Bread Pitt :)

Although I love both of my adult classes, the newest class is especially fun. It is a group of women and they are always laughing about something. We started to learn the names of common food items. I held up a picture of bread and said "bread." To which one of the ladies responded excitedly, "Bread Pitt!" I couldn't help but laugh along with the rest of the class. I had to write, "Bread, not Brad Pitt" on the board. The next class, the same woman said "I cook soap" instead of "I cook soup." She may get her words mixed up, but at least she tries!

I will be going to some retreat/meeting for Methodist youth in Serbia this weekend. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun. There could be anywhere from 40 to 70 other people from age 12 to 30 there. It is in a city near Croatia called Sid (pronounced kind of like Sheet).

More kitten pictures coming soon!

Boys have too much energy!

I have now been in Serbia for one month! Wow! Time went by so fast. The good part about the time going so fast is that I will be home before I know it. The bad part, there is so much more I need to teach the adults!

My most challenging class as far as what material to cover and classroom management is the class with the older kids. I don’t know what happened to the girls, but for the past two weeks, only 9-10 year old boys have been coming. I have no idea where they get their energy from! When we have a really small group, which is not that uncommon, they like to have class outside. I really enjoy being out in the sun so I don’t mind too much. However, being in the grass gives them every opportunity to throw things at each other, sit on each other, and wrestle. Sometimes they are even crawling on top of each other trying to get the marker to write the answer on the board – but at least they are learning! Two of the boys are really bright and pick up things really quickly. The others are usually their friends that just tag along and don’t really put forth any effort.

Yesterday, one incident really annoyed me. There was a new student – a friend of one of the boys. Instead of attempting the handout I made for him, he was writing something on a piece of paper and would cover it up whenever I walked by. I said, you don’t have to cover it up, I can’t read Slovak to which he replied “it's in English.”

I eventually saw that the boy was writing “He is gay -->” in bubble letters. The note was attended for his friend behind him. I took the paper from him and said do you know what gay means. He said yes. I said is this something nice to joke about? He said no. Then, I ripped the note up in front of the kids and said if you want to write stupid things stay at home. The kid couldn’t identify a simple past tense verb yet he can write comments like that in English.

This bothered me for two reasons. First, I’m actually trying to teach these kids something. I didn’t fly halfway around the world to babysit them after school. Second, why has calling someone gay become an insult? I believe in love. If you love someone, you should be together. Isn’t it a shame how society will turn a blind eye to a young woman marrying an old man for his money yet they won’t accept it when two men or two women that truly love each other want to be together? Doesn’t make much sense to me.

My new home

Although I am still getting used to being in the house alone at night, it has been nice to have a place of my own. I cooked my first meal for myself yesterday - pasta of course. Basil and oregano never smelled so good! The food here isn't bad, but I sure do miss fresh herbs, mozzarella,and Parmesan! For now, dried herbs will have to do. I'm just lucky there is a shop here in Padina that sells dried herbs.

The first two pictures below were taken from inside the gate. The last picture is a view of the house from the street.

Serbia in the news

BBC recently posted two articles about Serbia. It's weird to read these articles and actually be here in Serbia. I feel so separated from everything that is happening in Kosovo, which I guess is a good thing. I'm on the opposite side of the country in a place where people identify themselves as Slovak before Serbian.


Outspoken Schoolboy Exposes Serbia's Deep Divisions

Serbian Cell Phone Companies kicked out of Kosovo

On my own!

After three weeks of living with my wonderful hosts, I finally moved into the other house where I will be staying for the remainder of my time in Serbia. The house used to belong to my hosts father who is now living with them. This house will be the future house for any other volunteers or any church groups that come to Padina. It is a decent sized house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. They recently renovated one of the bathrooms. I have use of the renovated bathroom, kitchen, and one bedroom. The other 3 rooms are filled with things that Janko's siblings still need to pick up.

I have mixed feelings about living alone. I will certainly miss Liljana's wonderful cooking (She just brought over a crepe for me! yumm) Luckily she still insists on cooking me lunch during the day. I definitely miss having internet connection at night - the new house does not have any internet access.

It is nice to be able to cook for myself. Although my host is a great cook, its nice to be able to make the food you are used to. Now if only I could find some mozzarella and Parmesan . . . . I also enjoy having some time alone. My hosts are great people, but it is really nice to have my own space. Plus, I think this is good for them as well - I couldn't imagine having a guest in my house for 2.5 months!

