Welcome to Bratislava!

Ahoy! This is the greeting I hear most often in Bratislava. It is also used as an informal goodbye, although it is often said twice as a goodbye – Ahoy, ahoy. Each time that I post on this blog, I will try and add one interesting fact so that each of you can learn about the customs, culture and people of Slovakia. So…

Interesting Fact #1

In a family, the females have a different last name than the males. The females use the family surname but they add on the ending –ova. For example, my name should be Josifekova. I found this out when I went to the doctor and they put male on my chart because I have a Czech/Slovak name, but because it doesn’t have –ova at the end, I must be male. Interesting. So, I may change my name while I am over here to Jenni Josifekova – with the j’s being pronounced as y’s. So, Yenni Yosifekova is how it would sound.

Thank You

Thank you so much for your prayers this past week and a half. My team and I left the United States on Friday, August 18^th, with almost no problems. We had a little problem getting the family checked in, but through the power of prayer, everything was resolved quickly. We arrived in Bratislava on Saturday around noon and were warmly greeted by Daniel. It wasn’t until much later that I found out that he was the head director of our school. He greeted us enthusiastically, loaded our luggage into his van and off we headed to our new home. Our flat is located across the Danube from the old/main part of the city in the area called Petrazalka. As we quickly came to find out, it is the part of town that is looked down upon. We have fallen in love with our flat and it’s location. Petrazalka is made up of huge concrete buildings, one after another, after another. Most are twelve stories high and they are often not painted. Most have balconies, which can add charm to otherwise dull facades. Many people have huge baskets of flowers and plants hanging on their balconies and some have even painted them. Ours is quite plain, but we already have some small plants growing. Petrazalka houses over 160,000 of Bratislava’s almost 500,000 people, which is almost 1/3 of the population. Yet, in terms of acreage, it is a very small area. Petrazalka has the highest population per square km in all of Europe, if not the world. Quite an incredible place to live really.

We spent our first days in Bratislava exploring Old Town and getting acquainted with the bus system. Our flat is located between two great bus stops that can take us almost anywhere we want to go in Bratislava. On Monday, we went to the police station to find out about our Visa paperwork, got cell phones and our first bus passes. The flats here do not have land lines and everyone (from eight years old on up) has a cell phone. They are rather expensive to use so conversations are short and text messaging (SMSing) is very popular.

Right now, we have no internet in our flat (although we are trying to remedy that – but that involves our landlord), so I will not have easy access to my blog. However, I am going to try to write my blog on my computer at home and then put it on my flash drive and upload it at school. So, please be patient if the updates are slow.

Please, please, please

Please add comments after you read a posting. I love to get your feedback and to know who is reading my blog. It is encouraging to know that folks back at home are thinking of me and praying for me.

Thank you all again for your support and encouragement as I am on this great adventure. I know that God has a plan for me in all of this, and it is great to know that you all have a part in it as well. Please keep me in your prayers. Our first day of school is September 4^th. Pray that we will be ready, excited and prepared for this challenging job. Pray also that I will be able to remember names as they are much trickier in a foreign language.

Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phil. 4:6-8