So You Know the Facts

Since many North Americans (including myself) are pretty clueless when it comes to Slovenia, I wanted to make sure I give you the important facts about the country so that you can understand more fully what's going on while I'm here. So, here's what I've learned so far:

Here's a quick look at a map:

As you can see, Slovenia borders Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia. It's small and only takes 2-3 hours by car to cross from one side to the other. It became a part of the European Union in 2004 and is now on the Euro, has a strong economy, and a stable democratic government. It has been independent from the Serbs since 1991.

Land: The area has mountains, rivers, and a small coastline. The countryside is super green and the cities are hilly and beautiful.

Religion: Most of the country (around 60%) is Roman Catholic, meaning that people hold onto the tradition but many, especially young people, don't even attend church regularly (much like in Poland).

Language: Slovene. Normally the words are pronounced pretty much as they look like written which is nice! And some words sound similar to Polish ones, which is also helping me. The language uses a lot of j's in words that make a y sound. The word most helpful for me to know so far has been "hvala," meaning "thank you."

Food: Much like the rest of Europe, Slovenia has the largest meal in the middle of the day. Soup and tea are often included in meals. The country takes most of its food from other countries around the area (like pizza from Italy), but is known to use a lot of meat in dishes (including horse) and make desserts with poppyseeds, cottage cheese, and wine (like traditional Europeans do).

Capital: Ljubljana (Kari and I stayed here with JV missionaries Hondo and Trisha when we first arrived) It's the largest city in Slovenia, has a river that runs through the center of it, and has a really cool castle that we visited. It also has great pizza ;)

Celje: This is the city where Kari and I will be living for most of the summer now. It is the third largest city (around 50,000 people), but is small enough to get around mostly by bike or on foot. It has a total of 2 evangelical churches, including the one we went to this morning. The city is really pretty, totally European looking but with a lot of modern stores and stuff as well, and I can't wait to explore it more. It's known for having a lot of high school students who live here to go to school during the week (we'll hopefully be meeting and hanging out with a bunch of them). I'll put up pictures soon!

That's all for now. I hope this gives you a bigger picture of where I'm at and what things are like here. Please continue praying for Slovenia, specifically the youth here. God is already at work and will continue doing great things!