The biggest downside is being alone by myself at night. I'll admit it, I'm afraid of the dark. I don't being in my own house when Tom's not home. I don't even like to go into our basement at night when he's home! The refrigerator makes about 5 different noises that all sound like some one is in the house so I am a bit jumpy at night. I've never heard a fridge make those noises! I leave the hallway light on for now . . . .

Baby Animal Heaven!

Today I got to hold 6 kittens under two weeks old and two puppies - could it get any better!?! The cat that lives here brought her third and final kitten over to the house. They are just so precious! I can hold all three in one hand. Their eyes will be closed for at least another week yet. I can't wait till they get a little older and I can play with them.



Janko's sister invited us over for lunch. I was nervous to go at first because it's always a little awkward being a vegetarian guest in someone's home. I know some of you would think its no big deal, just eat the meat. But, I just can't make myself do it. Luckily, she was nice enough to prepare some vegetarian options and it turned out to be a nice lunch.

The best part was that their cat had kittens two weeks ago! She has two beautiful little kittens that look like a combination of my Cosmo and Sabrina. Plus, she has a third orphan kitten that she took in as her own. I cannot wait to go back and take more pictures! They also have two adorable puppies. I was only able to hold the little girl for a few seconds before she wanted down. The little boy, however, was like a little baby and just melted in my arms. His sister and her husband raise pigs, turkeys, and chickens for food/to sell. When we went over the the pigs, he drew his finger across his neck signaling that they would soon be slaughtered.

Then, Janko opened the turkey pen allowing the little girl puppy to run in side. That was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I felt a little bad for the turkey, but seeing a little puppy chasing a full grown turkey was pretty entertaining. I wish I had the video camera!

Kittens!!!!

I could not be any happier! The cat decided to move her kittens to the house! Right now, there are only two outside but there could be more. They are just the most precious little things. It's hard to believe how cute animals can be. I am going to love watching them grow up over the next 2 months. Enjoy the pictures!

My first journey into Serbia - Vrsac

Yesterday I got to venture out of my little Slovak village and go into "Serbia." There was a meeting for all of the Methodist pastors in Serbia in a city called Vrsac, which is located a few miles from the Romanian border. Even though I have officially been in Serbia for three weeks, it feels more like I am living in Slovakia. The people in Padina and Kovacica speak Slovak and the street signs are in Slovak (Latin alphabet). .I was really looking forward to the drive so that I could see more of the country, but it was unfortunately a rainy and dreary day.

I met about 15 other pastors from Serbia. There were about five women pastors in the group. Their superintendent here is a women which I think is great. It is nice to be in a culture and in a church where women seem to have equal standing with the men and are allowed to have leadership positions. I stayed for the first half of the meeting where they discussed Church issues such as declining membership which many churches are facing today. It's interesting to be sitting in a meeting not having much of an idea of what is going on and here your name mentioned a few times. I think they were talking about how offering English classes could be a good thing for the church because people who are not Methodist come to the classes. People from other churches are also coming which could help to develop a relationship or partnership between different churches. I know they would probably love to see church membership in Padina increase as a result of the classes. I have no idea what will happen as a result of me being here. My goal is just to teach English, but I do think it is nice that people in the community are starting to see the church as a place where they can be comfortable.

We went out to a very nice restaurant for lunch. Luckily Liljana remembered that I am vegetarian so they ordered a special meal for me. It's always a little awkward being the only vegetarian, especially in a place where it is not common. My plate came out first so every look at me and then looked at the veggies on my plate. Then, I heard the word vegetarian muttered around the table. Why are people so surprised to see someone eat a plate of veggies? I'm glad I got a special meal because the main meal was served family style. It was literally a plate of meat - chicken, pork, steak, sausage - all piled high on top of each other. Gross!

After lunch, Liljana and Janko took me up to see the old tower on the hill. The climb up the hill was steep and narrow and probably one of the most thrilling rides of my life - especially when Janko turned the car around on the top a few inches from a drop off. The little car chugged up the hill but eventually made it to the top. It was a scary ride, but at least I got to see Romania off in the distance! You can see pictures of the hill in the slideshow below.

We went back tot he church where the meeting continued. During that time, I got to explore Vrsac a little on my own. I didn't go very far because I didn't want to get lost. I wasn't thinking and printed out a map with the street names in the roman alphabet which made things a bit tricky because the street signs, when I could find them, were in the Cyrillic alphabet. It was a nice little town but Serbia isn't quite as accustomed to tourism as other parts of Eastern Europe.

I hope you enjoy the slide show below. I took a picture of what seemed like the local motorcycle shop for my dad. I also found it funny that they have beer vending machines on the street, so you will see that picture as well.

