Wow. Next week is my last full week of classes. It's hard to believe that time has gone by so fast. I still have so much to teach; I feel like I need to stay another two months. Less and less time means fuller and fuller days. Tomorrow I will have eight hours worth of classes! I have easily put in at least 40-50 hours of work in each week between teaching and preparation work. The adults and I are starting to panic a bit because there is just too much to learn in too little time. I will have my one group from 8-9 tomorrow night just to cram in as much as we can before I leave. The next two weeks will be busy!
Another Wow! I have a front row seat at the Elton John concert! How unbelievable is that? A seat opened up just minutes before I was about to book one in another section. A front row seat here only cost a few more dollars then the seats in the back of most American arenas. I am so excited - this will be so amazing!
My friend from Padina cannot come to the concert so it will be just me and this girl that I haven't met yet. I still wish I could take another student, but I can't pay for 3 tickets. When I said I would pay for someone's ticket if they took me to the concert, I meant help me get from Padina to Belgrade to the concert and back. The girl I am going with is taking me from a meeting point in the city and back to a train station. I have to ride the bus to Belgrade in the morning with one of my students and walk 2.5 miles out to the arena and back to get the tickets before the box office closes. So for only having to take me to a train station in the city after the concert, this is a pretty good deal for an Elton John fan! Since she was 'promised' a ticket to the concert before I had the chance to invite my students or a Belgrade Rotaract member, I ended up telling them she could pay the $20 difference in the ticket prices to sit with me in a better section, or I would get her a cheaper ticket in another section. She said she was ok sitting by herself, so we won't even be sitting together.
In honor of the Elton John concert, here is a song lyric for Tom:
"I want love, won't break me down, Won't brick me up, won't fence me in"
Thank you for loving me enough to allow me to spend 2.5 wonderful months in Serbia and for not 'fencing' me in! See you soon!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Elton John Concert!
Elton John has been one of my favorite singers for as long as I can remember so occasionally I checked his concert tour page. You can imagine how excited I was when I found out he would be having his first ever concert in Belgrade while I am here! Going to an Elton John concert while serving as a volunteer through a church doesn't exactly fit in with what is expected of a volunteer. I debated for a while whether or not to even asks my hosts if I could go because I wasn't sure how attending a concert in Belgrade would be viewed. But, I figured it never hurts to ask, so I did.
Luckily, they said they didn't mind. I had two ideas on how to attend the concert without being a burden two my hosts. #1 - Ask my adult students if any of them wanted to go. If they got me there and back, I would pay for their ticket. #2 - Contact the 2 Rotaract Clubs in Belgrade. If someone could pick me up at a train station and then get me on a bus back to Padina, I would pay for their ticket. I thought my options sounded pretty good. I asked my hosts a few times to ask the women in my classes because its just easier if they hear it in Slovak. Instead of asking any of my students, it was "arranged" for me to go to the concert with a family friend in Belgrade. Turns out, my hosts would have to drive down to Belgrade and pick me up because I can't stay at this person's house as originally planned. This person works until 7:00 the night of the concert and wouldn't even be able to get me to the arena in time to pick up the tickets, meaning I have to navigate the outskirts of Belgrade myself. Yet, since she was "promised" a ticket to the concert I am still expected to take her. It's just really frustrating because I was looking forward to the concert so much and had so many different options that would make this easy. The concert is this Thursday, and I'm still not even 100% sure I can go. I decided to email a in my class to see if she is interested in the concert because I want to make sure I can go incse this other person's plans change again. I am very impatiently awaiting her response as I type this post. Keep your fingers crossed she wants to go!
Of course they had the best intentions in mind when doing this, it's just not what I expected. I've learned that this is one of the biggest cultural differences here. People, with only the best intentions, will do what they think is best for you even if it's not what you ask for. They only do it because they care, so I have been trying to accept it as much as possible. Once at a person's house, they offered me water or blueberry juice (which doesn't sit well with my stomach.) I asked for water and was given the blueberry juice anyway. At a restaurant during one of the pastors meeting, the same thing happened. Someone asked me what I wanted so I said orange juice. She spoke to the waiter in Serbian and then said, "I got you something better." It was blueberry juice again. :)
PS. Here is one of the reasons my house is so creepy. This sucker was like 3 inches long!
