Back in Central Europe

Ahhhhh. After over four years, we have found our family back in Central Europe. This time we are settling in to life in Prague, Czech Republic. I have seen so many clever names for blogs and have not have a good brainstorm for ours (yet). I have enjoyed using alliteration in the past, so I will put my thinking cap on.

I'm anxious to share some photos and bits and pieces of our life here as we learn to live together in a culture not our own. It's always interesting, sometimes frustrating and requires lots of "reframing" to cope on a daily basis.

I'm not deleting my past posts from our two years in Louisville, Kentucky (then titled Living Large in Louisville, then changed to Living on Less in Louisville) or 9 months in Slovakia (then titled Bratislava and Beyond). But we'll just keep them back there so I know where to find everything. 

Leaving Louisville

June 19, 2010 found us packed into a Budget 24' moving truck and on the road to Michigan. Goodbyes really stink. Goodbye to our dog, Shakespeare. He got a really great family, a fire hydrant in his new yard, the same neighborhood and a dog sister. Tears and goodbyes to struggling refugee families; the best job I've ever had; four Iraqi sisters living in America whose story still gives me chills.
Goodbye to friends whose company was easy, comfortable and fun.

Thanks to God for all the bittersweet goodbyes. Divine appointments of relationship and circumstance I will never forget and will treasure as God's care for His child.

Our family will be moving to Muscat, Oman on August 11. I'll start a new, yet unnamed, blog soon in hopes of sharing another part of the world with our friends and family.

Kentucky Derby Week

Here it is: "Derby Week". Louisville is in full bloom - grass is green, dogwoods are stunning, azaleas are bright and full. Almost all the debris from the giant ice storm in February has been cleaned up. It was getting to be a dangerous obstacle course on the side streets. Now it can officially be put behind us! Thursday is a parade in downtown Louisville. I heard it has big balloons like Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! That sounds like a blast for the kids if we can brave the heat and the crowds. Friday is "Oaks" day. A lesser race day for those who can't afford a spot at the Run for the Roses on Saturday. We have a tip on a few even cheaper options - Dawn at the Downs, a morning trip to Churchill Downs to see the horses take their first run of the day. We could do that and have the kids be just a tiny bit late to school! We have not been invited to any Derby parties(yet). It's probably just as well, because I don't have a proper Derby hat. They really do wear fancy hats to the Kentucky Derby and all the events surrounding it.

Wal-Mart with the Refugees

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take some newly-arrived refugees from Darfur to get their first groceries. They had only arrived in Louisville the previous night! Three single men, one male translator, and I got our "basket" (they don't call them carts in Kentucky) and started out. I thought it was an amusing and interesting sight for anyone who took notice: three very dark African men and one lily white American with a shopping basket in Wal-Mart. It was suggested that I could help by explaining value to the guys. Example: loaves of bread: two 12" loaves of Pepperidge Farm french bread - $3.19. "Too expensive" - showed them American bread: nicely squared off loaf of sliced bread 98 cents. Next example: carrots - show them the word "organic" and tell them it is too expensive. You can buy regular carrots for much less.

After my overseas experiences I can imagine the culture shock of a store such as Wal-Mart. The variety is unbelievable, the size of the store is also overwhelming. In my perfect world, I would take an incoming refugee family to a local grocery store that is close to their country of origin. They could find their own comfort foods and feel a bit in control of their own destiny...........but the shopping needs to be done where there are funds available. In this case, Wal-Mart gift cards were given to help the refugees!

Renamed my blog - (we just aren't living very LARGE)

Life this past six months has been a lot about learning to live on less. We had shrunk our spending while living overseas, BUT it is much more challenging here in the USA.

Haircuts: my first haircut here was $30. I was told that was a reasonable rate for this area. I decided I could get one haircut every six months. Last week A GREAT FIND - a local beauty school! Today I got my first $5 haircut. I had a lovely conversation with my stylist and even got a coupon for 1/2 price next time. Am I a risk taker or what?

Kids need socks: Anya has sworn off ruffled socks - Justin's socks have worn out. I got a $10 COUPON from BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY in the mail. They are having a Grand Reopening. Anya will have a new 5-pack in her Easter Basket. Justin will have a new 3-pack. Total cost $1.03.

Prescription: Needed a prescription--CVS was offering a $25 giftcard for any new or transferred Rx. I will spend part of that on Easter candy!

Thrift Store: Got a $5 off any purchase coupon in the Val-Pak envelope. Got one from my neighbor's mail, too! Got myself a new pair of black denim jeans (Lands End, size 12P). Bought something else to sell on ebay.

