them, and they will get there, but this may not have been the best path to take right now. The amazing thing about my students is that they are very gracious and dedicated. Today was amazingly better. And to top it all off, my roommate and I planned our next unit on the Canterbury Tales over chinese food tonight. I am excited about it! (If you have any ideas on the Canterbury Tales, please let me know!) I have been blessed with amazing "flatties" (my roommates), and a wonderfully supportive family here. God is good, and is taking care of me!

Random stories:

1. My first years want to learn "eenie meenie mynie moe!" (It all began when I needed to choose someone in class one day. Instead of something more mature like "pick a number between 1 and 10," my mind came up with this childish 'chooser' first. Oh my).

2. At approximately 7:50 p.m. I experienced my first "mad dash" to the store when my flatties and I realized that we were out of toilet paper. The store closes at 8:00. I got there in time, only to discover that they were completely out of toilet paper! (Oh the up-side, they did have the tortillas that we were looking for last week and couldn't find!)

3. I had a really blonde moment the other day during lunch and asked what kind of breaded meat we were having...it was cheese.

:0) Maika

Part of the Clan
(Including Jon, Stephanie, Carsten, Larry, Jana, Me, and Becky)

lokše!!

The clan with umbrellas!

Burciak

Colgate Smile!

Oh my: I am a teacher!!

This is both wonderful and stressful! I am unit planning like nobody's business. My favorite part of this week was when I read "The Adventures of Cow" to my first year students. We are doing an autobiography and biography unit in my first year class and they loved the book - they totally understood the jokes!

I have had a couple of adventures since the last post. Here we go!

Adventure #1: Schooltime

I am apparently the new leader for the after school women's fitness club. I smiled when they read it, said I was interested, and BANG - I was on the list and students started seeking me out to ask about it. Ok. I was also told yesterday (Wednesday) that I needed to have a 60 lesson unit plan...by Friday! Ok. I was going to just pull a list of excercise ideas offline, patch it up, and hand it in. Then, this visual of my syllabus and the word "plagiarize" came into my head. I will be writing that tomorrow!

School lunch: there are stories worth waiting for.

Students: are great. I have 40 students and 4 different classes. Most of my classes have 12 people in them, but one only has 8 students! I am so lucky to have such small class sizes, and really get to know my students. Huzzah!


Adventure #2: Maika Gets Stuck.

Yes. It is true. I was at church ( I had my debut on the drums ) and after church, we walk through this courtyard to the coffee shop where the congregation hangs out. Well, this day I saw a lady slip into a door off the courtyard and noticed that it was a bathroom. Hm.

At coffee, we met this guy from Salt Lake who is a geographer and has been working here for two weeks. We talked to him for a long time, and eventually made plans to go out for lunch. Great. But I wanted to go to the bathroom first.

Feeling good about knowing where the bathroom was, I slipped off. When i got into the room, i locked the door - with the big, iron key - and thought to myself: Gosh, it would be kinda funny if I couldn't get this door unlocked. And low and behold: I COULDN'T! EEK!

I was kinda chuckling to myself and trying to put the key to the left, then the right, and then left, left again, right, right right.....AH! Now, I was starting to get anxious.

It was about this time that I tried to use the door knob and realized that there was no door knob. ...

NO DOOR KNOB!! AH! What? Okay, so it was now obvious that there was NO WAY I was getting out of there on my own - unless i wanted to break down the door or try climbing the walls. I called my roommate "Uh, Laura? Yeah, will you please come help me? I am stuck in the bathroom. Yeah - like inside...I can hear your voice - keep coming..."

The funny part here is that she was trying to get into a different door that was locked and barred, and thought I was trapped for good or that a window was gonna be broken! She finally came into the bathroom, found the door handle in the sink - naturally. It's nice when people clean them. - and helped me get out!

We died of laughter once i was out. Pure Craziness.

Adventure #3: Waiting and a Coronation

Waiting for the bus. I spend a lot of my time doing this!

King Ferdinand II. The Reinactment was amazing! I didn't understand any of it, but look: he has a crown!

I have one too! ;D

Hugs and kisses,

:0) Maika

Really??

I haven't been nervous about the first day of school...maybe ever (that I can remember anyway. I was all smiles, even in kindergarten pictures). But, my first day of school was today...but kinda Thursday...but kind of next Monday. Explanation: Slovaks schedules are crazy. From the two weeks I have been here, it is quite obvious that their system of making schedules is vastly different from ours. Things are kinda punctual, but you have to wait everywhere (even the doctor's office...for hours...cause there are no appointment times. You just show up and hope that everyone else did not pick the same day to show up!).

