Yay, Garden!

Having a productive vegetable garden is really important to me. Despite a good amount of effort on the part of myself, Ben and even Jim and Becky (who dug out a new bed in the spring), I have felt pretty disappointed by the results. The ENTIRE spring crop failed, and my carefully cultivated summer crop has only yielded herbs and half a handful of green beans. Until this morning. I have just harvested a good handful and a half of green beans and even a zucchini, which, I might add, grew in spite of the fact that I have no male plant growing. Perhaps a really helpful bee visited the neighbor's garden first. And there is hope for more fresh produce! The herbs are really taking off, the tomato plants are bowing over with huge fruit, the bell peppers are blimping, and the huckleberries are ripening. Yay!
Also, Ben comes home tonight. And so far, no call about a missed or delayed flight. Yay!

Holiday Photos, Part II

We never did finish posting pictures from the second half of our holiday in the Northwest. Here they are.With Jim, our host at the Rain Forest Hostel near Forks, Washington.


On one of our many ferry rides.

In Seattle we spent lunch and an afternoon with my cousin Kristy. Here we are near Pike's Place Market.

At the first Starbuck's. Should have gotten a better picture on such an occasion.


In Vancouver, we stayed with Anneli (Bryan friend) and her husband Cody. They made us a delicious Thai meal.


Henrik is setting out from Cody and Anneli's front door to explore the neighborhood. We like to call him Little Bear.

Father's Day

Ashlee and my parents visited this past weekend. Despite the crazy hot weather we had a good time. Here are a few pictures Ashlee took:

Pounding on the piano...

Afternoon at the country club. Mmm, okay, the Bryan pool.


At the Chattanooga Lookouts game. It was 97 degrees at 7:15pm when the game started. That's actual degrees, not heat index. Ugh.


Low-country boil for Father's Day lunch.

Home, Sweet Home

We're back in TN now-- and so glad to be here. Being back in our church family Sunday morning, spending time with friends Saturday and Sunday evenings, being back at work, visiting the baby doctor later today... All wonderful returns to routine. Well, there is also the laundry and cleaning that needs to be done, but I'm so glad for the super-enjoyable things that the housework isn't getting me down too much!

We have good pics to share and some stories to tell. All in all, our adventures abroad were rewarding and full of learning for us both. It was great to get to know some of the Bryan students so well, and to see first-hand the ups and downs of their time in their internships. It was also valuable, for that matter, to see the ups and downs that the ministry hosts experience, as well!

Our last week in Slovakia was spent in "debriefing" the students' experiences. The students flew in from all over the world to spend the time together at a "Penzion" (guesthouse) in central Slovakia. The scenery was beautiful and the culture rich: even a horse-drawn cart and a farmer harvesting with a sickle were seen from time to time! The students worked through some readings and reflections in small groups, and shared from their summer experiences with all 20 of us. Hearing about their personal and spiritual growth over this summer made all the ups and downs worth it. Amazing!

Ben says,
"Maybe we can ask the question, 'What are the most important things in life and see what people say.'"
Well?

On another note, we have been busy worker bees the last few weeks. Ben took a trip to China and returned last Sunday. Since then (well, for me, while he was gone, too) we've been helping the school here move to a smaller space next-door to their current location. This has been quite an undertaking, even for many people working very full days. Progress is made each day, though, and the end is in sight-- well, it has to be done by tomorrow, so that will be the end of it! The busy pace has really eliminated our time together, and even the time for one's own thoughts to materialize past the sorting and organizing mentality. But... the limits on those times makes them very valuable. I've had just a few moments to squeeze in some Bible and other reading, and found the times to be especially fruitful. Tonight, Ben and I were able to sneak out for supper together, and had a wonderful time of conversing, remembering good times and planning for the future. The little things have seemed especially precious this week, in a great way.

Tonight Ben will head off with some of the students to see Dark Knight. I will sleep. Ahhh....

Am Samstag

This weekend the Bryan interns are spending time in Vienna. Ben and I stayed back in Bratislava, but took the opportunity afforded by their absence to travel with a neighbor-family into Austria for the day yesterday. I'm so glad that we did! Austria is a beautiful country, and there is so much well-preserved history there. It is just the sort of place that greatly appeals to the both of us.

Aggstein Castle Ruins.

We started the morning touring Burgruine Aggstein-- a castle ruins near the Danube. The castle definitely captured the imagination, and the beautiful scenery imparted such peace to our time. The blue of the Danube ribboning through a green valley, hillsides covered with vineyards rising up toward the castle--really lovely.

