Christmas is coming!

It’s really hard for me to believe that Christmas is next week. It just doesn’t feel like it should be that soon, and it feels strange knowing I won’t be going home. Usually now I would be going home, helping my mom with shopping and baking, decorating the Christmas tree, and all that fun stuff. I am still having fun preparing for Christmas here, it’s just different. One thing that I really enjoyed over the weekend was making and decorating medovnik with Marcela. These are cookies that look like gingerbread cookies, but they aren’t. They are made with honey, and I think they taste a lot better than gingerbread. They are traditional for Christmas here and are elaborately decorated with white frosting. This week I am going to bake peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses for Christmas and I think everyone will really enjoy them (Thanks to Grandmom for sending the peanut butter and Mom for sending the Hershey kisses!!). Not too much else has been going one here. This Thursday I am going to visit Kristen, the volunteer in Velky Slavkov, and will stay there until Saturday. I am really looking forward to this, and it should be a lot of fun to see another placement and for us to be able to hang out and be ‘refreshed’ before Christmas. Here is some of the Christmas vocabulary I have learned:

Christmas- Vianoce
Merry Christmas- Vesele Vianoce!
Christmas tree- Vianočné stromček
Christmas Eve- Štredrý deň
Present/gift- darček
Angel- anjel
Cabbage Soup- Polievka Kapustnica (traditional for Christmas)

Vesele Vianoce to everyone!!

Last Thursday was St. Nicholas Day here, and I was so surprised- it was like a little taste of Christmas already! In Slovakia on the night of Dec. 5th the kids leave a pair of shoes by their window and St. Nicholas comes at night and leaves small gifts and candy in the shoes. December 6th the kids wake up and it’s like a miniature version of Christmas! People give each other small gifts- mostly candy on this day, and most of the schools have special programs. I got some candy bags from St. Nicholas too :-). What I thought was really strange is that St. Nicholas comes with an angel and a devil. The devil is for the bad kids, and the angel for the good ones. So on Thursday I saw someone dressed up as St. Nicholas, and people dressed up as angels and devils. Even in the stores they sell chocolate Santas, angels, and devils. I think it’s kind of scary for kids, but they say it is a cartoon devil, and there is a different word in Slovak for a cartoon devil and the devil. It was interesting to see how this day was celebrated, even though it was just a small ordeal mostly for kids.

Saturday was quite an exciting day also. I met a girl who lives in Banska Bystrica and is a University student. She was coming to talk to the Pastor about being baptized, and Saturday was the day she was baptized. She is about the same age as me, and comes from a family of atheists. Her father is a chemist and her mother grew up not believing in God, because her father was killed in an accident when she was a baby, and she does not understand how there could be a God with the painful things in this world. Somehow this girl started to believe there was something out there, and started going to church, reading the Bible, and learning about God. Her parents were both so angry with her for having anything to do with the church, and would not allow her to talk about it at all. After wrestling with Christianity and atheism for a long time, she became a Christian and came to the Pastor to be baptized. When she told her parents that she was going to be baptized her parents were angry about it and still do not allow her to talk about Christianity with them or any of her siblings (who are atheists). So on Saturday morning the girl and four of her friends came for the baptism. Throughout the service I just kept thinking about how much of a miracle it is that this girl is getting baptized, despite everyone in her family objecting. She sent me a thank you e-mail today and this stuck out: "I realize that the God is another kind of perspective on life. I like it so much. I dont believe in atheism- I just know that people, who dont believe, only ignore the miracles around, because the whole life is one of the greatest miracles." After the baptism her friends stayed and we had lunch together, talked, and played a really fun Slovak castle game. We are planning to hang out again soon, when they are finished with exams. I have to get going now, but hopefully later tonight I will mail out my November newsletter and post it on here too, because it is super late!

You know you're in Slovakia when...

One of the other volunteers, Ashley came to visit this past weekend and while talking, sharing stories, and laughing we compiled a list that you might enjoy. Other Slovakia volunteers let me know what more you have to add!

