Home at Last!

Well,...I'm HOME! :-)

I left Slovakia and arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota as scheduled on August 18th, a week ago today! Apologies for the delay in writing, and for the lack of blogs all summer. I still fully intend to post more blogs, and to write and post an August newsletter, so I hope you will still check back with me from time to time. I have a lot of things I would still like to tell you about, and now have the time to write to you all! So I'm not finished yet...check back in with me sometime soon! :-)

The big "coming home" was really exciting!! My day on the 18th of August started early, at about 4 am. (The goodbye in Slovakia was really difficult, but a memorable experience in itself. I will also write about that later.) I arrived at the airport around 4:15, checked my bags and went through security, and then I was on my way! My first flight was about an hour, Bratislava, Slovakia to Munich, Germany. Following a pretty reasonable wait there, my second flight was from Munich, Germany to Chicago. The O'Hare was stressful and crazy...BUT I managed to successfully get off my previous flight, go through customs and security checks, collect my bags, recheck my bags at a new airline, take the tram to the other side of the airport, go through security again, RUN to my flight gate, and make my flight. I had about an hour and 20 minutes to do all of this, and I had doubts I would even make the flight. Even the desk assistants I talked to at the O'Hare were like "No, you're not going to make that...here's the next flight time." But luckily, my flight departed nine minutes later than originally stated, so I lucked out and made it! Phew!

When I got to Minnesota, I was welcomed by my parents, my brother Jake, my best friends from college Megan and Kerry, one of my best friends from high school Chris, and my aunt and cousin Wendy and Brianna. Wow, so many people to welcome me!! It was really fun, and they had balloons and welcome signs (in both English and Slovak even)! We stood around in a big circle for over an hour talking, it was so exciting!!I'm really lucky. I've been so blessed in my life, and days like these (that remind me of that in a big way) are wonderful, and sometimes overwhelming.

It feels strange, but wonderful to be home. I'm SO happy to see all of the familiar faces, and I'm having a great time catching up with everyone! It's still all a bit overwhelming, and being home still feels really new. I'm curious as to how I will feel a month down the road. I'm currently organizing my life (and my room), job searching (anyone have any suggestions for me, writing/editing/publishing related, in the twin cities area?), but mostly just spending time with my family and friends. And still working on sleeping off the jet lag, believe it or not.

Ok, well I will be in touch again soon! Happy Monday!
-Ashley

July Newsletter

(*Pictured: Me, Zuzka, Kristen and Jessica, before the Vychodna Festival Parade started. This is Zuzka’s relative in his traditional village costume, displaying artwork in his yard. The second photo is a group of folklore singers who performed in the parade.)

Life in Hybe
Ashley Severson, Young Adult in Global Mission
July Newsletter

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your summers and seeing a lot of the sun! Haha, sort of funny to use a sun as my logo for this newsletter. It was chilly and rained through MOST of July, a little crazy! But everyone was grateful, for the most part, because the gardens and crops needed it. Anyways, so this was my last full month in Slovakia. I thought it would be a bit difficult to fill my time, because all of English classes finished in June, but I was wrong! This month was extremely busy too!

The first weekend in July was the Folklore Festival in Vychodna, packed with traditional Slovak folk dancing and singing, fairytales, food, crafts, and more. This festival is the most famous in Slovakia, and I was really lucky to be SO close to it! Vychodna is one of Hybe’s neighboring villages, only about 6 kilometers away. So did I enjoy my time at the festival? Well, I think one of my new life goals is to become a Slovak folk dancer and come back to this festival to perform. Ha! I enjoyed everything a great deal, but most of all the dancing. I went to one of the children’s fairytales, called “Chin Chin” and it was fun! The fairytale is about two birds that fall in love. The boy bird is lazy and irresponsible, and when the two birds fall in love their parents aren’t happy with their wish to get married. The parents think that they are too young and that the boy bird will not be able to properly support his new wife, and they were right. The two newlywed birds can’t find a place to live, food to eat, and everything falls apart because the boy bird is so irresponsible in providing for her. The story ends with him learning his lesson, the two fixing their lives and the boy bird learning how to take care of his wife. (This made me think…I feel like American fairytales are usually about girls wanting a boy, and in the end getting what they want. And Slovak fairytales are about being domestic. Do we have a lot of fairytales about being domestic? Hmm.) I also ate a lot of langose at the festival (fried dough with garlic, cheese, tartar sauce and ketchup).

I went to 3 of the main stage performances for folk dancing: the first on Saturday evening with a variety of different types of dancing, some singing, and a few bands; the second on Sunday morning, featuring other international dancing and/or singing performances, from the Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey, and Italy; the third on Sunday afternoon, which was another variety show of different styles of dancing and singing. All of the costumes from every performance were so detailed and fantastic! I think I spent about half of the time at the festival looking through my camera lens, but everything was just great and photogenic, so it was worth it to keep those memories. During the festival time I also got to meet up with my volunteer friends Jessica and Kristen, and we went with Zuzka to her parents’ house. They were so welcoming and nice as always, and it’s always great to see them! I enjoy them a lot. We went to watch the parade together, which was a collection of representatives from different villages and cities all over Slovakia. They were all dressed in traditional costume, and either dancing or singing, or both. Zuzka showed us which performers were from which villages (she could tell because of the costume designs…every village or city has an individual design), and explained that Hybe doesn’t actually have its own traditional costume because it has technically been considered a town instead of a village since quite a ways back. While we were watching the parade, I even was able to recognize the melody of a few Slovak songs and sing along (ok, mumble, because I didn’t know the words) to some of them, with Zuzka and her dad! Good times! :-) The whole weekend there was just great! I was really happy for the opportunity to be there and see everything, and I hope to make it back to the festival again someday.





(*Pictured: The main stage at the Festival’s finishing ceremony, with all of the performers gathered together on stage. The second photo is one of the performing groups at the Vychodna Folklore Festival.)

In the middle of July we had children’s camp! (detsky tabor) Wow, what a week! It started on Sunday afternoon right after church and ran until Thursday afternoon. It was BUSY let me tell you! And we (me, my host sisters, and other girls from the youth group who helped for the week) slept at the parsonage all week instead of going home. We had about 23 kids for the week, arriving at 8 or 9 am and returning home at 8 or 9 in the evening. The camp had an Indian theme, which was really fun! We made Indian hats and clothes and put up a teepee (which we decorated ourselves with paint beforehand). We also had competitions for age groups to see who could “retreat” the quickest. When we heard the theme song from the popular German film “Winnetou,” every kid and volunteer started screaming and running to the home base position, and the first group with all of its members to line-up won points. (Everyone was shocked when I said I had never even heard of this film before camp.) We also each had nametags with our own Indian name for the week. Some had traditional Indian-type names, like “Biela Kvet” (white flower), and some just names without meaning. Mine was one of those, it was “Harka,” and I liked it! Remembering so many kids’ names in Slovak is difficult enough, so trying to remember their Slovak Indian names proved to be pretty challenging, but I managed.

Some of the activities we did were: going to a cave together near Liptovsky Mikulas, going to a small swimming pool in Hybe together, having parents/family night on the 2nd and 4th nights of camp, relay races, bow shooting contests, games (a lot of soccer), arts and crafts (designing our Indian costumes, painting the teepee, and drawing/coloring), a scavenger hunt in town (going from house to house and getting people to donate funny things for our competition), singing, watching films (cartoons and the film “Winnetou” and saying table grace in like 4 different ways (clapping and holding hands, short songs, long songs, spoken word). The family nights were really a fun time, with lots of singing and games involving both kids and parents together. For one of the games at the first family night, the pastor told parents to find their kids in the circle and stand by them and my host mom came up to me and was like “my kid!” It was really sweet.

