Thankful list :: Summer 2014

I don't even want to check when the last time I wrote a blog post was!  I have no problem admitting that I'm not good at keeping up on this, and really have no plans to get any better. So enjoy the posts when they come, Mom ;)

Probably everyone knows now, we're pregnant and we just bought a flat in a village outside Bratislava. So, lots of change and transitions, and still more to come for Erik and me.  I started writing this (admittedly incomplete) thankful list at the beginning of June when we came back from a vacation in Holland and started to move out of our old place in Petrzalka and into the new place.

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow"  James 1:17

• The perfect vacation
• All the things we learned and realized, and the ways we were blessed and encouraged and refreshed during our perfect vacation
• The Garmin GPS from Jacob and Adrianna (It's been perfect!!) :)
• During our vacation, getting to stay with and learn from a couple who we consider to be "perfect parents"
• We were approved for the home loan- just in time!
• My raise
• We didn't spend all our budgeted money during our vacation
• The nice HR lady who took the time to double check that everything was okay on my old payslip,
• Food tickets from both our works
• Time off on a Friday to go to Ikea to plan our kitchen when it's not too crowded
• The kitchen will cost less than we expected
• Our old flat is getting sprayed for bedbugs (yes, again) before the Hotel Higgins is booked, so we can stay for several nights :)
• My work presentation is done with and went pretty well
• Our CSOB (bank) guy who can explain things with patience in a way we understand
• The good interest rate on our loan
• All our friends with cars who are willing to help us on moving day
• Finally the ladies handing out free juice outside of work gave me a bottle that didn't have red cabbage in it (it was still gross, but it was nice to try a different flavor) 
• A productive but enjoyable weekend (and several more since then)
• We actually had the money to pay the extremely expensive notary fee
• We can already get the keys to the new flat
• Clearance area microwave stand - the exact one we were going to buy for full-price
• Peter, Paja, Stano helping us build the more complicated furniture pieces
• More and more grace in our marriage for when the curtain rod just won't stay attached to the wall and the bookshelf doors don't hang perfectly straight
• Our new appliances, especially the washing machine
• Another person's unfortunate experience turned into a blessing for us (I hope that doesn't sound cruel. Sometimes God gives me the grace to hope that something bad in my life will work out for good for someone down the line, so it was encouraging to see that happen for once, and especially nice to be on the good side of it.) (Story below...)
• The perfect car, way better than we hoped for
• Peace about staying in Slovakia for the next 33 years (that's how long our mortgage is set for) 
• We found a container big enough to keep Robin happy that he can't climb out of
• Experiences lately that show my current level of language is "sufficient" 
• The occasional reminder that I still have lots of Slovak left to learn
• The feeling that I really do love Slovak language and want to see it everyday on billboards and learn it completely some day
• Friends who relentlessly speak Slovak to me as if I understand everything
• Erik's heart for evangelism (even if he doesn't realize he has that)
• The people around me lately whose stories show that Jesus made the difference in their lives
• Good left turns - I always pray for those, and eventually always get them
• Kristi's testimony and other small glimpses of Adonai-Shalom to contrast the constant reminders of what a broken and fearful world we're in
• A relatively easy pregnancy
• The nice ultrasound technician who spoke English and let Erik watch the ultrasound, and his sweet nurse who said I'm pretty
• Clearance sales
• Elastic waists are in style (or at least the used to be- I found them all over the clearance racks!)
• Grocery stores with extra wide parking spaces near the front that are reserved for families with children
• The junk yard/recycling place in our village, and their little goats
• My new pregnant friend here in Slovakia
• The nice ladies at the Obecny Urad (village office)
• The nice foreign police officers in Dunajska Streda (and all the other wonderful and easy aspects of going to the foreign police there instead of in Bratislava)

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The bad thing that happened to someone else, that turned into a blessing for us:
Our sweet friend Evka, who sells insurance, has a client who had a problem in her home with the electricity (I don't know what) that fried all her appliances. Unfortunately, the client didn't have the type of insurance that covers appliances and Evka had to tell her the bad news that she wouldn't be getting money to replace them. Since dear Evka is so sweet, she really felt awful for her client and wanted to do something nice for someone else after delivering the bad news.What nice thing did she do? She immediately called Erik and offered to lend us her car the weekend we were moving! And her car is an automatic, and Erik fell in love with driving automatic cars that weekend which inspired us to pray and look for an automatic car.  Sorry client, we wish we could help :/ But thanks a bunch to Evka! 