Luckily, they said they didn't mind. I had two ideas on how to attend the concert without being a burden two my hosts. #1 - Ask my adult students if any of them wanted to go. If they got me there and back, I would pay for their ticket. #2 - Contact the 2 Rotaract Clubs in Belgrade. If someone could pick me up at a train station and then get me on a bus back to Padina, I would pay for their ticket. I thought my options sounded pretty good. I asked my hosts a few times to ask the women in my classes because its just easier if they hear it in Slovak. Instead of asking any of my students, it was "arranged" for me to go to the concert with a family friend in Belgrade. Turns out, my hosts would have to drive down to Belgrade and pick me up because I can't stay at this person's house as originally planned. This person works until 7:00 the night of the concert and wouldn't even be able to get me to the arena in time to pick up the tickets, meaning I have to navigate the outskirts of Belgrade myself. Yet, since she was "promised" a ticket to the concert I am still expected to take her. It's just really frustrating because I was looking forward to the concert so much and had so many different options that would make this easy. The concert is this Thursday, and I'm still not even 100% sure I can go. I decided to email a in my class to see if she is interested in the concert because I want to make sure I can go incse this other person's plans change again. I am very impatiently awaiting her response as I type this post. Keep your fingers crossed she wants to go!
Of course they had the best intentions in mind when doing this, it's just not what I expected. I've learned that this is one of the biggest cultural differences here. People, with only the best intentions, will do what they think is best for you even if it's not what you ask for. They only do it because they care, so I have been trying to accept it as much as possible. Once at a person's house, they offered me water or blueberry juice (which doesn't sit well with my stomach.) I asked for water and was given the blueberry juice anyway. At a restaurant during one of the pastors meeting, the same thing happened. Someone asked me what I wanted so I said orange juice. She spoke to the waiter in Serbian and then said, "I got you something better." It was blueberry juice again. :)
PS. Here is one of the reasons my house is so creepy. This sucker was like 3 inches long!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Saturday Night Singing
Two of my adult students from the Nazarene church invited me to the Saturday singing at their church. They said it was a special gathering because people were coming from other churches in Serbia as well as Hungary. They are such wonderful people so I accepted their invitation. I must admit, I was skeptical at first. Singing really isn't my thing, especially a 2.5 hour long singing at a church.
Liljana reminded me earlier in the day that I should cover my hair for the service. The Nazarene women wear scarves or lace on their heads similar to what a Mennonite would wear. The first few inches of their hair is exposed, while the remainder is covered. I took her advice and wore a small scarf to cover my ponytail. When I got to Liljana's house wearing my skirt and scarf, she started to giggle and said I looked like a Nazarene girl and then gave me a hug for being "cute." My student/friend met me at their house and we walked to the church together.
Their singing blew me away. It was nothing like what I had expected. The songs that are sung in the Methodist church here sound heavy and traditional. Singing loud seams to be more important than singing in key. The songs in the Nazarene church were completely different. They were light, airy, and sounded very uplifting. I honestly felt like I was at a concert, but instead of sitting in the audience, I was sitting with the choir singers.
The men sat one one side of the church and the women on the other. The two sides faced each other. Each side was divided into two sections. The people sat according to whether they were a bass, tenor, alto, or soprano. There was no piano or any other accompanying instruments. Their voices were the music and sounded more beautiful than a piano would have. The songs were not sung just for the sake of singing. They were sung to perfection with everyone using their well trained voices to reach each note in unison. I was amazed at how they were able to sing sixteenth note runs with ease. Depending on the notes, the different sections would sing at different times creating the most beautiful music. The part that amazed me the most was that these were just the congregation members that have carefully honed their voices over the years. This wasn't a professionally trained accapella group, just people that loved to sing.
Hopefully I will have the chance to go again before I leave! This is probably my favorite memory of my time here in Serbia, except for my surprise party of course.
Liljana reminded me earlier in the day that I should cover my hair for the service. The Nazarene women wear scarves or lace on their heads similar to what a Mennonite would wear. The first few inches of their hair is exposed, while the remainder is covered. I took her advice and wore a small scarf to cover my ponytail. When I got to Liljana's house wearing my skirt and scarf, she started to giggle and said I looked like a Nazarene girl and then gave me a hug for being "cute." My student/friend met me at their house and we walked to the church together.
Their singing blew me away. It was nothing like what I had expected. The songs that are sung in the Methodist church here sound heavy and traditional. Singing loud seams to be more important than singing in key. The songs in the Nazarene church were completely different. They were light, airy, and sounded very uplifting. I honestly felt like I was at a concert, but instead of sitting in the audience, I was sitting with the choir singers.