Where are the kittens?!

The cat showed up on the porch this morning begging for food as usual. It was obvious that she was no longer pregnant so Janko and I went out looking for the kittens but could not find them anywhere. Although this is basically her home, I guess she found another barn to have her kittens in. I am really bummed because I was looking forward to seeing the kittens so much. I really hope she decides to move them over here. I am also a bit worried that she may just be too young to be a mother and may have had the kittens somewhere and abandoned them. Hopefully that's not the case, but she certainly seemed carefree this morning. :(

Another world right beneath our feet

Sunday was a beautiful and sunny spring day here in Padina. I took some work outside to take advantage of the sun. As I was sitting on their porch, I looked down into her gardens and was surprised by the amount of life that I have never noticed before. I was almost as if it was another world in that garden. Dozens of little armies of ants were marching off in every different direction in search of food. Roly poly bugs were tumbling around the dirt not really going anywhere. There were a few different species of spiders jumping or scurrying through the dirt. And of course, the snail that I found two days earlier was within inches of the same spot. Maybe this garden just has more bugs than the average garden, but I was really surprised by the amount of movement and life in such a small space. Next time you are outside, don't forget to look down!
The picture below is of a spider I found in the garden. The others moved much to fast and I didn't want to risk them jumping on me! Only one more hour before I have to teach/baby sit the preschool kids, back to work!

A Quick Glimpse of Padina

Finally, a beautiful, sunny and warm day with only one class to teach! Every morning I hope to go for a walk but I end up stuck inside because of rain or too much work. Not today! I went for a nice half hour walk around the town. I love being in a town where you can hear the birds and roosters over the traffic. Except for the occasional tractor rumbling down the road or the car that totally needs a new muffler whizzing by, of course. It's hard to describe Padina. Its rural, very agricultural, and for the most part quiet. Although most families own a car, the bike is the main way of transportation around town from age 5 to 85. The majority of the properties here are surrounded by walls or high gates. Sometimes, on the outskirts, it almost feels as though its a ghost town, but you know behind those walls people are hard at work tending to their gardens, milking the cows, or taking care of other farm animals. There is a small town center where you can see everyone going about their daily routines.

This Church is in the center of Padina. It is the nicest and grandest building in town - nothing else really compares.


I cannot wait to show you pictures of the Thursday market, but these pics of the empty stalls will have to do for now! Padina never gets tourist so I have to figure out a way to get good pics without standing out.




A typical street corner . . .

Things to do when you are bored and a question about immortality

I wish I had time to be bored here! I am so much busier than I ever imagined - 5 classes today! I did an activity with the teens where they picked a piece of paper out of a basket that had a "what would you do if . . . " question. (what would you do if you could be president, won the lottery, etc). I was surprised that everyone that got the question "If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live" chose Padina, Serbia. I thought the teens would pick places like Belgrade or London or Paris, but they preferred the little farming town of Padina. I also found it interesting that they all said they would be immortal if they had the option. If you could be immortal, would you? Let me know - I am curious to find out what people think. I don't think I would want to live forever. We have such an amazingly beautiful planet that is so rich in diversity. Tragically, we are destroying the natural landscape at an alarming rate and losing more and more species each year. I am too afraid to see what will happen to our planet in the future, so I would not chose to be immortal if I had the opportunity.

I was looking for more "What would you do" questions online for the teens when I came across this website: Things to do when you are bored. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at some of the suggestions. Hopefully no one heard me . . .

Another Problem with Deforestation

Find out how you can help a family in Serbia recover from a fire. Click here.

Article of the Day: Secret Shrine Shared by Muslims and Christians

I recently read a really nice article on the BBC about a little town in Macedonia, Serbia's neighbor to the south. There is a small Church in this town where Muslims and Christians worship peacefully alongside each other in the building. In an area that has been plagued by violence between the two religions, this is a great story. I only wish the rest of the world could be like this small town. You can read the article by clicking here.

Beef = No More Mooooo

Another day has flown by! Before I left, I thought I would only be teaching a few classes of week and have plenty of time to read, study Italian, etc. Boy was I wrong! I'm glad I'm not bored, but I never imagined volunteering would be this much work.

Having the younger kids divided into two groups went very well. I did an activity on colors for the younger kids. I wanted to go on to a lesson about family when one girl looked at me with excitement in her eyes and asked, "Hokey Pokey?" As soon as she said that, the six other kids giggled happily so I said OK. A few months ago I never imagined I would end up in Serbia doing the hokey pokey with a bunch of 6-8 year olds! The song teaches them body parts in English so I don't mind. Then, since they had too much energy, I taught them "duck, duck, goose." They loved that game but kept saying "juice" instead of goose.

