The adventure begins

After a long day of travel, I arrived in Vienna to discover I did not have to go through passport control.  When our flight from the US landed in Amsterdam, we did go through passport control; but because of the European Union, it was not required in Vienna.  I found the supermarket, bought some lunch items using my German, found the bus ticket counter, discovered I needed more Euro's, found an ATM, retrieved needed Euro's, purchased my ticket for Bratislava, and was soon on the bus to Slovakia.  The bus actually had Wi-Fi on board so I was able to SKYPE my host and let him know when I would be arriving at the bus station in Bratislava.  The sun was out, the landscape was familiar, and I drank in the European countryside.  The bigger surprise came, though, when we crossed from Austria into Slovakia.  The once carefully guarded boarder was deserted.  The buildings were empty and we drove without stopping.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  No policeman boarding the stopped bus.  No cursory examination of my passport or more intense examinations of various travel companions of the moment.  No one was hauled off the bus; no one breathed a sigh of relief when the bus started off again.  There was no unearthly silence.  The 1995 feeling of crossing from a world full of color into a black and white world was only a memory.  Slovakia's admission into the European Union had changed all of that.

We arrived at the bus station and in no time at all my bags and I were loaded into the car and we were off.  Because of my allergies I had wanted to find a place where I could cook.  The university hotel where I previously stayed doesn't allow visiting faculty to access the communal kitchen or have appliances in the room.  One of my colleagues, M, who I had met earlier, identified a house I could stay in while their neighbors were away.  This is my home away from home for the next few weeks.  I will use the bus or carpool to get to Bratislava and enjoy the atmosphere of a small village.  It is very quiet here and so far has been working out quite well.  My colleague and her family are being very kind and generous hosts!

I arrived on October 31st, Halloween!  The origin of Halloween is the eve of all saints day, which is November 1st.  Thus, it has been a long holiday weekend for all of Slovakia, university students, and university faculty.  Tomorrow, the university will resume it's schedule.  In the meantime I've been acclimating myself and doing a few things.

Friday was a beautiful day -- warm, sunny, and very relaxing.  I enjoyed sitting in the garden and simply resting.

My colleague has a son with Down syndrome.  He is employed at a coffee shop in the old town center of Bratislava.  This coffee shop is a supported work environment for persons with disabilities.  He rode the bus to work but because of the holiday, we went to pick him up at the end of his shift.  We drove in early, walked along the Danube, got some roasted chestnuts (they're in season, now), and then enjoyed tea in the coffee shop towards the end of J's shift.

One of the interesting things I saw were these wayside exercise options.  None are electrical.  All must be human-powered, although they emulate many of the fitness machines found in gyms.  I have yet to see this type of adult playground equipment in the US, but I saw these on numerous occasions in parks and outdoor fitness courts while in China.  A similarity!

That evening we watched Czech television.  First, it was the Czech version of Dancing with the Stars.  Even though there was quite a bit of commentary, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the initial episode of this new season.  The selection of celebrity dancers was interesting and the dancing was quite good.  Next, we watched a combination telethon/concert.  This concert was for the benefit of an organization for persons with visual impairments.  Various celebrity singers were joined by non professional artists who were blind or visually impaired.  For the next two months various organizations will have a turn each week.  So far there have been programs/concerts for children with cancer and people with diabetes.  More will follow.   Again, I could follow along reasonably well. 

Sunday, J had to work again; but in the afternoon.  First, was church in the morning for M and J.  I went along to the nearby town to tour the village "castle" and have coffee with her husband.  The castle had been built in the early 1900's, fallen into disrepair, been used at one point as a home for "bad boys," and then recently reconstructed by the original family's heirs.  I took one look at it and thought "wedding venue," which was quickly confirmed by H that it was indeed a very popular wedding venue, booked several years in advance.  Where have I heard that before?  We wandered the grounds briefly, got a quick tour, and had our coffee.  I've quickly regained my ability to drink European espresso.

The plan for Sunday afternoon was that I would accompany J into Bratislava so he could show me how to use the bus.  What a delight!  He is so independent and was so pleased to be my guide.  We arrived at the main bus station, transferred to an electric trolley, and were soon getting off outside of Tesco, the big box store of Europe, or at least Central Europe.  He left me to my shopping and I began to reorient myself with this multiple level shopping complex.  I took my time and wandered around and found most of the things I was looking for including rice milk in the grocery (potraviny) section.  Of course, I had two big bags by the time I left there.

My next stop was the museum, something I had not visited during any of my previous visits.  I stowed my bags with the coat check lady and then whipped out my passport, pointed to my birth date, and got in at the senior rate -- 2 Euro (rather than 8).  The museum was very interesting and set up in a series of rooms, passages, and eventually, I climbed multiple stories to reach the tower.  The docents were quite tolerant of my limited Slovak skills and with much non-verbal language I didn't make any faux paux and navigated the rooms in the correct order.  At one point, after saying, d'akujem (thank you), one of the women told me, dobre Slovenske (good Slovak).  What I know, I can say well; however, my vocabulary is limited!

After the museum it was off to the coffee shop.  I was so impressed with J and his co-worker as they served the customers, found things to do, and followed through with everything they needed to do.  It was such a pleasure to watch young adults with disabilities working in such a meaningful way.  What was even better was watching the customers.  There was so much respect!  Everyone gave them eye contact, spoke to them as if they were waiters in any coffee shop, and did not act awkward at all.  When J's shift was finished, everything cleaned up and put away for the night, we headed for the bus station, a 10 minute walk through the center of Bratislava.  We arrived just in time to catch the bus.  This bus would only take us part way though because it was Sunday.  When we got close, J called his dad and he met us to take us the rest of the way home.  It was so awesome to be the student and have such a great teacher!  Tomorrow, I will go by bus myself.

Today, things turned to work.  I accompanied my colleague to one of the universities where she teaches and set up a presentation I will do there in a few weeks.  Then it was off to Bratislava and the opportunity to meet more people who work in different areas both medical and school-related.  Each and every encounter provides a glimpse into the lives of persons with disabilities in Slovakia and how services are provided.