Happy Homeowners

We're so happy our living room doesn't look like that any more!

Our new car, "Višňa"

Hana Catherine Raczova... 22 weeks blurry ultrasound. I thought that was the profile of her face, but maybe not. Don't be worried based off this confusing picture- the doctor's sure all her pieces are there :)

Thankfull List:: July 2013

Sorry this is late and definitely missing stuff! Lots of great things happened in July but these are only the things I remembered to write down :

• We found DEAD bed bugs
• They sprayed (almost) the whole panalak (apartment building)
• The Higgins' let us stay at their house
• Meeting new people at my new job
• A nice lady let me use her phone to find my lost phone (and my lost phone was with Erik and not lost somewhere on the tram
• My new colleagues are nice and willing to speak English all the time
• The other new girl is a girl and really nice
• FOOD COUPONS
• No school lunches
• Erik made curry
• The problem with the car was only the exhaust pipe and the mechanic was willing to weld it
• Ice skating is free at Avion
• A seemingly difficult language challenge at the doctor's office didn't turn out so bad after all, and I got the referral to the eye doctor
• Reconnecting with the Scotts
• My headphones work
• and there's music on Erik's old phone
• Erik's good attitude about working last Saturday
• We're able to get rid or our (now) completely broken car without paying for it to be hauled away
• The guy we gave the car to actually wanted it, so we were happy to be able to give it to him
• I have access to the system I need to use at work
• The Canadian people I work with are very nice and helpful
• My trainer at work is very patient and gives helpful instructions
• Lila is pregnant!! 
• The cinema was playing a film that Erik and I could both enjoy
• The lovely risotto Erik cooked
• Erik always cooks lovely food
• We're making good use of the air cooler
• Sweet friends blessing us generously
• Relaxing weekend with Laco and Lila
• Erik got to go paintballing and he loved it

Thankful List :: June 2013

Don't let the long list fool you; June was a rough month! 

• Erik won Monopoly (after my winning streak in May)
• The internet, and Google translate, especially
• Concerned and helpful friends
• Nicer weather
• So many strawberries on our plant
• Erik's new work possibility...
• Free food at the gastrofest
• We finally found Diatomaceous Earth in Slovakia
• nice, helpful Austrians who speak English
• The people at Baumax who don't speak English, but at least they're friendly 
• We have encyclopedia-type knowledge of bed bugs now
• We were able to find some of the bed bugs and capture a sample before the problem got worse
• Our washing machine heats up to 90 degrees Celsius
• There's no "color-safe bleach" here, but so far the regular bleach isn't harming our clothes and bedding
• Erik can still drive, even with a bandaged finger
• Chocolate ice cream at Green Tree doesn't have milk in it
• Trip to Modra
• Ice cream in Modra, and the local moms who let their kids have ice cream at 10am
• Another interview opportunity (spoiler alert: they hired me!)
• We found out that I haven't been insured before the foreign police did ;)
• I'm insured now
• I got to go into Technopol
• We didn't have to pay for my insurance immediately
• Time cooking lovely food together with Erik
• Tikki Masala corn chips from Lidl
• Chocolate covered raisins
• The Kaufland-brand pizza that was generous on the meat
• Really nice ham for 39 cents for 100g
• The Diatomaceous Earth spreads well with a paint brush (since we couldn't find a puffer)
• We found DEAD bed bugs
• I got the job!!
• I was invited for more interviews an I didn't have to go to them because I already got a job
• Erik's finger is healing
• Erik has lots of time for his appointment with the allergist 
• Erik's not allergic to everything
• The building manager called with good news
• Most of our neighbors were supportive of our bed bug intervention efforts
• A lovely goodbye with the Kriskas, and they treated us to dinner
• Erik's not sneezing as much because the tablets are working
• We have the nicest, most supportive parents (/in-laws)
• Our new air-cooler
• Excellent customer service at Tesco
• Our brave new German friends (brave for riding motorcycles, and brave for sleeping with our bed bugs)
• Erik does not want to ride a motorcycle ;)
• A good night's sleep at the Higgins' 
• We have 56 Green Tree points
• Our indicator on the car is working (and not turning off) when the brake is pressed... sometimes
• My tomato support project was a success
• Positive feedback and several opportunities for Melanie to talk to the ladies at the shelter
• Majas encouraging testimonies about evangelizing at all her crazy opportunities
• Heather's team made it safe to Bratislava
• We got to share in some of the food that Erik made for the team (and eat their "missionary cookies")
• Lovely worship with Paja and Stano
• The Higgins' inheritance testimony that was particularly encouraging to Erik and me
•  Some interest in baptism brewing at City Light
• Nice coffee dates with Erik
• I'm freaking out less and less while Erik is driving
• We found a sun shield for the car- not too expensive and no bikini ladies on it
• We found the Jon Foreman music that we bought on itunes (and thought we lost)
• My insurance card came, and it's actually a BLUE European Union card, which I never, in my wildest dreams, ever thought I would have,
• We went to pay for my insurance (since March)... Erik thought it would cost between 200-300 euro, I was praying it would cost only 180 euro, but in the end it was 174,36 euro!
• HUGE bookstore sale and lots of books in English
• The building assistant came to our flat this morning to show us the bed bug-spray-signatures he collected, and to chit chat a little (this is especially nice because we thought he was angry at Erik)
• Our little trip to Hainburg, the Starbucks coffee from Billa, and lots of time walking at laughing (and spending money at little cafés to use their toilets)
• Dinner with friends, who paid, and shared important life stories

