Effing Sofia

So as of noon today, Sofia was one of the top 10 cities in my book..... until my camera was thieved on the street. It literally was here and gone in 10 minutes - and once I realized it was gone (which didn't take that long because I take a TON of pictures) we went back to where we ate lunch hoping that I had just thrown it in the garbage... after we dug through the garbage we realized that that was not the case, and meh - i'm outta luck. I bought a new camera already, after all - I'm on a train to Istanbul tonight, and I will NOT be in Istanbul without a way to take pictures. The super crappy thing about the whole situation is that I FOR SURE met the man I am supposed to marry last night, and Vivvi in her photographic excellence documented the entire multi-bar courting process in flawless fashion. I bet there were no less than 50 photos of Nikolai and I chatting it up, and me clearly loving every second of it - up until his wife showed up... but that story is for a later day. So, as it turns out, I am leaving my heart (and camera) in Sofia. On to Istanbul.

By the way - I had some REALLY cool pictures. shit.

We're here

Hi- I'm in Sofia, Bulgaria safe and sound. We're here after 27 hours on a train, three hours in Bucharest, and a good night's sleep on a top bunk bed. Yeah- I'm in a co-ed room sleeping on a bunk bed... this is not the way I'm most comfortable traveling, but hey- it's what the young kids are doing these days, so I'm trying to roll with it. :)

I'm going to make a mental note of all the things I have to blog about when I get home -and list some of them here so I don't forget.

train ride- stank, Daniel, crack finger
Bucharest- that's all I can say is Bucharest
arrival in Sofia - money?
The cyrillic alphabet - I mean what the hell?
Istanbul - we got tickets and are leaving tomorrow!!!

Wish me luck

So I'm not as smart as I look...

Well - I've put two and two together and finally reached five.  The Hungarian chain gang - as mentioned in earlier posts - was not cleaning just for the heck of it.  This week, the country of Hungary celebrates it's Revolution (of 1956- one of the many).  There are new Hungarian flags hanging on the street posts, tents near the water front in preparation for the celebration, and the town is shaping up in general.  Apparently Tata draws quite a crowd this weekend, as there is a fishing contest (to clean out the lake) and several performances over the next few days.  SO - I thought people were just cleaning to clean - not the case.  They are preparing for their equivalent of the 4th of July - and they're doing a nice job.  

So yeah, I just thought I'd let everyone know.  Maybe I can get some pictures of the new flags up.  

On a different note - I ran (pun intended) across several individual runners with numbers on running through town today.  They are doing a 5 day "super"marathon from Vienna to Budapest.  Yes- they are running from Vienna to Budapest.  That is over 150 miles... so yeah.  30 miles a day?  Yeesh.  That's MORE than a marathon a day - times FIVE.  So I stood and cheered for a while, but they were very sporadic in the times that they came, so it wasn't that exciting. 

Tomorrow afternoon, I am off on a vacation- I will be traveling from Tata to Budapest, Budapest to Sofia, Bulgaria - Sofia to Istanbul (provided it's not too expensive) and from Istanbul to Transylvania in time to celebrate Halloween at Dracula's castle (the castle of Vlad the impaler...).  Wish me luck on my travels - I'll have no computer, so no real updates while I'm gone.  See you in November!

Only in Hungary? Not sure

I saw this vegetable at the Sparr yesterday.  It's a "pagoda karifol" - karifol means cauliflower - and pagoda... well that's a gimme.  BUT - I have NEVER seen a vegetable like this, and I spent 6 years working in produce.  Eat your heart out Jim Josephson!  I dont' know how to cook it, so I probably won't - but I thought it was worth the 100 forints to show others.  

Favorite Halloween Costume

I almost forgot.  As a part of my lessons on Halloween, I have some pictures of me here in different costumes.  One is of me as a “pretty princess”, though not so pretty with a boy’s haircut (age 8) and one of me as a friendly? Ghost – I have a bowtie on, but chains (and an ugly sweater with yellow rings round the cuffs – clearly NOT a ghastly outfit)… but the biggest hit was the picture with Greg wearing the Rubik’s cube outfit.  For those of you not up on your famous Hungarians, Rubik himself is Hungarian and the cubes are ALL over the place here.  So that was a big hit – don’t tell my mom I took that picture though, she’ll kill me.

