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.
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