My Slovak Christmas! (part 2)

One of my favorite Christmas experiences was spending time at the Christmas Market, both in the capital city of Bratislava, and in Vienna (we made a day trip during our Thanksgiving retreat). They had many hot baked snacks and desserts, and they always serve both red and white hot wine. I enjoyed Christmas shopping there because of the variety of stands! Many shops had crafty Christmas ornaments or stockings, some had handmade jewelry, hats, or bags. There were shops with music, shops with candles, shops with ceramic and glass decorations and knick knacks, puppets, almost anything you could think of. There were big beautiful trees lit up at both markets, and the Vienna market was especially beautiful because it was in front of a cathedral and had thousands of lights. I'm happy that I got to visit both of these markets with my fellow volunteers, and glad that they were in November. It really helped get me into the holiday spirit early on!

The high school I help teach at had a Christmas/end of the semester party. I went to the event not really knowing what to expect and found out that their "party" was sort of like a talent competition. Each class group had a chance to prepare some kind of skit, lip sync song & dance, or musical number. They competed against each other (all of the teachers were the judges) for the prize of one free day off from school! Not a bad prize :-) There was an interesting variety of things, everything from singing traditional Slovak Christmas carols, to playing scenes from the "Sister Act" movies, to imitating the Spice Girls and characters from Baywatch. I'm not really sure if Baywatch or the Spice Girls are very "Christmasy," but it was entertaining anyway. I got to put in a vote for the winner, and they made me and Mirke go up onto the stage and announce the winner! I think the students liked me more after I told them that they could have a free day off from school! Through the school I was also invited to the staff banquet. It turned out to be quite nice, and at a fancier restaurant, and the food was fantastic! I really enjoyed working with the teachers from Obchodna Akademia, even though I couldn't speak to most of them. I was taking Slovak language lessons from one of the lower-level English teachers, and she was enthusiastic about baking me Slovak Christmas cookies. She gave me a LARGE bag full.

I also spent some time before Christmas with my friend Beata (the other English teacher I work with) and her family. Beata enjoys Christmas, but doesn't really care about decorating...SO I volunteered to decorate her Christmas tree for her and she agreed! I spent the evening decorating their tree with her older son Stanko (age 7), and we also decorated his little tree in the boys' room. Her younger son Marek (age 3) came back the next morning and we had tea and chocolate cakes together. I also spent time at Beata's sister's house. Edita and her family have also been really sweet and welcoming, so I was happy to celebrate with them too. I got in a little food preparation for their Christmas dinner, and of course we had a few glasses of plum brandy (Slivovica, traditional Slovak drink). We also watched "Home Alone" dubbed in Slovak, and I helped her two younger kids give the family dog a bath. Not the first thing I imaginaed myself doing in Slovakia on Christmas, but it turned out to be pretty fun!

I spent Christmas Eve at the center with the residents and nurses. We had a special Christmas Eve service in the center before dinner. The chapel room was decorated with a big tree, loaded with gold tinsel. There was also a big nativity scene at the front, along with lit wooden window hangings in each window. Very pretty, and we sang "Silent Night" in Slovak! I sang part in English for tradition's sake, and attempted the rest in Slovak. After church we had a big dinner together. Almost all of the residents came down to the dining room to be together, even the ones who usually choose to stay in their rooms for meals. It is Slovak tradition to have fish for their Christmas meal, because they aren't supposed to eat meat at all on Christmas day. We also had special waffles with honey(not like ours, but crispy, thin and stiff with cream in the middle. We had warm grape juice and there were baskets of fruit everywhere! Potato salad (pretty similar to ours) is also a traditional Christmas food here. After dinner I said goodnight to the residents and went to visit a few of my favorites and spend some time with them. I visited the room of two sisters, Emilia and Judita, and they offered me many treats and cakes as I tried to have another Slovak conversation with them. These two are amazing, and I enjoyed spending time with them and hearing about their family. They asked if I liked the Christmas service earlier that night and I told them I did. Then Judita just randomly started singing "Silent Night" in Slovak, and Emilia joined in. It was really amazing, and I eventually joined in and sang in English with them. I think this was my favorite thing I did this Christmas!