I also showed "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" today- what a thrill to have a little time off... 

Autumn fun

Kata – the secretary slash Math teacher asked me what I was going to do on Saturday after school.  Remember, we had 6 days of school last week –not that I’m bitter about it… anyhow, I knew it would be a loaded question, as most everything is with Kata.  Fortunately for me, I’ve taken on a more care-free spirit and am trying to just go with the flow… yeah… that’s what’s happening.  So- I told her I’d probably just sleep, not really much of anything why?  She responded with, “I will organize a trip to the mountain.”  Ok, the mountain – which one?  Not sure.  When? Not exactly sure.  For how long?  No clue- how very Hungarian! 

Saturday during the day, admittedly, I was kind of hoping to avoid Kata because I’m not always about the small talk and situations I can’t control.  She found me about mid-day and asked if I still wanted to go on the trip – I responded with an enthusiastic “of course.”  We agreed to meet right after school.  So promptly after school I decided to try and meet the group for the trip.  I went to Kata’s office – and found out the “group” was just me.  Ok- well this should be interesting.  I was getting into Kata’s little car, having not had lunch, with no timetable of how long I’d be gone, camera in hand and smile intact. 

We set out towards her town, Oroslány.  She took me on a quick tour of the town – it was an industrial town like Tatabánya, and didn’t have much in the way of beauty like Tata does.  We got out and walked around near the watertower, which is a symbol of the town.  It looked very socialist for some reason, basically the top half of a vase curving inwards as it reaches the ground- concrete.  From here, we continued on.  Where to?  No idea.  We drove through the town, and then ended up driving through the woods a bit to what seemed like a secluded area – but it opened up into a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and trees.  There was also a tall white wall – surrounding some buildings and what looked like a church bell tower.  Where were we?  Was this “the mountain”?  As it turns out, this was a former monastery for an order of Benedictine monks- the Camaldolese.  They had shaved heads and long beards.  They wore long white robes and half hats almost like yamikas- In my 100 years of Catholic education, I had never seen monks like this, nor had I heard of the Camaldolese.  I learned in the tour though, that there are only 9 monasteries that served these monks in the world.  The biggest is in Kracow, Poland.  Kata told me that “you can spend your holiday here if you want, maybe romantic” – not sure, but playing house in a former cloistered monk’s abode was not my idea of romantic… what do I know about romance though?

The monastery was beautiful- there was a part that held the bulk of the monks, and then there were 17 houses for secluded monks.  These monks could only talk twice a year.  We toured one of these houses- it had a small chapel, a bedroom, kitchen and work space.  The church that was there had apparently burned at some point as a result of lightening.  The main tower still stood, but that was it.  In the main building of the monastery – there were some interesting displays.  There were some pictures of the monks participating in their work, praying, burying the dead (without tops on the coffins…). There was also a display of cast iron stoves.  I don’t know why they were there, but they were cast in a nearby town, and were here on display.  Lastly, and perhaps most interesting, there was some stuffed wildlife…  The last use of the main house was as a hunting house by the Esterházy family- so there were stuffed wild boars and such in the last room.  There also was a refectory (which is where the monks ate) that had beautifully painted frescoes chronicling the order of monks.  I have included the bulk of the pictures on my mobile me site – http://gallery.me.com/castaffa

After the monastery tour- (I forgot to mention that they had a couple laminated copies of the tour in English – they were very helpful, and Kata translated as much as she could) we took off in the car again.  I wasn’t sure where we were going, but off I went!  It turns out – we had yet to arrive at “the mountain”.  We headed through town, passed some really cute villages – a couple of which were villages of German minority.  They had signs for the town with a Hungarian name and the German name.  Historically they tend to be a bit more wealthy than the Hungarian villages since the Germans brought a lot of money with them.  I’m not sure of the history – but from a Hungarian perspective, everyone has more money than them. 