Thankful List :: May 2013

• BBQ in Trnava,
• Meeting new friends,
• Seeing a different Slovak city,
• We found a cherry tree to kiss under on May 1 (a Slovak tradition meant to guarantee me good health in the coming year), 
• We bought a car!
• The car CD player for cheap from Erik's friend,
• So much good food,
• ice coffee,
• Apples for 41 cents, not 1.17 euro,
• New plants,
• New mint,
• Our first harvested produce: 2 purple chilis, 2 strawberries
• Chocolates from Brittany,
• Chocolates from Julia,
• Loads of people at prayer meeting,
• The Higgins treating us to dinner (and being generally supportive and nice to us all the time),
• 2 families of BABY SWANS!!
• Seeing fish in clean water by our house,
• Medvedový cesnak (bear garlic),
• We found a basketball court,
• Money from we don't know where,
• I won Monopoly 5x in a row (Bwahahaha!),
• Erik won Monopoly 2x in a row,
• Marta playing flute with the worship team,
• Productive meeting with Melanie,
• We finished ALL our leftovers for the last couple weeks,
• We've saved over 500 euro in utilities for our landlord over the last year!
• Fewer and fewer scary car rides ;)
• Lactose-free yogurt,
• Found a blazer, just my size,
• 50 cent skirts from second hand shops,
• The paprika are growing,
• Two tomatoes showing on the plant (now 8!),
• Erik's honey-roasted chicken,
• We don't owe anything to the health insurance office,
•  Erik's safe trip to and from Sturovo,
• Chili chips at Kaufland for 55 cents,
• Erik didn't have to go to the emergency room for his surprise allergic reaction

