Ready on the set...

Apparently my neighborhood is the new Hollywood of Bratislava... two days of film crews outside my window.

A little help

I was gathering some materials for the kids ministry and couldn't pass this up...

Church Closed

Mobile Money

"Angel Gabriel"

The "Angel Gabriel" tooting his horn... well, kind of. Two of my students, Samuel & Karolina (siblings), invited us over to their home. Samuel was showing the guys his trumpet and they loved it. It got even better when the family dog got into the act and started howling along... a lot for crazy fun for our boys.

Slovakia's Surprising Financial Strength

For those savvy economist out there, YES I mean you Fred, here is an interesting report about "Slovakia's Surprising Financial Strength." One of the specialist interviewed for the report was Mr.Lecavalier, whose two boys are on my Tee-Ball team. It has been pretty interesting how God has put us in relationship with some very "high-level" personalities. I was just sharing with him about our church at his home last week. Pray that as God brings people in our life that we can bridge the relationships to HIM.

Iron Curtain

It's been 20 years since the Iron Curtain fell in Slovakia, but the relics, scars, and impressions remain. Most of the time in Bratislava you wouldn't even think about it. It's been covered up with wealth, power, billboards, and the latest fashion trends. We are not Eastern Europe anymore, but CE (Central Europe). It's a bit of identity re-mix. Anyways, on a recent bike trip along the Morava river(near Devinsk Nova Ves) we came across a part of the famous curtain and an old bunker. This would have keep Slovaks from crossing the river into Austria. The guys enjoyed climbing all over (and in) the bunker. They still can't quite understand Communism and what it did here, but maybe that is best.

Night in the museum

Tonight we went out to visit a few museums since it's "Night of Museum" night tonight. Basically, a bunch of museums citywide are open till midnight and you just pay 1.50Euro for a ticket and you can visit them all if you like. Most people pub crawl in BA, we gallery crawled. Either way you get a headache after you are done :)
Actually, it was a nice time out. We went to the Museum of Weapons (we've got two active boys... that's what they are interested in). But the great thing about the museum is that it is situated in the Micheal's Tower and the end of the "tour de force" is on the top of the tower which overlooks the whole downtown area. Pretty cool, but my Nokia in low lighting doesn't do it justice. It was actually a great view but you wouldn't know it by the pics.

Shortly after we cruised over to the National Gallery (on Panska) and saw a very cool optical illusion piece called "Passage". It's great. You gotta check it out. It's basically this narrow passage that you walk through that is lined with books from the floor to the ceiling. However, the "trick" is that their isn't any visible floor or ceiling. With the use of specially placed mirrors it feels like you are walking along a thin bridge with no rails through the middle of an endless abyss of books. Hard to describe, but fun to experience.

After we wanted to either get a McDonald's shake or hit the Slovak National Museum for their photo exhibit Shangri-la. But obviously everyone else in BA had the same idea by the looks of the lines that poured out of MD & the SNM. We caught the shake elsewhere and headed home. 11 o'clock is waaaaaay past the boys bedtime...so we will see how it goes tomorrow! :)

morph

Gabe was messing around with this huge magnifying glass and unfortunately I didn't have anything but my Nokia with me to capture it. It reminded my of some old photos I saw where artists distorted images with glass. It got my mind going a bit to produce some "real" photo work again... we will see.

itchy for summer

Well, my teaching saga at FOREL continues. It's getting closer to the end of the school year and I don't know who is more itchy for summer - them or me. Here is my brilliant, creative, slacker H5 class (9th graders...love them like the plague :) No, actually, they are one of my "funner" (that isn't a real word BTW) groups.

Clean Devin

Part of the education at FOREL (where I work & the boys school) is character development. Usually this is in the form or ethics like cleanliness, honesty, tolerance, etc. Even better then talking about good citizenship is actually doing it. On Earth Day (April 23rd) the students of Forel went around the village of Devin picking up trash to keep our local environment clean(-er?). For them it was a nice way to apply good values, for me it was a day without teaching and just walking along the river on a beautiful sunny day!

watching you

A great reminder and encouragement for all of us with little guys...