We parked in a small parking area up the hill, and got out.  I had no idea where we were – but it was gorgeous out and the trees were beautiful with the changing colors.  Kata got out of the car and said nothing but “we walk.”  Remember, she’s got the Hungarian accent – so the “w” is pronounced like a “v.”  So “ve valk” is what was said.  We headed up this super steep cobblestone path and at the top of the hill, was a 700 year old castle.  A WHAT?  It was the coolest thing ever – I told Kata – this castle is more than twice as old as my country!  There wasn’t much to see inside – there is a “hostel” there that you can stay in for cheap.  We were able to go to the roof- and what a sight it was.  You could see clear to Tata – even though we were more than 30 kilometers away.  Quite spectacular!! 

After we saw the view, we headed back to the café for something to drink.  I ordered a Sprite – and then Kata asked if I wanted to try a special Hungarian drink.  I have learned just to say yes to whatever they ask- if they didn’t want you to do it, they wouldn’t ask – so sure- I’d love some of the mystery drink!  It ended up being a DELICIOUS (nagyon finom) mulled red wine with cinnamon and spices.  It was the closest thing to apple cider I’ve had since last year and it was great. 

After the drinks, we got into the car again – and then we stopped shortly there after – just outside the Dutch village.  This village was settled by some Dutch people, but now you can rent the houses.  Kata got some information for me in English – and we were set to go.  After the Dutch village, we set out for Tata.  I wasn’t sure if she was going to take me to dinner, or take me to her house, or what- but we rolled through Tatabánya and then home.  It was an absolutely lovely day, none of my expectations were met – but it’s almost better that way. 

Halloween at Eötvös!!

After school on Wednesday of this week, we have a 10 day break.  Since we weren’t going to be in school for Halloween, I decided to bring some of the traditions of the holiday to the school.  Especially since we had 6 days of school last week.  They had us teach on Saturday (as was the case in the entire country) to make up for the Friday we are missing this week.  I suppose it makes sense, but yech- Saturday school!  So- I decided that we’d do scary stories (which apparently weren’t so scary) and some bobbing for apples.  I gave them a bit of the history of Halloween, which is Irish – I didn’t know that- and we discussed Halloween in the United States.  Did you know that annually, Americans spend $6.9 billion dollars on Halloween?  Yeah.  Scary isn’t it? 

At any rate, we had a good day.  Again, I was not so thrilled for having to go to school on a Saturday, but hey- everyone else was doing it too, so I might as well enjoy it right?  Some of my students even came in a costume.  I had the 10^th graders write stories using some starters that I gave them – “Running down the street with candy flying…” or “they told me the house was haunted, but it looked okay to me so…” and they did a nice job.  They have come a long way since our initial bout of stubbornness.  They know more English than they let on, and it’s actually been borderline fun.  Their stories were incredible too – creative and funny at the same time.  I think it’s important for them to get some chances to write creatively instead of just proper English. 

At any rate, the 9A kids had a blast bobbing for apples.  I had the first kids do it in the bathroom so we didn’t make a mess, but by the afternoon, I just hauled the tub into the classroom and we did it in there.  It’s actually really hard to do- but only Bence Papp dunked his whole head in the bucket.  I think the funniest part for me was when jenny got a bite out of her apple, but lost couldn't grip the whole thing.  She chewed for a minute, and said "ahh... Fuji.  Yum."  Funny kid.  Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever actually bobbed for an apple – maybe I should do it just for fun.

I also carved a pumpkin – which I haven’t done in several years.  I had a little trouble finding one, but I was out on Friday after school with two of the 9^th grade boys and they helped me.  Bence (from a different class than the 9A – so their English is not as strong) and Péter are in a folk dancing class, and I told them I’d like to see it some time, so they invited me.  It was an interesting afternoon.  They told me to meet them after school, but then they had to eat lunch (the big meal).  I was afraid they were going to go home and that they were inviting me to their house –but that wasn’t the case.  They ate at school in the cafeteria – which I did not know existed until last week.  I don’t have the proper card to use in the cafeteria, so I waited for them in the hallway.  OK – weird start to our afternoon together.  Dance practice didn’t start until 4 so we had some time to kill.  I had to go to the post office, so we did that – I don’t think either of these 14 year old boys had ever been inside the post office because they didn’t know what they were doing – it was funny.  We mailed my letter (my absentee ballot) and went in search of a pumpkin.  