Thankful List :: April 2013

• The prospect of taking my note from the doctor, which appeared quite complicated for about 10 minutes, actually wasn't that complicated after all,
• Successful charades at the foreign police for almost the last time, hopefully,
• Finally, my new ID card!
• 2 positive interviews with IBM (still waiting on the final results...)
• New friends from Finland,
• Warmer weather,
• A fun 3 days subbing kindergarten with few problems,
• Quitting and not looking back (and the actual resigning part wasn't as much of a hassle as I expected),
• Getting to sit in on a 2nd grade music lessons,
• We found the root of the smell in the refrigerator,
• Dish soap on sale, even though the last bottle hasn't quite run out yet,
• 50% off Heineken,
• A perfect grill party with the Kriškas
• Short, but mostly comprehensible conversations with Slovak friends,
• The prospect of having a car is slowly becoming a reality,
• The water in the fridge stopped leaking,
• I got paid (and I didn't think I would),
• Lots of people at church for the last couple weeks,
• The Dutch couple who want to go to Albania,
• A nice visit with Aaron and Marta...Indian food, music, birthday cake,
• Jenn's healthy delivery of little Benjamin,
• Chocolate spread from Peter,
• A clean balcony and only finding one yucky spider,
• Rides home from Bible study,
• Time to recover from a sickness without taking antibiotics,
• Dobry Trh, local honey, free clothes, and the best klobasa we've ever eaten,
• We bought a high-quality thing that's normally very expensive for about 1/10 of the usual price,
• The chance to reconnect with an old acquaintance,
• A chance to reconnect with Moses,
• Chicken on sale all month,
• Nice walks to the Draždiak (lake) and the loud new frogs,
• Name day roses and chocolate,
• Name day mini cheese grater,
• Tesco wasn't crowded when we went on a Saturday,
• Free hand sanitizer from the Lekareň,
• Nice ice cream and people watching time on Sundays,
• Erik got to play a little football while I had girl-chat time 
• Started and finished a sewing project,
• Finally, I'm almost finished making Erik's spoon-rest and ring dish,
• Beautiful pork risotto,
• A quiet evening with the Higgins boys,
• The mint plant (which may be dead now) lived through almost the whole month,
• The daisy bloomed again,

Thankful List :: February 2013

• 4 euro jeans from a thrift store that fit perfectly,
• Brittany's successful foreign police visit,
• Erik's new "role model": Tevye  (from Fiddler on the Roof)
• Heather's back from Cali and fully supported,
• The 2000 piece puzzle is finished- and Erik helped,
• A ride to Bible study (lots of these, and several rides home that we were also very thankful for),
• Erik passed his driving test!
• The sun is shining on a Saturday morning,
• Erik still has weekends off,
• Our new rice cooker (we named it "Blahoslav," meaning "Blessed") 
• A perfectly pleasant Sunday,
• The Melos driving us home after church,
• The weather is nice enough for a light jacket,
• We have that special piece of paper that I thought would take weeks to receive,
• The foreign police actually accepted that special piece of paper and only asked one question- which I understood and knew the answer to,
• Out of the foreign police by 9am on a Wednesday morning,
• A mid-week date to the city center with Erik,
• The sun is shining another day,
• Our living room, warm with sunshine,
• Another meeting with my Slovak/English conversation partner,
• The foreign police are very, very sorry for rescheduling our appointment again,
• India documentaries,
• All the wealth we didn't know we had until we watched the documentaries about India,
• A person doesn't necessarily need an education in order to make a living,
• A visit with Katie,
• Katie's available to do worship while we're in Hungary,
• We get to get out of town next weekend,
• Perfect weather,
• A couple short conversations at the grocery store (and one very long amusing one)
• Dish soap on sale,
• Weather nice enough for a grill party,
• Jakub's mom is willing to translate for me,
• Our mint plant is still alive,
• Leftovers (so we don't have to eat at Divny Janko)
• Erik cleaned our kitchen,
• We got to sit down on the bus when we were so tired,
• exercise 
• My legs aren't sore,
• The used Slovak book that we bought months ago finally doesn't smell like cigarette smoke any more,
• Lots of people at Friday night Bible Study,
• Danka agreed to do my taxes,
• Erik's driver's license is finished and ready to pick up after just a week or so,
• We didn't get stuck in the snow drifts while driving in Hungary,
• The new CD from Scott Cunningham,
• Getting to meet some of Erik's old friends in Budapest,
• Home, safe and comfortable again,
• Spring is "technically" here,
• Erik's free business training,
• A trip to Ikea when it wasn't crowded,
• Coffee date with Brittany and her encouraging words,
• A house full of friends,
• Left over pizza dough,
• A clean house again,
• Good news in the mail- I have permanent residency!
• Girl time with Heather,
• A smooth medical exam,
• Erik- my electric mixer ;)
• A bunt pan for 50% off,
• Passover with our really big "family,"
• Good Friday ecumenical service wasn't toooo off,
• Songs in Slovak that we didn't know could be sung in Slovak,
• A relaxing day just with Erik,
• A nice day with friends on a drizzly Saturday, getting blessed all day long,
• The glass cooking dish on sale,
•  I won Bang!
• Simon is visiting,
• Brittany's new flat,
• Vacancy listings in the English I can understand,
• Time to sleep in,
• The History Channel's Bible Series, despite the inaccuracies,
• Our new Irish/Slovak friends, and their encouraging words about Slovak medical care and child birth,
• Time for dinner with friends after church, and perfect bus connections on the way home

