*** Attention Attention!! ***
Marie now has her own webpage! So her time on my page will soon go away. Please bookmark her new page at - https://mariesadventuresblog.wordpress.com/finding-grandpa-in-slovakia-2/ to keep watching her adventures and be sure to take a look at her new post of Finding the Boys in INDIA!
2022
July 10th
All is well! And thank you for your prayers! Flights went amazingly well, with the exception of one teacher who is still traveling. She will be late to class tomorrow morning so if you have a thought pray for Lisa! Her coaches and table leaders will start the day in the morning without her! There are more students than we thought, and the administrators are scrambling to get each student into a classroom!
The first picture is flying into Paris. If you enlarge it and look to the right, you’ll see a shady figure that could be the Eiffel tower! We ran from one side of that airport to the other! They held our plane for us as we were late! When we got to Venice our bus was waiting!
The picture about Vienna was from the airport there. The next picture with yellow fields is from the bus driving to Martin Slovakia. There are acres and acres, fields of sunflowers it’s just beautiful. The wind generators are all over Austria but stop when we cross the border into Slovakia, evidently, they’re not as impressed with them!
The next pictures are of the church here in Martin. The chandelier is just beautiful! It is wonderful to be back!
The weather is cool and cloudy and rainy. To be continued!
July 11th
Good evening, all! And so the first day of class is history! In the end, there was one beginner adult class one large, advanced adult class and three children’s classes. The picture at the top is my class of beginning students. And of course, the next picture is the bell tower of our chapel.
The beginning English speaking class contains 12 students, three table coaches, I am one, and one lead teacher. At my table I have Miloš, father of the family that has adopted me and taking me to see grandpa‘s village. It was a joyous reunion with him and his family before class started! Next, I have Tina, a mother of three who is working to make this class a part of her busy schedule. Lastly, I have Olesia, from Ukraine. She has one year left to finish college, is staying with friends right now. I don’t know much more about her background but will continue to ask questions and listen. She has a pretty good grasp of English. There was one other student from Ukraine, a gentleman in his 50s, which makes us wonder how it is he escaped to Slovakia and wasn’t forced into military service. Again, more questions & time may answer that. He told me he speaks five languages. Americans are the mental midgets who only speak one! Many of these people speak multiple!
And thank you for prayers for Lisa, our lead teacher for advanced adult. She made it in today thanks to help from staff families who went to fetch her, put her up overnight and put her on the train to us.
In our class we spent time with basic grammar sentence structure exercises. How to use pronouns correctly, political correctness aside! It seems very basic to an English speaker, but it is a challenge for them! All in all, it went very well!
The weather is rainy. a couple members of the team and I were going to walk 30 minutes to Tesco, the Walmart/Costco of the area. We gave up the idea because of the rain. Instead, we walk to the local grocery store trying to read labels!
All for now, heading to bed!!
Dobru nos/Good night!
Marie
July 12th
Ahoj from Slovakia! Ahoj is the greeting to say hello to a good friend.
It was a very serious day in class! The students worked so hard understanding English idioms and our fast way of speaking. We looked at reconstruction, which means instead of saying “what do you want?” We Americans slur it into “what’d Ya want?” And “what’d Ja do? Slovak students countered with their idiom “I slept like a piece of wood!” They liked our “I slept like a log “much better! You might notice the two ladies in the picture one is blowing a bubble from bubblegum. That was our fun time, and everyone was chewing a big wad of gum and trying to blow bubbles! Desired effect, a lot of laughter! These are the two ladies at my table Martina is working on the bubble, she’s a mother of three. Olesia is a college student from Ukraine who is not sure what her future holds!
Of course, another shot of our beautiful church in the center of the Bible school and dorms and classrooms. And the river raft, yeah that’s me stirring the raft …very briefly! We did a river cruise Oravsky Podzamok, after school and the castle is up on the hill over the river. Another year in the past we hiked to the top of the castle! After the river we went out to a restaurant that serves traditional Slovak cuisine & had lard with garlic& onion to spread on bread, which was very flavorful! That was just the beginning of our dinner! After that we went onto a wooden church built by our leader, Bohdan’s father and listened to his family history. Many of us have been to this church before. That is Bohdan standing with a family Bible that is 400+ years old. He is very passionate about continuing his father’s work, to share the gospel and to bring schools to Slovakia to teach the gospel., The church was an amazing tribute to wooden craftsmanship of the time, but, Bohdan told us ,was rejected to be part of the UNICEF historical churches because some of the artwork had been stolen and then replaced with a replication .It is still an actively used church with a local pastor, and the congregation is attempting to raise money to replace the roof.
The weather is still on the cool side, we had rain often on and a little bit on the river as we were floating down.
Thanks for following along with me! We’ll share more tomorrow!
Dobru noc!
Marie
July 13th
Oy vey!!! Whoops, wrong country! What I meant to say was. O Moj!
As you can see by the pictures at the ice cream shop, it was another tough day in class! Spent the morning practicing family terms and connections, my brother, your father, his sister, her cousin, cousin BTW in Slovak has a feminine version and a masculine version! No problems with pronouns and gender confusion in this country! When one student suggested we walk to town for ice cream we were out the door faster than you can say Zmrzilna!! And mind your manners – This is a no honking zone as you can clearly see by the sign!
Below you will see a terrible picture snapped by a random stranger in the train station of Olga and myself while waiting for her bus. Olga was a student of mine back in 2018 and she was willing to take a train for an hour or so and then a bus for probably another hour from Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, where she works and lives-to see me after school. We had a delightful time catching up over blueberry lemonade and dinner – Halusky of course. When I asked her to show me her favorite place in Martin, she walked me to a large national cemetery. The inscriptions on the marble that you see are the Scriptures on a huge monument to Bohdan’s father. You’ll recall I mentioned him in yesterday’s update, we visited with Bohdan at his father’s church and saw the 400-year Bible. I felt disrespectful taking a full shot of the entire head stone, which was huge, so I zoomed in on one portion of it. Least you think the family was Extravagant in a huge memorial, you need to know that it is the Slovak tradition to honor their deceased family with a significantly sized marker, be the family rich or poor! My friend Miloš told me on my first visit that people save for years to have the funds to purchase this type of headstone. And it is important to the family to visit the cemetery on a regular basis. The scripture is chosen from Jeremiah 15 :16
This is the main entrance to the classroom building. When I first came to Slovakia this was an old rundown building formally a communist publishing firm and later publishing pornography. The Communists were quick to tell the townspeople that there was no God such an idea was a crutch. the school leaders purchased the building by scraping together funds and have slowly renovated each floor and each room. The Communists, gone from Martin, for at least the time being! didn’t deliver on their promises! But God has been faithful to the school! It now houses elementary through high school students & classrooms, with state-of-the-art science labs and it’s one of the top schools in the country.