The men sat one one side of the church and the women on the other. The two sides faced each other. Each side was divided into two sections. The people sat according to whether they were a bass, tenor, alto, or soprano. There was no piano or any other accompanying instruments. Their voices were the music and sounded more beautiful than a piano would have. The songs were not sung just for the sake of singing. They were sung to perfection with everyone using their well trained voices to reach each note in unison. I was amazed at how they were able to sing sixteenth note runs with ease. Depending on the notes, the different sections would sing at different times creating the most beautiful music. The part that amazed me the most was that these were just the congregation members that have carefully honed their voices over the years. This wasn't a professionally trained accapella group, just people that loved to sing.
Hopefully I will have the chance to go again before I leave! This is probably my favorite memory of my time here in Serbia, except for my surprise party of course.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Kittens!
I forgot to post a kitten picture yesterday, so here are two!
This was my attempt to do some work outside with the kittens. They had fun attacking each other under my laptop!
This was my attempt to do some work outside with the kittens. They had fun attacking each other under my laptop!
A Wonderful Birthday Surprise
Yesterday started out like any other day. Right before my first class, my hosts gave me some birthday gifts. At first I was surprised, but they are such wonderful people so I should have known they would do something like that. I was surprised to get a Padina t-shirt! town is so small so I had no idea they sold Padina shirts. Liljana even knitted me two beautiful fish.
I was surprised again when one of the teen boys gave me a big chocolate bar and said happy birthday. His mother is in my adult class so I thought she must have remembered when we did a lesson on the months of the year and birthdays. The rest of the day continued as usual.
Usually, when my first adult class is over, they leave right away because most of them have kids at home. I was wondering why no one was in a hurry to leave. Then, I noticed the students from the second group were all waiting in the lobby area of the church. They all started to bring in gifts! Next thing I knew, my hosts were walking in with a birthday cake! I had absolutely no idea that they had planned a surprise party for me! I was so touched by their generosity and kindness. The women in my class are all so wonderful - I really wish you could meet them!
I couldn't believe how many gifts I got. I got way too much chocolate, three bottles of body spray/perfume, 4 shirts, some little decorations, 5 hand-made corn husk dolls, and a basil plant! I mentioned one time that I loved basil and that I grew it at home. One of the ladies that work in Belgrade found a basil plant at a market, and basil is not easy to find here! The gifts were very sweet, but the best part was just seeing how much they care. I know I'm not the best teacher, so I sometimes think that I am getting more out off this experience than they are. I'm putting so much time into the classes - I am so much busier than I ever imagined I would be. I am trying my best so I am just so grateful that they keep coming to class.
The only thing that bothered me about the night was that my one host mentioned to to women that I quit my job to be here and that I even paid for my plane ticket and all other expenses related to this trip. They didn't need to know those details because it makes this sound like a really big deal and that I am making a huge sacrifice for them. I don't want them to feel bad that I gave up a lot to be here - those details are not important. I am here because I chose to be here and that's what should matter.
Here are some pictures from the party and of my gifts! I didn't include individual pictures of the people because I don't want to put their pictures on the internet without asking.
I was surprised again when one of the teen boys gave me a big chocolate bar and said happy birthday. His mother is in my adult class so I thought she must have remembered when we did a lesson on the months of the year and birthdays. The rest of the day continued as usual.
Usually, when my first adult class is over, they leave right away because most of them have kids at home. I was wondering why no one was in a hurry to leave. Then, I noticed the students from the second group were all waiting in the lobby area of the church. They all started to bring in gifts! Next thing I knew, my hosts were walking in with a birthday cake! I had absolutely no idea that they had planned a surprise party for me! I was so touched by their generosity and kindness. The women in my class are all so wonderful - I really wish you could meet them!
I couldn't believe how many gifts I got. I got way too much chocolate, three bottles of body spray/perfume, 4 shirts, some little decorations, 5 hand-made corn husk dolls, and a basil plant! I mentioned one time that I loved basil and that I grew it at home. One of the ladies that work in Belgrade found a basil plant at a market, and basil is not easy to find here! The gifts were very sweet, but the best part was just seeing how much they care. I know I'm not the best teacher, so I sometimes think that I am getting more out off this experience than they are. I'm putting so much time into the classes - I am so much busier than I ever imagined I would be. I am trying my best so I am just so grateful that they keep coming to class.
The only thing that bothered me about the night was that my one host mentioned to to women that I quit my job to be here and that I even paid for my plane ticket and all other expenses related to this trip. They didn't need to know those details because it makes this sound like a really big deal and that I am making a huge sacrifice for them. I don't want them to feel bad that I gave up a lot to be here - those details are not important. I am here because I chose to be here and that's what should matter.
Here are some pictures from the party and of my gifts! I didn't include individual pictures of the people because I don't want to put their pictures on the internet without asking.
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