Luckily, there was a zöldség and gyümölcs stand near where we were – (vegetables and fruit).  The boys had no idea why I wanted a pumpkin, and after we purchased one, Bence asked what I was going to make with it.  Make? I asked – “yes, what are you going to bake with it?”  I was totally shocked – it never occurred to me to actually cook something with the pumpkin- I was just going to carve it.  I told them that even if I wanted to cook something with pumpkin, I’d just use the stuff in cans – not an actual pumpkin- the idea seemed so foreign to me.  They of course, had never heard of pumpkin in a can.  Cultural differences.  I guess that just shows how much cooking I don’t do- as baking something was the LAST thing I had thought about using this vegetable for. 

We headed off to the dance class, and sadly the teacher said that today was not a good day for me to watch.  I don’t know why, but I know that Bence was upset.  His exact words were “terrible sorry today Carla – but it is not good for watching”  He was visibly upset, so I walked with them on their next errand to the sports pavilion.  He wanted to register for a karate dancing class.  A what?  A Brazilian karate dancing class – wait – I think I actually know what he is talking about – it’s the performers Megan and I saw in Györ.  He was going to start lessons – and I knew exactly what he was referring to.  I'm becoming more and more Hungarian by the hour.

This week at school

Well, this week has been interesting.  I’m trying to lay as low as possible to not get involved in any of the politicking that goes on.  I like to spend my time inbetween classes either working on my Hungarian, or reading on the benches out front.  My mom said this was a little “stand-offish” but I’m just trying to not get in the way.  In the mean time, Maria (the one who got really mad about the blog) has apparently fallen ill.  I’m not sure what happened, but Kata (one of the secretaries/math teacher) busted into the English office yesterday, and when she comes in, it’s never to just chat – she always means business.  She told me that “maybe Maria is ill, and might be for two months- so you will take first period Wednesday.”  What?  Maybe she’s ill?  Might be for TWO months?  What the heck happened in the last two days?  Oy-yoy.  SO – now I have 6 classes on Wednesday which is not that big of a deal.  I have an additional meeting with one of the 9A classes, but I’ll have to do grammar and whatever Gabi is doing with the other half.  Ok, the other addition is that I will now have a 7^th period on Wednesday.  Wait, that means that my last class will start at 2:00 and go to 2:45, but I have Hungarian lessons on Wednesday – apparently that doesn’t really matter… so I have to make some adjustments as we all are.  However, I’m a little miffed that I now have 7 periods in one day – I don’t know that anyone else in the dept does… I’m going to still do some checking, because I already had this commitment to Hungarian, and I’m not being paid any more to take on these two classes.  I know no one else is either, but ugh.  I’m a bit frustrated.  Also, I “subbed” for Mirtill this afternoon – again.  When do I get to have someone sub for me on a Friday afternoon?  Last gripe – I have to teach tomorrow.  Saturday.  We are going to school tomorrow to make up for the loss of a day next week with the holiday.  Man!  Kata – the intense secretary- has invited me to the mountains after school if it’s not raining.  I have NO idea what that means, but I’ll wear comfortable shoes, and see what happens.   

Tata Castle

This is the view I have every day on my way to school.  I walk around the "moat" and come up on the side of the castle.  It's really a lovely walk- even though I am end up sweating at school by the time I get there.  The castle is especially nice when it's lit up at night.

Care to color?

I took this picture at a drugstore the other day - here are the shades you can color your hair... inspiring isn't it?  I like the deep red- as to many other Hungarians!

Old school charm

I came across these two men working on the street as I was walking home the other day.  They were putting down new white lines on the road near the round about.  The interesting thing was that the one guy was evidently putting the glue on the ground, and the other guy was throwing white chalk like stuff onto the glue.  Why they weren’t just using paint I have no idea, but whatever.  The other picture is of a neat old lady who had this “chair” that she’d plunk down about every 100 feet when she got tired.  What a way to travel.  I love Hungary.