Other thoughts about camp: One of my favorite things I did at camp was playing badminton with little Dominik (8)…he’s a sweet boy, and we had a nice time playing together. Another favorite activity for me that week was going to the swimming pool. It was TOTAL chaos because the pool was a bit small, and there were almost 30 of us in it between volunteers and kids. It was quite loud, and there were all different ages (the cute 4 and 5 year olds with floaties trying to swim next to the rowdy 12 and 13 year old boys trying to nail each other with balls), but I had a great time! I really appreciated it because I could have fun with them more easily with the language barrier. Swimming is swimming, and you don’t have to communicate much to have a good time (even when we wanted to it was difficult, because it was so loud). I was able to have a good time with everybody: talking with the other volunteers and some of the kids, playing catch with the older kids, helping the younger kids float around, catching the younger kids in the pool, etc. I’m really happy that children’s camp was towards the end of my time here, because my Slovak was at its best. Any time before that and it would’ve been that more difficult to understand/communicate with them, but I think things went pretty well! I’m constantly amazed by our pastor and how energetic he is, and how wonderful his attitude is about participation and everything. I think this community is extremely lucky to have him!

Some highlights from the month have been: Remember my mention of Ester being born in June? Well, she was baptized at our church in July! Their baptismal process is very similar to ours, including the sponsors coming to the front and them bringing the baby to the baptismal water and wetting the baby’s head. Zuzka’s friends from Canada (she was a nanny in Vancouver for 3 years for this family, and the mother and daughter both) came to Hybe to visit for a few weeks (Pat and Lauren). It was such a pleasure to meet and get to know them, sightsee with them a bit (we even had the chance to go up to the top of our church and see the old bells!), and see them together with Zuzka. After losing touch with each other for about 10 years, I think it meant a lot to all of them to be together again and make new memories. For our children’s summer camp program, my host sisters and a few other girls from our youth group filmed fairytales for the kids to watch each night. It was pretty hilarious to get in on the filming action, watch them dress up and be crazy, and to see the finished product. (My favorite one stars my sisters, both dressed as bumblebees.) Lubo did an awesome job putting everything together! I hope I will be bringing a copy home to show all of you, because it’s pretty entertaining. The fairytales were all imitations of popular Slovak cartoons, so I learned of a few more shows here.

A challenge I’ve had in July, since school and everything ended, is that I haven’t felt very productive. I’ve been quite busy still, but without school to help at and other regularly scheduled activities, I’ve felt a bit guilty. I have had so many great experiences this summer, and I feel like the more I want to help with things, the less I can. In fact, it’s opposite, which has been true for a lot of this year actually. Everyone here is always helping me and making my experiences amazing all of the time, and sometimes I wish I could reciprocate more. This goes back to the feelings I had this winter too, about wanting to be “productive,” but I am still learning time and time again that it isn’t the “work” that has made this year what it is…it is the fantastic people. My greatest hope is that I have helped make their experiences great, and that their memories with me are as good as mine are with them.

Another challenge I’ve had this month is the sadness I feel from only being able to stay in Hybe for about eight months. I really feel that God put me at my first placement for a reason, and I know many benefits from being there, and met many fantastic people there too, but Hybe REALLY feels like my home in Slovakia. In spite of feeling that God put me in Koseca for four months for a reason, I still can’t help feeling frustrated. A part of me is selfish and upset that I won’t experience a full year here in Hybe. Because I’m heading home in August, I will miss my host family’s cousin’s wedding. I will miss four more months that I could’ve had talking, acting stupid and laughing with Zuzka. I’m not even sure what I’ll do without her. And a Christmas with all of them, with my host family, who have become like an extension of my own family in the past 7 months. And some of their birthdays and name days that I originally should’ve been here for, if I had spent my entire year here. So sometimes, even though I think I understand, I don’t really understand why. If only I had those months…but I don’t. My time to leave will come soon and I will be praying for peace of mind. I want to be less selfish and trust God and His reasons, though it may be difficult at times. I pray for this beyond this year too, in the rest of my life. I feel so much more prepared to do that after my year in Slovakia. Again, I thank everyone SO much for their support in helping me to do this. It has been amazing.

On that note, I’ll leave you until next month. Technically we don’t need to write an August newsletter, but I’m going to anyway. It just wouldn’t feel right to write only 11 newsletters for a year of adventures away from home. Hope you’re all doing well! If you get a chance, please check out my blog at ashleyrenslovak.blogspot.com.

Take care and God bless,
Ashley







(*Pictured (from left to right): 1. A group of girls at children’s camp: Emka, Beatka, Sarinka, Simonka, and Debi. 2. Some of the kids by our teepee and dressed in their Indian costumes. 3. John 3:16 puzzle in Slovak. We put it together outside, trying to pin down the pieces with rocks so the wind wouldn’t blow everything away. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son...”)

June Newsletter

*Pictured: The stage set-up at the Christian music festival in Bratislava in Hlavne Namestie, a group photo during our hike in Slovenksy Raj: Linda, me, Jessica, Mary, Emilie, Mark, Kristen, Maike, and Anne.


June Newsletter

Hi everybody! As I write this, over half of the summer has already flown by. With each month that goes by, the time just keeps getting faster and faster! June was a jam-packed month, I hardly know where to start. I feel really blessed to be here, and feel more so with each month I spend here. I’m really excited to have my whole summer to spend here with these people, and to experience another (and the warmest, yay!) season in Slovakia. I guess I’ll start from the first day of June.

June was a month full of children’s choir performances, and June 1st was the opener in Brezno. The choir took a great trip to the city of Brezno to sing at a benefit concert. The concert was held for a young teenage girl who has many health problems and health care related expenses. We were one of many groups to perform in the Evangelical church, located in the park of the city’s main city square. We sang four songs for a very full church, and among the crowd were many parents and fans from Hybe that traveled with us by bus (including my host parents). This was one of my favorite performances with the choir, because the atmosphere was really fun. My host mom started clapping at the start of one of our songs and got the whole church to join in within a few seconds, and people everywhere were rooting for us and smiling. It was a great time! Another highlight of this year was our performance in Bratislava. At the end of June our children’s choir took a trip to Slovakia’s capital city to take part in a Christian music festival, Stretnutie Krestanov. We took part in the all-day festival in the city’s main square, Hlavne Namestie, along with many other choirs from around the country. We sang about 8 songs on the big stage for hundreds of people gathered in the square, and we had a blast! Our pastor’s brother-in-law is a pastor as well, and his choir invited us on stage to sing one song with them, which was also great! Their choir also sang the theme song to the popular cartoon show “Krtko,” which was fun and went over really well with all of the kids. I was really happy to see so many parents and friends from Hybe again, everyone is so supportive of us.

Another performance we had, the night before, was at a church in a small village in Jahrndorf, Austria (from Bratislava we drove over the border, it was a short trip). This was a nice night too, and maybe the most fun part for me was that it was in Austria and everyone was speaking German. It was exciting to cross the border with everybody, and to be there when everyone started freaking out. “AH! I don’t speak German, does anybody else speak it? I can’t understand anything! How do we know what to do?” I think it helped some of the kids relate to me a bit better, when I explained that this feeling of being lost in a language was something I experienced on a daily basis for quite awhile when I first came to Slovakia. After the performance, we were invited to the local park shelter for a big potluck-style dinner, and it was delicious! And finally, our children’s choir also performed at a regional festival in the village of Liptovsky Jan. As I’ve explained before in my blog, Slovaks celebrate name days, and the 24th of June marks the name Jan (American version is John) on the Slovak calendar. (My host dad’s name is Jan!) So in celebration of the name day Jan (a big day, because Jan is one of the most popular names in the country), many surrounding villages join together to have a choir festival at the church in Liptovsky Jan (village is chosen because of the name). A great time was had by all. Singing in the children’s choir has been one of my favorite things to do this year, and I have a lot of new memories from June.

In June we had our last official volunteer meeting, a seminar in Slovenksy Raj (Slovak Paradise). The whole group met together for about four days, spending time catching up, hiking, and doing some end of the year evaluations. We also had the opportunity to meet our program’s new coordinator, Nata. We had a really nice time together, as we always do, and it was sad to say goodbye to each other at the end of it. We have grown into a little family, and each other’s support systems, and it was the last opportunity to be all together. But I think we took great advantage of it, and had a great last few days together. We spent an entire day out hiking in Slovensky Raj, took other walks, had great food, swapped photos and stories, and shared a worship service together. We talked a lot about our process of readjusting back to American or German cultures and the reality of coming home, and how we could continue to rely on each other for support. I think it will be a really challenging experience for everyone, and all of our experiences will be quite different, I think. I look forward to keeping in touch with them in the future, and seeing the American volunteers again at our retreat in October! :-) And we spent time at the retreat planning reunions for further down the road, where we could get together and reminisce, try to speak Slovak (if we remember any at that point), and eat the great Slovak food we’re going to miss.

