View out the train Window coming into Liptovsky Mikulas!
From Bratislava, I hoped on a train with Daniel, my apartment (flat they call it here) mate, and two teachers headed to Kosice Eastern Slovakia: Melody, another first year teacher, and Julene returning for more! The train moved east through the middle of the country and continuously got more beautiful, and more beautiful, until it was the most beautiful, the train stopped, and it was called Liptovsky Mikulas! It is in the dividing valley between the high and low Tatra mountain ranges, with Liptovsky Mara (Lake) on the edge of town.
Daniel gave me a great tour of the main parts of town and shared a lot of his previous year's knowledge with me. It's a small enough town, I feel I can navigate most areas comfortably already. I might regret saying this, but it's difficult to get lost because when in doubt head down hill and you're back in town!
Steve, the previous lector here, left his bicycle for me to ride. I am very appreciative, and have already been out and about; I found a beach, watched a man catch a carp, congratulated him the best I could in English combined with thumbs up and smiles, popped my tire on the rocks along the beach, got a bus back to town and fixed it up for more adventures to come!
The day we arrived happened to be Friday which Daniel told me is when they have youth group from the church in town. We headed for that in the evening and had a wonderful time. We worshiped, a great guy also named Jan translated the message for us, sang Slovak and English songs, played frisbee, and volleyball.
Youth group frisbeeing!
Two very kind ladies, Patricia, and Saska who are our primary contacts for teaching here picked us up from the train and walked us to our flat which is about 300 meters from the train and 150 meters from the school. Saska invited us to hike the following morning. I was delighted :) She picked us up at 9 am sharp with her 12 year old son Janko. Janko is a good name for example of how we call people we are familiar with. His real name is Jan which is equivalent to English, John. To my current understanding for his family and friends Janko is for lack of better words, a pet name. Regardless, Janko just turned 12 and had scuffed up knees and legs from his favorite summer pastime, mountain biking! He reminded me a lot of me when I was 12 and we got along well! Saska and Janko took us to Chocske National Park which is North West of Mikulas near Prosiek for our hike! It was WONDERFUL! We hiked through thick wooded mountains, exposed rock cliffs (we could see we weren't on... mom), large meadows with cattle and sheep lead by shepherds. Real shepherds! It was fun to hear about many things in Slovakia from Saska, but it was a new concept to me that they don't use fences for their cattle. A shepherd takes the animals around the mountain each day to a new grazing spot and back to their holding areas for night. I asked if Saska would like to be a shepherd, she laughed and said the joke around Slovakia is everyone wants to be a shepherd when its 75 and sunny, but no one wants to be a shepherd when it's 45 and raining all day. I think it's another job I would like to try for a week... We stopped in a village and I had my first taste of Kapusnica which is sauerkraut soup! Delicious, filling, and a popular Slovak dish. That evening we went to their home, met Saska's husband Ignac who is an avid skier, and her daughter Zuzka who is studying medicine! We had home grown lamp for dinner! Saska said we have a lamb in our yard until winter, then it moves to the freezer. They are a great family! They also host many tourists to the area who stay in their cottage which holds 15 people. I can only imagine the positive marks they leave on many many people who cross their paths!
Hey I've seen one of these before!
Janko, Saska, me, Daniel
Daniel could be a shepherd
Janko and I getting a good view from the deer stand
Sunday afternoon the youth group kids served a meal of Goulash to the Elders of the Church. Goulash is a hot dish/ soup from Hungry, but very popular in Slovakia. It was a really neat experience. The youth sang worship, different people talked about Sunday school, Youth group, confirmation, visiting hospitals, and invited people to join, help, and in general pass on their faith and mentor their grandchildren. It was a great representation of the upside down kingdom. The kids were serving their elders and God was shinning all over! Daniel and I sat down with a table of elders who speak only Slovak. I learned there are many ways to communicate :) The only thing I understood verbally was their names, and that was a powerful thing in itself.
Joyful man singing in Slovak and playing his accordion!
On to my purpose for being here! I've got a week of school under my belt! No students yet, but a few teacher meetings, and the most helpful for me English department methodology meetings where the teachers pass on their knowledge to Daniel and I and also other new and old teachers! The first day it was a joy to be a part of all the teachers welcoming each other back and catching up on life. "Excited to see you" sounds so happy when 3-7 teachers are all saying it to one another in Slovak, and I love it! Some speak really really good English, and some not at all, but it's fun to greet, smile and attempt to communicate with all. One English teacher, Andrea, took me under her wing on my first day. She asked if I'd like a tour of the school, and of course I agreed. We started at the school chapel where she invited me to pray to start our day. It was a moment where I was running so fast, her asking to pray hit me like a truck full of Jesus. It was great to let my guard down, talk with God, center our intentions on him and not us during the school year. Our school is great! Daniel and I are a bit out numbered in the English department, 10 girls, and the 2 of us. We've been learning a lot from the ladies.
Another cool thing we did was tour the ice cave where Saska's daughter Zuzka is a tour guide! We tagged along, listened to her teach people about the limestone, manganese, -17 degree celcius temps in winter all in Slovak, then she kindly explained to us in English the high lights. The ice are was not overly abundant this year because it was an unusually warm summer in Slovakia.
This is part of the cave! No ice here.
Here's my bedroom, our living room, and our lovely kitchen! Our building is BIG and LIME GREEN... Even I can find it :)
God bless all who are reading, thinking of you all wherever you are, I hope to hear from you soon! Comment on here, email at mmchar4@gmail.com, facebook, or send good ol fashion snail mail to:
Martin Charest
Hurbanova 24
031 01 Liptovsky Mikulas
Slovak Republic