I eventually hung out with Zuza at the end of the night. We exchanged gifts we watched fairy tales (one similar to Cinderella that's really famous in Slovakia). Watching Christmas movies (either American or Czech usually), Slovak or Czech fairytales, and other random movies (Finding Nemo is popular for Christmas time) is a big Christmas tradition here.

I didn't even realize how many different ways I celebrated Christmas this year until I started writing these blogs...all in all it was a pretty wonderful and unique holiday season!!

My Slovak Christmas! (part 1)

Ok, so I'm in my new placement now, but I'd like to jump back to Koseca days and write a few more blogs for you (since things were hectic with holidays, travel, and placement switching for the last month).

My Christmas celebrating started much earlier this year in Slovakia (which I was quite excited about, because I love Christmas time!) because they celebrate the coming of Mikulas. Mikulas is a lot like our Santa Claus, except he comes on December 6th instead of the 24th. The children leave their actual shoes on the window ledges and Mikulas comes and fills them with candy and sweets (and the presents come later on). Like our tradition of leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus, the children here leave shots or small glasses of alcohol for Mikulas (because the very hospitable people of Slovakia usually give their guests some kind of alcohol, no matter what time of the day it is). On the night of December 24th, Jezisko comes (which translates into "Little Jesus") and brings gifts to everyone. I've tried to ask about this "Little Jesus" several times, because it's kind of amusing (and we thought the U.S. had the tendency to mix commercialism with the true meaning of Christmas, haha! just kidding), but none of the Slovaks have really been able to explain it to me and usually end up smiling. They still consider the 25th of December Christmas day, but nothing really happens on this day. They mainly celebrate on the 24th.

So on the 6th of December, Mikulas came to Koseca and I got a LOT of candy and treats! To me it seemed like this day was almost more popular than actual Christmas time. Everyone I know gave me chocolate of some kind...boxes of chocolate, chocolate candy bars, and chocolate wrapped Christmas tree ornaments (which are common in tree decorating here). I also got two Advent calenders with chocolate pieces in them, so I was set for chocolate for the next two months at least. We had an Advent celebration every Sunday of December, which was meeting together to have prayers and sing traditional hymns before dinner started in the evening.

I love to decorate for Christmas (like my mom), and so she helped me out this year by sending Christmas in a box! I got a stocking, a mini Christmas tree, mini gingerbread men and ornaments, green garland, red and silver garland, lights, and my favorite Christmas item from home (a little electronic bear that you plug lights into, and then the lights blink to the songs the bear plays). I also had a giant door hanging of Santa Claus on the door of my room. Everyone was entertained by my Christmas spirit, and impressed with my decorating skills! (Haha, ok probably not impressed, but I think they really enjoyed them too) And I also bought snowflake and angel window clings to put on my window, Zuza's window, the nurse's room window, and the Common Room window upstairs. I also tried to play what Christmas music I could find (old Nsync Christmas music, Trans-Siberian Orchestra stuff, and a new Slovak SuperStar Christmas tunes), so I was a Christmas spaz! I enjoyed it. :-)

I spent time with both of the teachers I work with at school (and their families) for the holidays too! I went to Mirka's house and made sugar cookies with her and her daughter Martina and son Oliver (13 and 15). It was my favorite cookie recipe from home, and fun to try to make over here! We had to substitute a few ingredients that can't be found here, but they still turned out good! We added chocolate syrup and nuts on the outsides, and had fun cutting the cookies and trying not to burn them! I also helped her son Oliver with his homework (thinking of Christmas words and phrases in English). I also joined them at Martina's dance club recital a few days before Christmas and it was pretty entertaining! Kids of all ages dancing, for hours and hours (Mirka's husband kept saying "I'm suffering..." and he was pretty funny). The day before Christmas Eve, I went to the Ceramic Club, which is a pottery class that Mirka's friend Sonja (who is blind and speaks only German and Slovak)holds every week. I went there in October for the first time and made (or at least attempted) a ceramic fish candle holder. When I came back for this Christmas party, I got to paint it and finish decorating it, with Christmas garland and berries and gold tinsel. It turned out nicely! I spent some time playing darts, pool, and foosball. I also finally got to meet Mirka's oldest daughter Romanka, who spent a year in the U.S. (in Oregon) as a foreign exchange student. I enjoy Mirka and her family very much, and was happy to be a part of their celebrating this year!

