Shoelaces

We had a missionary shoelace visit us just before we came back to Australia. The idea is that the missionary families take the shoelace around with them to various things and 'the shoelace' comments on his facebook page about what has happened. I couldn't get the technology to work for me when we were in Slovenia and so have posted things since we have been back. So here is a snapshot of our life in late May, just before we headed back to Australia, from the perspective of a shoelace:

And I have arrived in the beautiful city of Maribor, Slovenia. I am staying with the Box family in a large two bedroom apartment in the old part of town. I went for a walk in the morning and saw the town from the River Drava. Its a lovely view looking at the old town with the background of a few hills with vineyards. Apparently a statue of Mary sits overlooking the town in a shrine at the top of one hill. At 6.30am I saw quite a lot of people going to work and a few children going to preschool or before-school care.

This morning I went along to take the boys to their school and preschool. Tim attends preschool five days a week (no part time preschool in Slovenia because all the mums and dads work full-time). When we arrived at both school and preschool, they had to take their shoes off and put on slippers to wear inside. I nearly got lost amongst all the shoes! They are given a hot meal at lunchtime because lunch is the main meal for Slovenes. At preschool they often go for a walk to the park or a playground in the morning and have a rest after lunch. At school they have their classes in the morning and after lunch play sport, do homework and play until they are picked up.

Today we had an unusual experience. We were invited to a Slovene family bbq. Every Sunday the normal Slovene has lunch with their extended family. It is very strange for Slovenes to invite outsiders into their homes and even stranger to a family gathering. One of the students who has been coming along to Kingsley's Bible study group invited us to join his extended family. We had sausages, chicken and fish on the bbq (but not beef - that would be extremely strange here), salads, bread and then desserts. We were at the old family home - a one bedroom home, about 10 minutes drive from Maribor. They have a well and a pump in their backyard, which the Box boys loved using. They perched me there at one stage and I was certain I would be soaked in minutes. Just managed to escape in time!

We attended an end-of-school-year event with Timothy's preschool class. They held it at a farm near Maribor. The children played soccer for a while, then they sang some songs for us. We ate typical Slovene (home-baked) food - bread with salami, cheese or a kind of pate type thing and a mariborska gibanica - like a baked cheesecake but not as sweet as in Australia. Then we had a look at all the farm animals and the children had rides on a horse. Lots of fun and a good opportunity to get to know other families from preschool.

We were invited by the neighbour of the Boxes to go for coffee and cake. This is how Slovenes are most likely to show hospitality. They invite a friend out for coffee rather than invite people into their home. There are lots of cafes with tables and chairs outside and they seem to be very well frequented (in the warmer months that is). Icecream is also very cheap here - a great plus! Tim wore me around his neck and I nearly ended up one very sticky shoelace!