One Hundred and Fifty Years!

If you have been here in Martin, Slovakia, one of the first bits of history that you learn is about the Memorandum. This was when some Slovaks, including many pastors, met with some Hungarian officials. The meeting was basically about allowing the Slovaks to be Slovaks. By this, they wanted the Slovakian language to be an official language; they wanted to be recognized as a unique area in the Hungarian Empire, recognized for its Slovak roots. They especially wished to have some schools established, that would have the students learning in their first language. That incident is what this big metal casting represents.


Well it has been a hundred and fifty years since that event happened right here at the Bible School. In fact, when everyone convened, it was raining so the representatives asked if they could meet inside the church. The church doors were opened and that is where the memorandum was debated, written, read, changed etc.

The week before 05-06-2011, it had rained most of the week. However, on Sunday, it was sunny and chairs were set outside the church, between the Bible School and the building that has the plaque. This is where we celebrated the writing of the Memorandum. The area was filled with as many chairs as they could put out. By my counting, multiplying and estimating, over four hundred people attended this worship service. This included an official each of the Roman Catholic and the Greek Catholic churches. The Bishop of all Slovakia was there to give the sermon and the mayor was there to dedicate a wreath to celebrate the occasion. The church’s choir sang and there was a choral group, The Continental Singers. They were all Slovaks, but they sang praise songs in English.

First, there was the church service with the Evanjelicka Bishop giving the sermon. Next came the presenting of the wreath and the talks that came with that. I will say that the mayor mentioned that a good many of the Slovaks who helped write the Memorandum were pastors. He also gave mention of the necessity of our religious values. All this from a politician, the elected mayor of Martin.




Pastor Milan and the Bishop are both wearing a hat that is worn only for special occasions like this (and funerals, we were told.)

After the wreath and speeches, we had about an hour before the first singing group gave a concert. This was The Continental Singers. I will try to up load a short video clip for this.After this group, there was another band.



Then at 17,00 (5:00 PM) we went into the church to see an reenactment written to remind people of this big event. Most of the players (actors) were from the Martin church. However, there were about four professional actors, also. Gary and I were blessed to have Donna sit with us and tell us the main events of the play. Donna is a language instructor at the Medical University. We first met here in 2006 when she took us to her home and hosted us for a wonderful afternoon of dinner and conversation. At the end of the play, Donna shared that she felt as if she had been right at that meeting that took place in 1861. There was one more band that played after the reenactment. This was truly a city-wide event. More people came to the church service than usually attend. And other people just came to the Bible School Square, sat down and enjoyed the music, and then went their way. Unfortunately, our computer caught a virus and was at the “hospital” for a while. I thought I had more photos than I can find. But we wanted to share these.

Slovak Art

Friday was a beautiful day. Why not see some specialized Slovak art? We get on the train early in the morning. We were delighted to meet a young man with whom we could speak, comfortably in English. He was an engineering student at the University in Žilina. In school he had studied German. He speaks English because he watched many movies in English. Michael also shared about belonging to the Pentecostal Church in Slovakia. We shared happenings at the Evanjelicka Bible School. It was a wonderful beginning of the day.


Since 2004 when we found some beautiful baskets woven in intricate designs, we had been wishing to see an exhibit in Žilina about wireworks in Slovakia. Originally it was at an outlying castle, but had been moved to a museum, on a main square. That was our first stop.


What we learned about this craft was fascinating. It began early in the 1700’s as a way to supplement the income of poor people living in the mountainous parts of northern and north western Slovakia. The first “tinkers” would repair or strengthen damaged clay pots by weaving wire “nets” around the damaged pot. Then they began to weave sifters for farmers, as well as window nets for out-buildings on the farms.


It became a new lifestyle. The Tinker traveled throughout the countryside, carrying his tools and materials (wire and metal sheets). These tools of the trade distinguished the tinkers from people of a “vagrant” lifestyle. Often the tinker was accompanied by an apprentice, a young man 10 to 14 years old. They traveled through the whole of the Austrian Hungarian territory. There became so much competition that they crossed borders, and eventually carried their craft throughout the world. The title of the photograph is “Over the World.”