I did a second lesson on directions (north, east, south, west) and the names and capitals of European countries with the older kids. I picked the 10 countries that are most relevant to Serbia and we learned their capitals, their names in English, the language that they speak, and where they are in relation with each other. At first it was hard for some of the kids because this might have been their first time looking at a map. Maybe I'm biased because I was a geography major, but I think its so important to know about your surroundings - especially if you live in Europe! The kids enjoyed questions like, "what country is north of Hungary and south of Poland?" The boys are competitive so it was like a game for them.

We had a lesson on food terms tonight. An apple is an apple just about anywhere in the world. Meat is another story. People prepare meat differently all over the world. So for beef, pork, and chicken, I put a clipart image of the animal next to an image of the meat. When I got to beef, I pointed to the picture of the cow and said "moooo = cow" "no more mooooo = beef." The one lady really starting laughing which made everyone else laugh. I will be starting a new class for adults tomorrow. My total number of classes keeps growing and growing.

I finally got to meet Liljana's son tonight. Both her and her son speak English, Serbian, Slovak, and Macedonian. How cook is that!?

Week 2

It's hard to believe I'm already in my second week of teaching English. Time has gone by so fast! I am just so busy trying to figure out what to teach and planning lessons that the day is over before I know it!

My adult class is still going very well. I am really happy that my two students that lost their barn to the fire were able to start coming again. (See my post from a few days ago on how you can help them). They had to miss some lessons because they had so much to clean up from the fire. Luckily, we have been able to schedule a few make up lessons so they are almost caught up! My adult class keeps growing. Now, there are women from the local Nazarene Church that are coming. I think it is wonderful that my hosts are opening it up to any one in the community because its lets me teach more people. I also think its wonderful when people from different backgrounds can get together, have a good time, and focus on one common goal. Sometimes I think people focuses on differences too much . . .

The kids in Padina are definitely a struggle to work with. It's really hard to keep their attention and its also hard having them at so many different levels. I have some kids around 10-11 years that are just about falling out of their seats their so eager to answer questions. Others, I cannot even get to say "this is a"or "she is." The little ones are even harder to teach because they have only had a year or two of English. I have a feeling some kids are coming more to be entertained by the foreigner than to learn. (Starting tomorrow, the youngest kids will have their won class.) One of the little ones that won't say anything in class was supposed to come today for a special lesson. I spent about 2.5 hours planning easy, pre-school level activities for her. When she got here and realized she would be the only one, she left. Sometimes it can be really frustrating with the little kids! Oh well. Luckily, I will work with the kids in Kovacicia tomorrow. They are all great and always so eager to learn!

The very first class I taught with all ages combined had one teen, now I am up to 7! If anyone has ESL/TEFL ideas for teens, let me know! I'm trying to get them to speak more, but they are still too shy!

I'm really looking forward to when I can settle into a routine schedule. I have four groups of kids that will hopefully each meet twice a week. I am trying to meet with the adults four times a week. Although, it ends up being more than that because of all the make up lessons. Sometime the adults have to miss class because of work (or fires!) or they join late. I don't want anyone to fall behind or be confused for the next lesson so I end up repeating a lot of the lessons. They are a joy to work with so I don't mind!

Wish me luck for tomorrow! I have the two groups of rowdy kids back-to-back! :/

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Mother Teresa

Dear family and friends,

I have only been in Padina for a little over a week, but I have quickly fallen in love with this quiet little community and its wonderful and warm people. Although I enjoy working with the children, I absolutely love my adult class. They are so eager to learn and always come to class with a positive attitude.

A few nights ago, after hearing a siren off in the distance, my hosts (the local pastor and his wife) were woken by a phone call around 1:30 in the morning. The barn of two of my students (a couple) was on fire. Fortunately, they were able to save some of their animals, but the barn was completely destroyed along with other materials that were to be used to repair their house.

The couple and their two young children are currently living with his parents. They had recently purchased an old house so they could finally have their own home. Because the house is so old, it needs a new roof before the family could move in. I don’t mean they just need to put on new shingles. The entire roof, including the roof trusses, needed to be replaced. Although they were not living in the house yet, the barn had already become an important part of their lives.