Life of an immigrant: The Questioning!

Background info: We’ve been preparing documents to apply for my permanent residency in Slovakia since November 2012. Finally, despite a couple bumps along the way, the application is in and we were called in for a real, live questioning! 

By 19:00 we were all together with our translator (Ester), and entering in through the služobny vchod (not the door that people push and shove each other through at 7:30am, 4 days a week), and into the corridor that you can see behind the iron gate near the work stations 7 and 8.  

  

You know, the place you go when they put you in handcuffs.

We put down our things, handed our IDs over, and Ester and I immediately were led to a small office down the corridor. 

I had big expectations for this room- I was picturing something dimly lit with nothing but a thin wooden table and 3 wooden chairs. Maybe an old Soviet lie detector sitting in a corner, and of course a locked door.   

The room was small, with one door on each of three of the four walls, but the two doors on the sides were blocked off by old furniture. There was a desk with a computer, cluttered with papers and junk. That's where the officer sat. I sat on a rolling office chair, and Ester sat on a wooden bench. There was a yellowed map of Slovakia on the wall to the left, and a large map of the world to the right, next to the computer desk.  The wall opposite the open door had a window; the silver metal blinds drawn shut. The door stayed open through the whole interview, and Erik could hear everything I said from where he sat by the entrance. (And he said he was proud of me for my answers :) ) 

The officer was tall, but not thuggish like some of the other guys spotted around the office during the day. He had a sharp nose and thin cheeks, and eyes which were small and almost sunken in. His full, dehydrated lips all but hid the crooked teeth that sometimes affected his pronunciation of the letter S. His blond hair was styled like GI Joe.  His countenance showed complete concentration, and as he stared at the computer the crease between his eyes got deeper and deeper. 

I really wanted to find a picture of someone who he resembles, but I couldn’t quite find it, so here’s a picture of Rolfe the post boy from Sound of Music.

So the interview began- he gathered some of my personal data: Name, date of birth, education, permanent address, and residence in Slovakia.  I was a little nervous, what if I say something wrong and quickly fix it, but they think I’m lying? What if he asks for my zip code that I can never remember?

 

It took him forever to type everything in, probably because he was using only TWO fingers! Mavis Beacon must’ve been deported…

 

Tich…tich.tich..tich tich tich…tich..tich..tich

I looked down at my legs and saw that they weren’t crossed, nor were my arms…open body posture. Maybe I wasn’t really as nervous as I thought… 

Once the preliminary data was entered, he explained very nicely that I shouldn’t take this so seriously, or be offended by any of the questions; it’s just protocol to weed out the couples with less valid marriages.  (I guess.) 

(I tried to ask if Americans are typically the ones to stage marriages to sneak into Slovakia, but I didn’t actually get an answer to that question.) 

Okay, okay, I’m calm, but I’m still going to take this seriously. 

So many questions! Starting with some basics about Erik- his name, date and place of birth. Oh crap, where was he born? I think it started with a T.  “Can I look at the map?” The officer found the info on Erik’s ID entered it into the computer as if I had given him the answer. Whew!

How did Erik and I meet, and can I describe some details surrounding our first meeting?  Did anyone arrange this meeting with the purpose of introducing us so that we would get married?  