Chain gang - Hungarian style

As we move comfortably into Fall, the leaves change and fall around Tata.  Enter the Tata chain gang… actually, I don’t know exactly what they are – but all over town, there are people of all ages, raking and cleaning up garden beds in preparation for winter.  They leave the piles of leaves, and come back the next day to rake again.  I can’t tell if they are different groups of people, or volunteers or what, but it’s been great to see all these people taking ownership of our town.  If only I could speak the language, perhaps I could help.  Meh.  The top picture has some of the gang - their vests say "Tizta" which means clean and "Tatáért" which means the city of Tata.

Choir practice - post trip.

Well Choir was good on Tuesday.  It  was nice to see everyone again (I missed last week because of the whole cat at the hospital and trauma at school).  Apparently there has been quite a bit of action since our Pápa trip.  Kata was all fired up because we were supposed to sing at some big celebration next weekend.  I shouldn’t say “some” big celebration – starting next Wednesday, I have 10 days off of school as a fall break combination Revolution celebration.  I’m not entirely sure which revolution exactly – I think the 1956 one, but there were so many… next weekend, there will be big activities all through Hungary, including Tata.  So, there was a grant that was applied for to invite choirs to come and perform at the big ceremonies.  Kata requested 36,000 forint from the 400,000 forint grant, and the grant people apparently questioned each of the things she itemized, so she said forget it.  I don’t know all of it since I’m not exactly fluent in Hungarian yet, but EVERYone was pretty riled up and upset with the grant people and some other choir that is going to be there.  It felt like the beginning of a jets/sharks battle to the death. 

 

After things calmed down, we sang for a bit, and then headed out to eat.  I didn’t take any pictures this week because we were in a small garage like area – and it would have been a bit awkward.  Also, I was so taken a-back by the food, I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with myself.  For those of you who know me well, you know I don’t really care for fish.  Ok- I hate fish.  I don’t like any seafood – at all.  For those of you who don’t know me that well, I still hate seafood.  The smell of fish makes me want to vomit.  So- you can guess what was sitting in front of me.  Three pans- a fish in each, taking up the ENTIRE pan.  (they were 9 x 13 pans)  Imagine my feeling… oh boy – here we go.  SO- I asked Erika to cut me a small piece… and nothing in Hungary is small.  I had about half a fish on my plate- ok, not really, but it seemed like it.  I felt like I was going to barf, no lie.  On top of it all, it was Carp that Istvan had caught in the lake.  I have been told 1.) that the lake is toxic (not really, but the kids say it’s terrible) and 2.) that Carp are super crappy fish that NO one eats.  Great.  Here I go.  Luckily, the fish was resting on a bed of potatoes so I ate those, and I picked through the fish – and had bread.  Once I had “finished” I looked around, and I was the ONLY one who didn’t have just a small pile of bones left on my plate.  Crap.  Or should I say carp.  Man!  The guy next to me (who I’d never seen before) asked Erika if I liked fish from the sea better… well, not really.  Ok- so now I felt uncomfortable, especially since we were at the house of one of my fellow teachers, and he was concerned that I wasn’t eating the fish.  MAN!  I decided to just drink some wine and try to make conversation.  That didn’t last long, so I just continued to drink wine. 

 

Then, just when I thought I was done being uncomfortable, Istvan (Kata’s husband) decided that he was going to read the story I wrote about the trip to Pápa to the entire group.  Oh man.  Kata fetched it from her house (they live two doors down) and returned to have Istvan read it aloud.  Now- not only is everyone watching me, but I have already had a severe incident of cultural mishaps regarding my writing.  I was extra careful when I wrote this, but still, it was like my own personal judgement day – and it was in front of 15 people!!  As Istvan read, they laughed and reacted positively (I didn’t know which parts he was reading) and afterwards, they all thanked me for such a nice note.  I thanked them again for a nice trip – and life with the choir was good.  Istvan (the host) asked me if I wanted one last glass of wine, I said no thank you, and raised my glass as he poured.  There is just no saying no in this country when it comes to hospitality.  

Just before we left, Istvan (the host) told everyone that he was going to be bringing some wine back from the famous Tokji region of Hungary after the break.  He asked if anyone was interested in ordering any- and since it was a popular suggestion, I hopped on board.  They asked what I wanted, and I said I liked semi-sweet white wine, so just put me down for whatever other people are ordering.  Little did I know that they were ordering by the 10 Liters!  SO - I have 10 liters of some sort of white wine coming my way after the break - yeesh.   