The bad economic times have not only affected the US – they have hit Padina as well. This is an agricultural community so their main income is from farming. Although he is able to help his father with the corn fields, he has not been able to find consistent work for about a year. Many people in this area go into Belgrade a few times a week to find extra work. The women try to find jobs cleaning houses while the men look for construction work. There are three main reasons this fire was so devastating.

First, barns are used to store food for both animals and humans. Almost every house in Padina has a barn and an area for storing corn. All of the food that they had saved in the barn was destroyed (mainly potatoes, corn, and feed). The people in this community save all of their corn husks from the corn they eat and the husks from the feed corn. They use the corn husks to fuel their small fire places in the winter (there are not many trees around here to get wood). In addition to the food, they also lost most of the husks/fuel they had stored to heat their home.

Second, because the family has had such a difficult time finding work, they decided to breed rabbits and chickens to sell for meat. They were even planning on trying to sell the meat as far away as Belgrade. They were able to save most of the rabbits, but the rest of the rabbits and chickens, their source of income, were killed in the fire. They were able to move the surviving animals to a family member’s house, but they will eventually need to rebuild a place to keep the animals.

Finally, as mentioned before, their “new” old house needs a new roof. They were buying supplies like wooden beams to rebuild the roof as they earned the money. All of these beams were stored in the barn so they also lost all the new building materials (including windows and doors) that they bought for the house. So now, without a barn for the animals and food and materials to fix the house, they must wait even longer to move into their house. They were already struggling financially before the fire, so now things are even worse.

To rebuild the barn, fix the house/roof, replace the animals, and to do other repairs, they family would need approximately $1,400 USD. For comparison, it would cost $2,000 USD for Tom and I to have new shingles put on our small roof. To us, its nothing to spend $1,400 on our home, but for a struggling family in rural Serbia, it’s just about impossible.

These two people are really wonderful people and I am so lucky to have them in my English class. I have been so blessed in life that I have never had to struggle financially. I couldn’t image what they must be going through. I also couldn’t imagine sitting back and doing nothing when I know I have the ability to help them. Mother Teresa once said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." I know it is impossible to help out every single person that is going through a difficult time, but this could be our chance to help that one person (or family) anyway. Most people fundraise for their service trips abroad. They ask for money for everything from their plane ticket to their living costs abroad. I decided to fund this trip entirely by myself because I didn’t want to ask any of you for money. Now that this family has lost their barn in the fire, I feel it is appropriate to ask you for your help in the form of donations for the family. They would only need $1,400 USD to repair the damage. And I hope between all my blog readers and your friends and family we can raise the money to help this family. If you would like to make a contribution, please contact me at jnc5000@gmail.com. Please pass this on to family and friends.

Thank you for reading this post. Please keep their family in your prayers.



On a side note, the police have not determined the cause of the fire. It may have been a spark from a neighbor’s chimney, but they don’t know. Another possibility is that someone, while attempting to steal some rabbits, dropped a cigarette/cigar in the hay. (They family said they noticed a few things missing from the barn in the past).

Articles of the day - Malnutrition and HIV

If you have a few minutes, please take the time to read the articles below. Malnutrition and HIV/AIDS are incredibly important international issues. Hopefully I will have a job that works to decrease the global prevalence of HIV/AIDS and malnutrition . . . .

New HIV law in Malawi

Battle over patent for Plumpy'nut - a mixture to help combat global malnutrition

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow! The past two days have been a bit crazy. I was worried I wouldn't have enough to do here. Trying to come up with lessons takes a lot longer than I thought it would!

Yesterday, I got to go to Padina's outdoor market for the first time. Seeing the market really made this little town come alive. There was an abundance of potatoes, lettuce, apples, oranges and many other veggies. In addition to fruit, you could pick up a new pair of jeans, a kitchen utensil, and even some toilet paper! The market is about the same size as Lancaster Central Market - but outside. The market is every Thursday so I am looking forward to going next week.

I really wish I had brought my camera. Taking pictures of the town would not give you a good idea of Padina - you need to see the people. But since this isn't a famous tourist market in a big city, I'm not sure if it is appropriate to take pictures. Some one was selling ducklings. I never realized how precious baby ducks are! They are such darling little things - not like my sister's parrot (who is known to attack the cats)! The funniest thing I saw was a turkey sitting in a trunk (hatch-back) in a cardboard box. He was just sitting in the box and looking around like that was where he belonged.

I had four classes yesterday. Two with kids/teens in Padina, one with the adults in Padina, and one with the kids in Kovacicia. Today, I had three classes, all in Padina.

