A Few Facts

Dogs are the pet of choice. Lots of Yorkies and small to medium dogs - most people live in flats in these 7-10 story cement buildings. Pet owners are seen walking their little pooches in the morning and evening. I've seen dogs on the bus, but they always wear a muzzle and are leashed. It always makes me smile to see a dog outside a store with its leash hanging free but obediently waiting for his master to return. Not all pick up after their dogs, even though the city provides special bags just for this purpose. Here's a scan of the special doggie bag. It even has a piece of cardboard inside the bag which can be folded into a scoop......

Gasoline - Gas stations are just like we see in the US, with drinks and snacks available for purchase. Gas is sold by the litre and calculates to about $6.00 per gallon. Cars are smaller, for obvious reasons! Large SUVs are for the very rich or those with large families. Many "petro" stations have car washes attached.

Our neighborhood is typical of the middle-class in Bratislava. To many of our friends in the States, it would look like the inner city of Anywhere, USA, but our flat would sell for about $200,000. You could get a 0% mortgage to buy one, however. We have met nice children on the playground outside, mommies are strolling their babies on the sidewalks that are all around. The apartment buildings are typically surrounded by lots of "green space" - trees, large boulevards and frequent playgrounds for the kids. If only all the dog owners would pick up after their dogs!

Bus/trolley/tram transportation is also for the middle class. The buses come frequently and are rarely empty. We are paying about 75 cents for a one-way trip to downtown Bratislava which takes about 20-30 minutes. Justin rides for 1/2 price and Anya is free. They are comfortable most of the time, except when they are overcrowded. I hear the winter can be difficult riding on the bus because they are terribly overheated.

We are continuing to settle in. Many things no longer seem strange and our daily activities are becoming routine. I have successfully lit the oven, purchased bus tickets from the ticket window while speaking no Slovak, and taken a leisure trip to the Mall and Ikea with Anya. I feel comfortable walking around the neighborhood and the surrounding area. We took a trip to the mountains last weekend and visited a high mountain peak and another castle. I'll send a link to more photos in the next day or so.

For now - Ciao from Slovakia!
love,
Carolyn, Doug & kids

Post-birthday funk

I've just had a birthday and have been in a post-birthday funk. Yesterday, after waking up and realizing that I nap while my 4-year-old plays on the bed next to me, I had a terrific brainstorm. Maybe being 47 doesn't mean my brain has ceased coming up with a creative idea. I have been tutoring the kids at school and am bored by the curriculum that I've been given. Our own books arrived last week and I found two great books that I thought I'd read to the little ones. One thought led to another and I decided I would be a book distributor for this British company. I could sell to school parents and hold book fairs at the English speaking schools in Bratislava. I LOVE books, and particularly these. The English book selection at the book stores is slim and this would have a sure market. Maybe we could even make some decent money. Currently, I am collecting Slovak beer coasters in hopes of making a few dollars by selling them on ebay.

I found the website for the publisher, shot off an email to the UK with a request and waited. A few hours later I checked my email-- their response was waiting for me: "sorry, we don't ship to Bratislava". Just like that. My idea was a non-starter. No explanation, just an apology. I wish she had understood how important this was to me. I doubt if I made a plea to the Slovakian government officials that I could change this. Now isn't that just unfair?

I have scheduled this Thursday as a non-working, no kids day for me. This means I will take the bus to the Avion Shopping Park and Ikea. I imagine a latte at the mall and soup and salad at Ikea for lunch, a leisurely walk through Ikea, stopping to see what is on a super sale and buying a few items for the house - no more than I can comfortably carry home on the bus, of course.

Reality Hits

Almost three weeks have passed since we left the world of Rockford, Michigan and flew across the ocean and halfway across Europe to Slovakia! Seems like a lot longer, should the truth be told. There is no gradual transition, nothing gentle about it!

Suddenly I have a tiny washing machine, no dryer and laundry for four people. I need to do laundry daily because of the time it takes both in the washer and to dry on the rack. I am still trying to figure out where to dry the sheets. I have a vacuum cleaner - I think that is a luxury. It's a good thing, because I haven't seen a Swiffer in the store (yet) and these tile and hardwood floors show everything. I am even wearing the slippers we bought for guests because I can't stand all those little particles on the bottoms of my feet. No one wears shoes in the house and it is courteous to have some extra slippers by the door.