This was one of the original buildings that started out as a Bible school became an elementary school and continues to expand. To the right, second floor, are two apartments one of which my teacher is staying in during our visit, and to the left part of the building is the apartment that I am staying in. Brenda, my teacher, and I are calling this the penthouse because not only do we have a kitchen we have a washing machine if we could only figure out how to turn it on. Instructions are in every language but English! I suspect it’s a slot machine and we need to put coins in it somewhere!
Amazingly we are halfway through the first week. Slowly piece by piece, we are piecing together the stories of the two Ukraine students. One is 20 and her family told her to leave the country ASAP. She was referred to a family with whom she is staying with now, the rest of her family apparently are still in the Ukraine. The second student a gentleman who’s probably in his 40s, left some of his family there to come to Slovakia where he has extended family. He speaks five languages but would like to go back to Ukraine so that he might continue to work. It sounds like he was in some kind of construction business of his own as well as being a project manager if we understand him correctly! Considering how uncertain their future is they are pleasant to work with in class and are studious improving their English skills.
Thanks for joining me on this journey!
Marie
July 14th
Greetings from a wet Slovakia! I can hear the rain on my skylight windows! Fortunately, it held off because we toured an open-air museum this afternoon. You can see the pictures below. The traditional style houses are representative of the various regions of the country. The musicians played for us, and I tried to send you a video of it, but it was too large for the Internet here to handle! It was a very Celtic sounding music.
Notice the church steeple has a rooster on top. My friend Miloš told me that the rooster was representative of Peter denying Christ before the cock crowded. I’ll have to learn more about that story!
July 15th
And the first week comes to a close! These two ladies, Olesia on the left and Martina on my right, have been sitting at my table all week long. Formally a university student, Olesia, the younger of these two, is one of our Ukraine students. Her family is still in Ukraine, her parents told her to get out while she could, and she is staying with a family that has taken her in and seems to care very much for her. She’s a delightful, cheerful young lady and seems optimistic that eventually she’ll be able to pick up and carry on with her life! Martina is a resident of Martin, Slovakia. She and her husband who attended our school, but in the advanced class, have three children. Their daughter was a part of our children’s English class. Their children are enrolled in the Lutheran Academy – our school sponsor, during the academic year.
English as a foreign language is offered for 2 weeks. Students can sign up for the first week, the second week or both. Martina will not be returning next week only Olesia. I will miss Martina, she was a very eager and willing student and a pleasure to have class.
This is Alex, our other Ukraine student. He was showing off his massive genealogy chart to the class. He has tracked six generations and is eager to do more work on it. He told us he drove to Ukraine after class yesterday so that he could hand off documents to his wife who is still there. He then drove back for class today. I met his two granddaughters today at lunch. He is living with his daughter here in Martin.
We have an hour for lunch each day and many of us eat in the cafeteria. The English teacher’s lunch is included every day in our total trip cost, as is our lodging and our tours of the area. Students may purchase lunch tickets and join us. Each day I have dined with members of the class. Early in the week about six or so of us started gathering at one table and that has continued all week long. It is an enjoyable informal time when we can ask each other questions and learn more about one another. It was there that I met Alex’s two granddaughters. Lunches most frequently are potatoes & rice and meat! There’s always bread, a broth-y soup and a vegetable slaw of some kind. Would you like some carbs to go with your carbs we ask one another? All I have to say on that note is it’s a good thing we walk everywhere!
Speaking of walking here are some photos of the cemetery that I took one morning on my walk. The gates were closed and locked I couldn’t enter but I was able to see some of the larger stones at the entrance of the cemetery. It is called a national cemetery which means that there are significant people in terms of culture and politics that are buried there.
An example of the beautiful red geraniums that are everywhere in the yards and window boxes of the residents of Martin. While read geraniums are by far the most popular, there are beautiful flowers of all kinds and colors. The Slovaks seem to love color! Again, a result of their dark and difficult past.
Trying to capture a picture of a Slovak cat has been a challenge here. This one will have to do! It is the decoration above an entryway of what looks like an apartment building. There were many other decorative pictures around windows and doors on the building as well. Perhaps done with tile or maybe painted on what looks like a stucco finish.
The last day of the week of our classes are traditionally a farewell party in each classroom. We had enough candy soda and more of Alex‘s wine then we could possibly eat and drink! Gifts, hugs and emails are exchanged! Three ladies who have been at Greg’s table all week and have been as entertaining and clever as they were dedicated, composed and sang us a farewell song! They knew one another outside of the class and came to Martin specifically to improve their English. They were rooming at a dorm for the medical school on the other side of town. Earlier in the week I told them they needed to learn the word “scheming”, because they were always conspiring to win any competition that we had in the classroom. It became the joke of the week! I had to explain to them that scheming could be for a good motive or a bad motive! Theirs for purely good and fun! We will miss them next week as they will not be returning.
And this week is a wrap! I am looking forward to my son Matt’s arrival tomorrow afternoon and a new week’s adventure! See you then!
Marie
Alex’s Genealogy Chart
Farewell Song!
I was able to meet with this family briefly this morning, on the upside of sticking around Martin today. This is Hedwi, her weeks old baby, her two daughters and her husband. Hedwi was part of the staff at the CCE my first year here and she put my first story on the school’s blog, a surprise to me! She was instrumental in setting up appointments with the mayor of Grandpa’s village that year, helping me translate messages to her. She is a shining example of the sweet Slovak kindness and generosity that we experience here -they just can’t do enough for us. Colossians 3:12, one of our team’s memory verses for this trip … “as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” …That’s so sums up the Slovak spirit. Hedwi, who spent weeks in the hospital to carry that baby to term, came this morning with baby, two little ones and gifts for ME! We come here to serve these people and we leave with our hearts full!
Ride anyone??
Thanks for riding along with my day! Stay tune for more adventures! And if you care to read any of the previous ones, the link below will take you to them.
Marie
July 17th
Dobry vecer! Good evening!
Matt joined me this afternoon! He rented a car in Vienna, spent the night in Bratislava and arrived this afternoon in Martin. He is still acclimating and dealing with jetlag, but we had dinner tonight with some of our group. And of course, Zmrzlina! He will be a tourist for this week, joining the group for selective activities. Stay tuned for pictures to document all!
