Dovidenia Modra

Although the closing ceremonies to the Slovak Language Course were last evening, we still had class today until noon.  Today Catarina was the instructor, and we really had a great day.  Here Amy holds her certificate while sporting the hat that she was given this morning from Catarina.  Just why we received green baseball hats is a wonder to us, but we appreciated the thought behind the gift.

We really felt that we needed one last photo with a shot of some of the bird nests in the background, just to save for our memories.  Not that we would ever forget such an experience.

Last night, at the closing ceremonies, the theme that was continually repeated was "We'll see you next year in 2013."  Well, I certainly do appreciate the invitation, but don't foresee that happening.  We did end up meeting some fabulous people, and learning a LOT of the language, which was our intent for attending.

So, I'd say that the end result was a HUGE success for both of us.  Plus we both were able to work on our patience skills.  Last night, as I reviewed the info for today's class, the Compatriots were out and about, right outside our window, hooping it up to about 1:00 in the morning.  They might as well have been in the room with me, but I just kept plugging away at the language book, and Amy seemed to have no problem sleeping through all of the commotion.  I ended up, once again, only getting about 2 hours of sleep, but didn't find myself alone with that complaint. The Thai woman next door said that she was exhausted having lost sleep last night, and that she even went outside and asked the students to please go inside the building rather than sit outside our windows.  Oh well....kids will be kids.....but I'm kind of old for that, I think.  Actually, if I lost my hearing, it might not be so bad.....But then, I'd have really been lost in trying to hear the language spoken!

Class was really a lot of fun today, and I participated much more than in the past.  I just didn't care if I made mistakes, and Catarina was interested in hearing what I had to say.  When we were leaving and saying goodbye, Catarina told me that I was a unique person and that she knew that she would never forget me.

I'm still trying to figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing......

At the moment, we're at Helga's flat being stuffed with every type of food imaginable.  I really can't figure out how she thinks we can eat so much.  I'm hoping my pants still fit tomorrow for the trip.

Well....good-bye to Modra.  We made great friends, explored the countryside and learned the language.
Hovorim po trochu Slovensky.  ( I can speak a little Slovak!)

Celebrating in Slovak Style

Here you see Amy and me holding our certificates of completion of the Slovak Language Course.  Actually, we still have one more morning of classes tomorrow.  And, everyone who attended the Slovak Language Program received a certificate, so that in itself isn't really all that impressive.

The woman from Finland had to leave due to some sort of breathing reaction to something in the building.  It was really quite a serious reaction, and we can't help but think that the bird residue may have been a contributing factor.  A couple of other people never finished the course.  So, our final numbers included Anna, the mother/daughter combo from Thailand, the mother/son from Sweden, Albert, Amy and me.  The small class really did help us learn even quicker.

And, Maia, the teacher who really made me nervous under questioning, really lightened up on me. I had given her several items of written text in Slovak for her review, and I think that my efforts showed that I really was comprehending the information, but am unable to process it quickly.  She asked today if my head was filled with goulash, and I told her that it was like a computer that had to process way too much information and was ready to crash and I risked a physical memory dump. That lightened up things a bit.

When class was finished, Maia was actually teary-eyed at the prospect of the class being finished as far as her part was concerned.  We learned a lot about this amazing woman, I can tell you that her life certain hasn't been easy.  And she really does deserve a LOT of credit for continuing to show her passion for teaching people like me......someone who truly is interested in learning the language.  We managed to get a photo with her at the end of the day:

After class, Amy and I headed into Modra for one last visit.  We had missed the bus due to class running late, so we walked in....in the heat....again.  On the way back from town, we were looking at the bus schedule when I heard a man say in perfect English....."Did someone here call for a taxi?"  Well, I immediately said "NO!"  because I figured it was just someone trying to scam us.  I looked up and saw Josef, Anna's husband, who was laughing at me at my abruptness.  I gave him a big hug and told him that he was definitely the best site that we had seen today.  He and Anna had gone out for lunch, in celebration of her Saint Name Day today, and I knew that he could drive us back to our room.

We stopped for something cold to drink before heading up to the school, and Josef insisted that we stop in the winery down the street and do some wine tasting.  Well, he was driving, so we really couldn't refuse, although he did not partake himself since there is zero tolerance for alcohol and driving in Slovakia.
He did take this nice photo of us:

Our afternoon and evening involved sitting through many presentations, all spoken in Slovak.  But much of it was very entertaining and we really did enjoy the evening dinner and music afterwards.