Some other random highlights for the month: I did some traveling in the Czech Republic after our final volunteer retreat; to Prague with 3 of my volunteer friends, and to Pilsen (Plzen) on my own. Pilsen was especially exciting because I have ancestors on my mom’s side of the family that came from there. They left in the 1880’s, moving to the U.S., arriving in New York. I have no surviving relatives left there, but it was a really fun opportunity for me to go to the city and explore. I really enjoyed it. Lubo and Katka Suchtarova (a family active in the congregation, both are in charge of technical aspects of our worship services and the church’s website) had a baby girl! They named her Ester, and she is their second child (the first, their son Timothy who is 2 years old). This month my host sisters and I have made big events out of watching the American movies they play on cable during the weekend evenings, watching them together both at home and at my host family’s relatives’ house across the village. Some highlights this month: Garfield, Shall We Dance, High School Musical 1 and 2, The Prince and Me, and Titanic. It’s been really fun to look in the weekly magazine/television guide and look forward to them! It helps me a lot too, because I know the films in English, and therefore know the context, which helps me to try and understand the Slovak or Czech language dubbing.

One of my best friends/roommates from college, Megan, came to visit me here in Slovakia, and I was able to bring her to both Bratislava and Hybe to meet my host family and others in the community. I was happy to show her what my life has been like this year, the people in it that are so important to me, and to show her how much progress I’ve made with the Slovak language. She has a lot of experience learning languages, so it was fun for me to have her here to relate to. I also had the chance to really get to know another family, the Lofajovci family (Zuzka’s in-laws), because Zuzka Lofajova (the mother) needed to learn English for her new job. I’ve been going over to their house a few times a week to teach her basic English words and phrases that are related to hotel reception. It has been really fun to get to know her and her family better: her husband Marian, her older son Mato (18), her daughter Simona (15), and her younger son Filip (7). Zuzka and Simona’s English has gotten better, and having conversations and trying to teach Zuzka in Slovak has helped me tremendously too. I finished teaching at both of the schools and had nice last days at both. In Hybe, the English teachers I work with and all of the students from grades 5-9 put on a small ceremony to say goodbye to me. It was really sweet! The oldest class even sang a song they prepared for me in English: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! In June. I don’t know why, but I loved it!

I will be in touch again soon with an update for July! As always, I thank you kindly for your support in keeping up with my adventures!! If you get a chance, please check out my blog at ashleyrenslovak.blogspot.com. Thanks!

Peace and love,
Ashley





*Pictured: Me in Prague (with the Castle in the background, standing next to St. Charles Bridge), and one of my favorite shots from Pilsen. This is in the main square, near St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral.

Novomanzelia Zuzka and Martin

Today I attended a Slovak wedding, and it was beautiful! I want to say congratulations to the newlyweds (novomanzelia) Martin and Zuzka (previously Ziskova) Pivkova. In Slovakia, the woman and men have the same base for a surname, but the woman's name always ends in "ova." The ceremony was held at the Evangelical church in Hybe today at 4:00 and it was very nice! Zuzka looked beautiful, she had one of the most unique and gorgeous wedding dresses I've ever seen! I attended the wedding as a guest (I'm friends with Zuzka, and have only met Martin one time...don't know him very well, but he's very nice!), and also Mladis (our youth group, which Zuzka is a very active part of) sang! It was really fun! We rehearsed last night and prepared the sound system in the church, and then practiced again today before the ceremony, and I must say that I think we sounded really nice! They gave me a cheat sheet, luckily, so I didn't have to try and memorize all of the Slovak lyrics. The name of the song we sang was "Piesen pre Michaelu" (Song for Michael) by Kompromis, and it's a really great song. I will be bringing a copy of it back home with me, and would love for all of you to hear it! We sang it because Zuzka really loves the song, and the group. I sang with my host sisters, the pastor, and 7 others. The chorus translates to something like this:

"There's only one way we want to go,
only You, God, You show us the light,
we can only come towards You,
for You we have hearts that beat."

From what I saw at my Slovak wedding experience, I think that Slovak and American weddings are quite similar. But there are of course differences, most of all in the events that take place before the ceremony itself starts. In traditional Slovak weddings, the groom's company (his family and close friends) accompany him to the house of his fiance. In the house, the man officially asks permission again to marry and take their daughter. After permission is given, the new bride and groom, along with their families and friends, all walk in a procession to the church. Some of us were waiting at the church already, but a majority of the wedding guests came with the processional group. They played "Here Comes the Bride" loudly on the organ as the guests entered the church. The song finished just as Zuzka the bride started to walk down the aisle, and softer music played in the background as she walked toward the front. She was linked in arms with her dad, and Martin also walked down the aisle in front of her, linked in arms with his mom (what I assumed, anyway).

The ceremony started with a small sermon from the pastor, and the couple stood at the beginning of the aisle as they listened, maybe 15-20 feet behind. After Pastor was finished, they moved up closer to the front and kneeled at the altar. There they repeated their vows, individually and some were said together, and eventually exchanged rings. After the rings were exchanged, the Mladis youth group sang the song while Martin and Zuzka looked on. Next, Pastor took Martin and Zuzka over to a table set up in the front corner, and together they signed the marriage license documents together. Also Martin's brother and Zuzka's cousin (they didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen) signed because they were the two witnesses who stood behind the couple for part of the ceremony. As the ceremony finished the organ played the traditional song that we play at the end of weddings, and Martin and Zuzka led everyone out of the church. Like our weddings, the couple waited outside the door so that everyone could congratulate them on their way out. When I went through I congratulated Zuzka in English (her English is pretty good!), and I wasn't sure if Martin spoke any English, so I asked a friend how I should properly congratulate him. I said in Slovak, "I wish you much happiness with Zuzka," and kissed both him and Zuzka on the cheeks (traditional way to greet and/or congratulate each other). Martin smiled at me and said, "Thank you very much!" in English! It was nice. They are a really sweet couple together.

When everyone had made it through the line, the bridge and groom left the gates of the church and got into their car, which was decorated with white ribbons. Traditional folk music was playing in the background as they got in, and as they walked out people threw cukriky (candies) at them (like we would throw bird seed, or blow bubbles). They also had a bus waiting behind the get-a-way car for the family members and close friends of the couple. They proceeded on to a celebration/dinner party. One difference between American and Slovak wedding traditions is that for Slovak weddings, many people attend the ceremony, but only close friends and family celebrate afterwards at a party. At the ceremony, the people in the processional sat in the pews at the front, as well as on the side pews, and there were many people up in the balcony watching over. The people in the balcony weren't personally invited by the couple, but still attended the wedding to watch, and they were all up in the balcony casually dressed.

I made a card in English to give to Zuzka and Martin (along with Zuzka Ziskova..they both used to be Zuzka Ziskova until today, but now it's Zuzka Ziskova and Zuzka Pivkova...confusing...), and it had a poem in English, and another wedding greeting in English, as well as a sticker with a nice verse and quote. We also gave them pink flowers, and took photos together with Zuzka. Sweet! :-)

CONGRATULATIONS again to the newlyweds, Martin Pivko and Zuzka Pivkova!

Christmas in July

So tonight when I got home from my trip back to Koseca and Dubnica (to say goodbye to friends at my first placement), my host family and I had a really fun night together! We celebrated Christmas in July...SO much fun.

