twinkles

I just thought I should post some magical photos of Ostrava.  I was very proud of our little town and their efforts.  This first picture is in the center.  A big Christmas tree, surrounded by a market....little wooden huts that sell hot drinks, winter snacks, gifts, and homemade trinkets.  There was also a life-sized manger scene, a stall with real donkeys and a llama (i think it was a llama), a train that road around the border of the square, a merry-go-round for kids, and usually some people dressed as Native Americans singing and playing music which is something i still dont understand.  Each street around the square was lined in some light-post decoration.

The second photo is in front of Cityhall.  It was maybe my favorite Christmas spot.  The lights were beautiful and showered the whole scene.   

The third picture is back in the center and is a few of the market booths i mentioned.

Then the last photo is me.  This huge lighted 2009 was near our house.  THere was nothing around it Chrsitmasy, or New yearsish, and no main monument near it.  It wasn't even close to the center.  But we loved it and its randomness.

To be honest, Ostrava put Orlando to shame.  People really celebrated and enjoyed the holiday.  Everywhere was decorated and lovely.  I wish you could have seen it.  

Christmas time in Ostrava

I think here is a good place to start.   Right at the beginning of December all of the Christmas decorations start to appear all around the city.  Even in the malls....These are just two of the many life-sized displays inside the mall that added to the Christmas decorations.  (The first picture says "1 kg carp for 1 soul") Ha!  Lyds and I were so confused.  And after asking Czechs about these devil scenes, most of them just laughed and said something like, "I don't know... you know....like for December 6th, St. Nicolas day." So....on December 6th, St. Nicolas comes with a devil and an angel, and visits all the children.  If the kids were good, they get a small gift.  But if they were bad, the devil can take them and bring them back to hell.  Ha! what?  So young ones can be kind of scared of this experience.  In any case, its a day where kids get little gifts and candies and it starts the Holiday season.  Adults don't really celebrate it so much.  Although when we went to a pub that night many people had on devil horns or angel wings.  

There is another czech tradition...one that is all too familiar. They are Christmas Cookie crazy.  They make tons of different kinds of cookies, and they are all very delicate and pretty and intricately decorated.  They are also the smalllllllest cookies i 

have ever seen.  For example... one chips ahoj cookie could easily be the equivalent of 3 czech christmas cookies.  Which means you end up eating 20 cookies in a sitting.  I thought this year i would get out of making cookies.....because for those of you that know, it is my families tradition to have ME make a million.  But... we were invited to an annual cookie decorating party and attended!  I was humbled by the czech women and their impressive decorating skills. I can not compete with that.  

December was full of Christmas parties.  Younglife movie night showed Elf...which is still amazing.  Our church had Sunday night Advent services... one of which Fishnet put on.  I somehow found myself on stage with a small group of people singing Christmas carols...which everyone knows are either too high or too low for any normal person to handle....and speaking about the wreaths symbolism, while lighting one of its candles and almost starting a much larger fire.  We also had a Fishnet Christmas Dinner at a nice restaurant that had an english menu - the first i have seen here.  (dad - Adam gave us scratch off lottery tickets at dinner... how did he know that thats what you do?)  

Our last party was just the 5 of us (Laura, Jonna, Lyds and me all from ESI together, and Ashley from Younglife).  We had decided to each draw a name and make gifts for eachother....which of course, I love!  Then we met for Christmas dinner and exchanged. (Mom - Laura made Lasagna...how did she know that thats what you do?) Jonna made me a sweater with a robot on it :)  Lyds made ash an apron.  Ash made Jonna a corkboard.  Laura made lyds an owl pillow and travel activity book.  I made laura a pistachio holder and activity/countdown book.  It was lovely.  Warm, homey, and comforting as Christmas should be, and unexpected considering I am as far from home as possible.  

Oh and one last thing....Santa does not bring gifts to children on Christmas morning.  Baby Jesus brings them during Christmas Eve dinner, which is fried carp and potato salad. 

Art

Holy crap, how is it December? 2008 is coming to its end? what?? Time makes less and less sense to me. I think i spend a lot of time thinking, there will be time soon. I guess we all do and that's how we push away decisions and change until we really don't have time anymore.