Their craft expanded as the tinkers would adapt what they made according to the individual need. Their works were lightweight, a specialized spatial puzzle, multipurpose, utilitarian and decorative. Thanks to entirely manual work, tinker-art was a craft of creative individuals. Although it was spread throughout the world, it remained a Slovak craft. The table and chairs above are toys for a child.


It became a form of artistic creation in the early 1940’s. The form of a man in Slovak dress was about the height of Jeannine. The detail is so intricate; it is phenomenal.
It was beautiful art as the picture below illustrates.



After we had seen the exhibit, we needed to get to the intercity bus stop to travel to our next stop. Just to be sure where we were we asked the receptionist, expecting her to point the direction we should walk. She could not tell us in English, so she said something to the other receptionist, and led us out the door. She walked with us the whole 5 blocks with many turns. When we got there, she showed us how to find where to catch the bus (out of 30 bus locations). God has provided angels such as this, to show us the way.
No, we would not have found it without her help.



The ride up the valley to the village named Rajec Lesná was through some beautiful countryside. Everything is green, the hills, the fields; the trees are a beautiful shade of green. We are here to see a large wood carving that is called Slovensky Betlehem.

We had planned to see Betlehem before we caught the bus to the next place on our agenda. However, we forgot that some places in Slovakia close for lunch. It is closed from 11:30 until 1:00 PM. Another place to see in this village is The Stations of the Cross.



On our way there, we passed by this café and thought having lunch during the lunch hour would be a good idea. There was a young waiter who spoke English fairly well. We had two wonderful dishes. Gary’s was pieces of pork cooked in a spicy sauce along with some “chips”….French fries, and a fresh vegetable garnish. My selection was a mixture of pork and chicken pieces cooked in another sauce and served between two potato pancakes, and those fresh vegetables.


After lunch, we head up the hill towards Kalvaria. Our waiter had told us that around the time of the First World War, a group of people from this area immigrated to the USA. Some were happy and successful in the USA, and some wished to return home. One of these groups donated the money for these Stations of the Cross. Gary and I had a different opinion of which group it was that donated the money, but that’s irrelevant.


Each station was inside one of these chapels. People could not enter them, but had a good view of the station through the glass in the door. I thought there would be twelve of the stations. Actually, there were fifteen, plus a larger chapel that could be entered at certain times during the year.


While we are on the hillside, the lightening on one side of the valley talks to the lightening on the other side. It was a quite visual and audio show. Then it got wet. We used the larger chapel doorway to shelter us during the heaviest rain. Then we went down the hillside in a light shower.


The Betlehem exhibit should be opened now. The sign said it opened at 1 but the lights were not turned on until we walked in at 1:40. WOW! It is a wood carving that took us the whole side of the room.





As you can see, there are several layers.
The nativity scene is at the lower center.
Each figure is detailed in wood.
A line of people come from a mountain.
They turn face the infant Jesus.
Then they turn to go to another mountain.



The carving is a representation of Slovakia.
It has different castles and cathedrals.
There are different scenes from nineteenth century life.
There’s a black smith’s shop with someone working the bellows.
Someone is shoeing a horse.
Another person is spinning flax.
There’s a weaver.
A farmer and a boy are chasing a bear that has a lamb in its paws.
Many of the scenes are moving.
It is just fantastic.



There are more carvings, pieces of art to hang on the wall.
There are black and white photos of life in Slovakia in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

At the end of this day, it was still raining.
We were off schedule because of lunch.
The bus didn’t come when we expected it,
So we decided to see the village of Čičmany next week.





Tuesday afternoon was a beautiful day, so we decided
to go to Čičmany. When our friend Marek helped us plan our trip Saturday,
he had take a bus to get to Martin on a different route than the one we took to Rajec Lesná . So Jeannine has the bright idea to go to Čičmany the way Marek was having us get home. We had not taken that bus because we did not get to Čičmany.





We did not pay attention to the word in the schedule that meant intersection.
The bus let us off at an intersection with a sign that pointed up the intersecting road and said 7 km. Yes, we had seven kilometers to get to Čičmany.
It was a beautiful walk and Gary wanted to take a picture of each different kind of flower on the route. (Jeannine took some pictures, too.)



