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!

Radko's Reaction

So in my last newsletter I mentioned that I had a photo of Radko's face (Zuzka's younger son), reacting to my stupid cheek-flapping thing. So just wanted to share the picture with everybody. He is adorable, and I'm excited I can make him laugh from time to time! :)

Lunch Table Talk

Just a quick post about something I heard today during lunch at school. I have a meal plan set up with the school, so I eat there every day, regardless of whether I'm teaching that day or not. Pretty good food, for the most part! One of the main cooks is Zuzka Zikova's sister-in-law, and she's really sweet! Anyways.

The teachers were irritated today because a law was recently passed in Slovakia, that starting next school year the students in the primary schools (elementary schools) will have to start learning two languages. They currently study Slovak and grammar, and they are required to learn a second language. Well, now they will have to learn a third also. The teacher's were venting about the Slovak school system, and how it's a bit ridiculous for the young kids to have to work on 3 languages at once. Especially since the new third language will have such little class time per week that they will barely benefit from it or learn anything. They learn english as their second language, and they will choose from German or Spanish for their third language.

They were also discussing the upcoming change of currency. Starting in 2009, Slovakia will be on the Euro, getting rid of Slovak crowns. From the reactions I've witnessed, it seems everyone is quite nervous about it, and a bit irritated. It seems a bit sad to me, since I think currency is such a unique and interesting difference in each country. But now each country is joining the European Union, one by one, (Slovakia had it's accession into the EU in 2004) and eventually changing over to the EU. It will "help their economy greatly" many people say, but the people of Hybe seem nervous and a bit doubtful. Everything will be more expensive because of the currency conversion rate. Also, everyone is a bit irritated because they will mainly be using coins with the Euro, and they currently use more paper bills with crowns. I was watching a news report on TV awhile ago with my family, "Our Wallets Will be Heavier Next Year." I'm glad I'm here to use the Slovak koruny while it's still around.

*This is a picture of a few Slovak koruny, paper bills. 20 sk is equal to about $1.00 U.S., 200 sk about $10.00, and 500 sk about $25.00



To see pictures of the upcoming Slovak Euro coins, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_euro_coins

Each individual country of the EU has coins designed specifically for their country, similar to each U.S. state having their own uniquely designed quarter backing. Slovakia will have coins with their Coat of Arms, Krivan mountain (really close to Hybe), and the Bratislava Castle.

Some Current Happenings

Hi everybody! I wanted to wish all moms a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!! (Especially mine, Love you Mom!)

In honor of Mother's Day, the youth choir performed during church this Sunday. They sang two songs, both related to moms and family in some way, and a few of the youngest kids said a little poem and few words (pretty cute!). Then all of the kids took a red or yellow tulip (freshly cut, the flowers are really blooming here) and a Mother's Day card, and headed out into the congregation to present their gifts. The cards had a short poem, something like, "Dear God, Thank you for the angel you gave to me, my mom." I gave a card and tulip to my host mom, Jana, and she was grateful and kissed me on the cheek. When we left church, she had a rose and card from me, from Janka, from Katka, and from Zuzka M. (one of my host sisters' best friend), and she was beaming with pride. It was pretty cute!

On a sad note, an older man from the village went missing last week on Thursday, and then was found in the river in Hybe on Friday evening. They aren't sure what happened, I guess he had some medical problems and was taking heavier medication, amongst other things. Please pray for his family and friends, and the people of Hybe. He is at peace now. They announced his death a few days ago on the Hybe loudspeaker (like they usually do with every death in the village). Every village has a loudspeaker, for general announcements, folk music, etc. They play a specific song to go along with each death announcement, and the song is suprisingly cheerful! Well, actually not really cheerful, but it sounds sort of grand and stoic, and honorable, rather than mournful and sad. I like that, helps them go out and style and puts a positive feel to their memorial. At least in my mind it does, anyway, I'm not really sure how the Slovaks feel about it.

Our family made a visit to mother Jana's sister's house in Vychodna (the neighboring village). At first we were all planning to take the bus together because the car was broken, apparently, but at the last minute I was informed that, "the car is only a little broken, so we can drive it now." HA, um...alright....(Luckily we just sort of drive their old bomber red car putzily from village to village on back roads.) So we took a family roadtrip.

Anyways, Jana's sister is Hana, Hana's husband is Marion (who told me I LOVE YOU in english many times on my first day in Hybe, because it was at Hana's 50th birthday party, and everyone had been drinking for like 6 hours prior...) and their kids are Peter and Hana (Hanka, since she is the younger generation). We had cakes and coffee, and usually when we do this I tend to zone out. They speak really quickly and I sort of automatically tune out, but during this visit I understood a lot more of their Slovak conversation than normal, so that's really exciting! I've been practicing more with Zuzka at school, and that helps. It's easier to remember words and phrases when I have a funny memory or situation to associate with it. My host sisters taught me how to say, "I'm here for cake!" and made me say it when we arrived at their house. Katka and Janka had a good time telling their aunt about how they hit a wild pig on the road with the Pastor's car, while their friend was driving it (long story...), and I was able to laugh a little along with them! Really nice. I haven't really been able to understand jokes or funny stories (in Slovak) for 9 months or so now, so I feel like I'm finally making more progress.