Speaking of documentation, my friend SUZI back in La Center, WA has created a link and added my documents to her genealogy page. You can click on the link at the bottom of this email, and it will take you to a WordPress website, Keeper of the family, which is SUZI’s family page, but she is sharing it with me until we transfer it all to my own page. You may read about my previous trips to Slovakia. there are four stories about my search for my grandfather, also the daily journal entries for this trip. Please feel free to share! An editing note, this iPad and Google are not my friends, I am struggling to keep spellcheck from changing Slovak spellings, ahoj, as an example is Slovak for hello, not ahoy! Spellcheck insists on its own way. Not to mention accent marks over Slovak letters, without which, it is misspelled in Slovak. I’ve caught a few other errors, as I’m sure you have too! These updates could stand more polish, but I fear they wouldn’t be sent if I fussed much more with them! Appreciate your patience! Patience is rewarded with roses, or so the Slovak saying goes!
Be ready to laugh at the video attached below. As I returned to the mall from my room last night, in search of dinner, I heard music and discovered a concert in progress in the center of the mall. Many people were seated and standing around a stage where several musicians were accompanying some terrific vocalists. Yes, the lyrics were all Slovak, but the quality was excellent! After several songs, this tune was played, you will recognize it. noticed those in the audience and their reaction to the music, especially three ladies sitting to my right. 😊😊🎶🥳
Speaking of music, I hope you were able to view a video in yesterday’s email that I wasn’t expecting to come through. I’m having a lot of problems moving pictures to email formats. Didn’t think it made its way into the email! It was of our three students singing a farewell song to us. I’m sorry I only captured the last few seconds of Mia, Sylvia, and Eva!
Looking forward to tomorrow and a new group of students.
zbohom!
Marie
Music at the Mall!
Marie’s Autobiography
July 18th
Today was the first day, second week. It is a very different group of students from last week. Our class went from eight students to 15 students many of which are Ukrainian! I have four women at my table. Erika is a very shy quiet 18 y/o Slovak. Anna tells me she is a retired lawyer from the Ukraine. She is eager to learn and takes notes. Irene said she was a psychologist in Ukraine. I have no idea what that might mean as she looks like she’s 20 and has a teenage son who is in our class. Svetlana is a young mother. She has a one-year-old baby with her. She said she has two other children and was an engineer in Ukraine. So I have multiple challenges for the next four days. 1-to help Svetlana occupy the baby so that she can learn. 2-draw Erica out of her shell and discover what English skills she might already have 3, convince Irene to stay off of her cell phone and engage in class! It’s going to be an interesting week!
And on breaks and lunches I have engaged a young man who is also from Ukraine. something about him, very quiet and alone, spoke to my heart, and I approached him and chatted briefly with him before the classes began. I encouraged him that he would likely be in the advanced English class, and he would like the teacher, Lisa. it occurred to me to go back into my classroom and ask Olesia, from last week’s class, to come and talk with my new friend Ivan. She did and was able to speak with him and that seemed to be a good thing for him. He was put in Lisa’s class, and I went up to him and squeezed his arm and said he would enjoy her class as they all filed into Lisa’s room. At lunch Oleisa and Alex, the two returning Ukraine students were already seated together at the table in the back that we had occupied last week. I found Ivan sitting by himself and encouraged him to come join us. I told them I was a sheep dog and I had to gather my flock together! They thought that was pretty funny! He did join us, so I hope I’ve set the lunch time routine for the week. I saw him again after school, hope that means we’ve friends!
It was a very hectic classroom time, there are a few other Ukraine’s, but the majority are with me. Keeping little baby Mia occupied kept Svetlana pretty busy. I decided I’d take a stab at that issue tonight. I walked to the store and bought a couple of toys. That will buy me a little bit of time with mom!
After class a small group of us walked up the mall through one of the narrow alleyways zigzagging here and there until we came to a building being used as the Ukraine service center. You can see the sign on the gate above and pictured below is the entrance to the building. It is available to all Ukrainians and contains food staples, dry goods and clothing. Some of us are going to visit in hopes of being able to help out in some fashion. The Luthern Academy/CCE support this resource. If you are interested in donating, I will share a link in tomorrow’s email to direct you to do that. I discovered a random laundromat trying to find my way back to the mall from the service center.
And all of the umbrellas overhead!
This too was on the way to the service center. It was a little side alley shopping area, a restaurant and a few shops. Notice the furniture is made out of pallets! We walk through it all on our way to the refuge center. Matt spent the day hiking in the mountains and joined us for dinner in the mall tonight.
And then of course zmrmlina!
The weather is practically perfect, pleasant warm but not too hot and not wet! Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Marie
July 19th
Day number two, second week. I arrived, toys in bag, but mom and baby did not! Erica, Iryna and Anna were all there. No one knew what happened to Svitlana. Jaroslav, Iryna ‘s son, was also absent. Iryna explained that he had taken the train to Ukraine to pick up a suitcase. She said it was a three-hour ride one way and he would not return to class today. I don’t know if he went to the house and packed, or someone handed it off. Iryna did not return after to class after lunch.
Svitlana, and baby Mia, did come in half an hour late and she was carrying a portable playpen. Several of us jumped up to help her set it up but for the most part Mia was not happy in it!!
We have been practicing adjectives and the correct order, (who knew!) they should be used in a sentence! Students had a list to describe people: tall, thin, brown hair middle-age etc. their assignment was to describe one another, and then their table leaders. Teacher Brenda called each table leader to the front of the class while the students read their lists. It was a challenge for them to make complete sentences in the right order!
A surprise guest joined us, and the class began the task of describing Matt! Tall young, handsome, brown hair etc.! He was also asked about his occupation, and it led to some good questions from the students. For example, Matt corrected their label of his occupation, fire fighter not firemen, to include the women on the department. One student wanted to know about qualifications and Matt explained that in fire service, the fire fighter rather male or female had to use the same equipment, carry the same ladder etc and thus were held to the same standards . The military on the other hand, until recently, had different jobs for each and thus different standards. The students, at least those who could understand him, were very interested.
This weeks class is struggling more with many students whose English language abilities are very limited. One particular table has four students whose English is very limited and are having a hard time understanding. The woman you see in the photo below, whose name escapes me! has been acting as an interpreter for that group to help them. It truly is a team effort!
Little Mia was much happier crawling the floor than she was in any playpen! We all tried to keep an eye on her and occupy her so mom could have a few more minutes on the lesson!