Between the photos and our slow speed, it took us two hours to get to Čičmany.
Yes, we were there at 5:00 PM.
I was well worth the walk. The dark brown houses are individually with white designs. Here are just a few of the 175 pictures we took:



After looking at the beautiful homes, we got instructions to get to
the bus stop. Guess what. There will not be a bus coming out of
Čičmany until 9:40 PM. We can walk back to the intersection….
We really don’t have the energy for that.



As we were trying to decide our next move, a gentleman who has been
riding a bicycle through the town, asks us if we need help. We get verification
from him that the other buses have gone. However, he has a friend who is
coming Žilina and will be happy to take us back. Can you believe this?



It will be an hour and forty five minutes. We get directions to a restaurant
and go have our dinner. Again, we try some favorite dishes from the area.
They are delicious. As we as we wait for our meal, we notice a bus across
the street. Yes, that’s the bus that will be leaving Čičmany at 9:40.


We are enjoying our meal when three young men who rode in on motorcycles
arrive to have some Kofola (a Slovak cola drink) and dinner. There is also a
couple from The Netherlands. We talk to them as they are looking at a map
and a tour book. It seems that they are on their way back from Istanbul, Turkey.
We shared what we liked about the area. However, I believe they will begin
early in the morning and get to their home that night. You never know who we
will meet.

It’s time to go back to where we may get a ride out of town. The person who asked his friend to take us back said he would not be there. He did tell us where to come.
We see an older man, a woman and two young men unloading wood from a cart.
One comes over and begins a conversation with us. He asks if we are the ones who
need a ride. Then he wants to know why in the world did we pick Slovakia to come to.
We have an interesting conversation for a good fifteen to twenty minutes. His friend
comes over and introduces himself.


After a while, we meet the friend’s mother and all five of us get into their car. The mother is the reason that the first man can speak English so well. She has been encouraging him to study English.

The mother asks where we need to go. The answer has Martin in it.
We say “No,” we only need to get back to Žilina, and from there we’ll get a bus or train.
The friend gets out his phone and calls someone.

They tell us that one thing they want to stop a special spring to get some water.
When the phone rings again the friend answers and then speaks to his mother.
He had called to see when the next train to Martin leaves Žilina. When they discovered
the time, they abandoned their plans to get the spring water in order to get us to the station in time! When we got there, we all got out of the car and said thank you, thank you. The mother gets into the trunk and gives us a bottle of their spring water!

We are so blessed!

Our Croatian Experience

We had a week off beginning the Wednesday before Easter. On Thursday, at o'dark thirty in the morning (4:55 AM), we caught the bus for Bratislava. We caught another bus in Bratislava for the Vienna Airport. Then we took a one hour flight to Split, Croatia. We spent five nights there and soaked up as much warmth and sun as we could.

On our way to the hotel, we saw MANY short, rock walls. Most were assembled before World War II to prevent erosion and divide the fields. We thought of all the work that went into building that many walls from all those rocks. WOW!

We saw many historical places. Split is a city that was established more than 1700 years ago by the Greeks. Its big sight (besides the beautiful Adriatic Sea and the sunshine) is the Dalmatian Palace. This palace was built by The Roman Emperor Diocletian, and was finished in 305 AD in time for his voluntary retirement. He was the first (and probably the only) Roman Emperor to step down voluntarily from that office. He was originally from this part of Croatia. I believe that if I were originally from this beautiful area, I would run away from Rome, also.

The Dalmatian Palace Walls were laid in 300 AD.

A Roman tiled floor

In Split we saw the cathedral there, walked around the palace (which is now full of shops, restaurants and handicraft street vendors), walked around the beautiful turquoise blue Adriatic coastline, and caught a bus to our hotel (about one hour and 45 minutes ride). We figured we come back some other day. This was on Good Friday.



On Saturday, we rode a bus (15 minutes) to the town of Šibenik. Here we mainly walked uphill, because we were heading for the large castle of SV Michal. On the way we encountered a group with an English-speaking tour guide. We tagged along until we arrived at the Cathedral of SV Jakova (James). Its claim to fame is that it is the only cathedral built only with stone. By that, I mean no mortar between the bricks. That includes the arched roof. Although it was Saturday of Easter Week (Big Saturday in Slovakia) there were many shops and restaurants open.

