Christmas 2007

Christmas comes early in Slovakia. Since there is no Thanksgiving (Yes, it is an American holiday) and Halloween is much, much simpler than in America, Christmas decorations started showing up in October. However, for us, it was hard for us to get in the Christmas mood until after Thanksgiving. I had to work on Thanksgiving, but was able to share the Thanksgiving story with the whole elementary/middle school. And an American missionary family invited us (orphans and homeless) to have a real Thanksgiving with them. It was a blessing, turkey with all the trimmings, Brazilian flan and even a "What are you thankful for" game.

Well, with Thanksgiving behind us, we got into the swing of things. At the beginning of the first week of December however, I got sick. It seemed like just a cold, and as usual, I kept going to work. Eventually, though, I had to take a few days off and even went to the doctor. It took me until a few days after Christmas, and trips to 3 different countries, to get better. The third weekend in December, my roommates and I, along with another American teacher from our school, Katie, went to Germany to go to the Christmas markets. We met up with the German teacher from our school who was teaching in Germany for a few months. We went to Nurnberg for the day, which is where Karin was born. The Christmas markets were amazing! The decorations around the towns were huge and amazing. At the markets, we enjoyed mulled wine, sausages, and sweets. We enjoyed the food and the atmosphere immensely. And the best part of the trip, we rented a car, and I got to drive. On the autobahn! Wow! If you haven't had a chance to drive on the autobahn, give it a try sometime.

The following weekend, Karin and I went to Budapest, to visit our favorite Christmas markets. We took the train with one of Karin's students, Lily, who is Hungarian. We met up with an ESI couple, had dinner and enjoyed an evening of Grey's Anatomy. We spent the next day at the markets, shopping and browsing.

Monday was Christmas Eve and a friend, Steph, from Prague joined us for Karin's famous Texas chili. On Christmas, we opened presents and ate a lazy breakfast. One of my 4th grade students, Jakub, told his mom that I would be staying in Slovakia, and so she invited me over for Christmas day. I went over to their house and enjoyed a wonderful three course meal with their family. They made a traditional soup, pirogies, fried chicken, potatoes salad and carrot salad. Afterwards, Jakub, his dad and I played a game called Niagara. Jakub's grandma was also there, and was so excited that his American teacher would come over for dinner. She talked and talked and talked to me, all in Slovak, and her daughter was kind enough to translate everything. She told me about all of her favorite American movies, none of which I knew. They wanted me to stay all day, and I had a hard time leaving. It was so wonderful to be with a family. When I got home, I was able to talk with my family for a little while, which was wonderful. I love Skype!

Christmas 2007

The day after Christmas, Karin, Steph, Joe and I went to Spain... but that is a whole other post.