(part 2 coming soon....)

New Contact Information

Hello everybody!!

Just wanted to write and tell you that I am now situated in Hybe, Slovakia with my new host family, and it's GREAT! :-) I don't know exactly what my work here will entail, but i'll find out soon and keep you posted. I have a really good feeling about this placement because the church community seems very involved and welcoming! Anyways, here is my new address:

Ashley Severson
c/o Jana Turčanova
Hybe 572
032 31
Slovakia


Ok, i'll be in touch again soon with blog posts and newsletters...sorry it's been awhile!

Until next time,
Ashley

New Placement for the New Year

Just wanted to send a quick note out to let you know that I will be changing placements. As of the 12th, I will be in Hybe, Slovakia, instead of Koseca. The change happened because there just isn't enough of a program (enough to do) set up here for me, and lack of communication with staff. These things happen, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to get involved with another community and having a host family! :-) More details later.Take care all!

Also, if you by chance have something to send to me by mail, please wait until I get a new address and send it there. If you have sent something here already, it's ok, Diakonia will forward it to me. :0)

Merry Christmas!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Very MERRY CHRIMSTAS!!! and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! :-) Hope everyone is well and enjoying the Holiday Time!

Today is the 24th and it is now officially CHRISTMAS in Slovakia!! Today I will be at the center with Zuza, the residents and some nurses celebrating with a special Christmas service and dinner. I will write more about it later! Take care everyone, and God Bless!

"Dreaming Upside Down"

Check out this poem, "Dreaming Upside-Down" by Tom Peterson. I first heard this at our program orientation in August and it stuck in my mind, so I emailed our presenter and had him send it to me. Read it and share your reaction, if you'd like. It's hard-hitting and puts things into perspective.

***
Dreaming Upside-Down
by Tom Peterson

"I dreamed the other night that all the maps in the world had been turned upside down. Library atlases, roadmaps of Cincinnati, wall-sized maps in the war rooms of the great nations, even antique maps with such inscriptions as "Here be Dragons" were flipped over. What had been north was now south, east was west. Like a glob of melting vanilla ice cream, Antarctica now capped schoolroom globes.

In my dream, a cloud of anxieties closed around me. The United States was now at the bottom. Would we have to stand upside-down, causing the blood to rush to our heads? Would we need suction-cup shoes to stay on the planet, and would autumn leaves fall up? No, I remembered, an apple once bopped Newton on the head - no need to worry about these things.

Other things troubled me more. Now that we're at the bottom, would our resources and labor be exploited by the new top? Would African, Asian, and Latin American nations structure world trade to their advantage?

Would my neighbors and I have two-dollars-a-day seasonal jobs on peach and strawberry plantations? Would the women and children work from dusk to dawn to scratch survival from the earth of California and Virginia? Would the fruit we picked be shipped from New Orleans and New York for children in Thailand and Ethiopia to hurriedly eat with their cereal so they wouldn't miss the school bus? Would our children, then, spend the morning, not in school, but fetching water two miles away and the afternoon gathering wood for heating and cooking? Would a small ruling class in this country send their daughters and sons to universities in Cairo and Buenos Aires?

Would our economy be dependant upon the goodwill and whims of, say, Brazil? Would Brazil send war planes and guns to Washington, D.C. to assure our willingness to pick apples and tobacco for export while our children went hungry? Would Brazil and Vietnam fight their wars with our sons in our country? Would we consider revolution?