The picture is of my “blue dye” square that I made in Pápa.  I think it’s very pretty!

Autumn in Tata

Fall is my favorite season – jeans and sweatshirts, walking along hearing the crunch of the leaves, the changing colors… I love fall.  Sadly, it’s not the same here.  Sure, the leaves are changing, and today it was 70 degrees, but there is something about the crisp air and apples of MN that really gets me in the mood for the changing seasons.  I don’t know what this winter will bring, but hopefully parts of it will remind me of home. 

Tesco

I have tried to explain how big peppers are here – not literally, but how important they are to the everyday diet- and I don’t think people get it.  I took a picture of the smallest amount of peppers you can buy at Tesco – they come in large bags like apples – it’s crazy.  I did end up cutting one in half and sticking the entire thing in my sandwich today – it’s what they do!!!  I also took a picture of the carts at Tesco – you can see where you have to put the coin in – the coin that causes me so much heartache every time I go ANYWHERE!!!

Big weekend in Tata - not really.

Saturday was a good day.  I was looking forward to a weekend in Tata, just relaxing and not having to catch a train anywhere.  I could sleep in and get LOTS of stuff done.  Well… neither of those things really happened.  I did have a nice time just relaxing and hanging out Saturday morning, but I had to prepare for lunch at Elizabeth’s at 12:30.  I knew that I would have to bring something (since I screwed it up the first time, I was going to be prepared).  Elizabeth had called me the night before to confirm… part of me really hoped she wouldn’t call, just because I don’t like new situations and small talk – which was what the entire lunch was going to be about, but I managed just fine.  She told me to come at half past 12 – and when I asked where she lived she responded with “do you have a map?”  Well, yeah, I have a map, but it’s a tourist map and doesn’t really show all the small streets.  She said do you know “so and so” street – of course I don’t Elizabeth, I’ve been her a month.  She told me to take my street, but not in the direction of something (indecipherable Hungarian word).  Then I would “go and go until I came to an intersection- then go forward” really clear- this is going to be no problem.  After I went through the intersection I was to “look for her street and go Right- her house is 4 point 5 – but there is no 5.  It’s midway down the street.”  Ok – no problem right?   Well, when I set off in the morning, I was ready for anything.  I thought I knew where I was going – I knew where there was a flower shop to go to, it was going to be alright. Until I got to the flower shop, and it was closed.  Dang.  On to the next one – yay!  I know of another flower shop- so I enter, and I come in on a family preparing funeral bouquets.  Hmmm… try again – I didn’t want to try and order a bouquet in the midst of that. Man.  I found a third shop, and they had bouquets right in front of the counter – life was good, expensive, but good.  Ok – off to Elizabeth’s.  Hmmm… map in hand, here we go.  I definitely underestimated exactly how far she lived from me, but luckily I’m skilled in the art of walking so I made good time.  I found her street – barely – (the picture is of her street sign) and eventually turned down to start looking for her house.  She told me she had a green gate… well so did every other house on the block.  Ok – I’m looking for 4 point 5.  What exactly does that mean?  I was walking by 77, 75….67, 63 – did she mean 45?  In due time, it all came together – green gate, check, 45 – missing the 5, check- midway down the block, check.  Ok- so I rang the bell.  Or so I thought.  I entered the gate, and heard nothing, saw no one, and instantly panicked.  Was I in the wrong place?  I backtracked and rang the other button- and I heard the bell ring this time.  Now what.  Do I wait?  Do I go back through the gate?  Ugh – panic again… Oh –here she comes.  Thank goodness.