Because I was limited with space and couldn't manage to carry all of my luggage alone, I left a box of my things at Diakonia in Koseca with my friend Zuza. I grabbed the box and took it with me this time, as it was my last visit, and brought it back tonight when I came back to Hybe. A majority of the box was filled with Christmas things, the stuff I didn't need to bring with me when I changed placements. On the car ride home I told my family that I had a box they could look through and choose what they wanted to keep, and they got really excited! HURRY UP AND GET IN THE HOUSE!! :)

I opened the box and started bringing things out one by one to the kitchen, and everyone got excited for each thing I brought. I brought out: (most of the items sent to me from my parents) a baby Christmas Tree, small colored ornaments, beaded garland, little gingerbread men and women, silver bows, Santa stockings, an American flag Christmas bulb, a headband with two silver disco balls bouncing off the antennas (from my New Years Eve celebration in Spain), a Christmas card and bracelet, a nativity scene puzzle, a candle and candlerholder, a singing electronic bear that sings, and a Christmas cd with Christmas songs in English! After I showed them the Christmas songs in English, they grabbed an old cassette tape and we started to play Slovak Christmas tunes too! They had many of the same songs, and I tried to understand the translations. Their most popular is "Ticho Noc" which is "Silent Night" in English.

We had such a great time together, laughing and catching up after being apart for another week. We ate dry cocoa waffles (I bought them in Trencin and brought them home for everybody, they're a great snack, and really different from our waffles), looked at their old family photos, and decorated the Christmas tree together (mostly Janka and Katka did, while everyone else watched and admired). Good family bonding!

My Second Goodbye

Hello everybody!! :)

Wow, so it's been about a month since my last post. I had hoped to never go that long without posting, but the business of the summer is in full bloom, and sadly that's what happened. But...I'm BACK! I have 27 days left in Slovakia, and then I will be returning home to Minnesota on the 19th of August. I plan to take advantage of every minute I can spend with the people I have grown to love so much, and truthfully trying to avoid the thought of saying goodbye. I'm sure it will be one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do.

Anyways, more to come. More blogs about my times here, more pictures, more newsletters. I promise to deliver eventually. (I've just returned from my 15th trip to Bratislava...whoa!) For now I want to tell you about my final goodbye at the Hybe primary school. I wrote in a previous blog about my final day of school with the kids. We mostly played games on the final day, and the youngest class gave me postcards of Hybe with their names written on it. Very sweet, and they requested that I come back the next week to say goodbye again, since I had time.

I usually had lunch every weekday at the school, even on days where I didn't help with class, so I headed over to eat on Tuesday afternoon. While I was eating, the phone rang in the kitchen (mine had been turned off...oops...), and then one of the kitchen assistants came out to tell me that the teachers had called, and that I was supposed to head upstairs after I was finished. So I went up to the teacher's lounge, and Zdenka immediately told me to follow her. She brought me into one of the classrooms we taught in and it was JAMMED with every student of every class that I helped with (5 different classes, probably about 75-80 students), as well as a bunch of teachers. They had all been waiting for me, and wanted to say goodbye and have a little presentation for me! Wow, I didn't really know what to say, and I wasn't expecting anything like it. I thought the second goodbye would be me hanging out with some of the kids from the 5th class in the backyard, making basic conversation in english. But, to my surprise...

So the oldest class, the 9th graders, were standing together in a group in the corner with sheets of paper. They had prepared a song for me in English and were ready to go. And the song was...."Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"! Haha! I have no idea why, in June, but I loved it anyway. Even most of the boys were trying to sing (usually they're pretty cool for things...being 15 and all), and the girls were in the front singing with perky smiles. So funny! After they finished, one of the girls (Alica, who is a cousin of my host sisters') came over and gave me a gift on behalf of the class. It was a white mug, decorated and painted with their class number on it, the year and school name, and stickers. It also had a ribbon (signed with all of their names) tied to the handle. So sweet!

The 7th graders presented me with a t-shirt, and on it they marked their class and year, and every student signed it! The youngest class gave me a big stuffed frog that ribits when you squeeze it's stomach...so cute! The girls in the class were randomly asking (or so I thought) what animals I liked during one of our last classes, and I had said frogs. Then one of the teachers (who is fun, she was in the aerobics class I took this winter) presented me with a big hardcover book about Slovakia! The book is beautiful, with loads of great pictures from each region of the country, and the book is also in English, Slovak, Czech and French. She gave it to me on behalf of the whole school staff and headmaster. Then last, the two teachers I worked with during the year (Sona and Zdenka, who I really enjoyed spending time with) gave me copies of the pictures I had taken with the teaching staff and 9th class. They also gave me a little quote/verse book in Slovak, "so you can practice next year."

The whole thing was really amazing, and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and surprised, so I ended up crying through most of it, haha! And the crying took me by surprise too. It made me realize that my goodbyes to the people and places here in Slovakia will maybe be a bit unpredictable, maybe a bit more emotional than I'd expected. It really meant a lot to me that they took the time and energy to plan something for me, and that they really wanted a chance to say goodbye to me. I will miss those people very much next year, and I have a lot of good memories of my times at the school, both in class with the students and hanging out with the teachers and staff in the lounge. I think mostly I will miss meeting the kids in the hallways, and them yelling hi to me down the hallway or from the windows in the back of the school.

Well, I'll be in touch again soon! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer in the states (and whoa, I'll be there soon too)!

May Newsletter

MAY NEWSLETTER

(My past blog "Little Debi and the Ales Circus" is repeated in a section of my newsletter, but the rest of the content is new.)

Greetings from Hybe!! :-) Another month has passed in Hybe, and everything is looking quite green and fresh! All of the snow has melted, weather is warmer, and the gardens have been blooming! I don’t think I realized before how happy weather can make people feel, but I feel that it has definitely had an impact on me and the community here. May went by so quickly, and I get excited/somber thinking about how fast the summer and the rest of my time will go. May, for me, has been a month of progress in terms of coming to grips with my situation. Like I mentioned before, I have only a summer left here in Slovakia, and then I will be going home. This reality-check has given me a new-found energy (along with the beautiful weather, I think) in embracing my relationships with people. I need to make the most of my remaining time (I’m at that point in my year, where there is light at the end of the tunnel), and I feel like I’ve gained more perspective.

I’ve gained more perspective in another important aspect of my year here as well. As I told you in my last newsletter, I went on a youth/confirmation retreat trip in the beginning of May to Gerlachov (a small village about 50 kilometers from Hybe, near the city of Poprad), in hopes of strengthening my relationships with the kids in the youth group. It has been a challenge during my time here, and after the trip I can honestly say that not much has really changed. I came back from the trip feeling so frustrated and disappointed, wanting so badly to connect with the teenagers (ages 13-18), but it just didn’t happen. I’m not really sure if I would be successful at connecting with teenagers in the U.S. in English, yet alone here in Slovak, because the age group is out of my comfort zone. I had a nice conversation with my mom about it, and she told me about her friends who are teachers, and their thoughts on connecting with their students: “You know, even if I only connect or help with one of them, I’m thankful for that and I feel like my time there was worth it.” I thought about that, and realized that my attitude needed to change. Yes, I struggle in my connections with the teenagers, but not with all of them. There are a few I can have conversations with, some that smile and/or say hi to me, some that I’ve been able to connect with in some way (even if it’s been only a small connection). I have discovered that it’s OK if I’m not close with all or many of them, and have found more joy in just the simple hello’s and smiles I share with a few of them. I’ve tried to have a more Christian-based mindset, to be thankful for each individual person and connection I’ve made, and be thankful for my situation, and what is has become. I will continue to attempt making connections with them, but instead of finding disappointment in the lack of, I’m finding more appreciation in good. There are a lot of really great kids in Hybe, in our church, and I look forward to any opportunity I get to build friendships with them.

On the flipside, I’ve had a ton of great times with the young kids of Hybe in May! My relationships with them seem to always get stronger, communication is always getting better, and I’m feeling more and more comfortable with our Children’s Choir (Zvoncek) and babysitting. I feel like I’ve really found my place in the community when it comes to the kids, and I enjoy them so much! There are also so many great young kids here, and I’m glad to have gotten so many opportunities (especially lately) to hang out with them and get to know them. I’m feeling more at home with my host family and in the community in general, and I think a big part of this feeling is because I finally know where I can best fit into Hybe; with the kids! I’m loving the time spent with all ages, but I just feel more at home with the little ones. My time in Hybe in the beginning was spent with all age groups, and I wasn’t quite sure exactly where my niche was, where I would be most useful, or where I would be able to build the strongest relationships. Now I feel at peace with my situation, and am excited about all of the fun summer adventures ahead!