After a picnic lunch and exploration of the grounds, we drove back down the mountain and along the Danube through some very quaint villages. Because we had driven that route on our way to the castle ruins, we decided to hop the Danube by ferry and drive back on the north side of the river. We enjoyed some coffee and kuchen in a little shop, then explored the village church-- St. Michael's.

Cemetery at St. Michael's.

This was the best find of the day in my opinion-- a still-utilized place of worship, with faded frescoes from Roman times on the outside of the building, a beautifully tended cemetery and a very memorable mausoleum.

Mausoleum at St. Michael's,
viewed through a hole in the door.

We concluded the day with a visit to a church in a neighboring town-- the land for the church site was deeded to the diocese in the 800s! Parts of the school and church complex that stand there today date back to the 1300s.

At the base of the church hill there was a gentleman preparing saurkraut at a stand... The fragrance was delightful! Helps me to understand why my mom loves visiting Germany so much. Mostly for the food, she says. I realize the Germanic peoples don't exactly have a world-renowned reputation for their tasty cuisine, but perhaps more of us need to try it in Europe. Wow. Actually, we didn't even eat any. I'm convinced just by the aromatic scent, though.
After a detour for road construction on the way home, it turned out to be a very long day. Gladly, it was a memorable one!

Above St. Michael's, overlooking the Danube.

Baby Talk

Well, it's been a while now since I posted about our baby and the pregnancy in general. I am still doing well and feeling well. I'm at 28 weeks gestation, just starting the 7th month and the third trimester. Our baby is a very active little guy, and his squirming and poking is very visible. One of the Bryan students yesterday noticed my belly contorting and exclaimed in surprise--whoa! It is pretty notable, and somewhat shocking the first time you see it.
It is a little strange to not have visited my doctor this month-- normally I have appointments on the first Monday of the month. Being out of the country for this appointment, he simply asked me to be keeping track of my blood sugar levels on a little portable meter and email him the results periodically. Everything looks good with that, which is great. If I were to develop gestational diabetes here in Slovakia, it would not be convenient. Let me tell you. LOTS of carbs, and I can't read the labels on any of the food packages. Even though SK is part of the EU now, there package labeling is still mono-lingual-- usually just Slovak, though sometimes in Polish or German. Not that I can really tell the difference.
Healthy food here is a bit more difficult to come by (yes, I'm taking my vitamins and doing my best to eat my fruits, veggies, protein and calcium). The food sure tastes great, though (sausage, pastry, potatoes, lots of cream and butter, etc)... so I think I am gaining weight more quickly than I would choose to, though still in a normal range, so Ben tells me to be happy about it. This may require a change in wardrobe size even after Baby's arrival, though.
I am getting a bit more fatigued a bit more quickly, and if I sit for very long my ribs get pretty sore. That and some ankle swelling made the flight over pretty uncomfortable. Can't wait to do it all over again a month from now. Why can't I just stand up in the aisle the whole time, as in riding on the subway? There is so much more jostling on a subway than turbulence on most flights, by the way... Anyway.
One great thing about this point in the pregnancy is that although I am starting to get tired and uncomfortable, it isn't affecting my sleep yet. I fall asleep easily and sleep hard through the night-- even through my alarm. That is soooo unusual for me, and a blessing, being away from home and having less control over my sleep environment.
Ben and I are having fun watching and feeling our baby move (neat trick-- if he is stretching out and I press back a little on whatever extremity it is that is poking out, he'll kick back on my finger! It's amazing.), thinking through name possibilities and planning for family-life with a son.
I've just finished and Ben is just starting to read Babywise, a book that has been highly recommended to us by a few couples from church and through the grapevine of friends. It is NOT well-written, even confusing, in my opinion (and there are multiple editions already-- someone get these guys a ghostwriter!), but I am pretty convinced by the practical suggestions and overall point-of-view of the authors. If what they say to do really works, we should have our baby sleeping through the night after just 8 weeks or so, and consistently thereafter. I am hopeful for that, but the realist/pessimist in me just expects to be in the 8% or so of families for whom the method, though followed faithfully, does not work. Anyone out there with "Babywise" tips to help us start well?

Dinner, etc.

After a mad dash through rainy Bratislava.

Waiting on a cappuccino in the old town of Bratislava.

A nice walk in the Slovak countryside.