For a brief moment, I thought that the little birdies had flown away on their own, but no such luck.  It looks like Amy and I will be packing up and leaving tomorrow, and leaving little birdies for someone else's enjoyment.

Dinner in Harmonia

I don't know if I've mentioned this previously, but Amy and I have decided that Harmonia just does not exist.  There are no signs of a village to be found, and we've hiked quite a bit around the area.  But, the school is supposedly on the outskirts of Harmona, thereby the Title of Today's Blog. 

Before I go any further regarding dinner, I want to share a story that I forgot to mention in my last blog regarding our adventures in Brno.

Although the Czech Republic is 70% atheist, there are a surprising amount of beautiful churches in the town. We popped our heads into several while walking the town. One such church is a Capuchin Monastery. The monastery holds a crypt below ground, and Josef found the prospects of going through this crypt to be quite exciting.

Personally, I could have foregone that type of excitement, but I certainly did not want to dampen his fun when he had so generously offered to take us on this excursion.

Little did I know what to expect when we walked through the heavy door towards the crypt. Inside there are skeletal remains on display throughout the crypt. Apparently, very important people of the town are in the coffins, where the lids have been removed and a glass cover has replaced it.

I opted not to examine anything too closely as it just creeped me out. When we got to the final room, I was surprised to see so many skeletal bodies lined up in a row on either side. Since the Capuchin monks took a vow of poverty, they were to have no possessions, including a coffin. So, when they died, they were put in a coffin that was specially made so that the bottom slid off. The head of the deceased was placed on two bricks, the bottom of the coffin was removed, the body slid off, and the coffin was then put together to be used again. 40 bodies lay with their heads on brick, lined up in rows behind a glass wall. There are openings for ventilation in the walls of the room.

On the wall there was an inscription written in Latin:

What you are, we once were; What we are, you will be.

Nice to know, don't you think?

Needless to say, I was rather anxious to leave the crypt and move onto the other sites of Brno.

Now, onto today's adventures. We began the morning in class, learning about the rules of Slovakian verbs. Quite a lot of rules, and even more exceptions. Way too much to try to absorb in a day. While in class, we learned that there was a last minute excursion set up to see the Slovak Museum of Ludovick Stur in Modra, along with the Ceramics Museum. Well, who would pass on that opportunity?

So, even though it meant skipping out on “Konverzujeme”, we opted to go. The museum is located in Modra center, but the two people who were in charge of our group decided to take the long way into town, through the vineyards rather than on the road. And what was really interesting, was that they needed to stop along the way and ask a woman working in the fields where the museum was located. I'm still trying to figure out how someone who works for this university in Modra doesn't know how to get into the town.

In any event, the story of Ludovig Stur was told, with the guide speaking in Slovak, but, luckily, there was a small amount of English written on the boards. So, we learned the importance of this man in the beginning stages of Slovakia's search for independence from the Austrian Hungary Empire.

Then, we moved to the ceramics museum which held some very old pieces of Modra pottery behind glass.

With Amy and me being on our own, we opted to buy a frozen pizza at the grocery store for dinner. There is a toaster oven in the kitchen. The biggest problem that we have is lugging whatever we have up to the school from town. The bus comes once an hour, but we can often be back in our room before the bus will show up.

So, tonight, for dinner we feasted on pizza and wine from a local vineyard that is only a stone's throw away. Josef clued us onto that one. Believe me, it is great stuff. We didn't even bother tasting any wine. We just went in and asked for the wine that Josef's mother had given us for dinner.

As you can see from the top photo,  we are quite happy with our choice.

Na Zdravie!!

Tuesday night in Modra

The internet is painfully slow here, so it takes me quite a while to post a blog.  I'd like to take a quick break from studying to share some adventures, but, somehow, "quick" never seems to actually come through for me.

As I mentioned in my last blog, Amy and I had the opportunity to go to Brno in the Czech Republic with Josef and Anna yesterday.  Us three girls were feeling a bit guilty about skipping out of the afternoon conversation practice, but Josef was so excited about taking us, and the thought of getting out of this Soviet-style building was way too tempting to say no.

It took about 90 minutes to get to Brno, and the drive was relatively easy, although there were a lot of twists and turns, but I wasn't driving, so I can't complain.  I actually did study in the back seat and used Josef, who is Slovak, to help out with some translation questions that I had.