Anna, former lawyer, is definitely the leader of the pack at my table! Even though she said she’s retired from a legal mediation position, she said “once a lawyer always thinks like a lawyer!” I responded with a joke from the USA, if it weren’t for lawyers, we wouldn’t need lawyers! She read it, thought about it and then laughed!
She is very eager to learn, says she will volunteer with the Slovak government
and use her legal and mediation skills to work with Ukraine immigrants and there are documents. She too has a daughter living with her.
Lunch was what I had hoped for, Olesia , Ivan & Alex all gathered. Olesia is the chatterbox, and Ivan is quiet. Dean, on our team, asked Ivan about family and he responded that his brother was in technical communications, with the military, and father was at home, didn’t say what father was doing. Dean asked what Ivan liked to do and his answer was surfing the web! He is a tall thin young man, to use our adjective lesson! not the athletic type!
At breakfast earlier in the morning, I had talked with one of our team members, Peter, who is Ivan’s table leader in the advanced English class. We shared concerns for him and a desire to connect with him. Peter told me that Ivan lived in the heart of the fighting in the Ukraine. So at lunch Peter joined us briefly and said hello to Ivan.
I suggested we go for a quick walk after lunch and on the walk invited both Olecia and Ivan to have a treat with me after school on Wednesday. I asked him to check with his mom to make sure that was OK.
After class we rode the bus to Kremnica, a charming Slovak village, the center of mining and minters for Europe. The mint was founded in 1328 and according to their literature, has been in continuous operation ever since! In the 14th century it had the largest gold production in Hungary, earning the town the nickname of “golden”. The town castle was created during the 13th to the 15th centuries. Coins have been minted there for dozens of countries around the world. The museum is filled with coin displays that are breathtaking in beauty, design, and numbers! We were looking at coins from the first century!
The village is also known for its therapeutic mineralized spas. The water contains sulfur hydrogen carbonate calcium and magnesium and is beneficial for health issues. It rises from an underground source and people from all of Europe come for its healing qualities. We stopped for dinner at a local restaurant on our way home and return to the school and called it a day!
Thanks for reading along! If I could ask a favor, somehow, I’ve managed to lose the journal entry for Thursday, July 14 – hiding in google land or iCloud or somesuch galaxy! if you have a copy of that, could you forward it to me? Thanks! My IT support team, SUZI, has posted them all, with the exception of July 14, to her word press website, the link is below. Hope you’re enjoying all of this! Thanks for your patience with the ruff form and lack of editing!
Blessings to you all!
Marie
Matt’s Class
July 20th
Day 8 – In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Provers 16:9
The middle day of the week is now over. We can see the end from here! It seems the road goes on forever until this point in the second week and then the end comes quickly!
I was disappointed that my plans to take Ivan & Olesia out after class did not happen. Olesia was not in class and thus Ivan dropped out. Nor were Iryna and her son in class. This left Erica, Anna, and a late arriving Svitlana and baby Mia. Our connections seem to be hit and miss at my table until later in the afternoon. We were sharing with one another pictures of our life and our families. Anna spoke of bringing her dog and her two cats across the border in cages and having to put those cages in the trunk of a car. Her dog she said continues to be traumatized. Svitlana is mostly occupied with her little one, but actually had done very well with writing assignment when baby was sleeping. She is a very patient mom. With Anna‘s help, Svitlana shared that husband was a mechanic in Bratislava, and came home for weekends. She has two other children, she showed us a picture on her phone. I can only imagine the courage and strength it took to leave their beloved country. Again, if I understood her correctly the father could come with them because of the small children.
By the end of our class day, Mia was still sleeping, and I spent a little extra time with Anna and Svitlana. I gave both ladies my email address and said I’d like to hear from them and would help them however I could.
Who but a crazy American, and a library worker at that, would want a picture of her new library card at the Martin Slovakia library! I didn’t go in looking to sign up for one, I wanted to hand off a copy of my story from 2018. I brought copies of it in both English and Slovakia and just wanted to offer it to the library. It’s not bound, but they have a lot more than just books, as you can see in the picture above, they had a whole shelf of maps! And I remember seeing sheet music on previous visits. But in questioning me, the front desk clerk, who fortunately spoke English, suggested I get a library card since I didn’t have one! I said sure why not! She put down the school’s address, she looked at my passport for ID, she charged me three Euro and Voila! I have a card!
I headed upstairs and ask the reference librarian if she had a map of Ukraine. She brought out a couple of atlases but in the end, she went to the Internet and printed one out for me. Realizing I only had large bills with me for the dollar copy fee, she waived the fee and wish me well! My intention is to take it to class tomorrow and ask my students where they are from in Ukraine.
Encouraged by the success, as I did leave my story with them, I walked, in 90° heat, 10 minutes over to the national Slovak library on the other side of town. As I offered my story, it just happened a former employee was talking to the receptionist man, and he called her back to translate for me. They asked if I had someone’s approval in this huge building to leave the story with. I said no but I would be happy to do so if I knew with whom to talk! As it was late in the day and I suspect if I understood him correctly many had left for home, they were willing to take my story and pass it on. I left my contact information with it and walked out with the former employee, exchanging pleasant small talk. So, I was able to distribute two copies of my story in Martin. Perhaps nothing will come of it, but it was an interesting exchange in both places.
Matt had left early in the day to drive to Poland. He wanted to pay his respects and see the concentration camp Auschwitz Memorial. I’ve been told that’s a very emotional experience, he, being more prepared than most, a military history major, was able to take it in and come back to Martin this evening. He joined my teacher Brenda, and I for ice cream in the mall and we called it a day!
Marie
July 21st
The hills are alive with the sound of music! OK, that was Austria, this is Slovakia – The same beautiful country! No that’s not a backdrop behind us, that’s the real deal! We are at the home of our friends, the staff from the school.
This is looking south from their houses. Beautiful farmland! Little wonder that my grandfather bought a farm and became a farmer in America! That’s what he knew!
This is the Calderon, homemade, that our fearless leader, Bohdan, used to make goulash. It serves about 40 people! It was delicious! This is Mark from our team stirring the pot!
The morning was somewhat chaotic. My Ukraine girls were coming and going. I hope we made a little bit of progress. Anna kept taking phone calls from her son, in Ukraine, who is trying to fill out documents to come here to go to school in the fall. Svetlana was juggling little Mia and working hard in between. It was her birthday and SHE brought treats for everyone! A little package of gingerbread covered by chocolate. Brenda our teacher made a fuss over her, and we all sang to her! My heart was touched when I discovered an email from her thanking me this evening. My other Ukraine lady, Iryna came in the morning, engaged in the lesson, but never returned after lunch. Perhaps she was visiting with her mother whom she said came the day before. It is difficult to know what their lives are like. Olesia was absent again. I saw Ivan and said hello. He was with a table of other guys for lunch, so that was good. The weather has turned blisteringly hot! Such a contrast from a week ago when it was cooler and rainy!