You know you’re in Slovakia when…
-You go on “holiday” instead of vacation
-You go “to University”
-You always carry a plastic bag with you
-You have multiple pairs of “papuče” (slippers) and wear them all the time indoors (At home, in school, at work)
-You drink Slivovica (plum brandy) at least twice a week- for your health of course!-(Na zdravie!)
-You read words that have five consonants and no vowels
-You add “ička” to the end of a word and it makes it something small
-You add k’s in names to be friendly
-You “ring” people (call a lot of times and hang up, leaving no messages)
-All the women’s last names end in “–ova” (I’m Coleova)
-You eat bryndzova halušky (potato dumplings with sheep cheese)
-You celebrate name days
-You drink coffee (kava) and tea (čaj) all day long
-You drink Kofula
-There are loud Speakers in the village with music and announcements
-You crave ice cubes and peanut butter like never before
-You always see hitch-hikers and give them rides
-You watch the nighttime fairytale at 19:00
-You have two choices of coffee- instant or with the grounds in the bottom of the mug. So despite the obsession with coffee, there are no coffee makers!
-You say “Dobru chut” (enjoy your meal) when you see anyone eating anything
-Every conversation is full of “hej”, “dobre” and “tak”
-Whenever you go in a store you say “Dobry den” (Good day) and when you leave you always say “Dovidenia” (Good-bye)
-People ask you what your village is like in America
-You dress extra warm to go to church and leave your coat on during the whole service
-You blow your nose and smell strawberries, chamomile, or mint
-You pick mushrooms outside and eat them- somehow knowing which ones are eatable
-You buy large bags of poppy seeds and put them in almost anything- in large amounts (I mean we’re not talking about a little sprinkling on a lemon poppy seed muffin)

After the retreat last weekend in Bratislava, and talking with Daniela about my placement here in Horna Micina we came to the conclusion that somehow things needed to change. She had a long discussion with my supervisor here, and then we had many discussions about how things can improve. We also talked about the center and what the hold up is. He is still waiting for the government to give the okay that it is registered and allowed to open. Until that comes we are not able to give pamphlets to hospitals and doctor’s offices to get clients. He was supposed to receive this by December, but he said there is no guarantee. Since it is a church-run center he says the government is not too concerned about it and will get to it whenever they get to it. So, it does not sound very promising that this will be open anytime soon, but he is not giving up on it. It was good to finally know exactly what was going on and what the hold up has been. Basically, it is very difficult for the church to open up a social service center like this. We talked about what this means for my placement, since that would have been where I was mostly spending my time. We decided that I can still teach Sunday school, deliver the lunches to the elderly, help teach English lessons twice a week, help with the Bible study at the church, and help with church office work that needs to be done. Right now there is not a youth group here, but somehow we would like to try to start that up. I have also met some students at the Lutheran high school in Banska Bystrica that would like conversation practice. So, I am going to try to start an after school informal conversation class with whoever is interested there. We decided to just see how that goes and then adjust things as we feel needed. It is difficult because I was excited about being placed in a center like this, and being able to do activities with the clients, but it’s just not working out like that. The village is so small also, so I have to travel to Banska Bystrica to be involved with the schools. At times I just get so frustrated and wish it was somehow different, but maybe this is good for me. It would be so much easier to be in a center and have people right there, but this is a challenge having to go out and take more initiative.

It wasn’t the easiest week, but it was good to work things out a little more. Also, last night Ashley, the volunteer in Koseca came to visit! She is here for the weekend, and it has been great hanging out with her.

At orientation my small group leader shared this with us and it has stuck with me:

Oh God, who am I now?

Once, I was secure
In familiar territory
In my sense of belonging
Unquestioning of
The norms of my culture
The assumptions built into my language
The values shared by my society.

But now you have called me out and away from home
And I do not know where you are leading.
I am empty, unsure, uncomfortable.
I have only a beckoning star to follow.

Journeying God,
Pitch your tent with mine
So that I may not become deterred
By hardship, strangeness, doubt.
Show me the movement I must make
Toward a wealth not dependent on possessions
Toward a wisdom not based on books
Toward a strength not bolstered by might
Toward a God not confined to heaven
But scandalously earthed, poor, unrecognized…

Help me to find where I am
As I walk in others’ shoes.

-Katie Compston

And now a little bit from the Thanksgiving retreat…

What's better them some fun on the see saw!

A giant garbage incinerator in Vienna designed by Hundertwasser...
yes we saw a garbage incinerator in Vienna...it was a random trip

I'm not sure if there's any explanation for this
The Vienna Christmas Market!