So, we had a church service today that the whole school, teachers included, attended; an opening ceremony if you will. The new teachers were like VIP's: we got roses! Then, I spend the rest of the day waiting in lines to open up a bank account and have a Slovak background report done (seriously, it took like 3-4 hours....gross). So, I officially see my students on Thursday for the first time, and will delve into most of the course content beginning next Monday. I have been working for the past week on laying out the semester, finalizing a syllabus, reading Beowulf, and otherwise immersing myself into Anglo Saxon poetry and history.

I got to visit two castles this weekend! I put pictures up below. I also baked and cooked for the first time since being here. Oh my. Little things are so much harder right now. Like baking: I baked all the time in the States. But suddenly, I CAN'T READ ANYTHING!! Simply amassing ingredients was like a full time job. So, i finally found everything I wanted/needed to make banana bread. Then, my roommate Amy came in and told me that I was about to open up vinegar instead of oil...OOPS!

And then, there was the oven. Our apartment is old. (Look at previous posts to see pics.) And somewhere in its long history, the knob for the oven was...lost? Yes, there is no temperature knob. We have a thermometer inside, but you guess where you should turn the knob, wait for about fifteen minutes, and then see if it is warm enough. Crazy! The good news: the banana bread is excellent, and the grocery store gets less overwhelming each time I go in. It's all about the small victories right now! :o)

:0) Maika This is Devin Castle. It is actually built on top of a series of caves, and lies in ruin because of the French. My favorite part of the exhibit went something like this (paraphrasing): "Then, the French destroyed the castle. Nobody knows why..." Oops!

There was a festival going on, and these men proceeded to re-inact a battle. The best part was when the "intense" music accompanying the battle whoops turned to a song from Pirates of the Caribbean. So good.

This is a view from the highest point of the castle hill.

Jon, me, and Larry at the top.

Larry and I ran up the steps. :)

The view from the top was incredible. This is of the Danube, looking into Austria.

Games with the Slovak Police

Okay, I had my first run-in with the police in Slovakia...it was crazy.

Being an American teacher and living with other American teacher's who have been here for 1-2 years already means that I have been inducted into a family. So, I went to this small village with a bunch of teachers to visit a friend of a friend's. We had an amazing dinner and then walked down to the Danube to watch the sun set.

Well, we were having an awesome time hanging out and were also having a really hard time leaving. Our host - zuska - really wanted us to stay, so we decided to miss our bus and hang out some more cause there were two drivers who offered to take us home.

I drove with a guy named Yon who is from Slovakia. Also riding with us were teachers Dan and Jon. The four of us were having a discussion about the health care system in Slovakia when we were flagged over to the side of the road by a cop. It was the type of thing you would see in the US if there were a sobriety testing station set up and everyone was stopped, but in Slovakia there were no stations set up and no real rhyme or reason to who was being pulled over.

But we got pulled over. The police and our driver are conversing back in forth in Slovak and nobody else knows what is happening. All of a sudden, Yon asked if anyone had some money. We scrambled for the desired amount, and the cop left. We rolled up the windows and were like, "dude - what just happened??" Yon told us that the minimum ticket in Slovakia is 2,000 crowns. But Yon had to pay 500 crowns for not having the "right papers." It was totally a bribe pay off! A very different system than what we have in the states!

To top everything off, Yon tried to start his car. Then, he tried again. And again, and again, and again, and again. Stop. Wait. Try again, and again, ang again. Stop. Wait. Try to get the police to help jump it; they drove off. We had many grand plans of how to start the car, and trying to get it moving was one of them. It was totally a "Little Miss Sunshine" moment when Jon, Dan, and I got out to start pushing the car! I was laughing so hard! The biggest difference between the movie experience and our experience was that our car didn't start. So we pushed it to a side street and parked it, and then walked...and walked....a long way home. Crazy.

Other than that grand adventure, this week has been filled with standing in line at government buildings (there is no system of scheduling an appointment here - you simply show up early, take a number - if there are any left - and wait.), planning for the school year, and being sick. I love the messages that you are sending me and the comments you are making. Thanks for reading!

:0) Maika

The Danube

I love sunsets!

These are some of the people I am getting to know.

Check out Foxer's shoes!

Holy Crap: I live in a flat!

I officially live in flat #7 - in some apartment building that I cannot pronounce the name of - in Bratislava! Talk about excitement! I am currently listening to the sounds of a neighbor's party. See, the windows in my room open to a courtyard. The noise may get annoying eventually, but for now there is some nice jazzy and salsa-ish music playing, they are speaking Slovak (or singing loudly and drunkenly to Mariah Carey), and I love it.