In late-May, I had the AWESOME opportunity to go to the circus!! The CIRCUS!! I don’t know why I find this so crazy exciting, but I do! My host sisters had mentioned it a few weeks earlier that they could get discounted tickets, and that maybe we would go. MAYBE?! Let’s go!! What a great cultural experience…the circus! I’ve only been to a circus one other time in my life, and that was the Shrine Circus in 4th grade. I remember having a pretty great time there too, but most of what I remember is the glow stick necklaces whipping through my dark surroundings, and the Shrine Circus sippy souvenir cup I got (which I still have, by the way…that thing has an amazing lifespan). Anyways, I was quite excited for a foreign circus experience, but mostly just excited for the circus in general. Because who doesn’t love the circus?

I was even more excited when I found out that I was going with my sisters AND Debi and Sara! We get to go to the circus, and get to hang out with cute kids at the circus! I’d met Debi before, and knew who she was, but hadn’t really gotten a chance to hang out with her. She immediately yelled, “Ashley!” and grabbed for my hand, and started talking about her new jumper shirt that she was excited about wearing. Her and Sara both grabbed my hands, which made me feel pretty special! They both know my host sisters Katka and Janka much better, and they can actually talk with them, so their excitement in seeing and hanging out with me felt pretty great. They wanted to sit by me on the bus and we spent the whole bus ride talking about which animal words they knew in English, and they knew quite a few. Horse was their favorite, and we spent a bit practicing how to say that, and I practiced in Slovak too; “kon.”

The circus was set up in a big open field, blocked off by red trucks that said, “Circus Ales.” The circus was in an actual circus tent, a pretty decently sized red, white, and blue striped tent! We were standing in line for tickets, and I was bouncing around all wide-eyed, and I think my host sisters thought I was a bit crazy. I was more excited to see the circus than the 4 and 5 year olds. Janka told me that last year’s circus had been in Hybe (I was a bit surprised, because Hybe is so small), and that they had taken Sara and Debi then too. Sara had started crying almost instantly because she was scared of the animals, BUT I’m happy to report that she didn’t cry this year! (Although, she looked close for about the first 20 minutes.) Anyways, I had a great time! Such fun, and innocent fun, and TONS of kids everywhere laughing and smiling. We even ran into Marek and Radko (Zuzka’s boys) with their grandpa, and they looked like they were having a lot of fun too.

I think I would’ve had a pretty good time anyway, but watching the circus with Debi on my lap made it that much better! I got to hear and see her reactions to everything, and so many times she turned around with wide eyes to ask me questions. Let me tell you, with the exception of Easter services, I have never wanted to understand or be able to speak decent Slovak more! (I think I’m doing well and improving all the time, but still have SO much to learn.) When a cute little kid at the circus asks you questions, all excited, it’s SO frustrating not to be able to tell her things. I did understand parts of what she said, and a few times I didn’t have to tap Janka on the shoulder (every other time I did, so Janka could answer Debi’s questions). A few times I just nodded along and said, “Yeah? Good!” because I didn’t have the heart to break up her excitement with “Sorry, I don’t understand those words in Slovak.”

Debi really liked the horses and the ponies. The first act was 4 ponies running in circles together, and two of the ponies had monkeys riding them on the back. So funny! We both laughed. They had a dog performance, and this cute gray poodle dog started walking around on his hind legs, and I squealed a bit! Haha! Debi even turned around to laugh at me a bit; she probably thought I was a little crazy. They had ponies, horses, dogs, lamas, camels, snakes, and rabbits. I figured that this circus would have mostly animal tricks and shows, since it was in a tent outside and in a rural area, but they surprisingly had a LOT of gymnasts and acrobat acts! I was impressed. They had gymnasts swinging on ropes, tangling themselves in sheets and hanging from the ceiling in many positions, a girl juggling pins with her feet in crazy positions, and they even had a knife thrower! The knife thrower threw knives around his assistant’s body, against a board. I’d never seen this before. (It made me think of the classic “I Love Lucy” episode, where she’s in that position.) It was a bit unsettling though, actually, because the woman assistant at the board looked terrified! She didn’t look calm or collected, and wasn’t really composed, and just looked really nervous. Yikes! I was kind of glad when that part was finished, to be honest. Anyways, the entertainment was really amazing, and they had a lot of it! They had an acrobat team of three younger guys (I would guess mid 20’s), and they were fantastic! They made me nervous too, actually. (I’m thinking more about their safety, rather than how cool it is that the three of them are stacked and balanced on ladders. I think I’m getting old! Hehe.) They did a catapult event even, and they shot one of the guys (who was on STILTS!) into the air backwards, and he landed on a floor pad! Whoa. During intermission Debi and I danced a little bit in the bleachers while we were waiting for the second part, and she told me about how she hates cotton candy.

After the circus we went for ice cream, and then headed back home. Janka, Katka, and I stayed for dinner at the pastor’s house and ate langose with Debi and Sara. Almost all through dinner I made faces at Debi, and she made faces at me, and we tried to imitate each other’s faces, and make weird noises. It was great fun! (Once again, being able to do stupid things with my face pays off.) Our night at the circus is one of the funnest things I’ve done this year in Slovakia, hands down.

The next night, while I was at the parsonage for a Dorast youth group meeting, and the youth group was sitting outside in a big circle. We had finished the Bible study and were just talking, hanging out, and I noticed that Debi had come out of the house. Almost everyone was engrossed in conversation (in Slovak, so I really wasn’t too engrossed), and Debi was just standing on the side of the circle with a scared and intimidated look on her face. She didn’t really know anyone there (she doesn’t live in or near Hybe), and there were so many people, and I think she felt overwhelmed. After a minute I caught her glance and motioned for her to come over by me, and her nervous look turned into a huge smile and she started to run over to me. It was so sweet, and I’ll never forget it.

A few days after the circus that Debi is sick, and has a kidney disease, and that she has spent SO many days of her short life in the hospital. My friend told me about her, “She has been in the hospital so MUCH, but she never complains. She just hugs her teddy bear, suffers quietly and takes it like a trooper.” She will probably continue to have health problems throughout her whole life, maybe problems working, or having children, or who knows what else. This just breaks my heart, and I wish such a young, sweet kid didn’t have to suffer. Does God have a reason for this? I don’t know. But it’s situations like this that are so confusing, and make me wonder that exact question. My prayer request this time is that you prayer for Debi to be healthy, safe, and happy! She deserves it.

Some other random highlights from this month: We got new fish! Sampson and Delilalah are the new members of our family, big goldfish, and they’re quite cute! And speaking of new members of the family, my host mom’s nephew Peter and his girlfriend Lucia got engaged in mid-May! There has been a lot of excitement about the wedding, where it will be held, pictures, dresses, etc. We’ve had a few coffee gatherings here that have ended in my host sisters, Lucia, and their cousins running around the house shrieking in potential dresses. They will be getting married this fall, and everyone is thrilled about the big event. As I said before, the weather this month has been quite nice, and everyone has been enjoying more time outside. Everyone in the community has been working hard on their gardens and is enjoying being outdoors. I’ve spent some time helping Zuzka with her fence (sanding and repainting), and have taken some great walks with her boys and niece and nephew. One of her nephews, Oliver, is a student at Hybe in one of the classes I help with, and it’s been exciting to try and communicate with him outside of school (because he’s MUCH more willing and interested! I tell the teachers at school about it and they can hardly believe it). We’ve played badminton a few times in the parsonage yard, so I’m attempting to improve my skills (a bit unsuccessfully though, but good fun). I took a quick trip to Budapest with some of the other volunteers and did some sightseeing in the wonderful city. We celebrated Mother’s Day at our church with a youth choir performance, had some of the younger kids read a poem during the service, and then everyone gave their moms a fresh tulip. It was fun to be able to give my host mom something for Mother’s Day, and she really liked that I gave her one (and apparently a few people who saw it were moved, and said that they cried!). I went to a football (soccer) game, Hybe’s team against Vavrisovo’s team, and although we lost it was an enjoyable afternoon.

