Special Friends
In the morning we typically have breakfast at 7:15 with a devotional while we eat. At 8:00 those who are walking the 1 ¼ miles to the church head out. Most of us have chosen walking rather than bus or car because we want the exercise. When we arrive at the church we get busy gathering our supplies for the day. We never start on time because at 9:00 only a few students have arrived. Eventually we sing and pray and divide into our four groups. Each group has about five students, two team members and one or two translators. The translators are youth, ages 15 to 20, from the church. There are two beginner groups and two intermediate groups. In addition to studying English, students spend one hour a day in the crafts/art room where Donna and Shirley work their magic. Paige and Abigail lead indoor and outdoor games two or three times a day to give students a break from study. Lunch is cooked by Franceska and others in the kitchen. The kitchen crew also provides snacks of watermelon and home-baked sweets twice a day.
English is taught in schools starting in about third grade, but only a small amount of time per week is spent on it. My intermediate group actually knew quite a bit of English, but they seemed to lack confidence to speak it. Ondrej was my primary translator. He came to our church in 2005. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings he had doctor’s appointments so Miska took his place. Miska has been blind since birth. She listens carefully and has a good sense of humor. All the church members treat her royally and tenderly. Her mother, Renata, visited our church in 2007 and worked on the Habitat house.
My students were getting into the groove of working on their English. Abigail and I taught them some silly songs like “John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith” and “Little Rabbit in the Woods” to give a break between language exercises.
In the evening Scott, Lisa, Donna, and I went to Regina’s home for supper. Regina visited our church in 2007. She and her family live in a small village outside Trnava. It is like living in the suburbs. They moved there because they needed a bigger house after her mother-in-law moved in with them. Regina is a pediatrician and her husband is a neurologist. He is originally from Bulgaria. They have a nice home with a yard full of flowers and some vegetables. Their twelve-year-old daughter, Kika, is in my English class. Ten-year-old Sofia is in Roger and Tracy’s class. We sat out on the deck and were served several Bulgarian dishes cooked by Nadia, the mother-in-law. After supper we went inside and were served a fruit dessert that must have been made in heaven.
While we were visiting Regina and George the rest of the team had supper at a restaurant in Trnava. The town center is about a twenty minute walk from the church. After classes were over at 4:00, the team went to the town center to rest, relax, and have supper. About 8 of the youth from English camp came along to show them the best shops and ice cream places. When we all arrived back at the hotel team members were eager to share the joy they experienced spending the evening with special friends.