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.