Thank you all for reading and waiting for this month’s newsletter, apologies for my tardiness! If you get a chance and are interested, please check out my blogspot page: ashleyrenslovak.blogspot.com. I’m very grateful for your support! Hope all is well and take care!

Love, Ashley



Photo Captions:

Photo 1: Samko and Sara, Pastor Grega's kids, at the Gerlachov Retreat
Photo 2: Ad’a (the pastor’s wife) and my host mom helping in the kitchen at the Gerlachov retreat
Photo 3: The whole group from the Gerlachov retreat; me, my host sister Janka, my host mom Jana, all of the kids, Pastor Stano and his wife Ad’a, and their kids

School Photos and I'm Off Again!

So June has gone by in a whirlwind! As I type this, (early morning) I am hours from my last day of school. I finished at the boy's school in Liptovsky Hradok last week, and tomorrow is my last day at the primary school in Hybe. I can't believe it! Today I was at school to help teach the 5th class (10 and 11 year olds) their last English class for the year. I think they are my favorite class (they're the youngest group) because they are so willing to participate, and have fun attitudes. I've enjoyed my classes with them very much. They presented my with two postcards at the end of class. One has photos of Hybe on it, and every student in the class signed their name on the back, and they wrote their class and school address in the "to" space because they want me to write to them next year. I definitely plan on it! :) The second post card has photos of the Catholic Church in town (because the 3 main girls who put this together are Catholic). I was really happy to get the cards. This same class also wrote me a Valentine's Day note back in February, telling me that they really like it when I come to class. So sweet! Although tomorrow is my last official day of class, I will be going back to the school to say goodbye again next Tuesday, because they asked me to. They're such good kids.

After class was over, all of the teachers gathered out in the backyard of the school to take a staff photo for the year. They take their photos the way we used to in elementary school, with everyone posed and a board in front with the year and class number listed. They insisted that I be in the photo with them, and that was very nice. After the staff photo, the oldest class I help with (9th class, 14 and 15 year olds) took their picture and asked me to be in it too! As we were taking the pictures, almost every student in the entire school was hanging out of the open windows, saying "SYR!" (cheese in Slovak) and talking and laughing. It was a chaotic scene, pretty funny. I can feel so much more energy with the kids this week, I can tell they're pretty excited for their summer holiday!

Tomorrow I'm off again to Kosice, probably for the last time. Our German volunteer friend, Linda, is leaving soon and it's time to say goodbye. We are also going to deliver the scrapbook that all of us volunteers made for our program coordinator, Danka. She was with us throughout this year, and now she is on maternity leave and finishing her job. So we will be stopping by to visit her for the last time and give her the memory book. These will be my first goodbyes here. It's a bit strange for me to think about, and I think I've mostly avoided thinking about saying goodbye up until this point. Hopefully it will be ok. Tonight while I was making travel arrangements for this weekend, and for next weekend, and as I was thinking about travels in the past weeks, I was a bit sad. I haven't seen my host family much in June, and I'm feeling a bit sad to leave them again, even if it's just for the weekend. Everyone has been working more, and out and about more because of the weather, and just generally busy with summer craziness. I hope summer doesn't go by too fast, and I can fully take advantage of every opportunity I have left to spend with them. Saying goodbye will be tough.

Also, today is my sister Katka's 21st birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATKA!!!!!! :-) Vsetko najlepsie k narodeninam!

Until next time,
Ashley

Little Debi and the Aleš Circus

I’m going to write about this amazing little girl named Debi. Her full name is Debora (our version is Deborah, pronounced a bit differently), and her nicknames are Deborka and Debi. I like to call her Debi. She is SO. CUTE. And I’m pretty sure she’s the sweetest 5-year old I’ve ever met. She is so smiley, so loving, and kind-spirited. She has this wide smile with a big gap in the front where she lost her teeth, and little baby teeth poking out on each side. Cute! Debi is Ada's (the pastor’s wife) niece. She has a twin sister, and Debi is the younger of her two daughters.

In late-May, I had the AWESOME opportunity to go to the circus!! The CIRCUS!! I don’t know why I find this so crazy exciting, but I do! My host sisters had mentioned it a few weeks earlier that they could get discounted tickets, and that maybe we would go. MAYBE?! Let’s go!! What a great cultural experience…the circus! I’ve only been to a circus one other time in my life, and that was the Shrine Circus in 4th grade. I remember having a pretty great time there too, but most of what I remember is the glow stick necklaces whipping through my dark surroundings, and the Shrine Circus sippy souvenir cup I got (which I still have, by the way…that thing has an amazing lifespan). Anyways, I was quite excited for a foreign circus experience, but mostly just excited for the circus in general. Because who doesn’t love the circus?

I was even more excited when I found out that I was going with my sisters AND Debi and Sara! We get to go to the circus, and get to hang out with cute kids at the circus! I’d met Debi before, and knew who she was, but hadn’t really gotten a chance to hang out with her. She immediately yelled, “Ashley!” and grabbed for my hand, and started talking about her new jumper shirt that she was excited about wearing. Her and Sara both grabbed my hands, which made me feel pretty special! They both know Katka and Janka much better, and they can actually talk with them, so their excitement in seeing and hanging out with me felt pretty great. They wanted to sit by me on the bus and we spent the whole bus ride talking about which animal words they knew in English, and they knew quite a few. Horse was their favorite, and we spent a bit practicing how to say that, and I practiced in Slovak too; “kon.”

The circus was set up in a big open field, blocked off by red trucks that said, “Circus Aleš.” The circus was in an actual circus tent, a pretty decently sized red, white, and blue striped tent! We were standing in line for tickets, and I was bouncing around all wide-eyed, and I think my host sisters thought I was a bit crazy. I was more excited to see the circus than the 4 and 5 year old. Janka told me that last year’s circus had been in Hybe (I was a bit surprised, because Hybe is so small), and that they had taken Sara and Debi then too. Sara had started crying almost instantly because she was scared of the animals, BUT I’m happy to report that she didn’t cry this year! (Although, she looked close for about the first 20 minutes.) Anyways, I had a great time! Such fun, and innocent fun, and TONS of kids everywhere laughing and smiling. We even ran into Marek and Radko (Zuzka’s boys) with their grandpa, and they looked like they were having a lot of fun too.

I think I would’ve had a pretty good time anyway, but watching the circus with Debi on my lap made it that much better! I got to hear and see her reactions to everything, and so many times she turned around with wide eyes to ask me questions. Let me tell you, with the exception of Easter services, I have never wanted to understand or be able to speak decent Slovak more! (I think I’m doing well and improving all the time, but still have SO much to learn.) When I cute little kid at the circus asks you questions, all excited, it’s SO frustrating not to be able to tell her things. I did understand parts of what she said, and a few times I didn’t have to tap Janka on the shoulder (every other time I did, so Janka could answer Debi’s questions). A few times I just nodded along and said, “Yeah? Good!” because I didn’t have the heart to break up her excitement with “Sorry, I don’t understand those words in Slovak.”

Debi really liked the horses and the ponies. The first act was 4 ponies running in circles together, and two of the ponies had monkeys riding them on the back. So funny! We both laughed. They had a dog performance, and this cute gray poodle dog started walking around on his hind legs, and I squealed a bit! Haha! Debi even turned around to laugh at me a bit; she probably thought I was a little crazy. They had ponies, horses, dogs, lamas, camels, snakes, and rabbits. I figured that this circus would have mostly animal tricks and shows, since it was in a tent outside and in a rural area, but they surprisingly had a LOT of gymnasts and acrobat acts! I was impressed. They had gymnasts swinging on ropes, tangling themselves in sheets and hanging from the ceiling in many positions, a girl juggling things with her feet in crazy positions, and they even had a knife thrower! The knife thrower threw knives around his assistant’s body, against a board. I’d never seen this before. (It made me think of the classic “I Love Lucy” episode, where she’s in that position.) It was a bit unsettling though, actually, because the woman assistant at the board looked terrified! She didn’t look calm or collected, and wasn’t really composed, and just looked really nervous. Yikes! I was kind of glad when that part was finished, to be honest. Anyways, the entertainment was really amazing, and they had a lot of it! They had an acrobat team of three younger guys (I would guess mid 20’s), and they were fantastic! They made me nervous too, actually. (I’m thinking more about their safety, rather than how cool it is that the three of them are stacked and balanced on ladders. I think I’m getting old! Hehe.) They did a catapult event even, and they shot one of the guys (who was on STILTS!) into the air backwards, and he landed on a floor pad! Whoa. During intermission Debi and I danced a little bit in the bleachers while we were waiting for the second part, and she told me about how she hates cotton candy.