Because the kids were so hyper on Wednesday, I needed to do something that would get them out of their seats. I decided to teach the parts of the body so that we could do the hokey pokey and "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." That song really works great with memorization. They giggled every time I said "hokey pokey" and had fun with the dance. I'm not sure if it helped them remember body parts, but at least it helped them release some energy. The group of teens is funny. If they are with the little kids, they are too "cool" to do the songs. If they are by themselves, the laugh just like the little kids and do the dances anyway. I had new students in both classes - the class seems to grow each day!

Today I continues with the "body" theme and covered the 5 senses. This way, I could teach them the verbs, see, hear, taste, touch, and smell but also have fun. Plus, it gave me a chance to review the body parts. They really like "to hear" because I played different animal sounds on my laptop and have them guess the animals. (They had to respond by saying "I hear a pig with my ears." We also did "taste" with chocolate which they also liked. For the past two days, I have been giving them word searches and crossword puzzles with the new vocab words. They really seem to like doing them and it (hopefully) helps them remember the words. They want to meet again tomorrow! I'm not creative so I am quickly running out of ideas. Once their Easter break is over, I think we will only meet twice a week. If you have any ideas for ESL activities with kids, please let me know!

The adults in my class covered alot of information in the past few nights, so tonight was a review. So far, they have learned greetings, numbers, the verb 'to be,' forming questions and negatives, a/an, my/your/his/her/our/their, and hopefully a few words. They seem to be doing well. I gave them a homework assignment two nights ago and they were happy to have something to work on at home. They also like having worksheets in addition to taking notes, so more work to do! The most difficult thing is when a new person comes because they missed all the previous lessons. Oh well. I am going to meet with that lady one-on-one tomorrow. I will be meeting with the adults whenever they are available. Many have jobs in Belgrade during the week so in addition to having kids, it's much more difficult to have a set time.

I really enjoy working with the adults in my class so I was really devastated to hear that a fire destroyed the barn of the one couple. I will be posting more about the fire over the weekend, so please visit my blog again in a few days!

I should be preparing for the lessons tomorrow, but I am exhausted! Goodnight!

I love my adult class!

I only had two classes yesterday. The first was with the children (10 in that class). It did not go quite as well as I had hoped. I told Liljana she didn't have to stay in the class the whole time so maybe that's why the kids were a little crazy. It could also be because they do not have school this week and have lots of extra energy. The three teenagers didn't really want to have anything to do with the younger kids so I basically had to keep two separate groups occupied. I made a little board game to help the kids with "family"vocab. This is stuff they should have already learned in school so I thought it would be easy. They did ok in the beginning because they were excited to have a game, but then they started arguing over what space a person should be on. oh well. Today I am going to teach them body parts so we can do "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes"and the hokie pokie. That should help them burn off that extra energy! Today the teens will have their own class so that should really help.

The adults are great to work with! Janko (my host) even came to the class last night. He knows some English, but he wants to improve. Other than Janko, there are only 3 adults that come to class. At first I was disappointed that there were less people than I expected, but it's actually quite nice with such a small group. We can go through material much faster. I just worry that we are moving too fast. I try to start each class with a review of the previous lesson so hopefully that will help. I even gave them a short homework assignment. We learned the names of family members (mother, father, sister, etc). I asked them to write 2 sentences about each person in their family -it's not much, but hopefully it will help. I enjoy working with the adults because we can actually do lessons without them getting distracted like the kids.

That's all for now. We are off to the market!

First Day of Classes!

I had my first round of classes yesterday and things actually went quite well! I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it definitely went well. I was afraid the kids would be bored and there would be nothing left to do after the first 15-20 min.

My first lesson was with 7 kids from Padina. I put together a simple powerpoint since it was a small enough group to crowd around my laptop. The powerpoint was simple and helped me get an idea of how much they knew. This group will be tricky to work with. The kids are at really different levels. I hope we will be able to break them down into three separate groups. I really hope the kids invite their friends - especially if the 7 kids are divided into 3 groups. With 3 separate classes, I can definitely handle more kids! The classes are open to kids that do not come to the church. Hopefully if new kids come, they may also be encouraged to attend Liljana's Sunday school class. Liljana said there are some kids in the town that really want to come to Sunday school with their friends, but their parents won't let them. I will meet with this group again tomorrow because the kids don't have school this week.

My second lesson was with 4 adorable girls in Kovocica. They really surprised me with how much they knew! One of the girls just started to learn English. She was taking careful notes the whole time and was so proud of herself when she knew the word I was looking for. I'm meeting so many new people at once - I hope I can remember all the names! On a random note, the women here have such pretty names.

