T-Town Q & A

Hello to everyone reading my blog! I hope this entry finds you and your family well. I have been enjoying writing to you all. Over the last few weeks I have received emails and blog comments asking different questions about life as missionary-teacher in Slovakia. I thought it would be appropriate to address these questions here.

The First Question: Bill and Cathy Bolen have asked for a pantyhose update. Here it goes: so, my mom read the blog and sent a pair of pantyhose to me in a care package. I have thanked her, and the pantyhose are sitting in my drawer. I haven’t worn them… yet. In the mean time, I’ve decided to invest in a nice pair of knee highs.

The Second Question: Meredith Brown, one of my best friends from Charlotte (although she is now living in New York City) has stated, “You know Meghan, you never talk about the weather on your blog. How am I supposed to know what’s going on over there? Tell us about the weather.” This is for you, Meredith: I would say that yesterday autumn has officially fallen in Tisovec. When I walked to school in the morning, the Mt Hradova was still green and the weather was mild. When I left school later that day, I noticed that the trees on Hradova had started to color, and there was a mild bite in the air. Today, the weather was in the lower sixties. The temperature should begin dropping into the upper fifties in the next two weeks. There’s also a huge difference in the amount of sunshine now and what we had a month ago. The sunrises around 6:30am and sets by 7pm. All in all, fall in Tisovec is beautiful.

The Third Question: Many of you have asked about the differences between life here and in America. My friends and I have talked and here’s the working list we’ve developed:

1. Like most of Europe, lunch is the biggest and most important meal of the day.
2. A small grocery store is called a “potraviny.” These stores about fairly small --- probably 1000 square feet or less. In the potraviny you will find that milk is in a cardboard carton and sits out on the floor. (The milk here is homogenized so it does not need to be refigerated until opened.) You will also find that spaghetti sauce has beans in it, corn and eggs are common toppings for pizza, ketchup is NOT the same (it’s super runny), and juice syrup is offered instead of frozen juice concentrate. At the potraviny (or in the rest of Slovakia) you will not find: peanut butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. Almost everything comes in very small packaging. (To give you an idea: Heidi and I buy a lot of oats – and we by them by the 5-cup bag.)
3. The light to the bathroom can be found outside the bathroom – usually on the left before you walk in.
4. Trashcans do not have trashbags or liners.
5. Slovaks use the word “phooey,” but they use it differently than we do. “Phooey” means that something is “gross” or “digusting.” Perhaps it is best translated as “eeewwww!”
6. In most public places, you pay twenty or thirty cents to use the bathroom. If you did not bring your own toilet paper, you can buy some for few cents more.
7. As soon as the weather cools down (to about sixty degrees farenheit), everyone begins wearing hats and scarves. This is not necessarily because it’s cold, but because the Slovaks believe that if you aren’t properly covered, you will get sick.
8. Slovakia is a Catholic country. We get most major Catholic holidays and feast days off.
9. Much to my friend Eric’s dismay, lager is the only type of beer that is sold.
10. In Tisovec (and the parts of Slovakia I have seen), there is trash everywhere. People treat the world as if it were their own personal trashbasket.
11. Most showers in Slovakia are not the typical showers we would see in the US. Instead of having a shower head located above your head, they have a removable spray nozzle that is located at waist level. I have stopped saying, “I’m going to shower,” and I have started saying, “I’m going to go spray and wash.”
12. Like most Europeans, Slovaks walk everywhere. If they’re not walking, they are cycling. In fact, some of the teachers at EGT cycle between 30km and 40km to and from school every day.
13. According to Slovak custom, you should always take your shoes off when you walk into someone’s home. Usually, you will be offered “house shoes” which are slippers that are worn inside.
14. If you are a guest for a meal in a Slovak home, it is expected that you will have second or even third helpings. (The Slovaks serve you and determine what size your “helping" is!) When a Slovak offers you an alcoholic beverage (usually a shot), you are expected to drink it. Again, you are also expected to have second or third (sometimes fourth or fifth) “helpings” of this as well. The trick here is to sip slowly. They won’t fill up your glass until it’s empty.
    
    On a personal note, here are some other differences:

• In Slovakia, I have received a new name. The Slovaks call me “Meg-gon.”
• Because Heidi and I are missionaries, we live very simply. Whenever we have dinner with the other missionaries, everyone brings his or her own plate/bowl or cup. We have no TV and no radio. The good news though is that we just got interet in our apartment about three weeks ago. A very sweet neighbor is letting us use his connection for only 8 euros a month.
• Distance and travel times have new meaning. Because Tisovec does not sit on major rail or bus lines, it is not uncommon to have to travel for five or six hours to get anywhere. Usually my friends and I are on the bus for five to twelve hours total on any given weekend.

The Fourth Question: A while ago, my Uncle Jeff asked about the ages of my students. This has actually taken me a while to figure out! There is no standard age for school in Slovakia. Different villages and different schools will begin and end middle school at different ages. Whenever a student has completed middle school – no matter how old or young that student is – he or she is elegible to attend EGT. So, this means that I have some first year students who are 14 and I have some who are turning 16. I have some fifth year students who are 18 – but I also have first year students who are 20.

If anyone else has a question to ask, make a comment on the blog or shoot me an email at meghanlarge@gmail.com, and I’ll be happy to post it here and answer it : )

Peace and love to you.