And tomorrow we finished!
Marie
July 22nd
English as a foreign language class, summer 2022 is finished!
I brought in a map yesterday and asked each one to mark where they were from.
Dinner for all of us by the staff, going away gifts and music! Tomorrow the bus leaves for Vienna! Tonight is packing for 4 more days for Matt-and I!
Farewell Hymn
What you didn’t see and I couldn’t tape was the American response in song with the English words to that hymn – no words to describe the moment. It was holy Ground!
July 23rd
Prievidzská! Saturday morning, after breakfast, the team gathered in what they called “memorandum Square,” a beautiful courtyard in between the church, the school dormitory and the main school Bible office, boarded their bus, heading to Vienna, and Sunday morning, their flight home.
A small group of us Slovaks and Matt and I, did the traditional wave as the bus drove away. We loaded my suitcases into Matts rental car but couldn’t leave without Natalia, children’s pastor at the school, finding us two sacks, lunches packed for the team’s travel. Slovak hearts to the very end, giving and caring!
Matt and I proceeded to Prievidzská, A medium sized village, meaning stores and shops, but much smaller than Martin. Our drive was through farms and country land, even passing a horse and buggy in oncoming traffic. Drivers, Matt has observed, are fast and aggressive, but not erratic and careless. One has to maneuver quickly around the massive farm equipment that we frequently meet on the road. there is a lot of custom farming on the acres and acres of wheat and corn throughout the countryside. So, these farmers would be driving their equipment from one location to another, something we do back in Clark County! I have a custom farmer cut my hay. Our destination was the home of Miloš and his family. I have been friends with them since my first year in Slovakia in 2015. I called them my adopted family because they have welcomed me into their hearts and home and if you have read any of my previous adventures their names are sprinkled throughout the story. Truly, the stories would not be without this wonderful family!
I am staying in a small house apartment 10 minutes walking distance from their house and Matt in his own motel room. These are the scenes as I walk to Miloš’s house. The temperature was scorching mid-90s. We are melting! Iveta barbecued chicken in the back patio for us, and the weather turns from sweltering heat to wind to lightning to a little bit of rain and then to cool. The green kitchen pictured above is my apartment. It is a very European stylish little flat, but not very practical! I will be here until Tuesday morning.
Then we will leave Slovakia and head to Vienna and then the airport and then home! So, We transition from school in Martin to sightseeing and visiting in western Slovakia! The next phase begins! Come along! Marie
July 24th
Ahoy! Welcome to Prievidzská, the beautiful village in Nitra Region, western Slovakia! These murals, and my pictures don’t do them justice, are a slice of time in the history of this village. Tucked away, in a residential area, we passed them on our way to church Sunday morning. I was captivated by them! After church Matt, Miloš, Lydia, Lenka and I walked back a couple blocks into the residential area to view the paintings up close. There are eight murals, maybe 10 x 30‘in size, painted on the exterior walls of appear to be residential apartments in this part of town. No fanfare, no billboards no advertisements just these gorgeous paintings. I would give credit to the author, if I could read his name, he did sign them! He also dated them, and I’ve tried to capture that in the photos. Hopefully my IT tech Suzi and I can figure out how to post all of the pictures on the WordPress “keeper of the family “page. You will see Matt and I in a couple of paintings, next to them I should say! That will give you an idea their size. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! I might add that one of the things that I have noticed in the three years of absence from Slovakia is the increase of graffiti in Martin and I see it in this sweet town as well. Oh, I so hope no one would dare damage this treasure in any way!
Here are more of the pictures from Prievidzská. I could figure no other way to transfer this many photos other than two emails! I hope you enjoy! Sorry for the shadows from the trees next to the building. the colors on top of the pictures are the paintings of the wall of the building. My photos do not do this justice and my apologies to the artist!
We walked back-and-forth admiring these murals and finally drove back to the family house in the heart of this village. The weather is stiflingly hot today. Iveta, Miloš‘s wife, and the “poster child “for proverbs 31 “wise wife, prepared a delicious meal for us, roasted potatoes, Schnitzel chicken and salad. Iveta missed church with us to remain at home to care for her senior father-in-law, as well as their eldest daughter, Ivana, who is quarantined upstairs, due to Covid exposure! I miss seeing Ivana, she has been my interpreter on many of our adventures!
We relax on their back patio in the heat of the afternoon, forcing ourselves to suffer a walk for ice cream! We had more ambitious thoughts of a longer walk, but it was just too hot! We enjoyed a late dinner on the patio savoring one another’s company! Time with his family is such a treat! And I treasure them!
Tomorrow we will drive an hour south into the villages of my father’s family. Matt will be able to experience the beauty of these towns. I hope you will join us!
Marie
July 25th
A few more steps… on grandpa‘s trail…
My plan for Monday, July 25, 2022, was to visit two small villages in Western Slovakia. Nedašovce, the birthplace of Grandpa Stefan Divis (1896-1975), and Oponice, birthplace of his father, Agustinus/Augustus (1856-1894) and the home of Austrian born Jacobus Divis (1813-1899), my Great Great Grandfather. With me was my son Matt and our friend Lydia Krpelanova, who would help us translate. I had emailed the Mayor of Nedašovce regarding our visit, she had responded, but without time confirmation. I remained hopeful that she might have clues for us. But upon our arrival, no Mayor. Her secretary called her and said she would be back in 30 minutes. So, Lydia, Matt and I went in search of the house- Grandpa’s house. During my first visit to Nedašovce in 2015, a senior residence of the village remembered our family and directed me to their house. It had since been torn down, so it was really a vacant lot we were searching for. Walking a short distance from the mayor’s office and the “posta” adjacent to it, we came to a vacant lot. Was this it? No other vacant lots were visible, so likely this was it. The owner had had 3 years in which to remove the debris and allow the grass to regrow since I had last seen it. We walked on to the cemetery. Great Uncle Josef Divis (1892-1960) was buried there, I had located him in 2015, so now had no trouble finding his gravestone. The large stone still shown his name. The headstone and area around his large marble marker looked neglected. The Artificial flowers looked old and faded. Lydia took a photo of Matt and I standing next to the large stone. There really wasn’t more to see, having searched this cemetery thoroughly on previous visits. If there was another Divis buried here, they were well hidden, likely anonymous, as many markers were worn blank with time.