After the circus we went for ice cream, and then headed back home. Janka, Katka, and I stayed for dinner at the pastor’s house and ate langose with Debi and Sara. Almost all through dinner I made faces at Debi, and she made faces at me, and we tried to imitate each other’s faces, and make weird noises. It was great fun! (Once again, being able to do stupid things with my face pays off.) Our night at the circus is one of the funnest things I’ve done this year in Slovakia, hands down.

The next night, while I was at the parsonage for a Dorast youth group meeting, and the youth group was sitting outside in a big circle. We had finished the Bible study and were just talking, hanging out, and I noticed that Debi had come out of the house. Almost everyone was engrossed in conversation (in Slovak, so I really wasn’t too engrossed), and Debi was just standing on the side of the circle with a scared and intimidated look on her face. She didn’t know almost anyone there (she doesn’t live in or near Hybe), and there were so many people, and I think she felt overwhelmed. After a minute I caught her glance and motioned for her to come over by me, and her nervous look turned into a huge smile and she started to run over to me. It was so sweet, and I’ll never forget it.


A few days after the circus I learned that Debi is sick, and has a kidney disease, and that she has spent SO many days of her short life in the hospital. A friend told me about her, “She has been in the hospital so MUCH, but she never complains. She just hugs her teddy bear, suffers quietly and takes it like a trooper.” She will probably continue to have health problems throughout her whole life, maybe problems working, or having children, or who knows what else. This just breaks my heart, and I wish such a young, sweet kid didn’t have to suffer. Does God have a reason for this? I don’t know. But it’s situations like this that are so confusing, and make me wonder that exact question. My prayer request this time is that you prayer for Debi to be healthy, safe, and happy! She deserves it.







Pictures (from top to bottom): Debi (blonde hair) and Sara at the circus, the outside of the Circus Ales, the inside of the circus tent, my host sisters (Janka on the left, Katka on the right), Debi, and Sara, after the circus and ice cream.

I've Lost the Ability to Speak English

Just wanted to inform you all that I may or may not be able to speak in English when I return back to the U.S. in August. The other day I said, “Thanks, I had really much fun.” A few other highlights of mine in the past few weeks, “This kind is expensiver,” “he is such a pesk” (an awkward combination of pesky and pest), and “it takes basicer math.” Also, the words “borrow” and “lend” have become interchangeable in my brain, and when asked to explain the difference between the two words (a friend at school asked)…I explained the meaning of the two words and incorrectly used them, exactly OPPOSITE of how they’re supposed to be used. I've recently spent time traveling with the other volunteers, and we spent quite a bit of time laughing at each other’s inability to speak coherently. Many of our comments or stories ended with, “WHAT did I just say???” It should be interesting to be back in the U.S. (And how am I supposed to interview for jobs…with a degree in ENGLISH…hoping to get a job writing or editing in ENGLISH…Oh man.)

Daniel Vosair

So I mentioned in a previous blog that a man from Hybe had died in early May.

I decided to attend the funeral and pay my respects. I attended the funeral with my host sister Katka, Starka, and Starka’s daughters (Elena and Alica). Daniel Vosiar was a member of the adult choir in church, the one I attended and helped with (playing piano at rehearsals) for a while. He was 59 years old. He was born and raised in Liptovsky Mikulas and worked there for a majority of his life. The church was packed with people (like 4 times the amount of people who show up to regular church services), so that was really nice to see. The altar and pulpit were covered with black cloths, and every single person there was dressed in black from head to toe. I had to borrow some things from Katka, including shoes.

Before we left for the funeral, I kept thinking, I SHOULD know what he looks like, and I’m sure I would recognize him right away, but I can’t remember what he looks like now. I started looking through some of my pictures from when my family visited, because we attended an adult choir practice and took a few snapshots. I asked Katka to help me find him, and she found him in one of my pictures. “Ah, that’s him!” But it’s only a picture of his backside. Katka starting running through the photo albums they have on their computer, trying to find him in pictures of community events. She found two others, besides the one I had; one was of the back of his head, and his head was cut off the top of the photo in the other. It was a bit frustrating and eery, and I never did see an actual photo of him. There was just something sad about that, because I wanted to remember him and keep him in my memory, but without pictures it’s so difficult to hang on to the memory of him. Without pictures, memories can fade so quickly. Although I’ll never really be sure, I think I do remember him. At the second or third rehearsal I attended, things were getting more comfortable and I was talking to the choir members a bit more. After we had finished for the evening (around 6 pm), a few of the older men came up to me and were joking around a bit, trying to speak with me, and one was like, “Ok, we should go have wine now! Let’s all go have some wine! Come on!” And he was smiling and jabbing me in the shoulder, and he really wanted me to join the old guys for some wine. He was pretty jolly and friendly. This is the memory he will hold in my mind, whether or not it was actually him. I just wish I could remember what he looked like.

We used a special type of Spevnik (the Spevnik is the traditional book of worship for Slovak Evangelicals), used especially for funeral occasions. It was quite interesting. It’s a small black book with hymns, and the hymns are divided into different sections. The section used is specific to that person and/or how they passed (for example tragedy, old age, in battle, if they were children, etc). The service itself was quite formal, and there was very minimal crying. I think their perception of death is that it is very natural, a part of life, and it is less…emotional? (for lack of a better word…). I think that all humans, regardless of culture, mourn death, but I believe that some cultures individualize death more than others. (Remember, this is only my opinion, and an opinion formed on a service where I couldn’t understand words…). It felt like these people were dealing with his death in a very “matter of fact” type way. It felt like they were acknowledging him as an individual person, of course, but that they were also going through a traditional routine, acting with minimal emotion (on the outside, and keeping their emotions on the inside) and having another ceremony to acknowledge death in general. I hope you can follow my thoughts on this; it’s a bit difficult for me to explain.

At the end of the service, as the organ played loudly, Pastor (Pan Ferrar in Slovak) led everyone outside and onto the street. All of the people present at the funeral walked in a procession line down the main street of Hybe, about half a mile, to the cemetery. When we arrived at the cemetery, everyone one gathered in or around the Smutko Dom (the “sad house”). There is a smutko dom at every cemetery in Slovakia, and it is where Daniel was laying. Another interesting thing about the service itself at the church is that Daniel’s body wasn’t present. It was in the smutko dom, which is a small, wooden, chapel-type building with pews and a small front altar. Throughout the funeral day, the body of the person being mourned is put in the smutko dom, and then all of those who wish to are able to come and see him. (The situation is like our wake, except this is only on the same day as the funeral, and it doesn’t take place at a funeral home. Funeral homes don’t exist here.) The smutko dom was jam packed, and the rest of us circled around the open doorways and once again pulled out our books to sing. After about another half hour of hymns, prayers, and words from the pastor, the pallbearers carried Daniel’s closed casket out to the hearse, which was waiting at the cemetery gates. Once the casket was put inside, we continued to sing around the hearse for another 15 minutes or so. I was quite confused while this was going on, wondering where they would take his body, on his funeral day, other than to his gravesite. I was informed later that he was being taken to the crematorium to be cremated, and that he would later be brought back to the cemetery to be buried at his plot. I guess the casket only serves the purpose of presentation for the body during it’s time spent in the smutko dom.