I have no car, no automobile independence to go any place I want. No quick trip to K Mart or Meijer to get the best price on Kraft Macaroni 'n Cheese. We don't even have ANY boxed macaroni and cheese. Although the kids haven't missed it, I have. What a convenient way to fill them up--cook the pasta, throw in some milk, butter and the "cheese" powder and you're done. Only slightly less convenient than going to the Wendy's drive-thru.

Our house in Rockford had three bathrooms which included four sinks! Here we all share our miniature bathroom/laundry room. We can't all fit in it at once. The toilet is a separate "room", although it is more like a closet. We have a shower hose and sprayer in the tub, but the sprayer it isn't hooked to the wall. Just attached to the bathtub spout. No real showers in this flat.

Dishes - we have fewer, but it is a good thing because we have no dishwasher. I still don't enjoy doing dishes. We don't have a double sink, just a small one that serves as both washer and rinser. Sometimes a big pot works to wash in and I still have room to rinse.

Cooking - the oven scares me. I tried to light it (with a match) yesterday, but after I got it lit it quickly went out. I shut the gas off right away. I can't stand the thought of blowing up the house trying to cook a frozen pizza........ I will use the stove for now. I have the burners figured out. We have a microwave and the first bag of popcorn popped even better than Orville Redenbachers.

Grocery shopping - I feel like a first grader trying to read the labels. I can't read Slovak and there are few imported goods with English. It takes me lots of time to figure out what I'm buying and if there is no picture I'm lost. I had help from my friend to buy the right kind of flour, sugar and salt. She wrote down the Slovak words, so I took the paper to the store as my cheat sheet. You bring your own bags and bag your groceries yourself. I'll never complain again about how my groceries are packed in the bags at Meijer. I do a pretty lousy job. The next challenge is carrying everything home, up the stairs and into the elevator. When the Tesco opens up a block away, shopping and hauling will be much, much more convenient. It is supposed to open in a couple of weeks.

Weather - this wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to worry about a sudden rainstorm. The temperatures are comfortable but it seems like there is always the threat of rain. So we haul the umbrellas and raincoats along on the bus or to school.

Friends & family - goes without saying that I miss everyone.....

Love from Bratislava,
Carolyn

Little annoyances

Before I become accustomed to these (assuming I become accustomed....), here are some things that are really strange about this part of the world.

• Spoons: they appear to come in two sizes: teeny, tiny or HUGE, GIANT. What's wrong with medium? A medium spoon would be like "one size fits most". Teeny, tiny are too small for cereal, the huge or giant are too big for a coffee cup. To say nothing about small children struggling with soup at school.......


• The 24-hour clock, or military time: How am I supposed to tell my brain what 17:13 is without doing a complicated math equation? How are my children going to learn how to tell time? A 2nd grader is learning math and I need to tell him that 21:00 is bedtime? Okay, 21 minus 12 = bedtime. And that would be the easy way because it's on the hour. Even the alarm clock is on this 24-hour thing. The bus schedule is the same. Annoying!


• Calendars start with Monday: I need my week to start on Sunday. I can't just change now to make Sunday the last day of the week. I'll be importing my calendars from the US.


• Colored toilet paper is sold in the stores. Didn't Slovakia get the worldwide news report that colored toilet paper is bad for the septic systems and water treatment plants? There are some items that don't need to match your decor--white goes with everything, right?


• No one puts your change from a purchase in your hand. It goes in a tray and you pick it up from the tray. I don't know why- germs, maybe? Whatever - I just feel so silly holding out my hand again and again (slow learner).


• B.O. (body odor) I hate to mention it, but it is so common with the population. It's bad enough being on a bus for someone who gets motion sickness......the unpleasant odor is really annoying.


• Pedestrians do not have the right of way at a marked crosswalk. Laws changed after people were not being considerate of the cars. (Just what does that mean?) I have to admit if I am pushing a stroller it is more likely that a car/bus/van will stop at a crosswalk


• No ice in beverages (except at McDonalds) I like my Diet Coke cold! Here's the nice display of flags in downtown Bratislava at our American institution.

Pinch me!

I have to say pinch me to believe this is happening! It's better than a dream, especially my dreams lately. Justin is having his first choir practice for the Bratislava Boys Choir. Besides a moving Broadway play or Opera, a Boys Choir has the power to make me weep during a performance. And now my own son, just seven years old, will be a part of just such a choir.