If we did revolt, would the Philippino government plot to put their favorite U.S. general in power, and then uphold him with military aid?

Would we work in sweatshops manufacturing radios for the Chinese? Would our oil be shipped in tankers to Southeast Asia to run their cars, air-conditioning and microwave ovens while most of our towns didnąt even have electricity?

Would top of the world religious leaders call us stubborn pagans upon whom God's judgement had fallen, causing our misery? Would they proclaim from opulent pulpits that if we simply turned to God, our needs would be met?

In my dream, I saw child crying in Calcutta. Her parents wouldn't buy her any more video games until her birthday. I saw her mother drive to the supermarket and load her cart with frozen and junk food, vegetables, cheese, meat, and women's magazines.

I also saw a mother in Houston baking bread in an earthen oven. She had been crying because there were no more beans for her family. One of her children listlessly watched her. He was a blond boy, about six years old. He slowly turned his empty, haunting gaze toward me.

At that point I awoke with a gasp. I saw I was in my own bed, in my own house. It was just a bad dream. I drifted back to sleep, thinking, "It's all right, I'm still on top.

Thank God!"

My ABC's of Slovakia

So I threw this together the other day...I thought it was fun to come up with as random a mix of experiences as I could! Here you go! Enjoy :-)

Angry Tesco cashiers yelling at me because I’m trying to pay for things in the WRONG aisle
*I tried to buy a hair dryer at a Tesco store in the wrong department, and she yelled at me but I couldn’t understand her.

Big giant cemeteries….where are you Beethoven?
*Me and the other volunteers spent almost 2 hours in the Central Cemetery in Vienna, trying to find Beethoven’s and other dead composers’ gravesites, but weren’t successful. We didn’t realize that there were MILLIONS of gravestones in there.

Chicaga! Americanka! Dobrovolnicka!
*The resident Jan Danko at our center calls me “Chicago” or “American” or “Volunteer”. He can’t remember my name, so he usually calls me one of these, or a combination of these. I’ve also tried, as well as the nurses, to explain where I’m from, but nobody knows what Minnesota is. And Chicago is the closest thing he recognizes.

Daj si!
*I hear this phrase a hundred times every day. It’s “help yourself”. If I’m sitting somewhere without food or a drink in my hand, they insist that I eat/drink whatever is around. They aren’t satisfied unless I have food.

Elan!
*They are a really popular music group from Slovakia, and apparently friends of Zuza’s. Sometimes we have tomato soup with alphabet letter noodles for dinner at the center, and Zuza spends a good ten minutes looking through the noodles, trying to find the letters to write out “Elan is the best” in Slovak. She gets really excited and is so proud of herself when she shows me.

Frank and Frank and Frank
*There is a construction project next door to the center, and Frantisek and his son Franktisek (Frank is the American version of the Slovak name) come every week to help. During weeknights, me and Zuza and Frank and Frank get together in her room and try to have conversations. Also, Frankie Sinatra (Zuza’s bird) entertains us every night.

Garbage Incinerator, but no Hundertwausserhaus?
*When I was in Vienna with the other volunteers, we decided we wanted to visit the Hundertwausserhaus. The German artist Hundertwausser helped design this funky house. It has uneven layers, crazy paint jobs and designs, and trees growing from the inside out. We never found the house, but there was a giant garbage incinerator in the area that was painted like the actual house.

Halusky
*This is the traditional Slovak dish. It’s pasta noodles with a special kind of goat’s cheese. It’s pretty good!