My third class was with 3 adults from Padina. They are absolute beginners, but are very eager to learn. I think we will have a really good time together.

The first day went well. The challenging part is not being infront of the kids, its figuring out lesson plans and what to teach. So if you have any advice, let me know!

With a little help from Tom, I found a way to hide my IP access and gain access to all my favorite ABC shows. I'm watching Dancing with the Stars right now. Yay to Pamela Anderson for speaking out against the violent sport of bull fighting on prime time!

MMMMM Cookies!

I know this is my 3rd post already today,but Liljana just brought over a plate of chocolate chip cookies! (I thought I smelt something good coming from the kitchen). She is the nicest host - too nice at times! For Easter, she also made two different cakes! So now in addition to cookies,I also get two pieces of cake with each meal! And I thought I would lose weight on this trip . . . .

Article of the day

In addition to writing about my experiences here, I may post some news articles from time to time. They may be about Serbia, issues important to me, or just something random I found interesting for funny.

The first today is about an oil spill near the Great Barrier reef (We have such an amazing planet, why do things like this have to happen?).

I want my TV shows!

Not that this is important, but I was really hoping to be able to watch my favorite ABC TV shows online. When I tried to this morning, I got the message, "You appear to be outside the United States or its territories. Due to international rights agreements, we only offer this video to viewers located within the United States and its territories." Bummer. Oh well.

I am putting together things for my first lessons today. I am not really planning on much happening with the kids today. I need to first figure out how much English they actually know before I can really do anything. I put together a very simple powerpoint for them (it will be a small enough group that we can all crowd around my laptop). Hopefully seeing some pictures and starting off with basic conversation will help them feel more comfortable around me. I am really looking forward to working with the adults. They do not know any English, so at least I know where to start with them! It will be a fun challenge working with people that do not know any English when I also cannot speak any of their language. Wish me luck!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Although I am sure you all will be back to work today, the Easter celebrations continue through Monday here. That means two more church services in Padina today. I could even go to a third in the other town if I wanted, but its a rainy day so I will stay here.

I always enjoy seeing how holidays are celebrated in other countries. My favorite so far was a quick glimpse of a Christmas Eve Celebration in Ghana. There was drumming, dancing, singing, bright colors - it was great! Here in Padina, the Easter celebrations were quiet and very traditional (except for the little fair across the street!). There was a morning prayer service which included the singing of hymns and gave everyone in the church the opportunity to offer a public prayer. There is a lot more praying in the services here than back home. (So I decided to say a little prayer for all the extra piggies that had to be slaughtered for easter dinners) The second service(s) of the day were still traditional, but much more similar to what you would see in the US. Jano is the pastor of two churches, so there were two different afternoon services. The Sunday school class in each church did a small program for the adults. It was really cute! They sang songs like "Jesus loves me" in both slovak and in English. Then, they played some more songs using bells.

Although I cannot speak any Slovak or Serbian, both congregations have been very welcoming so far. The average age of the adults is probably around 70 - mainly women. The women here are the cutest little old women you could ever meet! Most gave me a warm hug or a kiss on each cheek. Hopefully we will be able to communicate eventually!

I have attended about 7 Easter services in the 4 days that I have been here. I guess that makes up for all the Easters I missed when I was working at Willow Valley! It's refreshing to be somewhere where the focus of the holiday is actually the reason the holiday exists. Of course I think its great any time families get together, but its a bit different than at home. My daily reminder that Easter was approaching was the Wal-mart commercial saying that you should buy your Easter baskets there. Holidays have become so commercial in the US (as well as other parts of the world) - Valentines day is the worst! It's completely media driven. Commercials and advertisements have trained us to believe that a diamond is the symbol of love and bigger is better. We are taught that a diamond is forever and are inundated with countless commercials telling us why we need to buy a diamond for valentines day. Isn't it funny how something that comes out of such a corrupt, loveless, and sometimes violent process has become the international symbol of love? I'll pass on the diamonds, a donation to a charity that does work that is important to me is just fine (like the Nature Conservancy) (And at least I don't have to worry if someone was killed/injured over the diamond on my finger or around my neck)

Sorry to end on a negative note, but I am just expressing how I feel. My first lessons will be tomorrow so I must go prepare. I'm not expecting much out of the first lessons other than to figure out what level the students are at. :)

Spring Time in Serbia!