I Don't mind being "green" but.....

I am glad to be separating our trash into two containers. The recyclables are plastic, bottles, cans, paper........the rest goes into the dumpster. We have two trash pick up days in Louisville. This is a good habit to begin. But maybe I'm watching too much news because I'm starting to feel guilty if I put an empty toilet paper roll in the real trash instead of the recycler. Like I don't have enough to feel guilty about. (Yelling at my kids, messy house, making a lousy meal, surfing ebay). I don't think the media is helping with this.
I think Global Warming is real, I understand many in in Africa use only 5 gallons of water per day, compared to an American using 150. I just could get overwhelmed with the enormity of the problem. So we are told all the things we can do to help. I think it's good to know how the rest of the world lives. But if those in Africa had the water available like we do, I think they would use just a bit more - maybe the difference wouldn't seem so obscene.

We also have giant washer and dryers in America. Europeans have tiny washers and no dryers. A dishwasher is for the rich. Currently, the house we are renting has no dishwasher. What a miserable quality of life I am living. Yes, there are dirty dishes in the sink and on the counters most of the time. This, I do not feel guilty about.

Returning back from our Michigan Christmas trip, we discovered our orange recycling bin has been stolen. Now, do I wait for the new one to be delivered and hold the separated trash, or do I take this opportunity to just dump it all together. Haven't decided.

Theatre Mom

Wow - I'm a "theatre Mom". It's fun. Soon after we arrived Justin was able to audition for a Louisville Youth Theatre production of Willy Wonka, Jr. The production is a musical, so this would be a singing/dancing part for Justin. He began practicing and was cast as an Oompa Loompa and a Squirrel. We faithfully taxied Justin to his rehearsals twice a week and listened to our CD in the car on the way to and fro. The last two weeks were hectic, with intensive rehearsal, dress rehearsals, building up to performance time. The first two performances were to school groups. Then followed four more open to the public and finishing with a final school group performance. My main job was to help with the quick costume change for four Oompas. The Oompas had to quickly change into Squirrels, then another quick change back to Oompas! Talk about pressure......all worked out well, but it took at least three tries before we figured out the quickest way to get the boys changed! I also combed wigs, put on hairnets, kept the actors quiet in the "green room"..... It was so much fun. Also, as a newbie to the area, it gave me an opportunity to get to know some moms and their kids.

Sizes - food & socks

I wish I could find a place to file my grievance to the makers of children's socks, but I just don't think they would care. I carefully chose a package of socks for Justin at Kohl's this year before school started. I decided to ditch the 6 or 8 pack Hanes from Meijer after seeing that the shape of the sock is nowhere near the shape of a foot. They just were not comfortable. I thought buying a 6-pack of Gold Toe would be a huge upgrade for Justin. I checked the size chart and could see that Justin was a "M". I didn't even have to make a judgement call of buy them too small or too big.....he was right in the middle of the "M" size. I may even have taken one out of the package. But I am still in denial that my baby boy is over 4' tall, so I thought it looked just right. As you can imagine, the socks are too small. After a wash, they were even smaller. He's still pulling them on. I really want to get some wear out of them. So much for an upgrade. The question is - why can't they make these sizes more accurate and uniform?

Next topic - smaller food containers. While I was out of the country for the better part of the past three years, container sizes shrunk. I know they made it subtle so we wouldn't notice, but it was obvious to me. Pudding cups are smaller. Canned goods are smaller. And ice cream cartons look like the machine malfunctioned during the packaging. Ice cream - you don't buy a 1/2 gallon anymore it's 1.75 quarts. Which brings me to another subject - why the US never converted to using Metric.

First Day of School

We've been here a month and the kids are settling in to their new routine. Here are a few photos of their school and the kids on the steps on their first day. They are attending Bloom Elementary School, which is a part of the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville. This is the system that Doug is teaching in also. Anya has begun Kindergarten and Justin is in Third grade.

Kentuckiana.....

I've always found a blend of two words to make a new word really goofy. So we are now living in a blended region called "Kentuckiana". I have a friend who lives in "Michiana". The local media outlets must be the authors of the blends for the regions bordering two states. Not wishing to alienate anyone in their media market, a new word is created to include everyone. The funny thing is that it begins to sound normal when you hear it over and over on the radio, the TV and see it in print. So before it becomes normal for me, I need to voice my protest.

As for the accuracy of the word? We are right on the edge of Kentucky. The Ohio River separates Indiana and Kentucky. I could be in Indiana in about 15 minutes if I wanted to. We could have even lived in Indiana and worked in Kentucky. We could go to church in Indiana and live in Kentucky. I wonder if they considered "Indiucky". That definitely does not have a ring to it.