Last Friday, Doug called the number for the Bratislava Boys Choir to inquire about their audition/enrollment process. To our surprise, they asked to have him come to audition the very next Monday. I knew he could pass the audition, if given the chance. These are just things a mother knows. He was given a private audition with the conductor and an associate and was accepted into the choir at that time! This afternoon after school Justin and I took the bus downtown right after school and headed to the beautiful Slovakia Symphony Hall where he will have rehearsals twice a week. I decided to have a Latte at the McDonalds across the plaza and wait out the rehearsal. He will be on a one month probation - Doug and I think this is to assure his cooperation and that he won't be a behavior problem. It gives the leaders an out if they need one.......

Justin bravely stepped into the rehearsal room, where about 8 boys were waiting and were obviously familiar with each other. They probably speak little English and his teacher and I had a hard time communicating about the few details I needed (like where to pick him up, etc). I walked away marveling at how a child of mine could be so brave. He must have gotten that from his father.

I drank my Latte and wondered what Justin's reaction would be after his rehearsal......... At 4:30 he came bouncing out of the room and told me they sang "Little David, Play on your Harp", a song he is well familiar with. I thanked God for that. Justin also made a friend, a boy who speaks English. J and I had a celebratory Happy Meal at Mcdonalds and then walked to the bus stop, where we boarded the #202 and journeyed home to the Dudvazska stop to share the news with Dad and Anya.

We have reminded ourselves and our children about how God gives good gifts to His children and we are so grateful!

If you would like to check out the Bratislava Boys Choir website, here's the link. If you click on "cd" you can hear a sample!
http://www.bchz.sk/index_eng.php

First week of school

Monday, September 3 was our first day of school at the Galileo School in Bratislava, Slovakia. Doug began as a teacher for the upper grades, Justin in 2nd grade and Anya in the lower Kindergarten. I came with the understanding that I would tutor one on one, as they especially like to have native English speakers read to and interact with their children who are learning English as their 2nd language. First change in plans, as one kindergarten teacher was sick, and I was asked to help in that classroom. I panicked thinking that I was going to be in charge of a classroom, but realized that couldn't be the plan!! I showed up Monday morning to help with a class of 14 - 5-year-olds.

The first day of school was controlled chaos. Kids were crying, parents were dabbing their eyes, just like all around the world when this day arrives for many. Slovak teachers are greeted by many students with a rose! We had a brief welcoming ceremony outside the front door of the school and then went inside to figure out what to do next. My kids didn't cry, even though it was Anya's official first day of school in her life! One fascinating aspect of the Galileo School is the snack/lunch/snack schedule. I was pleasantly surprised to find a clean dining room with two long tables and tiny chairs for the littlest and the rest of the room set with tables of four. Children come to have their snack served to them or line up - cafeteria style - to get it themselves. The morning snack was a slice of bread with fresh garlic butter and a sliver of green pepper. Milk or juice was the drink available. To my surprise, I picked up a glass of milk for myself and found it was WARM. Oh, this tells me we are living in a culture that does not serve any cold drinks to children as it would be bad for their health. Lunch was soup - in fact, soup is served first and daily! The main meal was pancakes with some kind of cheesy sweet topping. It was delicious. This will be where I get a chance to try many traditional Slovak foods. After the children are finished, they take their dishes to the dishwashing station, head back to the classroom where they brush their teeth. Then I am done with my day, at around noon, and pick up Anya from her classroom. We go to her locker where she takes off her slippers and puts her street shoes back on. Our walk home is a short 3 minutes - we love that!

The class of 5 year olds that I have been with for one week now is great. I can tell they are finding a place in my heart already! We have a Sara "Sarinko", Leonard "Leonko", Sam "Samko", Simone "Simonka", Lucy "Lucka", Martin "Martinko", Emma "Emka"---all their names have a diminutive (?) for their given name. I have been able to spend one on one time with each, showing them some English books and reading to them. They have varying levels of ability with the English language so far.

Doug's classes are also going well. He has NINE preps, which is a huge workload, but the student count is much lower than the 120 he had at the Friends School. I think he has around 35-40 different students.

We are all happy to be working and going to school in the same building. I think we're going to like it here. I am still trying to navigate my way around the grocery store and markets to put a meal together. Seems to me like chicken, pasta and rice will get boring quickly. I found many American products in Ramallah and here I have found none but cereal. I will continue to work at it and have a patient husband and kids, so that makes my job easier.

As for the weather? It has turned Fall-like after our first week. Not only that, we have having our 2nd day of continuous rain. This is not ideal for a family with no car. I left the two umbrellas out of the suitcases at the end of my packing and now wish I had brought those. We can find those here, of course, but I didn't know they would be an immediate need! I see some leaves turning color and dropping, but they are not the brilliant shades of a Michigan fall.