Inka speaking to me like a dog, “Krausave, Pani Krausave!”
*One of the nurses, Inka, speaks to me like I’m a dog. I don’t think she has any experience talking to foreigners. Note to all: speaking louder and closer to my face WON”T help me understand better. :-)

Janka, Lubo and El Dorado
*Janka is the first friend (well, friend my age anyway) I met in Koseca. She’s a student at village like 30 km from Koseca, but she comes to Diakonia sometimes to help clean and visit. When she comes into town on the weekends, she always comes to pick me up and we go out for a drink at the pub El Dorado (which is pretty much the only place to go in Koseca, so it’s pretty popular!). We usually meet up with her cousin Lubo too, and I attempt to have conversations with him in Slovak (usually about motorcycles, because he loves them) because he doesn’t speak any English.

Knedla, four pieces instead of two
*Knedla is a type of bread, potato bread, that is another popular and traditional food in Slovakia. It’s usually served with a sauce, cabbage, and chunks of beef or pork. When the cook insists dishing up my food for me, and asks me “how many pieces do you want,” I always say two, but I get four pieces. I’ve learned to adjust to this excessive offering of food.

Listy on the pocitac in THE office
*My internet access at the center is Lubo’s (the main pastor) desk in the main office. When I need to use the computer, Lubo sometimes wanders around and waits for me to finish. “Listy” is letters and “pocitac” is computer. Lubo speaks no English, so when I go to the office, I just say “Pocitac, prosim,” which is “computer please”, or “Mozem robit pocitac,” which is “may I do on the computer”. Translation is a little rough, but he understands.

Milieko alebo chi?
*Milieko alebo chi means “milk or tea?” When I help the nurses with the meal cart and help bring meals to the residents, I hear them say this every meal, and sometimes I ask too. They basically only drink milk or tea. I’ve never seen them drink juice, and they think it’s really strange that I want to just drink water sometimes during/after a meal. They think it’s REALLY crazy when I drink water from the tap.

Nescafe coffee or Turkish coffee
*I drink coffee almost every day, either in the nurse’s room or in the teacher’s lounge at the high school. The two options are both instant. Nescafe is just heaps of Nestle imitation coffee grounds and hot water added. Turkish coffee is interesting…the coffee grounds stay in a big heap at the bottom of the cup, and once you hit a certain point, you get a mouthful of grounds and your teeth turn black.

Old apples for conversations
Whenever I visit the residents or help deliver meals and talk to them, they almost always offer me apples. For some reason, they all have a basket or bag of apples handy all the time, and they’re usually old (and often times not edible…). I told one of the nurses the other day (in Slovak), “The more conversations I have, the more apples I get.” Recently I’ve also been receiving mandarins and kiwi.

Ponosky! Kde tvoj ponosky?
*All of the nurses and most of the residents always wonder why I don’t wear socks indoors. They are always cold, but I’m usually overly warm (because it’s warm, they heat it more than normal because it’s a nursing home), so I like to wear my sandals without socks. They think I’m crazy. I tell them that Minnesota is cold, and I’m used to cold weather. They also laugh at how CRAZY I am when I walk around the center in ONLY socks. They think it's ridiculous that I don't wear slippers sometimes, and that I will get sick.

Questions for Zuza about Slovak grammar, in Slovak
*So words in Slovak have a LOT of different endings, depending on tense or gender. I’m learning more and more words all the time, but I never really understand Slovak grammar. I started trying to ask Zuza, and we have some funny misunderstandings because of it. I usually end up saying something like “No, no, not conversation, is grammar ok??” We always have interesting conversations.

Robert Simko or Dominika, who will win?!?
*My FAVORITE television show (one of the only ones I understand) is Slovensko hlada Superstar (Slovak version of American Idol). Me and Zuza watch it together every week, and we have predicted which two we think will be left at the end: Robert or Dominika. There are five left right now, so we’ll see if we’re right about the last remaining two!

Stvrtok, stvrt, skyrt, where are all the vowels?
*So, the crazy language of Slovak has a bunch of words with NO VOWELS in them! How do you pronounce words with no vowels? Well, let me tell you that it’s definitely not easy. I think I’m getting better though, and people have complimented me on my pronunciation! That’s exciting :-)

Teeter totter time!
*During our first volunteer retreat we took a day trip to Vienna, Austria. Of all the amazing and wonderful things to see and do in Vienna, we spent quite awhile playing on a random teeter totter we found in the middle of an abandoned park. We had a great time, lots of laughs, and we even recorded some video! I think we all needed to relax and retreat to being carefree and playful, because sometimes the realities of our situations is pretty intense.