We continued walking up the steps towards the castle. (By definition, the castles are at the highest point around to sight unwelcomed visitors.) This castle was disappointing in comparison to Slovakian castles. It had only the gigantic walls.

















Unfortunately, we did not find an English service on Easter. The hotel complex we were at had a special Easter breakfast at a "village" on the property. I was especially interested in the "traditional" music, so we began our Easter there. It was quite enjoyable and VERY filling. Then we caught the bus to Šibenik to catch another bus to Trogir. This was very enjoyable, because the old town had cobblestone streets (or alleys) about the width that three persons can walk abreast. The cathedral was delightful as well. Then we had a marvelous Adriatic seafood dinner in a small cafe.

We knew when the last bus to Šibenik would leave, but we had the wrong location to pick it up. (It was different schedule because it was Easter.) So there we are about an hour ride (by bus) away from Šibenik and then another fifteen minutes (by bus) to our hotel. What to do? A taxi let off its passenger and we asked the price to get us to our hotel. The price was more than we had and the driver did not look as if he wanted to drive for 2 more hours. We said we would get the money from an ATM and he would be back in 20 minutes. As we are going toward the ATM we met a man who would take us there for less than half of the original price. (He had a "cheap" taxi).


On the way back to the hotel, he built a trust level of sorts. He also found out that we wanted to go to the southern most city in Croatia, Dubrovnik. We had canceled the idea, because by bus it was six hours to Dubrovnik. However, Damir, the driver, said he could get us there in four hours from our motel. He would show us places to visit. He would do this for the same price another driver quoted upon arrival at the Split Airport. So we made a deal to leave the next day, after we had the fantastic breakfast buffet that we had paid for.



Dubrovnik is an experience unequaled experience. Its castle was really the wall that surrounded the city. It is difficult to show the immensity of the castle with only two dimensions. During medieval times, Dubrovnik was and independent city that rivaled Venice. It had been destroyed in a great earthquake in the 1640's and then rebuilt. Then, much was destroyed again on December 6, 1991 by shelling by Montenegro and Serb fighters in that war. The walls and most of the buildings inside the walls have been rebuilt. Many people live inside the walls.





Climbing to the wall, to walk around the old town, was quite an exercise. The experience was spectacular. It had been cloudy earlier in the day, so it was not too hot. Yet as we encircled the city, the sun was out and the Sea was a beautiful blue. It took us (with our slower walking and photo-taking) a good two hours to go all around the wall.



To get to Dubrovnik one has to drive through about five kilometers of Bosnia. So for lunch in Dubrovnik we stopped at a place that served Bosnian food. We treated our driver to dinner and enjoyed it immensely. We saw a few other sights of the old town, but the churches were all closed by the time we wanted to visit them

Tuesday was our day to travel back. We had to check out at ten in the morning. Then we sat in the lobby for a couple of hours until "our" driver, Damir, picked us up to take us to the airport. We had two hours to wait for the plane to Vienna. From Vienna we took a bus to Bratislava. There was a good train connection to Žilina. But we were not at the train station. So when we were approached by a taxi driver, we took the taxi to the RR station.

The train was fairly fast and we were in Žilina in two and a half hours. We caught another train to Vrutky where we had planned to catch a taxi. Yes, at 11:15 PM, we found a taxi. However, he did not know where the Bible School was. We finally guided him (our very little Slovak and his very little English) to the Bible School. And that was how we ended our "Croatian Adventure."

A Week in Spring

Sunday, after church, we had lunch with the Builders’ Group from ND, MN, IL, and TX. Tomaš and some band members came and entertained us. The fellowship was wonderful.



Sunday evening we had our regular choir practice. We practiced for Palm Sunday in the church. We also practiced for a program with all the choirs in the local "Synod." We then practiced for Good Friday and Easter. We talked about our trip to Prague. This will be on the weekend following Easter.

Adriana is serving Gary. She is the youth minister’s wife.
They live in the flat below us.