In looking around, we noticed we were not alone. A village woman was there, perhaps cleaning or weeding. Lydia struck up a conversation with her, in Slovak of course, asking if she knew of any other Divis family graves. Lydia s face said it all and the woman began to lead us to a row of graves further into the middle of the cemetery. She pointed to a row of headstones, some named, but not DIVIS, and two others that were nameless. Time and weather had erased the names and dates. She pointed to one of them and said, “I’m pretty sure this is Augustus Divis.” (or so Lydia translated). Ano!! (Slovak for YES! ((Word #8 of 10 in my extensive repertoire of Slovak words! And about as many in French😂)) I nodded in agreement and confirmation!! Great Uncle Joseph and Grandpa Stefan had 2 brothers by the name of Augustus! The first died in infancy in 1888: the second, born in 1890, 2 yrs before Josef, died at age 59. That would make this grave marker 11 years older than Josef’s, not likely enough time to erode the etchings of the name and dates. More likely the grave was of their father, also named Augustus, 1856-1894, who died when Josef was 2, and Stefan was 8 yrs old. I remembered reading on a document of grandpas that his father had died in his 30s of pneumonia. That would make this grave marker 128 years old. Would that time span explain the missing inscriptions of date and name? On the other hand, 128 years ago would this farming family, experiencing an untimely loss of a young father, have been able to afford the big marble grave marker? Always another question and no one to ask!
Our new friend, Neperliva/Nesytena (cd 125= house number?) continued to tell us that Joseph’s wife Maria had baked cookies for her wedding years ago. AND she shared that Josef repaired shoes. That piece fit our puzzle perfectly!! I had been told by another village resident in past visits that Josef repaired shoes. What are the chances of meeting someone in the Slovak cemetery on the one day you are in this country, 3 years since the last visit, that knows your family! Wow! Only God! We didn’t have much time to stand there stunned- We needed to get back to the mayor’s office, in hopes of her returning. We were disappointed to be told that the mayor was now off on another emergency. I left a copy of my 2019 story, and a small bouquet of flowers with the secretary and accepted in return a plastic bag with a bottle of wine, an extra-large T-shirt with the village name on it, and a book about the village, village, in Slovak! Our time would have been better spent asking the cemetery lady more questions, but we had another appointment to keep and needed to move on to Oponice.
Marie
July 25th – Part 2
Unexpected Strangers on Grandpa’s trail
Visit to Oponice
Like the Nedaśovce cemetery encounter with Štefánia, spontaneous but Providential, so too was my next appointment.
Let me set the stage with a brief history for our visit to Oponice, a town, a castle, and the home of my Great Great Grandfather Jacobus/Jakub Diviś, and the birthplace of Great Grandfather Augustinus Diviś.
The Castle of Apponyi, as Oponice was known in the 1300s, was acquired by a Hungarian noble family in 1392. This family became known as the Apponyians. Today you can still see the castle ruins on a hill outside of town to the north. It is possible to hike to the area and explore it. It is said it was protection from raids by the Tatars and later the Turks. The castle was modified and strengthened in 1542. It received stronger fortifications and was surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge on the west side. The Turks never managed to conquer it. In 1700 it was occupied by a rebel army, which was suppressed by the Imperial army, and then was partially demolished. Its neglect continued until 2000 when a group of enthusiasts founded the Apponian Civic Association, their goal, to save the castle. They have reclaimed some of the masonry and cleared out undergrowth, trees and bushes. A trail from the village leads to the castle, a 30-minute walk to the once majestic stone structure, rising from the Tribec Mountains, set against a panorama of the valley from Zobor to Banovecko. Someday I would like to take that trail and explore what is left of it. But not today. Sigh. I will continue to indulge my fantasy that this is the ruins of the “Diviś” Castle. Slovakia has more castles per capita than any other country in Eastern Europe. Surely one of those belonged to the Diviś Family! (www.regionnitra.sk)
In comparison to Nedaśovce, Oponice covers more area and boasts more residents, with paved streets and newer houses which gives it a modern look. It is farther south, in the direction of Nitra Region and heading west towards Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, on the western border near Vienna, Austria. It is home to the “Small Renaissance Mansion” as the locals call it, the Apponyi’s Hunting Museum built in the 16th century by the Apponyi family. It has changed ownership through the years, becoming the city’s possession in 1924. In 1974 it underwent much needed renovation. At one time it was a police station and then the doctor’s office. In 1993 the village established the Apponyi Museum which operates today. It contains over 2,500 exhibits related to the Apponyi family. There are picture collections, period furniture and a portion of the volumes of the Apponyi library.
Not far away, another dwelling known as the “Large Renaissance Mansion” was also built by the Apponyi family and was their residence in the 16th & 17th centuries, having left their castle residence. Family members occupied the mansion until 1935, when Count Henrich Apponyi passed, and the estate was sold. Passing through various corporate owners, it was sold in 2007 to the I & P company, who remodeled it into a luxury hotel. The remainder of the Apponyi Library with more than 17,000 volumes of rare books is on display here, making this hotel complex unique in Slovakia. We stopped briefly and looked around the grounds, but the library was not open. www.chateauapponyi.sk.
Of special interest to my search is the Catholic Church. In its original form, it was probably built during the 12th century. The Romanesque thatched church was demolished at the end of the 18th century to make way for the newer, classicist church of St Peter & Paul, opened in 1793 and mass was performed by the Bishop of Nitra. It houses parish registers from the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. It is home to a rare one-manual organ built in 1869 by master organist Jan Sasko (1807-1893) with 620 pipes. The church bells were installed in 1914 at the outbreak of the WW1. The last bell was added in 1925. Under the church are the tombs of the Apponyi family, which are accessible to the public. Also visible is the sculpture of the coat of arms of Apponyi (www.coadb.com apponyi)which may have come from Bratislava, the former Apponyi Palace. A visit inside this church was high on my list, as it is a likely place to find records of my family. Was Jakub married here, did he worship here? Possibly his 11 children, including G Grandfather Augustinus was baptized here.
