Retreat Frenzy - Round 2

This post will be a bit shorter since I have been catching up on computer work all morning and am ready for a break! :)

We just finished up a week long conference in Berlin (hence the loads of computer work needing to be done) with an organization called Roma Gadje Dialogue Through Service. Together, we were a group of almost 30 people, Roma and Gadje (non-Roma), serving in Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. We got to hear some great speakers about Roma history and current issues, participate in many discussions, and enjoy some wonderful time sharing stories, laughter, and - of course - great food.

The fact that our conference was in Berlin almost made the atmosphere very interesting. We had the chance to visit the Berlin Wall, the Parliament, the Museum of German History, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. What an interesting city!

Photo: Laura, a fellow YAGM, walking through the Jewish Memorial in Berlin

Retreat Frenzy - Round 1

We just got back this afternoon from nearly a week straight of conferences. Last Monday, Amanda (another YAGM living close by) and I departed on a 5 hour journey to Račkova Dolina, a small Holden-esque building up in the High Tatra mountains, where we spent the week among 21 young-adult volunteers serving in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Between all of us, there were people from the USA, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and France and even more languages spoken. We had the opportunity to share and compare experiences, living situations, new vocabulary words, joys and challenges. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and see some of Slovakia’s finer countryside. I left conference number one feeling oh-so-happy and refreshed (albeit a bit tired because it can be hard to find time to sleep when spending time among such interesting people!).

Amanda and I then headed straight to Banska Bystrica for conference number 2 – The National Baptist Youth Gathering: Prvá Láska. There was no lack of Slovak music, Slovak speakers, Slovak food, and, well… Slovak youth. There were over 400 people in attendance and endless activities available to entertain the masses for the weekend. My main attraction, outside the program, was a huge volleyball tournament. I entered the tournament with my team from Lučenec, and we had a blast. There were teams representing cities from Bratislava to Košice and all over the country. My dreams of sleeping early were broken when the tournament started at 10pm on the first night (Our last game ended around 2am). We played 6 hard-fought sets of games and ended up beating Revuca in a tie-breaker game and went home with 2 bags of candy and a pretty fancy trophy. My week was certainly filled to the brim, but very fun and a nice break from the day to day activities in Lučenec.



Enjoy a few pictures of the beautiful country-side as seen around Račkova Dolina!

Sneh

I haven't shared any pictures of Lucenec in a while, so enjoy.

For about one week in mid-January, the temperature rose to a warm 40 degrees (F), then winter decided to come back. With a vengeance.


"My bench" again. In the city park.


Don't think this guy is going anywhere for a while...


This man made (I'm assuming due to it's 90 degree corners) lake is frozen over with a thick layer of snow on top. I walked a few steps on the lake after kick-testing a small section, then decided not to put too much faith in the ice and left only two footprints in the snow :)

What's in a Name?

During our introductory Slovak language course in Bratislava, I introduced myself as Liz but our teacher proceeded to call me Liza so that my name could change correctly with Slovak grammar. (See – all women’s names end in vowels and then they change with different situations. I.E. This is Liza. Do you know Lizu? Are you with Lizou? This is a card from Lizy.) Thus, when I got to my placement, I introduced myself saying I could be called Liz or Liza.

When you know someone better or want to use a more affectionate version of a name (kind of like saying Billy instead of Bill) you can add a ka or a čka to the end of a girl’s name. After getting to know me, some of my coworkers started to use a more familiar version of my name by calling me Lizička. That quickly turned into Lyžička, which is Slovak for “Little Spoon”. A few weeks later, at volleyball, a guy on my team called me Lizatka, which literally means “Lollipops”.

The newest addition to my name collection comes from my 1 and a half year old host sister, Halina. She is quickly picking up new words, both in Slovak and English. Some of her favorite words include daj! (give!), Monte (the brand of her favorite pudding), iced tea (which surprisingly is a "Slovak" word), and now bye and okay thanks to me. However, she doesn’t always use these words in their correct sense and apparently Halina thinks my name is “Bye”. Every time I come home, she comes running around the corner screaming Bye Bye Bye!

So what’s in a name? Well – here - affection, humor, and even a little misunderstanding, but as I’m crossing the street, wandering through the community center or even sitting in my room – the call of my name always brings a smile to my face, whether I’m a Liz, a Liza, a little spoon, a lollipop or even a goodbye.

2011!

Happy New Year (only a week or so late) from Slovakia!

I got to spend New Years Eve with my friends Jordon and Mal (a fellow PLU grad!), who are living in Germany right now. We had a wonderful week of relaxing, watching movies, cooking, and Wii-ing :)

Upon my return to Slovakia, I went to my first English Camp, a winter camp in Tuhár (a village not too far away). It was great to get a little experience with the camp atmosphere, since we will be hosting English camps during the entire month of July here in Lučenec!

This week, I started back with my (almost) normal schedule and have been preparing for English classes like crazy in an attempt to be ahead of the game and really well prepared this time around. I feel really good about classes and am excited to see everyone's progress as the year goes on.


Here is a picture of the first thing I did in 2011 - at about 12:30am after watching fireworks from a bridge crossing the Rhine River in Cologne, Germany. It's going to be a good year!

Veselé Vianoce

Just a quick Merry Christmas and Veselé Vianoce from Lučenec!

I had a wonderful day getting to know the Slovak traditions for Christmas holidays here yesterday with my host family and spent most of my day in Cinobaňa today.

Here is a typical Slovak Christmas menu (or at least what we had for dinner last night):

A Krumkake type bread with garlic and honey
Cabbage soup with sausage
Carp with a creamy potato salad

...and Christmas Stollen for breakfast!

And Christmas wouldn't be complete without a church service (or two... or three) I went to a Lutheran church service yesterday afternoon, a Catholic mass at 10:30pm and Baptist church this morning!

Finally, here's a lovely screen shot of my first Christmas via Skype with my family!

Winter is Upon Us!

I had the privilege to travel to Budapest and reunite with our other YAGM volunteers for Thanksgiving and, what a wonderful time it was! We went to a famous bath house and a fun Christmas market, we climbed up Gellert Hill for a fabulous view of Budapest at night, we cooked all day Friday to provide a fantastic dinner for ten people (followed by Holden Evening Vespers) and we woke up to freezing weather and a fresh blanket of snow over everything on Saturday morning.

All our time was spent among friends, whether we were reminiscing on our finer Thanksgiving memories, discussing our work or contemplating the stark differences between life in the US and life in Central Europe. It was a much needed time of reflection, rest, and renewal.

After a wonderful Thanksgiving meeting in Budapest, I returned to Lučenec on the first day of Advent to find winter in full swing. The streets were covered in snow, Christmas decorations were popping up here and there and many plans for Mikulaš (St. Nick’s Day) and Christmas programs were being made.

Right now I am helping prepare for a program in Cinobaňa that consists of two Christmas songs and two Roma dances. It has been fun to be a part of the planning and I was asked to play the piano for one of the pieces (My mother would be proud)! Don’t worry… I only need one finger to play the song, but still - I am learning the whole thing by ear and, when performance day comes around, 20 or so small kiddos will be depending on that one-finger song!


Above:The view of Budapest from Gellert Hill at night. Above right: A tree newly covered in snow in a local park.