When in the course of human events...
We watched 1776 last night. I wasn't here last week when the rest saw it on the 4th, and Ariel went to sleep half way through during last week's showing, so we tried again. Ariel fell asleep half way through this showing as well.
The musical is hilarious! It's a ridiculous rendition of the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 1776 was the icing on the cake though. Our evening began with dinner out. A date!
Ariel and I strolled to a nearby Italian restaurant, Pizzaria Amaretti and sat inside next to the open door, the breeze blowing in. Very nice. The food was superior to any Italian I've had in the U.S., and the presentation "wowed." We maybe ate a full third of what they brought to us-- 1.2 kilograms total! Does that mean anything to you?! Well? It should! Look it up! Ok. For those of you lazy bums who didn't check your conversion tables, that's 2.65 lbs.

The week is going well overall. Ariel continues teaching ESL methods on a smaller scale than last week, and I am teaching mosaics to a neighborhood boy who's coming for English camp. Fewer kids came for English camp, planned for this week and next week, than we expected. Some of us were disappointed at first, but the lighter work load that has resulted has been a blessing for all of us--it has meant that we can focus on some other activities, such as helping the missionary family here get ready to move their belongings back to the U.S. They've been here in Slovakia for over ten years, so there is a lot for them to wrap up before mid-August, when they move to NY for a two-year assignment there.

Continue to pray for a quality, life-altering experience for the Bryan student interns, and for Ariel and me to be good supports to them and the internship hosts. I will be heading to China this weekend, as well.

We love you guys!

This week the English camps are underway at BERC. There are 4 day camps offered-- in the morning, 2 sessions (one for 8-11 year-olds, one for 12-15 year-olds) focused on practicing English and playing sports. In the afternoon, the same age groups switch to a focus on English and art. I've been helping the Bryan interns with their planning for the camps-- sort of a continuation of the ESL training we worked through together last week. I feel as though I am making a valuable contribution to BERC and the Bryan students, which is nice. Ben is going to be teaching in the art class, so he's been making lesson plans and breaking up tile for making mosaics with the older group.
Ben has readjusted well to being back in Europe-- he also had a great experience in Kenya and Rwanda. I saw some great video that he took of the Care of Creation sites, driving around Kigali, and some wildlife at the nature preserve in Rwanda. When we are back in the states and y'all come to visit us (or next time we visit you), he can show you, too!
Yesterday we all went to the home of a family from a nearby church-- the wife is Slovak, the husband British. They hosted us for a delicious dinner, walked us to the nearby Austrian border (which used to be marked by a high, well-guarded wall), and began to tell us about the history of the area. The woman was a student here in Bratislava during the student protests and was an active part of the underground church as communism was falling in the '80s. Slovakia had a very peaceful transition out of communism, but boy, did she have some suspenseful stories to tell! It was an honor to hear about that period of history from someone who had lived through it, and indeed shaped it in part.
Tonight I am teaching more ESL methods, and Ben will have completed his first day of leading the English and Art camp for the middle/high school aged kids! More to come...

Independence Day

Well, July 4th has come and gone for me and the interns in Bratislava.

We began our celebration by reading the Declaration of Independence (please read it-- honestly, what was King George thinking?) then enjoying a BBQ of hamburgers (and they really were ham-- no ground beef available), hotdogs, baked beans, potato salad and watermelon. I made the baked beans. I tried to fix them up as best as I could with some spices and ketchup, but without any molasses or brown sugar, they were, well still pretty Slovak-style.
After tossing our paper plates, we connected the school's LCD projector to the DVD player and watched 1776. I went to bed about half-way through, but I am definitely interested in seeing the whole thing at some point.

All the festivities considered, this was the most patriotic of July 4ths that I've celebrated in a while. Even sans fireworks and parades.
I'm blogging now as I wait for a phone call from Ben, who has probably arrived at the airport in Vienna by now. After he gets his bags, he'll buy a bus ticket from the Vienna airport to the Bratislava airport (1hr drive), where we will pick him up-- he should be back here by lunch time today! I can't tell you how excited I am to see him. He'll be back here for about a week before he heads to China. We'll update you more on his adventures in Africa this past week in the coming days...