My Valentine...

Too busy to blog?

Life is busy. Too busy to blog it at least. Blogging is for sure near the bottom of my "2do" lists. However, it is the way that I keep in touch with most of you all.
Basically, for the last few weeks we have been having a blast with the Sunday evening worship - small group, but great new faces & hearts. Clearly the Spirit is doing something special amongst us. We have also been having a blast to our immune systems as there has been a least one of us sick at any given moment since January. Also, something blasted my car...it's been out of commission for a few weeks. Fortunately, the BODY (the church) has been ministering to the BODY (us) with lots of mechanic help (thanks Vic... and Darla) and lending us some needed wheels (thanks Kieko). And Yes - our Skoda is now scooting us around the icy streets of Bratislava again! Additionally, Ivetka had her 23rd birthday again - she is getting better & better each year... and we celebrated it over dinner at the Three Musketeers restaurant (which the boys loved!) At school I have been plenty busy and recently created a blog for my students (which serves to keep them doing their homework and also document their crazy antics/projects.) Yes, it is still snowing here. We still haven't defeated the White Witch here in Slovakia. Locally they call her Morena and when they find her they beat her to death, light her ablaze, then drown her in the river (yes, this is a real custom!) Does that give you any indication of how we might feel about winter here? And that is our current "now" summed up in a blog-shell. Hope you enjoyed the ride.

Obama-maniac

Apparently my 5 year old niece is an Obama-maniac. Where she got her political persuasions I have no idea..but find out more on her blog.

Personally I didn't vote this time around (yes... I know that is soooo bad!)Unfortunately I didn't make it in time to register myself at the US embassy here in Slovakia. And of course many of my Slovak friends and coworkers ask my about "my" new president. Regardless of what your persuasions are, one fact is clear - the world loves Obama. Is it hype? the real thing? or something more prophetically sinister? (as half of my junkmail suggests) Time will tell.

One thing I do like about Obama is that generally he is a good speaker, which gives me much in the way of material for my English classes on speech making. We just finished reviewing Obama's inauguration speech. The great thing about most of Obama's speeches is that you can usually find at least one great line in it that you are sold on. Mine was - "...people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

QuickFire Interview

I was recently interviewed for a school publication and thought I would include it here...

Name: Patrick Michael Higgins, aka "Mr.Patrick"

What are you teaching at Forel? H2-H5 English... the American way :)

Why did you want to be become a teacher? I don't think I had a burning desire to become a teacher. Teaching seemed completely boring from a student perspective. Then I came to Slovakia and discovered that teaching can actually be quite rewarding and often fun too!

Best thing about teaching? The summer breaks....and watching students finally "get it"...enlightenment is a beautiful thing.

Did you enjoy your winter break? YES, I spent the time in California. It was great to kick back in La Jolla on the beach, cruise around downtown San Diego, make snow angles on the surrounding hills, catch some sun in Palm Springs, and explore the hip vibe of Santa Monica. Home sweet home.

Quick Fire questions

America or Slovakia? Slovakia

Summer or Winter? Summer

Favorite colour? Green

Favorite film? Raiders of the Lost Ark

Chocolate or vanilla? both

Kofola or CocaCola? Kofola...is there any other choice?

Dogs or cats? Dogs - faithful friends... cats are social snobs.

Can you Sing? when I have to...but don't expect any solos

Favorite singer/band? This is a tough question. I tend to drift through various music styles but always come back to U2 & Louie Armstrong.

Your ambitions for the new year? Live & love deeply with my family, read more good books, become a student again, travel far and wide, be more spiritual, take naps, and change the world (at least my part of it).

The key to success is... figure out what 'success' really means. At the moment it is all about staying in my sweet spot - the moment you know you are doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. It's so easy to mess it up. Usually because we take ourselves too seriously.

Dedina

Sometimes I forget my roots. Coming back home after living the busy and bustling life in big, bad Bratislava was a bit of a pleasant shock. For starters I realize that I come from cowboy country. In about 5 minutes in most directions I can find fields, sheep, orchards, or horses. Essentially I come from the village, but never realized it. The other day I told Gabie I was going to “the city” to do some shopping. Gabe quickly replied - “what city?”