Naturally, being here, people ask if I will go home at the end or stay another year. When lyds and I signed up to do this, we assumed only one year. Especially me because, and this is no secret, I am pretty bad at English. In highschool, I took all honors classes....except English. And then the only B on my report card was always from my regular level English class. So i really didnt think teaching it was going to be my life long desire. (But its getting better for me and im enjoying it more and more... although i think i might just be enjoying my students and teaching more and more, not enjoying english more and more :) )

My thoughts last summer was that I would go to grad school after this. But things are so busy here...and maybe thats an easy excuse to use... but I've barely been able to think about what happens next for me, and as for schools...applications need to be in sometimes as early as december. Yikes. I have this visual of me, next year, living in my parents house, 24 years old, with no job and trying to figure out what the heck i am doing. I laugh about that, but it might happen. I am not freaking out about this, yet. I do think I will figure out what to do with my life and I do believe that God has been giving me pieces of a bigger whole, that fit together in one way or another, I'm just not sure yet how or why or what its forming into.

Living here has begun to show me things that I care about. I already knew I cared about these things, but all of a sudden, I am more aware of their vital importance in my life. They are becoming non-negotiables. For instance:

I have always considered myself a groupie to the arts. Usually, people are either The Artist, or don't understand the art at all. I am neither. I understand the art, and completely appreciate it and the artist. To me, art....talent....natural born inspiration...its all drips of God. Some people can't not make music. Others feel inspired to create the images they see in their imagination. Some express themselves in dance, or photos or writing, and so on. All of these art forms just seem to FIT for these people. God has created everyone so uniquely. His creativity has made people different and talanted and lovely.

I should make a note here: I am not saying that I only find God in the arts or that you have to be an artist to express this creativity. It is just one aspect of life that I am intriged by and connect with God through.

So, I have always known that I loved this, and part of wanting to move to Europe was because of its art, architecture, fashion, etc. I wanted to be absorbed in it all. But, God is funny. I moved to Central Europe. Czech Republic. Ostrava. And honestly, there isnt really that environment here. Its not the romantic and poetic Western Europe I was thinking of. That's my impressions so far at least. Fashion is not really the up to date trends and people dont seem concerned about it much. Art is basic and kind of hard to find. And even the czechs arent that impressed with their own music. Innovation seems lost. People arent really trying to stick out of the crowd or create something new.

And this is not said to offend or to be negative at all. And believe me, I think there is something beautiful about life here. They work together. They aren't extravagent or over indulgent. They don't feel this intense need to figure out who they are and find what would make them happy...like Americans are constantly on a quest for. They care about their family. They work hard. They enjoy simple pleasures.

So there are two things this is showing me. First of all, that art is more important to me that i even thought. Just being in the environment of creativity is inspirational to me and energizing. I'm impressed and challanged and fed by it. I think, that in the end, I need to live in a place where it strongly exists.

Second... I think God took me out of that environment because He wanted to show me His beauty and creativity in other ways. I believe Him to be dynamic and mysterious. Being here is giving me an opportunity...actually, I am almost being forced... to learn about Him and find Him in other forms besides the arts. Which, I am now grateful for.

There are other non-negotiables... but this has become a long blog, and once its this long, only your parents read it. So I'm going to pause here for now.

escaped

So my week of sickness was weird. I knew I didn't like to be home a lot or alone a lot and now I also know that doing both of those things, for a few days, will make me lose my mind. On Friday (5 days into being home), nothing sounded like a good idea for me to do to entertain myself given my grumpy mood...and then i started to cry out of no where. This is when i knew i would be running away soon, for sanity's sake. :)

Saturday night i packed my backpack and headed to Krakow on my own. My train was quiet and lonely which made me wonder if i was going the right way. I was. Then i found my hostel and made friends with my new roomies. The next day i met up with some friends and we headed off to Auschwitz. I forgot my camera (tragic) so i can not show you this place...which is maybe good, because you should just go and see it for yourself. It is such a heavy experience.

So heres some quick history....
Auschwitz is a group of concentration, labour and extermination camps built by the Germans during the Second World War. There are 3 main parts to Aushwitz, with 40 sub-camps in the neighboring cities and in the surrounding area. Poles, Jews, gypsies, and prisoners of other nationalities and minorities were incarcerated there in one of the biggest mass murders in history, all part of Hitler's plan for complete destruction ('the Final Solution').

Jewish people were deported from their homes all over Europe to Auschwitz. They believed they would all be safe and with their families and belongings. Most of these people were instead, immediately sent to a gas chamber and put to death upon arrival. Their bodies were afterwards cremated in industrial furnaces. Others were put to very hard work, though people were only able to survive these conditions for 1 week-5 months.

Its hard to tell how many people died from this experience....the Germans tried to keep things quiet and burned papers and bodies. Though well over a million is very safe to say.