Anya's well-child visit

I'm so glad Anya forgot how much she hated going to the doctor! We needed to have a Kindergarten check up for Anya now that we have landed in Louisville. One of our new neighbors gave us a list of doctors and contacts for all sorts of things we might need. What a huge help that was.

The pediatrician's office is close and we got an appointment right away! Anya was really great as we waited and as she got weighed (41 lbs.) and measured (43" tall). She was even brave through a finger poke for a blood test. She got to play a game to check her hearing (perfect). I knew we were in trouble when she needed to be updated on her immunizations. She needed five :o( shots. Dr. Katz was so kind - he kept checking in with us and when it was time for the immunizations, he told Anya it was okay to cry but she needed to hold real still, then he gave her a sticker. The nurse, another kind soul, did the deeds and then we were done. I held her tight after the first two, which she was so brave through. She didn't know they would hurt so much, so she was pretty surprised and then totally lost it. She kicked her little feet and cried "I want to go, I want to go". It was so sad. All you moms and some dads know the feeling of seeing your kids react to pain. I notice she needs no more shots until 2014 and I'm so glad.

I took Anya to school after the appointment, sat with her while she ate her lunch in the cafeteria at Bloom Elementary and said goodbye just as her class was lining up for recess. She was a happy girl by then.

Using the Good Dishes

I made a decision this summer. When we were able to set up house again - it has been just about three years - I was going to use the good dishes. We celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary in Bratislava, Slovakia using dishes that came with the flat we were renting. So ten years after the wedding, we are using the lovely Lenox Poppies on Blue chinastone that I so carefully selected during our engagement. I think we are a little funny here in the US about saving the good dishes. I decided to try to inspire a few others by telling you about that. Oh, there is flatware that matches. It's really nice, heavy silverware. I'm enjoying it so far.

Losing my newscasters

Having returned to the USA after being mostly media starved should have been another perk once back. Doug and I were admittedly news junkies for years. When we moved overseas we even found some of our favorite shows occasionally. But instead of picking up where we left off it's turned out to be very sad.

First we lost Tim Russert, age 58, NBC Moderator for Meet the Press and the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC. He died suddenly of a heart attack in Washington, DC. Doug and I loved and respected Tim Russert's work and what we knew of his person. He was a class act in everything we saw that he was involved in. Meet the Press fit in with our church schedule - but if it had not, this would have been a problem for us. We may have had to buy TIVO. Back in early 2000, we had tickets to go to the Republican Primary Presidential Debate at Calvin College. Tim Russert was the moderator. Doug and I had arrived early and were waiting outside the auditorium (probably near the bathroom as I was 8 months pregnant) when Tim walked through to get backstage. We both hollered at him, and told him he is our favorite newscaster. We got a big smile and wave as he walked past. I was more excited about meeting him than seeing all the presidential candidates once the debate began. We appreciated Tim's approach to his guests on "Meet the Press". He would ask questions - even the "tough" questions and actually let his guests respond. No interruptions, no shouting, it was definitely not a show about Tim promoting his own ideas or personality. Now having watched the coverage about Tim and his relationships with co-workers, Washington insiders, etc. we see that he was a man who cared about individuals and those he came in contact with on a daily basis.

Today (Sat. July 12) I heard that another of my favorite newscasters died of cancer at age 53 - Tony Snow. Tony Snow was another man who looked comfortable with himself. It has been several years since I've watched him, because he has been battling cancer and we've been overseas, but he was another class act. When he became the White House Press Secretary I cheered. I knew he would be great in front of the reporters and, sure enough, when he was having a press conference, his ability to articulate the Administration's actions and positions greatly helped my understanding. It seemed like such a friendlier place while Tony worked there. Tony Snow was another who didn't shout and talk over his guests, but let them talk.

So - here's to the good guys who reported our political news from Washington, DC. Gosh, I'll miss them.

Two months have passed since I posted

I now realize that two months have passed since I've posted on my blog. The month of May in Bratislava was a whirlwind of activity. We traveled, wrapped up our work, said goodbye to our friends and were on a plane on June 3.

My first impressions of the US are always interesting (to me at least). I love the big freeways, wide open spaces and being able to read and understand signs and billboards. The familiar is so comforting. My first moments in a US grocery store are exhilarating as I look at the variety of grocery items. Then I inevitably feel like telling the cashier how nice she/he is to talk to. If we converse I thank them for bagging my grocery items and tell them about the stores in most of Europe and Slovakia. Some are even appreciative of my stories!

