We finish our teaching duties on Thursday, June 17 and have to meet with our students during the next several days, finally giving them up to their class teachers after June 22. The students and teachers spend the rest of June cleaning and organizing the classrooms then they go on class trips. The semester activities have been decelerating since mid-May when the fifth-year students completed their Maturita exams. These are the nation-wide school-leaving exams that are required for graduation. They have an extra importance at the Lyceum, since the students take written and oral exams in English that certify them at a certain level of English competence. They completed their classes at the end of May and have disappeared from school to prepare for and take University entrance exams. These are rigorous tests that may qualify them for study in a particular discipline at the University. We spoke with a student today who is preparing for the exams in marketing and advertising where there are around a thousand students competing for twenty-five places. Another group that is missing during the last two weeks of classes is about half of the first-year students who are on a trip to Scotland. While the destination sounds great, the idea of spending two weeks on a bus, including four overnights, is less than appealing; we're glad we weren't asked to chaperone the trip.
This year we've had some opportunity to learn something about Slovak politics in spite of the language barrier. We've come to see some of the parties, including two that are in the current governing coalition as highly nationalistic and racist. There are hard feelings between Slovakia and Hungary - 700 years of oppressive rule of the Slovak people by Hungarian monarchs up to WW I might have something to do with that, but they seem unable to get over it. Slovakia instituted "language laws" last year that forbade the carrying on of official business in any language other than Slovak - a definite slap at the 10% or so of the Slovak population with Hungarian ancestry who live near the border with Hungary. The newly elected, equally nationalistic government of Hungary just passed a law declaring dual citizenship for any Slovaks of Hungarian descent and this brought a response from the current Slovak government threatening to remove Slovak citizenship from any person who receives this status. The most extreme of the Slovak politicians called for "Slovak tanks in the streets of Budapest" and the like. Add to this the general Slovak disdain for Roma (Gypsies) as was evidenced in one of the billboards posted by the SNS party.
Here are some sample billboard photos taken by my brother Ted on a road trip through Slovakia in early May - I accept responsibility for the translations on the pictures. The first two are by the "Slovak National Party," SNS , referred to above. The second shows a putative Roma individual who has clearly been feeding at the government trough. It turns out that the guy in this photo was duped into having it taken under false pretenses and then several features like the excessive tattoos were "Photoshopped" in. The party was forced to remove the billboards before the elections. The third photo shows a billboard of a new party, SAS (Freedom and Solidarity), a free-market, right of center party that actually drew over 12% in the election described below. The fourth photo shows a throwback from the Communist era - fortunately to no effect in the election.
The results of last weekend's election are in and there are definitely some surprises. While Prime Minister Fico's SMER party led all parties with nearly 35% of the vote, one of his partners in the current coalition government, the party of former Prime Minister Meciar, did not reach the 5% vote threshold that would give his party seats in the Parliament. So even with the hyper-nationalist SNS party with its 5.1% of the vote (barely enough to squeak into the Parliament), Fico will not have enough seats to form a coalition. It's now up to the four center-right parties, all of whom have pledged not to join SMER, to try to form a workable government. It was also interesting that SMER drew the majorities of votes in 70 of the 79 political districts in the country, leaving only 9 urban districts that voted predominantly for one of the opposition parties. Of these, 5 are in and around Bratislava, 1 is in Kosice to the east, 2 are districts that border Hungary, and one is an urban district in the north. This coalition will probably be led by people from the government that preceded Fico's government under Prime Minister Dzurinda and that had been instrumental in bringing Slovakia into the EU and adopting the Euro. This government was perhaps too friendly to business and European interests, and didn't pay enough attention to the people in Slovakia. Fico has played the Socialist/nationalist card during his government while showing a general disdain for freedom of the press and the usual civil functions of government. It is somewhat disturbing that nearly 45% of the population supports this line, but we are hopeful that a more rational government may be able to govern closer to the center and help to move the country forward.
Sue has been volunteering in a program run by the US Embassy in a Roma village outside Bratislava. The goal of the program was to establish a relationship between US citizens and the Roma people of the village. She is trying to teach basic English to high school age girls in a program containing students from age 8 through high school. She noticed that the students were very loud and undisciplined but a few of them were serious about wanting to learn. She also noticed constant fighting among the younger boys and girls. These traits seem to be typical of many Roma, at least as we hear about them from our students, so they make learning and succeeding in life very difficult. Sue has also spent time with some embassy officials who are trying to help some of the Roma with legal difficulties. One example of the straits they find themselves in is that most if not all the homes in the village are on land that is not owned by the Roma. They built their houses on the right of way over a gas pipeline and the local town officials are threatening to bring in bulldozers to clear the squatters away. Very few of the houses have running water or sewer facilities, so you can only imagine the filth and smell. Unfortunately, the people cannot get their act together to help themselves to save their village and the government seems to have no interest in helping them. This has been a powerful learning experience, but also one that has left Sue wondering what can be done to help these people.
Many of our American teacher colleagues from around Slovakia and Poland are leaving for the States and next year there will probably be fewer teaching missionaries than currently. Apparently there has not been much recruiting by the ELCA due to its funding difficulties. They let the person go who had organized the recruiting and interviewing of teaching missionaries and so they are looking at some new ways of recruiting them in the future.
We leave with good feelings about our work here. The students have been generally kind and appreciative of what we do. We've really enjoyed working with them. Both our American and Slovak colleagues at the school are great - helpful, caring, and hopeful about their work here. We've made many friends outside the school, especially in the Bratislava International Church. It will be difficult to say goodbye to the many new friends we've made this year - at school, at church and in the community.
Sue traveled back to Michigan for two weeks in early May when her mom's health took a turn for the worse. Her mother was able to return home from the hospital, but hasn't had any energy. Sue was able to return to Slovakia after her sister Krista came back to Michigan from her home in Florida. At least Sue had an opportunity to see Kristen and the three girls, Karin, and our nephew Eric and his family when they all came for visits during her stay. Phil soldiered on, teaching several of her classes in addition to his own.
In early May, we enjoyed visits with family members. Phil's brother Ted and his wife Marty joined their sister Kathy and her husband Marshall in a trip to central Europe. After several days in Bratislava and Vienna, Phil traveled with them to Orava to visit family and to see the sights in that region. We saw the castle in Orava and visited the homes of several family members including Iveta, Jan and Marie, and Pavlo and Milka, who we have visited several times during the year. We also got to see the villages and church where our grandparents had grown up, so we all got a better understanding of our heritage. Ted, Marty, Kathy and Marshall went on to Prague and Salzburg, using the train system without difficulty. Their return in the third week of May coincided with that of Sue, so we all got together in Vienna to wish Kathy and Marshall safe travels home. Marty and Ted came back to Bratislava for several more days of local sight-seeing. It's safe to say that we all enjoyed the opportunity to get together and share the joys of central Europe.
Two weekends back, we joined a group of teaching missionaries from throughout Slovakia and Poland for a weekend in Cieszyn, Poland. The Lutheran Church has a strong presence in this part of Silesia that straddles the border of Poland and the Czech Republic. The largest Polish Lutheran Church is located in Cieszyn and we were hosted by two women who teach in the Evangelical School there. We enjoyed beautiful weather, awesome pierogies, good Polish beer, and a great folklore show put on by some local performers. It was a great way to see our fellow teachers from around the region before we all head our separate ways this summer.