According to the records kept at the Nitra State Archives, Jakub, born in Rabensburg, Austria lived in Oponice and raised 11 children, one of which was Augustinus, born in 1856 to Jakub and Eva Lanyi Korbelova Diviś. Eva, a widow from Prievidz, was Jakub’s 3rd wife. Wife #1 Anna Blanar died after childbirth, 1843, Wife #2, Teresa Zsigardy bore him 3 children and then died, leaving Jakub with 4 children under 10. Eva died in 1862 from typhus, leaving Jakub with 8 children, when Augustinus was 6 years old. It was Wife # 4, Julianna Gazdagh that likely raised Augustinus. The clerk in the State Archives, Nitra, Ladislav Holeck, helped with research in 2018, documented Jakub’s family and children, also found a document describing an award that Jakub had been given for his service as a ground’s keeper in the Austrian Forest.
Unfortunately, my hope to meet Pastor Michael Srank, and see the inside of the church, and possible church records, was not to be. He was not available today. When my friend Miloś Krpelan and I stopped here in 2019, he made contact with Pastor Srank, but we were not able to go inside the church at that time either. It felt like we were running low on options to make inroads to family secrets in Oponice. I wasn’t overly confident that our time would yield any discoveries. But at least Matt would see this village and its setting, the land in our bloodline. But there was another unexpected connection, a friend of a friend that offered hope.
Back in Martin last week, at the CCE School, my friend Brenda Fast, head teacher, beginning Adult English class, was preparing to meet with former student, Eva. Knowing Oponice was my target for further family research, Brenda offered to ask Eva if she knew the area. “Ano” (yes) Eva did and would be happy to connect me. And so I met Janka Nozkova, via emails. Janka responded from Croatia, a popular “holiday” destination for Slovaks. She promised to contact me when she returned. We corresponded in the days leading up to Monday July 25, attempting to match our schedules. Bless her big Slovak heart; the time that worked for me was during her lunch break from her job in Nitra, a nearby city! No problem, she’d be there! Meeting with Janka meant leaving Nedasovce when we did, in spite of wishing we had more time to talk with the Štefánia in the cemetery.
So there we were, driving to Oponice city hall, hoping for a different outcome than in 2019. It was easy to spot – the royal blue and white checkered tile on the outside of the building. Maybe something to do with their flag…crest…?? We arrived at the same time as Janka, parked, greeted one another and walked inside. It had an odd floor plan, I remembered from my 2019 visit. We climbed the stairway to the second story, then turned around and walked up a few more steps and thru a door on the left. All four of us filed into the long office, with a tall, long counter with 2 clerks seated behind it. Janka introduced us and I handed the clerk nearest me a list of family names including maiden names of the wives. She looked it over, and then called her mother to see if she recognized any. While that conversation was in progress, I walked over to the other clerk and handed her another copy of all of the names in GGG Jacobus’ family line. The second clerk began to check names on her computer. I walked back to the first clerk. The mom did not recognize any of the names. As Janka talked with Clerk #1, I watched Clerk #2 make a phone call and then hand the phone to Lýdia. Lýdia listened, listened more, found a pencil and began taking notes on the paper with all of the family names. This went on for several minutes. And the longer it did, the more excited I became. I didn’t know who Lýdia was talking to, but whoever it was had had plenty of time to decline any knowledge of my family and say goodbye. That hadn’t happened, and Lýdia continued to take notes….10 minutes … maybe more? We all waited and waited. Finally, dobra denyas were exchanged, or at least offered by Lýdia, and she hung up. Not only did this man, Roman Gersi, know of the Diviś family, Lýdia shared, he had been researching one of the family connections. Oh my gosh!!! I asked the clerk for his email address and quickly sent an email to him to confirm my name and give him my contact info. Surprise number two of the day, another much unexpected find – first the woman in the cemetery and now Roman. I could not have planned either of these breakthroughs. We all smiled and laughed and headed out to the parking lot. Janka had called Pastor Srank and confirmed that he was unavailable. She was running out of time and had to return to work. We exchanged hugs and best wishes, and she went on her way. Checking emails in the car, Roman had responded, IN ENGLISH! So, our connection had been made! He said he would email again. A contact in Oponice! Unbelievable!
Our adventure to Nedaśovce and Oponice was above and beyond my hopes and expectations. Not only did Matt see firsthand the land of his grandfathers, including 7 generations! (I only knew of 4 when this adventure began in 2015= (Finding Grandpa 2015), we also made very surprising and unexpected contacts in both areas. “Ano”/yes – it was a success, and it was enough…for today! We returned to Nitrianske Pranvo and the Krpelan home where Iveta was ready with lunch. Potato pancakes! Fearing her notes would grow cold, Lýdia and I sat down to look at what she had been frantically scribbling on my list of surnames in Oponice city hall. Who was this Roman Gerśi that the city clerk had called upon? Was he really familiar with my family and could help with my search? Or was he a hope-so, whose facts wouldn’t stand up against what little I knew. Lýdia began to translate. Little by little, she went over the details Roman had shared, and amazingly, his information confirmed what Ladislas State Archives, Nitra had shared with me in 2018 (Finding Grandpa 2018) Roman really had been researching the Diviś line! I couldn’t believe it!!! But it got more exciting. According to Lýdia’s notes from the phone conversation, he knew of Jakub’s parents! Austrian born Anton and Juliana Nemcized Diviś. 6 generations from me to them! This was new information – incredible. Roman also knew of the award Jakub (1813-1899 born in Austria) received –the Austrian Silver Cross for Merit in 1897 awarded in Oponice. (Thus Far on Grandpa’s trail 2018). Roman and I were indeed on the same page chasing my grandfather’s family in Slovakia. What were the chances!!! And all of this happened on the 209th anniversary of Jakub’s birthday!!
What an exciting end to Slovakia 2022. Surprises and more questions. And more hope. Looking ahead to my next visit!
Marie
July 25th
Part 3 Bojnice Castle and goodbyes
Lunch finished and genealogy work set aside, Iveta, Lenka and I decided to visit another castle in the village of Bojnice. Unlike the Oponice ruins, Bojnice is big and beautiful, its architecture is of Italian- French Renaissance, it is truly breath taking, and its history dates back to 1113. It has experienced periods of renovation through that time. The castle, a zoological garden and park are one of the most frequently visited places of interest in Slovakia. Back in 2019 daughter Ivana Krpelan had worked there as a tour guide, and the family and I were escorted inside on one of her tours. It is a museum filled with historical artifacts, furniture items and picture galleries. But today, in spite of the warm temperatures, we hiked around the beautiful gardens and park grounds, drinking in the beauty. The castle and grounds made for a beautiful back drop for photos that capture the magical/historical area. Knowing this was my last day with the Krpelan ladies, I savored the time with them. As we walked back to their car, we passed another of the historical portraits on the side of a building.
