Chuch in Jabuka

This morning, Liljana took me to a church service at the Methodist Church in Jabuka instead of going to the morning prayer service here in Padina. Jabuka is about a half an hour away in the direction of Belgrade. The church services in Padina are very traditional and use slower hymns. The average age of the congregation here is probably around 65. The church in Jabuka is bigger and with all the children, the average age is probably around 35. Because the majority of the congregation comes from Roma/gypsy decent, their music was much more lively and fun. It was a really enjoyable service. I was just surprised that there were probably about 20 people there under the age of 20. Except for Easter, kids and youth never seem to come to Church in Padina. Gotta go. Time for the second church service here in Padina.

5 Weeks Down, 5 More Weeks to Go!

Wow! I can't believe I am half way through with my time here in Serbia! I wish I could say that class attendance was as high as it was in the beginning, but it's not. Class attendance is actually my biggest frustration right now. I used to have about 6 young kids, now I am down to one. About 6 older kids used to come, now only 2-3 come each class. My teen class has gone from a high of 10-12 down to 4 regulars with sometimes a fifth if I am lucky.

This is just really frustrating because I really thought I would be teaching more kids. I know kids are unpredictable and you can't expect them to attend an English class three times a week in addition to school, but you think there would be more than a handful of kids in this town that want English lessons. It's just hard knowing that I had to quit my job to come here and have such small classes.

Luckily, the teens are really great to work with and really want to learn. I especially love the adults - they are making this trip totally worth it. I don't know what I would do if it wasn't for them. The adult classes are also really small, but they are just such a joy to work with.

I have talked to Liljana about the small class size. She talked to the kids to see if it would be better to have the classes on the weekends, but they said during the week is still the best. She even made the comment tonight that the adult classes seem like the only thing that is worth being here for. I suggest that we put a sign in front of the Church advertising free English classes. I don't know if that will help. I tell the kids everyday that they can bring friends and kids from school, but no one knew has come yet. Keep your fingers crossed that next week will be better! At least we know now that an English teacher is probably really only needed in the summer.

He reads . . . . . toilet paper!

The women in my second adult class make me laugh. Not just a little smile and laugh, but to the point where class has to stop so we can all regain our composure. First, there was the lady that said "Bread Pitt!" when I showed a picture of bread. Then, today in class I introduced the word "read." I asked the class for examples with read. One lady said, "He reads . . . toilet paper!" I don't have the slightest clue what made her say that, but it was hilarious. It took us a few minutes before we could get back to work. :)

Letters from Sierra Leone!

I am so excited! Tom told me this morning that I got a package of letters from Sierra Leone, West Africa. My great aunt was a Methodist missionary in Sierra Leone many years ago. Although I never met her, I feel a special connection to the schools where she served. I got to meet the headmistress, Jane, of the June Hartranft Memorial School for Girls last summer. We exchanged contact information and earlier this year, I sent a letter to the girls at the school. I told Jane that I would write to any of the girls that wanted an American penpal. I wasn't even sure if they received my letter until Tom told me I got a huge stack of about 20 letters in the mail. I cannot wait the 48 more days until I can go back and read each letter. He said they even sent pictures! I am just so touched that so many of the girls took the time to write to me. I intend on responding personally to each letter as soon as I get home. I can only dream of the day i will get to go to Sierra Leone to visit them.

Jane had sent me a CD with video clips from the school over Christmas. It was so wonderful to see some of the girls and to hear them sing. I am always so amazed by their spirits and how they can find ways to be happy despite living in a country with such a difficult past. With the recent economic crisis in the US, you may think you know what its like to have your country go through tough times. Our worst can even begin to compare to their worst. Our country has money problems. Big deal. Make cutbacks and learn to deal with it. It may be tough and hard but it cannot compare to the unimaginable terror and violence that Sierra Leone faced during their civil war. These people lived through years of a cruel and torturous civil war where amputations were a form of punishment, children were forced into rebel armies, and women and girls were raped so badly that to describe what happened to them is to hard to put into words. Despite these hardships, these beautiful little girls are able to carry on with their lives, and although the scars of the war are still visible today, their spirits remain so strong. With countries like Sierra Leone, it is important to not forget the past, but even more important to focus on how far them have come. I may be volunteering in Serbia, but my heart is in Sierra Leone.

Beautiful Park in Belgrade

On the way to the retreat on Saturday, we stopped in Belgrade for about an hour. Daniel and his fiance Elana took me to the fortress that sits along the Danube and Sava rivers. I had seen pictures of it before, but it really exceeded my expectations. It was huge! The fort and its walls never seemed to end. There was plenty of greenspace making it the perfect place for picnics or for families to spend time together. Of all the capital cities I have ever been in, Belgrade definitely ranks #1 for having a beautiful, family friendly park that just happens to have a really cool fort and overlook two rivers. Daniel is very knowledgeable about the history of Serbia and Belgrade so it was like having my own personal tour guide. The park contains military vehicles from the two World Wars so those were really neat to see. Enjoy the slide show below. I cannot wait to see more of Belgrade!

Weekend Retreat

This past weekend I went to a three day retreat for Methodist youth in Serbia along with the Pastor's son and his fiance. It was an OK weekend, not the most exciting time but certainly not terrible. This weekend was set up to be a relaxing weekend for the youth, mainly teens. There is a more formal Bible camp over the summer. For me the weekend was like one of those "alone in a crowded room" type of things. I don't speak any Serbian, so unless there was a translator, I didn't really know what was going on. I intentionally did not sit with English speakers during some of the services because I feel like a burden when people feel like they need to translate everything for me.

The best part about the weekend was meeting other people. I just assumed those that wanted to practice their English would find me and they did. I was really impressed with some of the teens and their English skills. The school system must not be as good here in Padina because none of my kids could speak at the level of some of these teens. One girl was 14 and talked so fast in English that it was hard to keep up with her! It's wonderful that these kids could speak English so well, but it is also a little sad that some of them speak better English and have better grammar than kids their age in the US. My favorite conversation was with a shyer girl. She came over an sat next to me and didn't say anything at first. I asked her simple questions and then she eventually got comfortable with her English. I asked her what her favorite animal is. She responded by saying that she doesn't have a favorite because each animal has their own special beauty. I could have hugged her! It was so sweet and exactly how I feel!

There were a few downsides to the retreat other than not really understanding what was going on. I have never really enjoyed retreats. Most of the teens seemed to get so much energy from being around other teens from the Church. I am not the type that gets energy or motivation from being around other people - I find it more exhausting. Other than Sunday Church service and a walk through the small town, there were no planned activities. The main activity throughout the weekend was singing. It was an excellent chance for those that played instruments to come together and make music and for the rest of the group to sing. I have never enjoyed singing, I'm not really sure why but it is just not for me. I am also not the outwardly emotional type and a number of times many of the people started to cry during the songs. (This could have had something to do with the majority of the people there being emotional teenage girls). So it was a bit awkward for me at time being the only one that didn't know the words to the songs and that wasn't teary eyed. Oh well.

The important thing was that all the teens there seemed to have an amazing time. This was such a great chance for all the youth from the Church to come together, get to know each other, worship together, and sing. This retreat was meant for them so as long as they all had a great time, that's all that matters.

Kitten Pictures!

The darling little kittens are almost two weeks old. They are growing so fast. They have almost doubled in size in just this short amount of time. I cannot wait for them to get a little bit older so I can start to play with them. Enjoy!