The other day I went to the city of Martin, for the first time, on a little trip with my host sister Katka! We met up with her friend from school (also Katka, and she speaks some english too!) and took the bus, a train, and then another bus to Martin. We went to the Slovak National Library. Katka and Katka both are students, studying at the Catholic University in the city of Ruzomberok. Katka (my sister) comes home every weekend and stays until Monday morning, then leaves again, then returns home Thursday night. BUT....she just took her final exams today and now she will be home for the summer!! I'm pretty excited I will see her more often now. :) She is studying education for children with special needs. She has spent many hours in the past month or so watching sign language study videos, practicing for her final exam. Pretty interesting to watch, I've never really learned any sign language.

Anyways, also in Martin, we shopped around in the city center, (after finding the books they needed to order from the library), and then went for pizza. I LOVE PIZZA. And I really miss American pizza. The pizza here is still good, but I miss pizza with tomato sauce (they use ketchup here instead...they also use ketchup for spaghetti) and almost every type of Slovak pizza is loaded with corn and ham. It's usually pretty good, but I miss American pizza. (I was spoiled in college...I had a roomate that worked for Pizza Hut and brought home free leftover pizza quite often.) Anyways, pizza was good, and we went for ice cream afterwards. I had blueberry ice cream, and I ordered it and got to practice my pronounciation, "čučoriedka." Tasted great too. Me and Katka were full and slept on the train and bus rides home and almost missed Hybe. Luckily Katka woke up when the bus stopped at our stop and jumped up, whacked my shoulder, and we made it off the bus in time.

Katka got new fish!! They are very cute, big mouths, orange and white, named Sampson and Delilah. I hope these guys stick around for a long time. It's nice to see a fresh tank with fish in the kitchen again, after a few months of just snails and a dying plant.

A few weeks ago I had a really fun night at the parsonage! I went over to visit Ad'a (the pastor's wife) and their kids, Sara and Sam. Most of the time it was just me and the kids hanging out, and we had a great time!! :) We had yogurt together, they tried to teach me a few songs in Slovak, and we played Pexeso together. (Pexeso is basically memory, matching the cards into pairs, and the pairs have one item labeled in English and one in Slovak, so we can learn new words together.) And we also hung out in their room and they showed me a cd of kiddie english songs they have, and asked me if I knew each one. I knew most of them, and we could sing along together! (Somewhat, because Samko had no idea what he was singing, kind of like me trying to sing along at church and youth worhips in Slovak). It was a great time, and hopefully I will be visiting their house more often from now on.

I'll end with some Starka stories. Last week I was sitting in the kitchen with my host mom and sisters, Starka's daughter, sister, and grandaugther. I was just sipping my coffee when Starka came right up to me and started barking something at me. Like usual, I didn't understand (she always uses slang words, and she has no patience, so she never slows down or really tries to communicate with me effectively). I just kept saying, "What? I don't understand." Then she just started saying (in Slovak, of course), "Come here! Let's go! GO!"

"GO WHERE?!"

Finally Janka translated, after everyone was cracking up, that Starka wanted me to come to the gas station, just outside of the village, with her and Jan because they needed to fill up their gas tank for the car. So I went, and we had a nice little drive. While Jan was in the station, me and Starka sat in the car and tried to have a little conversation about the weather (it was raining a bit). Haha! Our conversations are pretty short and ridiculous, funny usually. Jan came back and gave us chocolate covered banana candy bars, and I was pretty excited.

Also, on Mother's Day dinner at home, Starka was helping cook the meat. She put all of the finished pork paddies in a plastic container in two piles and set them on the table. I thought nothing of it and grabbed a paddy to put on my plate. Then I heard Starka behind me yelling, "Mine! Mine!" And then she came over and stole my paddy from my plate! With her bare hands. Apparently she had chosen a special paddy for herself, but then didn't put it on her plate in the first place....? It was in "the hot pile" and I was supposed to take from "the cold pile". (Slovaks, or at least my host family, have a strange thing with food being too hot or cold...they think hot food is bad.) Anyways, we all laughed about it, pretty crazy. I swear, some days she's just a feisty and stubborn little kid trapped in the body of an 81 year old.

Captions for the Picture Load

(from top to bottom):

1. Me hanging out with Zuzka's son Marek, making stupid faces.
2. Group picture from when Kristen came to visit. Me, Zuzka, Marek, and Kristen
3. Youth Choir rehersal
4. Me with the sheep! This is out back behind my house family's house.
5. My host mom with the family milk cow.
6. Bryndzové halusky, in the making. This is traditional Slovak food (halusky are potato dumplings, and Bryndza is a type of sheep's cheese, and fried bacon bits are also put on top when it is served).
7. My mom and my host mom. The two moms!
8. Me, my dad, and brother, in the Bratislava airport when they arrived!
9. The Hybe primary school, where I help teach english.
10. Katka, Starka, me, and Janka
11. The daughters and dads: Katka, my dad Steve, me, my host dad Jan, and Janka
12. Me with the cooks at Hybe school: Sona and Zuzka.
13. Me and Jake in Liptovsky Hradok
14. Me & Zuzka in her classroom, at the boys school I help teach at in Liptovsky Hradok.
15. Me and my host sisters!
16. The whole group, the two families: host dad Jan, brother Jake, dad Steve, me, host mom Jana, host sister Janka, host sister Katka, and Starka.
17. Cross emblem on the Slovak flag's Coat of Arms.