Back at their home, we all gathered together for a time of rest from the heat and a farewell gathering with Miloś and Matt. Tomorrow Matt and I will drive to Vienna and Wednesday, July 27, will fly back to the USA. It had been such an eventful day, full to the brim. But wait, there was another surprise. The Krpelans had something up their sleeves. They all disappeared, returning with birthday gifts for me in hand, singing as each presenting me with a gift, smile, hug and a few words of affection. I hugged each in return, tears in my eyes. This wasn’t the first time they’d remembered a birthday I had forgotten! Matt watched with a smile. What a gift this family is! We gathered for pictures and farewells. We would see Iveta, Lýdia and Lenka briefly in the morning, and then we were on the road.
Marie
July 26 Bratislava and then … Farewell to Slovakia
After a very brief farewell again in the morning, with hugs and tears, we drove away. Matt, I and the rental car, were headed to Bratislava along our way to our final stop for the night, Vienna. The GPS on Matt’s phone took us on a winding path through the country. Acres and acres of farmland and farm equipment. Eventually he corrected the route to one more streamline and highway. We approached Bratislava and stopped for lunch. We wandered the cobblestone corridors and shops, marveling at more history. This capital city features a large castle with sits high on a hill and looks more like a military garrison than a princess’ castle the likes of the one in Bojnice. This one, too, dates back to the 11th century and boasts residents from the Hungarian royalty. We found a small café – who needed a menu – it was our last time for Haluśky. We weren’t disappointed we were soaking up our final hour in Slovakia … until we discovered we had parked in some restricted zone, perhaps declared by the sign we didn’t take the time to translate. So, we contributed 20 Euro to the town coffers. Oh well, I sighed, I needed to use up the Euro before tomorrow! And we headed on to Vienna.
I watched for the border crossing. Leaving Bratislava, we cross the large bridge, a skyline icon of the town, across the Danube River. One would hardly know that you’ve left one country and entered another, such little evidence of a border. I quickly snapped a photo. And we were no longer in my beloved Slovakia, but now in Austria, as evidenced by the windmills dotting the landscape. As both countries are part of the European Union, there is no need to stop to show passports to custom agents. It’s like driving from one state to another in the USA. Shortly we were near the Weinn airport and our rooms. With only hours left of our last day, we decided to dump our suitcases and try our chances at purchasing a train ticket in hopes of boarding the right train into the old town of Vienna. It turned out to be easier than we thought and shortly we were exiting the train station in downtown historic Vienna. We walked all around the town, taking in as much as possible, cathedrals hundreds and hundreds of years old, restaurants, museums, cobblestone streets, people everywhere. We were on the lookout for a restaurant that specializes in Strudels and pies … and we did locate it, but we weren’t the only ones wanting their strudel – the line snaked down the streets, so we decided to forgo that experience and not spend our one shot to see Vienna in exchange for standing in a line. We finally stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner. It was time to head back to the train station and return to our rooms. I was scheduled to leave in the morning, Matt on a different flight a little later.
Marie
July 27 – THE L O N G E S T birthday ever
Morning came and I pulled my luggage to the motel lobby where I would meet Matt for the final walk to the airport. He met me with chocolate and a card – This was the beginning of my 2-day birthday – once in Vienna and then again back in the USA, as travel through the time differences would find me arriving in Portland on the same day that I’d left Vienna – July 27, my birthday. Finally on board after an hour in line to check-in for my flight, one of the stewardesses on the KLM plane approached me in my seat and handed me a birthday post card signed by the flight crew. That was a first! And so, I was on my way home…leaving Matt, whose flight was cancelled until the following day. Poor guy – he had to suffer through a second day in downtown Vienna! A day later, he would eventually arrive at PDX. And Serving Slovakia 2022 was history!
DAYS LATER…. A postscript to the trip…
Roman and I have exchanged emailed since my return home. He lives in Oponice and is likely the best person in the village to have information about previous residents. That he speaks ENGLISH is all the sweeter! He is the boots on the ground that I have been searching for. He has access to the parish records that contain the original recording of Jakub’s marriage, the death of his wives and birth of Augustinus. But as always, the mystery continues – where was Jakub buried? In Oponice, according to the State Archives, not in Oponice according to Roman. Are there any surviving members of Jakub 11 children? Roman knows of no one from the Gazdagh family who currently lives in Oponice. No grave of anyone from the Gazdagh family has been preserved in the cemetery in Oponice. At some point, Augustinus married and moved to Nedaśovce, or moved and married in Nedaśovce where my grandfather Stefan was born. I now know, thanks to Štefánia, that Augustinus is buried in Nedaśovce, having died at age 36, from pneumonia, according to Stefan’s records.
The adventure continues…is it too early to pack for 2023? This trip was such a blessing…and a big thank you goes to so many for their support….Suzi for her IT help, Matt for driving a rental car through Slovakia! And just BEING there! Lydia for her translating services as always, Brenda for leading our class and connecting me to Slovak friends, Eva for the connection to Janka, Janka for taking time to meet us, Roman for sharing his research, the wonderful Oponice clerk who called Roman, Štefánia who helped us in the cemetery, so many friends at home praying and reading my daily journal postings. Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you Jude 2 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever, Amen. Jude 24 & 2
Click here to see English subtitles
Google Translation – Activities, but more free time, self-development of Christian education for the general public of conventional English language, a group of American volunteers flew in to teach their native language for 2 weeks, and others with American lecturers, but which teachers come from the state of Washington, which is in the very west of America, and actually came 25 and in this way, every week we have around 100 students ranging in age from teenagers to pensioners, who can be said to learn in a fun and very effective way, and the English of the church choir, hey sk, we come to offer a possible perfectly grown-up, it’s about improvement, we like it here we are here and we like to get to know the Slovak culture. Such improvement has its own reasons. The monthly courses are aimed at developing communication skills. They increase pronunciation, spontaneity and fluency in communication. They also improve the understanding of the fluent speech of a native speaker. These courses are more aimed at improving conversation. i.e. the basics of grammar or vocabulary can also be taught basically by self-study, but what is key for a bigger one is talking, talking with someone who uh who is uh actually for whom it is the mother tongue of course we have already done it in the ancestor’s house it is a tradition for almost 15 years but We couldn’t make it happen for the 2 years as vids, so now we are all the more looking forward to the fact that, uh, after those 2 years, we can have it again and we can have this school full even during the holidays.
2022 Summer Progress Report
Keeper of the Family 