I guess there is more to a true city then shopping centers, Wall-mart and strip malls. Yet, like I said all of this was a pleasant shock. It’s nice to be in cowboy country for a change.

global warming?

I know some people, like my Brit coworkers, who enjoy talking about the weather. For me it always seemed to be the thing you bring up to brush over uncomfortable silence in a conversation with strangers. If you are reading this, probably you are not a stranger and for once I am excited to report to you my metrological findings.

If you have been following along with us in our adventures you know that we are not in freezing Slovakia at the moment, but is sunny, southern California right now spending the holidays with family and friends here. Unfortunately, California has not been sunny or warm since we arrived. It's actually been cold, raining, freezing, dark, and even snowy! This is for sure not the California I was dreaming about in overcast Bratislava! What do we blame this on - global warming turned bad, El Nino, the Artic Norse gods having a temper tantrum?

Yet, despite the fact we have be living the popsicle life here it is still nice. Home is home. And every time I visit I see with new eyes the beauty of God's Creation here. It's very different than the CE zone I'm come accustomed to, but it is awesome is a rugged, raw kind of way.

Here are some pics of our snow adventures. Although it would be great to go surfing, possibly snowboarding would be a better choice.

Christmas po slovensky

The California Christmas mood for sure has got it's own style. But, to be honest Christmas Slovak style still has my heart. It's simply fun, 'real', tasty, and somehow still authentic despite pressures to be commercial. There is still a sense of wintry magic in the air not snuffed out by political correctness, marketing thugs, or hyper-me.me.me. Now mind you it's not perfect, but it's a step in a more 'silent night-esque' direction to the whole Christmas experience.

One of the best features of Christmas in the city is the Christmas Market. The sights, smells, tastes, and vibe is great. It's pretty cool to have what feels like 1/2 of the city packed into the Old Town to celebrate. You run into everyone... one year we even bumped into President Gasporovich(!) Anyway, if you have never experienced the Bratislava Christmas market you got to get down there....

the Christmas Market My frozen treasures Daddi-O, Jana, and the gang The boys hanging out with Mikulas (like Santa)


Santa's SuperStars

Does the aroma of Christ smell like turkey?

So, have you finished off last weeks Turkey yet? We just did with a bit of help from our friends. And we had a lot of them... since we don't have family close here in Bratislava, Thanksgiving day celebrations are usually a collective community affair - i.e. everyone we know drifts into our home throughout the day for some herb-roasted Turkey, Awesome Apple & Sausage stuffing, creamy mash potatoes, and the rest of those mouth watering treats....hmmmm.... can't we have Thanksgiving again this weekend???

All in all it was a blast. All of us from the Sunday worship service invited non-believing friends (or Christians who don't have a church home) to come and share this time with us. We figure this is a great way to introduce those around us to the church and let them enter deeper into our lives in a natural, tasty way. I believe we will see the fruits of this evening (and others like it) as we simply love one another, be up front about where that love comes from, and be open to what the Spirit would like to do in each of our individual lives (in His way, on His timeframe).

Our guest list as like looking at a U.N. line up (actually one of them works for the U.N.!). We had Americans, Slovaks, French, Japanese, Malaysians, and even our neighbor from Madagascar! It was a fun, eclectic, zany group... and then you add in all the kids and it's a recipe for a fun, but crazy night! At least it wasn't Hanukah... I couldn't survive 7 nights of that! Too much of a good thing.

Aside from the fabulous food, fun fellowship, and crazy kids, we were also able to share in a bit of worship, speak about thankfulness from the Word, and had our friend Eva* share about her recent experiences in China. Please keep our new friends and neighbors in your prayers. That they would get to know Jesus (or grow deeper in Him) and that the Lord would build up our little group in His time and in His way.











*( Eva, pictured above, is an answer to our prayers. She was able to go to China to take in the Word and is now able to speak in many churches about her experiences. The result is that many other young Slovaks are catching the vision for missions! )