I am expecting Doug and Justin home at 3:05. Anya and I have been napping after we come home from school - it is wonderful to get some rest after my busy morning with the kids and Anya needs the rest also.

Successes

We have successfully opened a bank account with the Tetra Banka, set up a cell phone account with the local Orange service and navigated our way home from downtown Bratislava twice on the bus. That means we recognized our landmarks and were able to determine which stop to get off. I realized we had never written down our address, so it's a good thing we did not get lost! Our success is due to the help from Kevin and Annette, who are giving us their time and their knowledge to help us acclimate to our new home and surroundings. Without their help, we would be sitting in this flat thinking we are stuck for the next 9 months in our communist block!

The city of Bratislava is sprawling - we live on one edge in the Vracuna area. We are close to a active railroad track and can see fields of crops from one side of the building. We are also close to the Slofvnaft oil refinery. There are the lower Carpathian mountains in the distance. We can see the schoolyard from our window, our daily routine will be easy, so we are grateful for this location.

The language - Slovak is the spoken language and it is a Slavic language. I am so happy to see the alphabet we use instead of Hebrew or Arabic characters! Many words can be figured out if they are similar to the English spelling--pronounciation is a different thing. I am working on a basic greeting - "Dobre Denye" is good day. When you are familiar with a person, you can use the more casual "a-hoy". I thought that was pretty funny. Some words are very close to Russian, so I've heard a little of them before. Lots to learn, but our every day interaction with people at the school will be in English, as all subjects are taught in English.

I'm having some computer trouble so the pictures will be coming later. Or maybe I can post them on facebook or some place like that. I am anxious to show you where we are.

I'll post more later today, but must get ready for school......

Arrival in Vienna, then on to Bratislava

Well, I have much to talk about but one of the things I find most amusing is that our kids will be taking their street shoes off and wearing "slippers" for school. Justin may be able to wear his black Superman clogs, but we'll have to wash them up and he will keep them at school for use during the school day when not outdoors.

We arrived on time and, after our extremely nice Austrian Airlines flight, were happy to see all nine bags of luggage next to each other on the luggage carousel. So they can be organized with the luggage.........I don't think I've ever seen our bags come off an airplane in such an orderly fashion.

Our drive in the Galileo School's minibus took about one hour. We traveled through the Austrian countryside and even waited at a traffic light for our turn to drive through the one lane castle gate where we could continue on the road to Bratislava. The border crossing was simple - our passports were not even looked at except for the front covers. Anya was not feeling well from the long flight. We were, after all, up in the middle of the night Michigan time. She needed to make a few stops and we tried to have her drink some water. OOPS---forgot to ask for STILL water. She was not happy about the bubbles in the bottle that our gracious host, Peter, bought for her.

We made it into Bratislava and then onto the drop off to our new home. Can't say I was impressed at all when I looked at the pre-fab cement slab building standing before us. I had seen many similar buildings when we made our adoption trip for Anya in Northern Russia. These are the remnants of Communist rule and socialism---. The cement is not painted and has the refugee camp-look from Palestine. These buildings go on for blocks and blocks. Some are being renovated on the outside, but for now we definitely in the "communist block". I hoped for the best as we made our way up the teeny, tiny elevator to our 7th floor penthouse apartment. To my delight, the apartment was beautiful. Everything had been freshly updated and remodeled recently. We are outfitted for almost everything (no coffee pot)! What we thought was a four bedroom flat is a four room flat. We can still have visitors, as the rooms are a nice size and we can double up the kids..... The kitchen is bright, with a view of the courtyard and playground (soviet era again) below. The walls are peach in the living room and a lighter peach in the kitchen. The kids have nice roomy airy rooms as well. Doug and I have a small veranda where I'll be able to dry the laundry. Nice washer wedged into the tiny bathroom, but no dryer. The toilet is in one room and the tub/sink/washer is next to that room.

We've been to three different grocery stores now. Stocking up is not so easy when you need to carry everything home. The stores are not far, but we look forward to a new store opening in one month---Tesco---that is British and it is even closer than all the others! That will be very exciting.

We have met one family who spent time in Jerusalem. What a blast to be able to talk about Israel, the West Bank and Palestine during our first days here. The man is American from California and met his Slovak wife in Jerusalem, where they were married. They have a five year old who has become fast friends with Justin and Anya. She speaks both English and Slovak. They also have a newborn! These friends have shown us the downtown area, the bus system, a local church, and some other sites. We look forward to more time with them.

I should go for now. We are six hours ahead of Michigan. We'll be in touch now that we are internet connected.