I've had the most fun laughing about variety in toothpaste and tortilla chips. If I could find a bag of chips in Slovakia, they were quite average in taste and high in cost. Just the corn tortilla chips - round and usually broken from the extra long trip that it took to get them there from Belgium. Chips and some mexican food was imported from Belguim. The other day at Meijer I noticed the following varieties of tortilla chips:

blue corn, yellow corn, white corn, baked, restaurant style, no salt, nacho cheese flavored, triangle shapes, mini rounds, scoops, w/lime. WOW - how can we ever make a decision with those choices, to say nothing of choosing a brand. I dare not even start on varieties of toothpaste.

So, America is by far the country with the most variety of any in the world that I've been to so far!

Another funny thing I've noticed. We are generally a sedentary culture, needing to take our vehicle(s) most everywhere to get our business done. But we still look for the closest parking place to the building. I do the same now that I've returned.

Large cars far outnumber small cars. Pretty much the opposite in Slovakia. They have been paying high fuel prices for much longer than we have.

Visit to Krakow, Poland

Doug and I received a HUGE gift when our friends in Bratislava allowed us to take a road trip without KIDS! One family offered to babysit Justin and Anya for the weekend (that makes five kids with their three). The other family offered to drive their car and found a babysitter for their daughter as well! This put us in good shape for a weekend ROAD TRIP! I knew we were going to have a great time when our friends' first stop was the gas station C-store for snacks. Chips and Diet Coke and a little chocolate - not grapes and yogurt! Knowing we could eat junk food without guilt was a great start.

The drive was beautiful. We passed through the borders into Czech Republic and Poland with no passport checks due to the new treaty that went into effect in December. Our destination was Krakow - a historic city that would require an approximately 5 hour drive from Bratislava.

Krakow was great. The infrastructure is being rebuilt and updated all around the city, but the historic areas are preserved and restored. Krakow has the largest pedestrian square in all of Europe. It is huge! Sidewalk cafes, a flower market, horse and carriage rides and a huge "Cloth Hall" souvenir market is in the center. We happened to arrive in Krakow on May 3, which is Polish Independence Day. The streets were strung with banners and it was a festive atmosphere, complete with a parade.

We took a walking tour through the old Jewish area and were amazed at the number of synagogues in a small area. From there we walked to the factory of Oskar Schindler. Oskar Schindler saved many Jewish people during the Holocaust, the story of which is told in the film "Schindler's List".

Our trip back to Bratislava began with a McDonald's breakfast. A very American start to a day that I will never forget. We began our planned visit to Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camps. The rainy, gray sky with a chill in the air seemed appropriate weather for this day. There is not much to say about visiting these terrible places. The museums at Auschwitz are well done and chronicle the Nazi extermination of Jews from all over Europe and other ethnic groups and people. Auschwitz and Birkenau are close in proximity but there is a bus to take to get to Birkenau. Birkenau has been left as it was found after the war ended with the exception of a few restorations of things that had deteriorated with age. While Auschwitz was in a relatively small area, Birkenau stretches farther than I would have imagined. I was unprepared for the sight of a railway that ends at the death camp. There were hundreds of messages written on small wooden posts tucked on the tracks as memorials from visitors.

I will post a few photos of what I have mentioned here.

A fine spring morning

This fine spring morning got me out of the house earlier than usual with Anya in one hand and a box to mail in the other. Perfect weather, beautiful sunshine, lilacs in bloom and smelling sweet and no rush. That's the way I would like to have all my days begin!

I dropped Anya off in her classroom and made the two block walk to the "Posta". Many people are out this time of day, but I noticed a few in particular. One young woman had an ice cream cone in her hand at 8:15 a.m. The ice cream cone is a favorite treat once spring comes. The stands are on every street corner, both out here in the 'burbs and in the old town area. In Slovak, the word for ice cream is "Zmrzlina" (that's six consonants and two vowels). I don't think we can top that in the English language. I was briefly tempted to get my own cone, but opted for fresh baked rolls at Tesco. Next I watched a group of men opening beer bottles - again, 8:15 a.m. A bit further along on my walk I passed another group of men with vodka and other drinks getting started on their day. From my observations, alcohol abuse must be one of the significant social problems here in Slovakia. Even with a zero tolerance for drinking and driving, there are many who smell of alcohol on the bus and are drinking and are drunk on the streets. We have never been bothered by any of the drunks. They keep to themselves.