This is a great time of the year to come to Serbia! Although it can get quite chilly in the evening, the days have been really nice and it is getting a little warmer each day. We have been lucky to have a bright blue sky every day so far. Liljana has a nice garden with pretty flowers so I was out taking pictures yesterday. You can see her flowers and the outside of the church/house in the slideshow below. Their house is attached to the Church. The church here is very small - you will be able to see the inside in one of the pictures. Enjoy!

Meet my new best friend!

Some of you joked that I should try to get a pet here and it looks like I found my new best kitty friend. She decided to "adopt" my hosts. They did not pick her out, she just showed up one day, meowed for food, and decided to live here. She is just about the sweetest creature I have ever met! I wish she could give my Lucy and Pompeii lessons on how a cat should act. The most exciting part is that she is pregnant! She is so tiny - it's hard to imagine she is about to have babies. She hangs out on the porch and constantly begs for food. When I go outside, she comes running up to me. I pick her up and she snuggles against my neck and purrs and massages/kneads her paws on my shoulder. The, she will try to curl up and take a nap in my arms. She tries to cling to when when I put her down. I could probably carry her around all day and she wouldn't mind.

I have always had a special connection with animals so having her here is definitely making the transition so much easier. I know it may sound silly, but it would be a lot more difficult and lonely without an animal around. I'm already sad about having to leave her in 2 months!

Quick note about my hosts

I am staying with the Pastor of the local Methodist Church, Jano, and his wife Liljana. They are absolutely wonderful people - they could not be any nicer! Liljana speaks English quite well. Jano knows a few words and phrases in English. Despite not knowing much English, he still tries to make jokes out of what he does know which is always fun. They have a son Daniel who is a few years older than me and a daughter who is one year younger. I am sure I will meet their son and his fiance soon, but their daughter is away at college in Slovakia. I am really looking forward to meeting Daniel's fiance. It will be great to have someone to spend time with that is my age!

I'm in Serbia!

After flying from BWI to Cincy to Paris to Belgrade, I am finally in Serbia! As I flew into/out of the different airports, I was really surprised how similar the areas around Cincy, Paris, and Belgrade look for the air. It's pretty much all farm land. You usually don't think of farmland when you think of Paris, but the airport sits outside the city and seems to have quite a nice surrounding. I love the way farmland looks from the sky - it looks like a giant patchwork quilt with the different crops forming the different squares. The neat thing was that the "quilt" got more intricate as I traveled from Cincy to Paris to Belgrade. I guess this is because we have big industrial sized farms in the US where a single crop is grown on multiple acres. Once you reach Belgrade, the plots of land are much smaller and have more variety of crops and are probably farmed by many different people.

Seeing Belgrade from the air was really neat. It looked like any other Eastern European capital. The sun glittered off the roof tops of the buildings and the Danube wound its way through the heart of the city. As we got lower and lower, we neared the outskirts of town where you began to see more communist style block apartment buildings, landfills, and more run down properties.

I was greeted at the airport by my host Liljana and her husband Jano the pastor. They drove me through the center of Belgrade so I could see a bit of the city. I knew the city had been bombed about a decade ago, but it did not expect so much of the devastation to still be so visible. We drove past a large government building (maybe a police station?) that had been bombed in two locations. You could clearly see where the bomb had hit and blasted out a good portion of the building. The collapsed floors seemed frozen in time and there was still debris scattered throughout the building. We passed two or three more buildings that had been heavily bombed. The one looked like it could collapse at any second. Liljana said that two people were actually killed when trying to clean up the rubble. After that, the recovery efforts seemed to have stopped.

These buildings were all along a major street so those that live in Belgrade must pass them fairly often. I can't imagine what it must be like to have such an obvious reminder of war along your daily commute. I wonder if people still think about the violence and the bombings? Or maybe, they are so used to the buildings by now its just another part of the city's landscape. I really hope I will have the chance to explore Belgrade before I leave! I didn't take any pictures because I was in the car and there was a lot of traffic, but here is a picture of one of the buildings we passed:

On the Path Unwinding . . . .

Welcome to my blog! I thought I would start off by explaining why I chose "The Path Unwinding" as the title of my blog. One of my favorite songs is the Circle of Life by Elton John. Take a minute to read the lyrics below:

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
There's more to see than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

Some say eat or be eaten
Some say live or let live
But all are agreed as they join the stampede
You should never take more than you can give

In the Circle of Life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's a leap of faith
It's a band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, in the circle of life

Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with the scars

There's far to much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round

I will probably blog about different sections of the song on days where I have nothing else to write about. But, in the meantime, think about the lyrics and join me on my "path unwinding" as I try to (hopefully) find my place in this crazy world.