Weekend at the Cottage!

The Pastor's Cottage: they renovations are still not complete

Quiet hills that request your echos to be tested; star filled nights spent watching the International Space Station cross the sky; evenings of baking traditional Slovak treats; days of laughter, planning, and silly games; singing half-remembered songs of church camp. 

I spent the weekend at our Pastors' cottage with nine students planning Black Box events for the year. Black Box is the school's Christian club run by the students. As missionaries, Chelsea, Sepp, and I were asked to participate in the planning and facilitating of this club. But Black Box does so much more than Christian outreach: some weeks they have cookouts, girls night in (where all the girls have a sleep over in the school and do manicures!), movie nights, sport night, baking days, and so much more! I am actually really excited to be involved in this club!

View from the Cottage

While the planning and learning about Black Box was delightful, my favorite part was getting to know some of the students. The leaders of Black Box are a delightful group of young men and women. At first I was concerned at how I was to maintain a professional attitude in my classrooms without keeping my distance from my students. But I have slowly learned that is impossible for two reasons: one, I can't help but be myself around my students, and two, most of my students want to get to know me on a personal level not only to practice their English but also because they are genuinely interested in me. Once I over came those murky waters in defining my role as a teacher/missionary here in, I had a marvelous time! 

Testing our echoes on the hills

The cottage is set amongst gorgeous hills close to Tisovec. The pastors recently remodeled the cottage for spiritual retreats. The cottage reminded me of Mary Poppin's carpet bag; from the outside it looks to be about the size of a shoebox, but once you step in, rooms are bigger than they seemed at first. There are two bedrooms, a large kitchen/dining room, and a bathroom. Each of the girls had a bed to sleep on (I got the top of the bunk bed! WooHoo!), meaning there were nine beds fit into that cottage.

A new favorite game of mine!

 Probably the most striking thing that happened at the cottage was that I was treated with the upmost respect. I understand that I am in a position of authority, and my students should respect that. However, I did not think this extended into getting served my food first, bumping my tea to first in the line, having someone give up a chair for me, my bags being carried in, and general concern for my well-fair. I go from being a college student with all of its causal customs to a very superior recognized culture. It was a very unexpected feature, to say the least. 





By far, my favorite part was getting to know these nine students on a personal level. No longer are they just faces in my classrooms or names on my grading pages; they now have personalities, habits, character, and color. Even better, all of these students are wonderful to be around! 

Making and eating my new favorite dish - Pirohy

* These are all back blogged. My busy week and cold prevented me from doing anything but enjoying my warm bed.