I have two flat mates - Laura and Amy. Laura and I are new, and Amy is returning for her third year. Tonight was goulash night. For all good midwesterners, the word "goulash" is associated with a noodly, tomato sauced, beefy, casserole thing that lingers incessently around every pot luck occasion. Well, not in Slovakia. I cut up 10-12 small onions, someone grated a bag of potatoes, some carrots were grated, pork was added (everything in Slovakia is made with pork, and "pig killing" is a sport here...yeah), and then there were spices, a lot of water, and some Slovak magic. Yes, it was wonderful!

Everything here is so new and exciting! What would be even better is if I could share it with all of you! So, please enjoy the pics, comment or send me messages, and know that I love and miss you all!

:0) Maika

Seriously, my room is huge.

I don't know if matresses are a novelty here or what, but I basically sleep on foam, and I don't even want to know what era my pillow is from! And my duvet cover is totally Egyptian. :D

The view from my room.

And the infamous, red cabinets! My flat was totally rennovated during the communist era which, as you can see, is somewhat unfortunate.

Goulash night at our flat!

People chillin in Laura's room.

The goulash chef is in blue! (I would write his name...but spelling is an issue for me. V, this comment is specifically for you. :)

The Assignment

My luggage flew into Vienna today. I have been in Bratislava for the past four days. Does this strike anyone, besides me, as strange? Maybe my luggage was chillin in Tibet or something - too bad it isn't into photographer. :)

In other realms, I have been learning a lot about my assignment here in Bratislava. Okay, so I will give the break-down of what I am actually doing here:

1. I am a missionary. That is so strange to me, but very cool. My placement is through the ELCA Global Missions division, and I am here in accordance with the mission of the church to serve in other countries. There are about twenty of us who are serving and teaching in Slovakia, and it is amazing to have the support of other teachers - both new and returning - and also have the support of the church and its representatives in Slovakia. Yet, while I am here through the church, I am also allowed here through an actual Slovak law that permits and welcomes native English speakers to come and teach at their schools. After the fall of Communism, the connection with the Lutheran church was re-established and English teachers began to be commissioned from the US; that was 17 years ago! And the tradition of religious schools in Slovakia goes back to 1640 A.D.! WHOA!

2. I am here to teach English. Cool. I will be teaching at the Lyceum in Bratislava. It is a five year private gymnasium, or secondary school with a bi-lingual program. It is Lutheran affiliated, and also a boarding school for some students. I will be teaching English to first year students (the equivalent of ninth graders), and will also be teaching British literature and English to fourth year students (the equivalent of twelfth graders - only there are five years in their secondary school, not four). I did not know what I would be teaching until today, so I am totally stoked (I LOVE BRITISH LIT!), and ready to start planning!

3. I am living in EUROPE! There are so many cool things about this. I have an apartment that is five minutes from the Bratislava Old Town square (where the pictures below are from). I am about fifty minutes away from Vienna, two hours from Budapest, three hours from Prague, and could be in Venice - by train - in about six hours. WOOT! As this is my first time in Europe, I am super excited and want to go EVERYWHERE! Expect a lot more pictures here folks. :D Oh, and please let me know if you want to come visit or travel somewhere together - I am up for making plans!

SLOVAKIA!!

Well, I am finally here. I only say finally because it took me two delayed flights, missing two flights, two lost bags, and a breakdown in the Frankfurt airport to finally get me here! And it all started because there was a bird on the plane in Denver! Needless to say, there were many confused passengers, de-boarding the plane with said bird, and a subsequent three hours of delayed flight. ACH! I am still waiting for the luggage to catch up with me...



In other worlds, Slovakia is a crazy place! It is beautiful here right now, and I got to take pictures of and visit old town last night. I will certainly put up some pictures of that. I am learning Slovak and know how to say essentials like thank you and ice cream. I also learned what a frog says in Slovak! Any guesses?!



Wow, Europe is kind of a crazy place! I love that guys wear capris and people walk everywhere, then there are the smokers everywhere and way to much PDA. I walked on cobblestone streets for the first time in my life, and had gelat0...mmmm.



I get to find out about my school tomorrow and move into my apartment on Saturday! Woot! Enjoy the pics :D

View of the city
My Posessions Right Now :(

Old Town

John, pointing out the original entrance to old town, and the path kings and queens used to travel to be coronated.

The Cathedral in Old Town

Cathedral Again...

Beautiful!

Cannonball left in the cathedral by Napoleon!

Some of the people I will be teaching with!

Hans Christian Anderson

The Bratislava Castle