After Daniel was taken away, some people left, but most of the people started walking through the cemetery. I guess this is the time that everyone visits their loved ones buried in the same cemetery. On the way to the Turcanova family’s gravesites, Katka and I had a big discussion about what was going on. She was helpful and explained a lot to me, and she also taught me new funeral words in Slovak. “Pohreb” is funeral, “hrob” is grave, and “kazet” is casket. On our trip through the cemetery, I was shown the gravesites of Starka’s parents, Starka’s brother, Starka’s husband, and Elena’s husband. We stopped at each for a bit, and Starka, Elena, and Alica spent a decent amount of time ripping dandelions and weeds out of each plot to make them look nicer. Each gravesite (or at least each one that I’ve seen) has it’s own individual platform base, or box around the border, and many real flowers and plants can be planted within the boxes. Anyways, it was a nice experience, and it made me feel closer to them and like I was a part of the family. It especially helped with Starka, because some days I just get so frustrated with her. Seeing her silently visit her family’s gravesites, and my being able to see the graves myself and learn about who they were, helped me to see Starka as more of a real person. That sounds a bit strange, but there are times when I just get caught up with “the crabby old lady that lives in our house” or “the lady that barks at me about how I don’t eat enough food,” and I forget that she has this past. She has a past, her life, where so many of the people she loved were alive and she was young and vibrant. It’s especially difficult to see her as a person at times because I can’t REALLY understand her personality from the words she says, and I can’t ask her about her past experiences, or ask her about her family. I like to think she had a similar moment of realization when my family came to visit. Like she saw more depth to me, and I wasn’t just “this weird silent American girl who lives in their house” or “this girl who makes her crazy because she doesn’t eat enough.” She was able to understand a bit more about me by meeting my family, and just by being reminded that I DO have a family, and a life she doesn’t really know about.

We all went for a short walk after our time in the cemetery together, and then we headed to Elena’s house for coffee. And there, Starka proceeded to bark at me about how I should put sugar in my coffee, and that I SHOULD eat more cakes and cookies. But this time I didn’t mind so much, and it felt a bit different.

So I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked…and back to the point of this entry…I have a prayer request. Please say a prayer for the family and friends of Daniel Vosair. May he rest in peace.

Slovak Football

I really enjoy watching soccer (“football” in Europe), and I wish the sport were more popular in the United States! Bummer. Anyways, I had a nice time last week at the football game in Hybe: Hybe v.s. Vavrisovo (a nearby village). (The league is community, and for any men over the age of 18.) Unfortunately, Hybe lost 4-1, and everyone joked about how bad the team was. I even heard “please God, help them because they’re terrible” a few times. I didn’t think they were that bad, and it was entertaining to watch, and fun to be at an event where I could root for a Hybe team! Also, the football field is at the opposite side of the village, and I’d never been over there until last weekend. It’s a nice, elevated area, with a good view of the village and Krivan Mountain. Here are some photos I took at the game. Hybe players are in red, Vavrisovo players in blue.

My Trip to the Ukraine

So in preparation of coming to Slovakia, I had to do some paperwork and background checks to apply for my yearlong temporary residence permit in Slovakia. For foreigners visiting Slovakia for longer than 90 days, this is required. It is referred to as a "permit" rather than a "visa" because it is issued within the foreign country when a person has already arrived there. Anyways, so we prepared the necessary documents for our permit, and all of us volunteers individually visited the police stations in our separate areas to solidify our permits. Well, the police in my area, for reasons nobody understands (I guess sometimes it just depends on the specific city's department), did not like my information and documents and didn't give me a residence permit (luckily, the other volunteers didn't have problems with this). After 5 trips to the station my program decided to cancel my permit, and I was then declared a "tourist" for the rest of my year here in Slovakia.

In March I made a trip to the Ukraine to meet with Daniela, my program coordinator, so we could cross the Slovak/Ukraine border, in order to get a passport stamp to prove that I had left Slovakia and wasn't here for longer then 90 days. It was an interesting experience! I felt sort of strange about the situation, like I was a questionable foreigner sneaking around, fleeing from country to country to avoid getting in trouble with the law. HA, dramatic, but a funny thought. I guess this situation happens sometimes, and our program has had to deal with the situation before, so it’s really not a big deal. At first it was a bit irritating, because of the time and money spent this summer trying to obtain documents and background checks, but it has actually been a pretty entertaining experience and funny story to tell, so I’m glad it worked out this way!

I met up with Daniela and fellow volunteer Mary (near her placement’s village) so that we could cross the border together. Mary didn’t need a stamp and was just along for the experience, and it was fun to have her with us! We traveled by car to the borderline, next to this small desolate village in Eastern Slovakia, parked her brother’s car in a nearby lot, and joined the long line trailing up to the border’s checkpoint. We took a few pictures from a distance of the checkpoint, and then stood around for almost an hour. Then Daniela came up to us and informed us that she had noticed a sign that stated U.S. citizens would NOT be able to cross at this point. She double-checked with a guard at the line, and sure enough, we weren’t able to cross. Confused and irritated, we got back in the car and came up with another plan to drive to another border crossing, about an hour’s drive away.

We went to the small village of Ubl’a and made a second attempt, and we were successful! It was sort of a long and quiet process with Mary and I standing there quietly not really understanding what was going on. This border checkpoint wasn’t in or near a village, but out in the middle of nowhere, so the whole borderline area was eerily quiet. We again parked the car in a side lot and joined the line to walk over the border instead. While I waited for them to check my forms and passport, and I glanced around and quietly gawked at the welcoming signs for the Ukraine. And I thought Slovak was difficult…I’m quite happy that I wasn’t a volunteer in the Ukraine, due to the fact that the language looks horribly scary (their letters are more symbol-like, and nothing like the English language, or Slovak). When we were finally let through, we went “shopping,” which was walking about a mile down this deserted ditch area towards the gas station and square of 4 small shops. We stopped at each shop and bought a few things, and asked if we could get Ukrainian Hryvna (their currency) in change as a souvenir for our trip. The woman at the first shop was really sweet and gave us some coins. I purchased some strawberry ice cream, which was really tasty, and Mary and I both bought a bottle of vodka for our host families. Her host dad and my host mom had a birthday in the same coming week, so we bought them a small bottle as a gift from our trip. (My host mom thought the gift was HILARIOUS because she’d been joking for almost two weeks prior to my trip that I should buy a nice bottle of Russian vodka when I crossed the border, pointing out this commercial on TV over and over. So I actually bought a bottle to be funny. I knew she was kidding and that she would think I was crazy, and that I didn’t understand her encouragement to buy Russian booze was only a joke. And I was right; it’s exactly how she reacted. Too funny!)

We were in Velykyj Bereznyj, Ukraine for a grand total of about 45 minutes, and then we crossed back into Slovakia and went home. So now I can tell people about how I went to the Ukraine for the afternoon to buy strawberry ice cream and vodka! The first picture posted is of Mary and I standing in the ditch, about halfway between the checkpoint and gas station/shop area, holding our gifts of vodka. The second picture is of us walking back into Slovakia. As we were walking back to the borderline, we saw a lineup of about 20 cars waiting to cross over, so we were really glad that we decided to cross the border by foot instead. As we walked by, one guy (who was just hanging out beside his car, eating part of a sandwich) asked us if we were hungry and offered us part of his sandwich! Haha! That’s a typical Slovak for you, always hospitable and offering food, even to strangers, on the side of a road and practically in a ditch.

Things that make you go....huh?

When us volunteers got together for a weekend back in April, we were exchanging stories and trying to understand some strange health concerns we’ve heard at our placements. We compiled a little list, and hopefully we will add to this in our remaining months. I just thought I’d share some of them with you.

-Breast-feeding up until the age of 5 years old is acceptable.
-It is dangerous to sleep in the same room as the computer, whether it is on or off, because it will make you sick and give you diseases.
-You shouldn’t sit on the ground if you are a woman, inside or outside, because then you won’t be able to have children.
-If you don’t wear socks indoors, you will get sick.
-If you don’t wear slippers, you will get sick. (Keep in mind that they often times don’t use soap or hot water to wash their dishes, but then blame my sicknesses on not wearing slippers in a decently heated house.)
-Going outside with wet hair is a death wish. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like.
-If you drink cold things, you will get sick. It will make your throat hurt.
-If you don’t put sugar in your coffee, it’s not healthy.
-It is really dangerous to wear your hair binder around your wrist.

Out Walking with Marek and Radko

Here are a few more pictures from a morning hike me and Kristen took with both of Zuzka's boys!