Ulica a cesta, NIE chodec priatelsky!
*This translates to “Street and road, NOT pedestrian friendly!” This one goes out to the insanity that is European driving. The school I teach at is in the next village, which takes about 2 mintues to get to by car. Yet I wait for the bus every day (probably for about as long of a time as it would take to just walk there). Why do I wait? Because Slovak drivers are CRAZY! CRAZY! They drive fast, they pass each other and weave back into traffic with a second to spare before smashing into other cars, and they’re just nuts. And so I choose to wait 20 minutes to ride the bus safely for two minutes.


Vianoce Stromcek, decorating in Zuza’s room
*One of the first questions Zuza asked me on my first day in Koseca was “Are you going to be here for Christmas?” She has never been a big fan of the Christmas holiday because she’s never really had a family to celebrate with. For the first few months, she kept saying, “Ashley, we’ll cry together on Christmas” and I just kept sharply replying,

“NO! We’re not going to cry on Christmas!”
“We’re not?”
“NO! Christmas is going to be fun!”

With the help of my mom’s Christmas package, I drug my little mini Christmas tree and decorations into Zuza’s room one night (in late November) and insisted that we decorate and start celebrating. She loved it, and the next night she decorated in her room too! Now when she sees me, she is the one telling me, “NO! We’re not going to cry on Christmas!”

Wasabi peas on the train, not paying attention to our stops
*Again, when I was with the other volunteers on our retreat, we spent a whole day in Vienna. It was SO wonderful to see them, and they have become really great friends, even though I’ve only known them for a short time. It felt amazing to be able to share my experiences and frustrations with people who could relate. We took the train to a different part of Vienna, and we were SO engrossed in conversation, laughing, and eating a can of Wasabi nuts that we missed our stop and went almost a half hour past it. How did we find this out? The ticket checker came up to us and told us it was the end of the line and we HAD to get off the train. We didn’t even realize that the train had stopped permanently and that we were the only ones left on it.

X-mas Markets in Vienna and Bratislava
*I haven’t experienced actual Christmas day here in Slovakia just yet, but I have had a great time preparing for it already! Christmas Markets are a really popular thing in Europe, especially this part of Europe. There are dozens of stands with food, drinks, hot wine (traditional Christmas Market seller), Christmas decorations, and other knick-knacks to shop for. The atmosphere is wonderful. Hundreds of people, music playing, lights and trees everywhere. I especially appreciate these markets because they start at the end of November, starting the celebration of Christmas early! Unlike Americans, who seemingly prefer to start celebrating Christmas after Thanksgiving time, Slovaks embrace it earlier! It’s a fun experience. Also, instead of celebrating Christmas on the 24th and 25th of December, they celebrate on the 6th and 24th. December 6th is the celebration of Mikolas (Slovak version of Santa Claus), because he comes and fills children’s shoes with chocolates and candies. This is also great for getting into the Christmas spirit earlier!

Y and I and J are the same! CRAZY language!
*Again, with the crazy language. The letters “Y”, “I”, and “J” all have the same pronunciation. I think if I ever wanted to write a letter in Slovak, I’d be in serious trouble. I can recognize a lot of words and speak them in return because I have learned through listening and conversation, but I bet that I couldn’t spell ANYTHING correctly in Slovak if my life depended on it.

Zuza, crazy Zuza!
*She is crazy and wonderful! She is the best friend I’ve made since I’ve gotten to Slovakia. She has her fair share of health and family problems, and is living here at the young age of 38. She was in need of a friend, and I was in need of a friend, and I knew within a few hours of arriving in Koseca that God had paired us up for this year.