Slovak Miscellaneous

Children’s Civil Defence Education

Children's Civil Defence

For a couple days my second daughter was excitingly looking forward to “CO” (tse-oh) and finally on the morning of  I asked my husband what “CO” meant. CO stands for civilna ochrana, literally civil defence, although it really means emergency preparedness.

This year, CO was in memory of Peter Opalek, a policeman from the neighbouring town. Last year he was shot while doing routine car stops along the road. It was a shock to all of Slovakia, as shootings are rare occurrences here.

The emergency preparedness training for children in Smolenice started in 2007 at one of the local kindergartens. For two years Mr. Opalek went to his nephew’s kindergarten to talk to the children about being a policeman. In 2009, they decided to include other emergency services and organized an event for neighbouring schools.

Mr. Opalek volunteered every single year to come show the children what policemen do, until his untimely death at 34 years of age.

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Slovak Miscellaneous, Slovakia & Travel 10 Comments

November 17: The Velvet Revolution

Velvet Revolution

In Slovakia, the 17th of November commemorates the Velvet Revolution, the protests that eventually brought down the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. This year, 2014, celebrates 25 years.

In a very brief nutshell, after WWII it was stipulated in the constitution of Czechoslovakia that the Communist Party had to be the leading party in the government. Funny thing is, they still had elections. Everything was set up formally, with screens and ballot boxes. There was, however, only one option to vote. When my mother in law went to vote behind the screen, the officiator said, “Lady, where are you going?”

For 40 years the Communist Party governed with varying degrees of severity. In 1988 was the first mass demonstration in Bratislava against the Communist Regime since 1969 in Czechoslovakia called the Candle Demonstration.

On Nov. 16, 1989, encouraged by the success of Poland, Hungry, and East Germany, students in Bratislava organized a peaceful demonstration to commemorate Jan Opletal, a Czech student killed by the Nazis, and sent a delegation to the Slovak Minister of Education to discuss their issues. Though viewed as problematic by the Party, it ended peacefully.

On Nov. 17, students in Prague gathered to commemorate the death of students by the Nazis, and while they had permission to gather they did not disperse afterwards as ordered, but began to march towards the centre of the city about 15,000 strong. The police blocked off all the exits and began to beat them.

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Slovak Miscellaneous, Slovakia & Travel 4 Comments

Basavel na plazi: Roma (Gypsy) Festival by Dive Maky

Cigansky Basavel: Roma (Gypsy) Festival

As a Canadian, when I used to think of gypsies (or more properly, Roma) I thought of colourful dresses, energetic music, and wood covered wagons. When I first heard Central Europeans speak about the Roma at college in the States, I was horrified, they seemed so racist. After being in Slovakia, I began to understand complications of the situation of the Roma in Central Europe.

The Roma  (or Romani, or Romany) originate from India and spread throughout Europe during the medieval ages. As nomadic people, they had various skills, like metalwork and carpentry, that they used to gain employment while camped on the outskirts of a town. The nomadic lifestyle was not so compatible with modern country borders, however. During Communism in Slovakia they were provided with housing and other needs, however, women were also subjected to coerced sterilization and the men lost the skills they traditionally had used for finding employment.

Roma are different from Slovaks in more ways than just skin colour. As groups, their behaviour is completely different; imagine packs of Italians in Germany. In public, Slovaks are reserved and somewhat cold (although not in private with friends). Gypsies, on the other hand, will have yelling matches in the town square. Roma have their own completely different language. They also have many children; some Slovaks are inclined to think it is a way to get more money from the government, but I’m inclined to wonder if it has to do with their traditional emphasis on and value of children and the tight knit extended family.

The Romany people have faced discrimination in various degrees throughout Europe since their arrival, and were a target of the Nazi regime. In Slovakia, at any time before 1989, I would attribute discrimination to simple racism. Since then, however, the problem is a little more complicated.

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Musings, Slovak Miscellaneous, Slovak Traditions, Slovakia & Travel , , 6 Comments

Children’s Firefighting Drill

Hasicky Kruzok

As an ex-pat, it’s easy for me to be completely confused about what everybody else takes for granted.

Take, for example, the large metal red and white box at the end of the schoolyard. When we first moved here, I asked my husband what it was for. “To hold water for the firefighters,” he replied, and then we got distracted by something else.

I thought of various reasons why that box would be there and occasionally saw a firetruck go into the schoolyard, but didn’t pursue what exactly it was all about. Was there an underground cistern or source of water? Did they need to keep extra water by the school for safety? SIX years later, I finally know. Click to continue reading

Slovak Miscellaneous, Slovak Traditions, Slovakia & Travel 6 Comments

Finding Beauty (snippets from the weekend)

moss on a brick

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” -Camille Pissarro

I grew up in a mountain valley where beauty was obvious every day. My walk to the school bus on crisp winter mornings included pink mountain tops stained by the rising sun, untampered snowy fields spread out before me and evergreen trees under their white covering lining the lane behind me (the walk to catch the school bus was about two km (one mile) – don’t be surprised if I say it was uphill both ways). Click to continue reading

Musings, Slovak Miscellaneous, Slovakia & Travel , 19 Comments

A Little Walk

A Little Walk

To the north of our village are the Carpathian mountains hills. I find it fascinating that a few metres higher in elevation can make such a difference in the winter. Even though we live in an apartment, in five minutes we can be out in the oak and beech forest. Not that I get there on my own with the kids during the week, but it’s comforting to know that it’s possible. On the hill to the right there are remnants from a village from the Bronze Age, I kid you not. And on the hill after that, a castle. Click to continue reading

Slovak Miscellaneous, Slovak Places, Slovakia & Travel , 2 Comments

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