My visits to the post office here have been mostly successful. Last week I brought a box to mail and was told "velky". That means big. "Papier", she said next and spread some paper on top of my box. Ahhhhh.....the light bulb went off and I realized that if the box is a certain size it needs to be covered with paper. I left and thought about this requirement that the box be covered in paper. What's the point of that? How does covering it with paper make it smaller or weigh less? Not being in a position linguistically to ask why or make sure I understood the instruction, I took the box back home and dutifully covered it with some plain brown gift wrap and then lots of tape. I figured I'd give the "Posta" one more try before I opened the box and repackaged it in two smaller boxes. My second try proved successful. WOW - am I getting good at this or what?

Birds waking us up in the morning, the smell of fresh mown (or weed whacked) grass is in the air. Life is good........

A few more facts

Some things that I think are interesting here:

You can buy lottery tickets at the Post office.

Traffic lights are sequenced differently than anywhere I've been:
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
this looks the same, but the order is different. You get your yellow AFTER the red. It's like on your mark (red), get set (yellow), GO (green).

Pedestrians do not have the right of way - WATCH OUT - even in the crosswalks you must take care. Some folks will stop, others will not, some even seem to accelerate.

Slovakia is slated to change their currency to the Euro(€) in 2009. Until then the national currency is the Korun(crown).

Over one-half million cars were produced in Slovakia in 2007. There are three major manufacturing plants for automobiles: Citroen, Volkswagen, and Kia. We see many railcars carrying new autos.

Our garbage/trash dumpsters are in a locked cage. I understand this from the perspective of non-residents looking for a place to unload their trash, BUT you can actually get locked in. That's enough for a good nightmare for me: I walk to the cage, unlock the door, I drop in my trash and, oops, I drop my keys in also by accident. The cage door closes and locks behind me and I'm stuck inside with FIVE dumpsters. No way out except to retrieve my keys by getting inside the dumpster or go mad while I wait for help. Here's a photo of "the Cage".......

Bratislava International Church

Here's a link to our wonderful Bratislava International Church..... We love this little church and the congregation. If ever you find yourself touring Europe and are in Bratislava on a Sunday, this is the place for you! If you click on photos at the home page, you'll even see our kids.

http://www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org/

Baby steps, baby steps.

A favorite movie of mine, "What About Bob", makes me think of making progress by taking baby steps.....

In my struggle for making connection with some of the local people I see often (neighbors, store clerks) I think some progress has been made! I'm getting smiles from a few of the Tesco clerks! Several recognize me, because they don't tell me my grocery total anymore, they just point to the little screen. This is big. My unique identity is being affirmed!

A few people in the building are becoming friendly. There is a sweet lady with a little dog who we like. She smiles and is so sweet to the kids. We pet her dog and smile back. She talks to us, but I haven't any idea of what she is saying. I try to use my Slovak words, but I don't have too many descriptive phrases under my belt yet.

Lots of moms have seen me out on the playgrond, so I'm trying to make eye contact and greet them. One mother of twin baby boys made eye contact, so I was able to say "dobre den" (hello) as I passed her on the way to the bus and she responded.

These small things I have always taken for granted with people, BUT, to even make these simple connections with anyone here is progress. This is a very reserved culture. I know we can't converse, but my goal is to have some pleasant contact. If I can't help this process along, this is a most lonely culture to live in.

Estonian Girls' Choir

A free concert is always welcome to our family, but a world-class free concert? Better yet. A world-class free concert in a historic stone church? Perfect. Such as it was here in Bratislava last night. We made the trek to the old town Bratislava to hear a choir traveling from Estonia. The tour will take them through Slovakia, Austria and Switzerland for the next two weeks.The occasion is the 90th Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia. They girls' were amazing. It was a feast for the ears to hear the beautiful voices of young women--no accompaniment--with the awesome acoustics of a domed cathedral.

The girls were dressed in ecru full-length gowns with ecru shawls draped across their shoulders. An appropriate dress for the mostly golden-haired fair-skinned young women. I couldn't help but think of angels once they began to sing. The first song was my favorite. The girls stood spaced throughout the cathedral and then sang the most beautiful song. "Awake, My Heart" is an Estonian folk hymn with a special arrangement for the Girls' Choir. It could not have been more heavenly. To have voices all around - TRUE stereo/surround sound - another "pinch me" moment.

Our little family lasted through the first half, it was a school night and the concert didn't start until 7:00 (19:00), but we were able to bring home with us a CD recording.

I have no photos - my camera is broken and I'm awaiting a borrowed camera's arrival. Hopefully my descriptions have given you a mental picture this time.