                Turns out he didn’t want quite as many details as I was ready to supply :)

What do I know about Erik’s family? Not much.. Does he have 3 brothers? Or was it 4? Is one of them in Spain, or was that that other guy from Erik’s childhood who went to Spain?

What kind of education does Erik have? Did he complete maturita? Or attend university? For how long? I pulled the ol’ American excuse, “We don’t have maturita where I’m from, so I don’t remember if he has it or not- it’s not something I’m really familiar with, so that part of his education just isn’t that important for me.”  (That’s true actually- I don’t know if I’m even spelling maturita right.) Recording where Erik attended after high school was a bit of an obstacle as far as spelling goes. Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe in Vajta, Hungary turned into “Ts-al-vary  Hg-apel Biblia Shkola, Vajta Madarsko” 

“How do you spell Vajta?”

“I don’t know, it’s Hungarian...”

The officer leaves the room to ask Erik, who explains the whereabouts of the school, “in V-a-j-t-a (ok, the spelling’s not that hard for that particular word), the nearest big city is Szekesfehervar. Feeha, who knows how to spell that?! It’s south of Budapest…”

What is Erik’s current career?

How many dates did we go on before we got married?

Did anyone tell us that we should get married to each other? 

Whose decision was it for us to marry? Mine, his, did we decide together, or did someone else decide for us?

Did we live together before we were married?

Where was the wedding ceremony and reception? Who paid for it? 

Who were the witnesses at our wedding? Did I know them personally? 

Who attended the wedding from my family? Who attended the wedding from Erik’s family?

Were we offered any compensation money for marrying?

Do we live together? Do we communicate with each other by phone? What language do we speak together?

Am I interested in learning Slovak? 

Do we live together in intimacy?     <giggle>

Are we planning to have children?

What are our other plans?

Have we spent any time apart since being married?

What does Erik like to do in his free time?

Why do we want to live in the Slovak Republic? 

Why do I not want to live in America?  Like, the most difficult question ever! “You know, when you spend a lot of time outside your country and then you go back home and it’s hard to adjust because you feel like a foreigner, but you’re technically at home and you just feel like you don’t fit in and you can’t adjust…” 

Can I please expand on my reasons for not wanting to live in America? “Well, I just feel like I don’t want to live there because blah blah blah…”  The officer: “I’m just going to write, ‘I would like to stay in Slovakia so that I can live together with my husband as a family.”  Yeah, ok, that’s also true…

If I’m not granted permanent residency in the Slovak Republic, where will we move?  Uuuh, Japan?

Where do I work?

What countries have I been to in the Schengen Zone?

Have I worked anywhere else besides America and Slovakia? Did I have a work permit for those places?

How did I arrive in Slovakia? 

What do I know about Erik’s health condition? What do I know about his faith? (grouped as one question)

Has Erik ever been to jail or been on trial for committing a crime?

Have I ever been to jail or been on trial for committing a crime?

Does Erik currently have any financial debt?

Do I have any financial debt in America?

The interview is now over, do I have any suggestions for them?  

Get a chair with some lumbar support for yourself, and invest in typing lessons! And could you iron that wrinkle out from between your eyes?

“No, I don’t have any suggestions.” 

As I wait outside your office at 5:30am I sure have some suggestions, but right now, no, I have no suggestions that I would like to share. 

Ester and I re-read the answers to all the questions again, fixed some spelling errors, and signed all five pages of it in blue ink. Meanwhile, Erik and the officer called our landlord for more clarification of the fact that we do have permission to live at this address.  

Then it was Erik’s turn to answer questions while I sat in the corridor near the guy at the front desk. He was watching something like Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman in Slovak on a 13" box TV, and working on a computer (but from the sound of his constant mouse-clicks, I think he was working on the same thing I was working on with Erik’s phone: Solitaire).  Erik came out of the room, and we were given our IDs back, at about 22:15.  The officer apologized again that we have to go through this process, but it’s just protocol. He’s not sure he can push our papers through any faster though because there are other applications in front of mine that are close to expiry, so they have to finish those first.  

What’s next? His boss will read the reports from both our interviews and make a decision. And they might come for a home check to see more evidence of the legitimacy of our relationship. Then we’ll get my permit?? We’ll see!