This young couple is a delight to be with and the day went by way too fast.  Both Amy and I commented on how this was the second great day in a row, and the fun was entirely due to circumstances that did not involve the Slovak Language Study Program.  Except, as Amy put it, we wouldn't have been in Brno if we hadn't met Anna who is enrolled in the class.

Dinner was prepared at the rental house, which is really hidden in the woods, by his mother, who was a delight.  She had made barbecued chicken and french fries for us, and when we returned from our astrological adventure, she had plates of dessert on the table.  True Slovak hospitality.

The tour of the observatory was a hoot.  The telescope in the one building was built in 1925.  It is the original equipment, and in order to open the roof in order to use the telescope, someone must climb over a rail, and manually turn what looks like the steering wheel in a car in order to open it.  I was surprised that such a facility did not have an automatic feature to open and close the roof.

We also got a night tour of the grounds where we saw how they collected water and temperature information.  They use a wet bulb-dry bulb method to record the humidity, and they use an old fashioned thermometer to record the highest temperature of the day.  The man showed us how he shakes down the thermometer (mercury, obviously), to set the thermometer for the next day's recording.  This observatory holds one telescope for analyzing asteroids and another one for meteorites.  The information is recorded and shared with facilities in the Czech Republic as well as in eastern Slovakia.

The man obviously had our attention, and he was so excited to take us around the grounds and shows us all of the tricks of his trade.  We finally decided that we should stop showing such an interest when it was 10:00 and we realized that we hadn't prepared for today's lesson.

When we showed up at class this morning, the teacher mentioned that she had missed us at yesterday's conversation practice.  I merely mentioned that we had been on an excursion with Anna and that her husband spoke Slovak. I found it rather amusing that she would even think to say anything.

This afternoon we went into Modra with a school group and toured the ceramic factory which this town is known for (besides its wine).  We watched the pottery being made from start to finish.  This factory had once employed 400 workers.  Now, only 20 people work there.  The items that they make area all hand crafted and are truly amazing.

Amy and I opted for  dinner in town, and some zmrzlina before heading home to study for the evening.  It really is quite tasty.

Things are looking up

First of all, the little birdies seem to be getting big very quickly.  We were wondering just when they will actually fly from the nest, since the feather count has been escalating as of late.   Not so great for us allergen prone people.  We've got the notion that they'll leave when we do, which won't be of much help to us.

I have to keep this very short as we had a very full day yesterday and didn't get back until late.
We met Anna's husband, Josef, on Saturday and he invited us to tag along today on a trip to Brno.  So, Anna, Amy and I skipped out on Conversation practice and headed out with them for an absolutely delightful afternoon and evening.

The family has rented a vacation home nearby, so they even brought us there where we were greeted with this wonderful dinner.  It is on University grounds where there is an observatory and we went on a twilight tour of the facility.  It was quite fascinating, and I'd love to share some more details later.

The man in the observatory who showed us around was so taken with our attention that he told us that we could come back during the day and walk about 100 meters into the woods to see the place where they measure the magnetic field of the earth.  There is apparently a completely demagnetized structure there, but someone stole the roof, as it was made of copper.

But, more about that later.  I've got to read over my notes prior to class.  Dovidenia.

A Walk in the Woods

Today, after our regular classes, Amy and I decided to attend the Slovak singing class.
We sang Slovakian folk songs while be accompanied by guitar, and I was surprised to recognize one from years ago that I remember hearing on a record.

The experience was certainly entertaining, but would probably have been more entertaining had I just not read on the bulletin board that the 3 day excursion that was planned for our group had been cancelled.  This certainly does not make for good public relations when it comes to promoting the program here in Modra.  They showed us this exciting trip that was planned for us, complete with photos and an actual itinerary.  It looked too good to be true, and apparently it was.

Needless to say, that didn't make my day.
But, after our singing, we headed out on a hike to an area that is actually the spot of a fortress that had been built in the 7th century.  None of the structure remains, but the view from the top was outstanding.

The climb up was a bit challenging, but the view from the top was well worth the effort.

The weather is cooling down a bit, which is really much welcomed relief.

Until tomorrow........Dovidenia.

Slovak Language Course: Day 2

Just thought I'd share a photo of our Slovakia home these next few weeks.  It really does stand out in the countryside.