The experience was one I won't ever forget.

sick=quarantine

I got sick.  Sunday night i felt it coming. Monday morning didn't sound great.  By Monday afternoon I was pretty sure I'd gross out my students so I called Zuzka and she found subs for me and told me to stay home.  Later Monday night Zuzka called me back and told me to meet her in the morning and we were going to go to the Doctors.  I didn't want to go but agreed. 

So Tuesday morning I saw a doctor.  I was given a prescription for 3 medicines (1-nose spray, 2-cough, 3-aches) and 7 days.  Meaning for 7 days I have to stay in my house.  For anyone that knows me...this may be the hardest thing i will ever do in my life.  I cant remember ever even staying in the house 24 hours.  I get bottled up and antsy and feel like i have to get out and see that people still exist.  But, by law, i cant leave.  Ok i am sick. I dont think i could do normal every day life, but i certainly dont need to be locked up.  And i am assuming in one more day i will be fairly back to normal but still in this house....so if you want to talk online at any point...im home and available.  ha :)

The sad thing is..... we have monday off, and i have friday off because my class got changed so i had a plan. Thursday go to prague.  Friday meet with Italian consulate.  Saturday day trip to town near Prague that has a bone church, among other things. Sunday see the Cold War Kids plan in Prague and Monday go to a Brewery.  Now my plans have changed to sitting, laying, reading, watching, alone, bed.  And since its the long weekend, people i know in Ostrava are leaving too.  I guess it was bound to happen at some point.  Getting sick.  The thing that sucks about getting sick here though is that it doesnt just affect me.  My friends have to pull my weight and cover my classes.  And again, if you know me at all, you know that i hate needing help.  Today i just feel weak, like im failing.  

Krakow, Poland

Krakow might be the cutest place ever. Ever.  The castle is beautiful and dripping of mysterious stories and historic facts.  The town is small enough to be able to just walk everywhere.  They have a big main square and then a smaller square and also the jewish quarter.  All of these areas are filled with live music pubs and clubs and artsy little nocks.  The town was busy with street performers, restaurants, flower vendors, etc.  One of my favorite visits was to the New Jewish Cemetery.  Lyds and I were the only ones in there at the time and it was one of those experiences i dont think i will ever forget.  Knowing the history of the Jews and weight of their sorrows and then crawling into this place of proof of it all, mixed with the perfection of fall colors and falling golden leaves onto beautiful graves with only silence all around... like i said....it was just one of those experiences.  

Krakow also has a beautiful basilica with a huge adorned alter, a giant Cloth Hall absolutley filled with vendors selling repeated items to tourists, a clock tower that supposedly has a dungeon and beer cafe, synagogs, museums, and fashion.  Lyds and i would sit and peoplewatch and lust after their fashion.  The girls are so sleek and trendy.  Id say better than new york!  Amazing jackets and books... the layers, the bags, the hats...oh i loved it! I wish i was a cute polish girl! 

On our last day there we went to a really great book store....rooms filled with english books!!!! floor to ceiling, every topic, ladders, coffee, couches, thoughts, writing, music, reading, hours flying by.  It was really needed to just have time to sit and think and sort out thoughts that havent had time to be completed in the rush of every day life.  Then, on our last night there, lyds and i finally found a dancing club.  Underground there was a huge 6 room cave with lofts and multiple bars and couches and dancing! To good music dancing!  It was a great find and took us forever to discover but was worth it!  Fall break was lovely! And reminded me why i wanted to move to Europe.  What a blessing to live to close to different cultures and to jump on a train that costs roughly $30 and have an adventure in a whole new land. Beauty.  

Wroclaw, Poland

I believe that Wroclaw has perfected the ambience factor of cafes and bars that America has been trying to grasp for years....they make it seem like it was effortless to throw together vintage furniture, warm colored walls, dim lighting, and urban art and photos with deliciousness...paulaner beer or cappuccinos and chocolates.  

Then they have their town square... a big open space of people and energy, overpriced food and historic buildings.  Wroclaw has been called the Venice of Poland though i would never claim such a thing.  The similarity is the bridge idea.  Wroclaw has 112 bridges connecting 12 islands that make up the town.  Of course the bridges are adorable and all different than the others.  I think it was smart to be there during the fall because it was sooo beautiful and we enjoyed the leaves and cool air.

My only complaint is finding Tram 22.  People act like its so easy to find and they point to some vague direction and look at you like your stupid. In reality this tram is sometimes invisible and other times tucked behind and under giant buildings.  And taxi drivers can choose to not take you places which makes getting around....if you are lydia and me... a little challenging. 

FOr some reason my blog wont upload any other photos besides this one, so you can look at my facebook page to see more photos of wroclaw.  sorry..