Monday, after teaching in the two second grade classes, I got my work clothes on and helped the Builders Group paint some radiators. Gary was going to do a little more pruning, but someone had put up the ladder he needed for the big trees. He decided he was finished pruning because that was the third time the ladder had been put away. So he came to help paint the radiators. We had worked on cleaning them the Friday before. The ENGLISH conversation was wonderful.


Please notice Jeannine and her radiant personality. (It's the best Gary could do on short notice.)


Tuesday night was a Good-Bye party for the Builders’ Group, complete with a gypsy band. The food was scrumptious, the music quite lively and the company superb. All of the families of the workers at the Christian Center for Education (CCE) were there. Everyone had a good time. There was singing of Slovak folk songs and dancing to the music.











Wednesday, we were invited to Mirka’s house for some authentic Slovak food, homemade halušky. She had done the difficult work of grating the potatoes. Then she mixed in just enough flour and a little bit of salt. She showed me how to cut little chunks into the water that she kept just below the boiling point. (When I had made halušky with Lenka, I had used a special strainer to push the dough through into the water to cook.) The dough sinks to the bottom of the water. When it rises to the top, it is ready to take out of the water. After it is all cooked, the Bryndza (sheep cheese) is stirred into the noodles. Meanwhile, Gary cuts up the Slovak bacon and it has been cooking. It is added on top of the halusky. We had a marvelous meal, complete with sour milk.



Then we talked and talked. Mirka’s mother’s house is on the edge of a forest. We learned how women were used to plant new pine trees to replace the ones that have been harvested. In doing this, the wild raspberries were cleared away from the trees to give the young trees room and plenty of sunshine. Consequently, the wild raspberries are few.

Thursday evening, Zuzana, who is now teaching first grade at the elementary school at the CCE, came for dinner. She also wanted some ideas of using the Content & Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in her classroom. That is the method used in the elementary schools for teaching English. Basically, a subject that has been taught in Slovak is taught in English. So the students use the English and are learning the language as they are using it.

The Lord has a good sense of humor. I only learned about CLIL when I started teaching here in September. Now I’m giving her ideas. We also had a wonderful dinner and conversation with her.




Friday was Bible study at the Fasts. It was also the 15th of April. Do you know what happens on that day? Throughout Slovakia on that day, a collection is made for combating cancer. The way it is done is that you are asked by someone if you would like to contribute. If you do put money in their official box, they pin a daffodil on your coat. When others who are collecting see the flower on you, they do not bother you. Practically everyone I passed was wearing a daffodil.



Saturday we invited Pastor Milan, is wife Zuzana and their 2 daughters and son over to the Gymnasium for dinner. As it happened, it was little Milan’s naptime. So Zuzana (the daughter) and Gabriela took turns staying with him while he slept. Zuzana brought some homemade split-pea soup. It was delicious. Then we had made a taco casserole and sopapillas. We all enjoyed the food and the conversation. It was a wonderful time.



That evening, Luboš came to the Gymnasium (where we live) to show us how to get
to his flat. Luboš has been like a mentor for me, not to mention the driving us to Žilina all the times necessary for our VISAs. He and his wife Katka had invited us for dinner at their place. I would guess that we walked about two miles to get to his flat. For those of you who know Martin, it is in the housing that is across the highway from Tesco. The evening was beautiful.



At their place we had enjoyable conversation and another delicious meal. This time the soup had small dumplings. Then Katka had fixed us some steamed bread and a goulash. Luboš told us this recipe was a Hungarian recipe. It was so good. We so enjoyed speaking with them and watching their little 27 month old daughter.
On Sunday, the choir sang in church. The service is different from ours. In the service, the Passion Story is read by two people this week. (Part of it the story was read last Sunday.) The choir sang during the service.















Sunday afternoon, the choirs from all the Evanjelicka churches in their Synod-like area, gathered at a church in a little village Krpel’any. I believe there were 18 choirs and each choir sang two songs. The church was packed. The music was joyful and our hearts blessed. The collection was taken and will be used towards finishing the church. They began building it in 1999. The inside is nice and has an open feeling. The tower and the outside of the church still needs to be finished.













It was a week full of enjoyable experiences! (Oh, we did do some English Conversation classes, too.)