Friends Who Take Care of Creation

I'm sitting at Brackenhurst in Kenya, home of the office for Care of Creation. Jan, a friend of Ariel and mine from Bethlehem works here now as a supported missionary. Care of Creation works to enlist pastors around the country to teach what scripture says about stewardship of God's creation. They aim at transforming value sets that will transform behaviors toward the land. Deforestation is a major problem in Kenya, which leads to soil erosion, loss of indigenous plants and animals, and decreasing land that is useful for farming.



I'm enjoying my time here, though I miss Ariel and my boy. Can't wait to see them on Saturday in Slovakia.

Love to all.

Teaching ESL

Well, I've made it through day two of teaching ESL. The class is usually comprised of 7-9 students or so (students come and go through the day as they are available). About half have some language teaching experience, half don't. I feel pretty prepared and put-together overall, but this morning I woke up an hour late because the time on my phone got off by an hour, so I made it to class just in time. That threw me off a bit. Ugh. All is going well, though, really. Tomorrow the students will begin putting together some lessons!

Turandot

Ben left for Rwanda this afternoon, missing out on a night at the opera! The Bryan/BERC group saw Turandot this evening performed at the National Theatre. The building is new, luxurious, and beautiful. The old national theatre was an historic building in the old city, reputed to be beautiful as well.

Blah, blah-- I had a little trouble staying awake, but by the third act I was more perky, and especially enjoyed the beautiful costumes and choreography.

Not much of an update for today, but it's bedtime for me...

Basement Floods

In the last several days since arriving at our new summer home we've done and seen a lot. On Wednesday we settled into our new digs, pulled out our camera for a few shots, and (best of all) reconnected with our students who've been here for a month already. That night Ariel and I jumped a bus with some of the students and found a restaurant in the old part of town (hundreds of years old) for the Germany/Turkey Eurocup semifinal. Quite a dramatic game (especially for soccer). Germany won 3-2 in the last 30 seconds of the game. Ariel and I have another notable soccer memory from the last Worldcup, so it was fun to add another. After a fun night we paid our bill and took to the streets to walk to our bus stop--crazy storm! We made the bus shelter just in time as rain began pelting the sidewalk and the wind picked up to a frenzy! If we were in the Midwest during a storm like that we'd take to the basement because it would mean a tornado wasn't too far away! We also witnessed an expansive web of lightning stretch across the sky in front of us. Awesome. Truly awesome.

Thursday Matt Benson arrived in Bratislava to a warm welcome. That night, our ministry hosts drove Ariel, Matt and me across the border to Austria to use an atm (Matt needed Euros), and another furious storm hit! We ended our night spending two hours with a dozen people bailing inches of water out of BERC's basement!

Tomorrow I leave for a week in Africa. I'll be away from Ariel from Saturday 'til next Saturday. Matt and I will travel to Rwanda where we'll meet up with four of our students, spend several days with them, visiting their places of internship, catching up on their progress, and relaxing in the hotel room on Sunday night by watching the Eurocup championship, Spain/Germany. On Wednesday I'll say goodbye to Matt as he leaves for the U.S., and I'll go on to Kenya where I'll meet up with a friend Ariel and I made in Minnesota. She is now a missionary with Care of Creation near Nairobi. Then...back to Bratislava and Ariel.

Ariel will be spending this coming week teaching an intensive course on ESL methods to our students, area teachers from an international school, and a few others.

Bratislava

Well, we've arrived! Ben and I are on location with Bryan Missions Interns this summer. I'll be in Bratislava, Slovakia through the beginning of August, helping with some ESL training and various tasks at a school here-- Bratislava Educational Resource Center (BERC). Ben will have Bratislava as a home base, visiting the student interns working with ministries in Rwanda, Kenya and in Asia at different points.

We (Ben, me and baby, too) arrived on Tuesday afternoon, a bit travel-weary, but in pretty good shape overall. We slept well both Tuesday night and Wednesday night, which is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Ben, by the way, provided me with a delightful surprise by lifting from his luggage my currently-most-prized material possesion... my body pillow! How he stuffed it in there, I don't know, but I love him for this act of care and thoughtfulness, as well as for many other reasons.

Other good news-- Ashlee passed her NCLEX (nursing board exams) on Monday! Pretty wonderful!

Prayer requests for us:

• for Ben, as he travels to Africa this weekend for about a week


• for me as he is away (Anyone else remember how I used to traipse off to foreign countries on my own and do just fine? I'm not so independent anymore...)


• for the interns here in Slovakia and elsewhere to grow, learn and serve well


• for the ESL training next week

We'll try to blog regularly-- keep us email-updated on your lives, too!