We're still having a tough time sleeping despite daring to keep the window and door open at night to try to get some sort of air circulation in the room.  We've been told that the weather is supposed to get cooler....so we are definitely looking forward to that.

Our classes went fairly well today.   For those of you wondering, we are not the only mother-child attendees.  We have a Swedish mother and her son as well as a mother and daughter from Thailand in the class along with us.  And I hear tell that there is another mother/son in the other set of classes.

We do have a great group of participants, although the other American,  (a retired man was born in McKeesport and claims to have a Slovak town named after his Slovak ancestors) has been a bit annoying.  Actually, he seems to feel the need to answer any question that I direct to the teacher in a very condescending tone.  I thought that perhaps his tension was only felt by me, until Amy mentioned to me that she noticed his abruptness as well and was going to say something to him about just leaving me alone.  Not to worry....I'm up for the challenge.

I can't quite understand why this man is in the class if he already knows Slovak. And, to be quite honest with you, if there is a town named after his Slovak ancestor who supposedly was an earl, then why did he emigrate to America?   If one had a entire village named after him, I'd think he was pretty important and wouldn't decide to go trotting off to another country.  Don't you?

Lunch was certainly a surprise.  We have to order out meals the day before so they know how much to prepare.  I have had a difficult time finding items that do not have peppers in them.  (Remember that I am violently allergic to green/yellow/red peppers.)  So, I ordered the fruit for today.  Sounded safe.  And it was:

Yep...that was all mine.  4 Bananas, 4 nectarines, 2 oranges and 2 apples.  Obviously, I didn't eat it all.  Amy ordered a ham dish that actually was pepper free as well.

So, we shared her meal, ate a couple of pieces of fruit, and brought the rest to the room for snacks.  

When the classes were complete, we headed into Modra as part of the program, by foot.  But it really was only a walking tour with a group, then we were on our own.  Amy and I decided to eat dinner in town since dinner here is limited to one choice and it was not pepper free.

We had some great Bryndza pirohy, 

and I enjoyed a glass of wine, which, by the way, only cost me .5 euro for a glass!

Nope...I'm not shocked by the price.  I'm actually trying to open my eyes wide enough so that I don't look so tired for the photo!

After dinner we walked along the town.  For now,  I'll say Dovidenia while leaving you some photos of Modra to admire.

Was it a Sign?

Yesterday, Amy and I decided to walk around the area to escape the heat of our room, and we looked up and saw this lovely rainbow among the clouds.  We were certainly surprised to see it since there was no sign of rain anywhere.  But it sure did bring a smile to our faces.

The area around us is really quite lovely.  We are amidst some famous wine makers here in Slovakia. One can see grapes growing for miles.

The morning began with the chirping of little birdies demanding their breakfast.

Look carefully and you can see their little heads at the top of the nest.  I was entertained for awhile watching their mommy come and go to feed them.  Whatever type of bird this is, it moves in and out very quickly, making it difficult to capture a photo.

I want to clarify that the birds are OUTSIDE of our windows, not inside.  And, the staff was sure to hose off the area around the rooms to keep any type of birdie debris from building up that might cause sanitation issues.  So, no bird flu to worry about, OK, Becky?

Our intro to the Slovak language began today, and I can tell you that they don't beat around the bush here, that's for sure.  We have a delightful instructor who had us laughing and kept us interested for several hours. I'll have to keep this brief since I need to go and study what I learned today.

Actually,  if I had not already known some Slovak, I think  I would have been truly lost today. Our class is small.....only 7 other people.  2 Swedes, 2 from Vietnam, one German, a man from Great Britain, and an American fellow who is considerably older than me.

It dawned on me today that it had to be easier for me to learn this language since the woman would speak in Slovak but then followup in English.  If I didn't speak English, I would have certainly been very lost!

We had a lovely "ice breaker" this evening with a Slovak group entertaining us while we were finally given some information and a schedule!  Yeah!  It looks like we'll be quite busy and there is an excursion planned for nearly everyday while we are here as part of the exposure to the Slovak culture.

Tomorrow we start with class in the morning, then head to Modra in the afternoon.  Amy and I actually walked into the town tonight.  It is about 3 km from here, but the air had cooled off and it was a great break from the heat in our room.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that when we "registered" today at the desk, I was informed that I only owed 37,54 euro instead of the 44 euro that I had been expected to pay.

You have to admit....change is really a great thing!
Dovidenia Zatra!