She brought me in and showed me around the first level of the house.  She has a beautiful back yard and garden – even in the beginnings of fall as things are starting to die off.  She offered me a drink – two different types of wine – so I tried the “bull’s blood” I’m pretty sure it’s a well known type of Hungarian wine.  Red – obviously – and I don’t usually drink red wine, but it was really good.  Elizabeth’s two children are grown up and don’t live there anymore, and her husband was in Russia on work – so it was just her and me.  She prepared a vegetable soup, delicious – and then a pasta dish with chicken and cheese.  It was a lovely meal – and as I’ve learned now, I ate a lot.  After all, I wasn’t going to eat for the rest of the day right? (yeah right).  She gave me a tour of the upstairs, and some more wine – and then we finished with chocolate.  I love this country!  Wine and chocolate at lunch!  She lent me some books on how to learn Hungarian- and one on Famous Hungarians – so I have a little light reading for the next few weeks- but I’m excited about it. 

After I left, I figured I was already half way to Tesco, so I might as well go.  I was planning on buying a DVD player and a printer.  Again, life is not without adventure – as I did not have a 100 forint coin for the cart.  Dang.  So I stopped and bought a diet coke at the gas station.  Jackpot – 100 forint coin – here we go.  I got the DVD player and the printer and some other necessities – and I was very excited.  One of my students has all 10 seasons of Friends, but I couldn’t play it on my computer since they are region two DVD’s.  Now I was going to be in business right?  Nope.  I didn’t get a certain cord that I needed for the printer, and the DVD player had no remote.  No remote?  What?  There is one in the book – and it’s the only way you can control the machine.  UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH.  This was too much for one day, so I did some laundry and cleaned a bit –planning to fix everything the next day. 

Today I set off early for Tatabanya – I was in search of a cord for the printer, and a universal remote or something to fix my DVD problem.  Luckily I have nailed the buses, so I was in Tatabanya in no time, hitting up the Media Markt.  I got a universal remote – and the cord I needed, SCORE!  I celebrated with a McDonalds meal. 

I got home, and of course the universal remote didn’t work.  I tried for over an hour to program the DVD player.  Crap.  Now what?  I decided to check the buses and head back to Tesco.  I got there lickety split, and headed back to the DVD spot – with receipt in hand, and translated sentence asking for help in hand.  There wasn’t anyone back in the DVD section, but there was a remote just laying there on top of the boxes of my DVD player.  What?  That’s my remote – what do I do?  Do I just shove it in my bag because I know that it belongs with my machine?  Do I try to communicate that this is really mine to a worker there?  UGH.  I went to the customer service desk and explained my situation, and the kid behind the counter told me to bring the machine in to Tesco and they’d trade it.  CRAP.  Of course I didn’t bring it with me, and the buses only come once an hour on Sundays.  UGH.  I ended up just buying the same DVD player, planning to return the first one at a later time when I could figure out how to do it – and call it a day.  Or so I thought.  I got to the front of the line to buy the new DVD player, some peppers and onions – and wait – where’s my credit card?  I had it this morning at Media Markt…. CRAP!  I left it there.  She never gave it back to me.  Seriously?  So – I bought the machine and everything, got home, double checked at home and boarded a bus BACK to Tatabanya.  I got to the Media Markt and asked the security guard if he spoke English – of course he didn’t – so for some reason I turned to the cashier and said “I lost my credit card” in English –and she pointed me to the security guard who had it on the desk.  Thank God.  What a day.  And I still had planning, and reading, and typing to do.  Man- so much for a relaxing day. 

9th Grade Welcoming

Friday was the big “welcoming” at school.  It’s what I call hazing, but they call it tradition.  We had to perform the airline skit, and the other first years had to perform their skits as well.  We practiced several times, and I think it was actually pretty funny- since I had the translation of what was going on.  I had a funny part as the English speaker who didn’t know what was going on.  The kids were very nervous- but excited.  We all had matching t-shirts that said “Don’t worry, be happy” on the front with a smiley face- and our names (Carla on mine) and EJG for Eötvös József Gimnázium. (how do you like those accents? I finally figured it out – thanks Kyle!)  The shirts were cute – and they were so excited to wear them.

The theater was full with the other 9^th grade classes and other students who came to watch.  We performed first, and did very well – the other ones I couldn’t really understand, but they seemed funny to others, so I just went with it.  Dori (one of my runners) was the head of the whole thing, and she really wanted it to go well.  She was really nervous, but they really stepped up and did a nice job.  Afterwards, the kids were to put on swimsuits and the rest of the night was a surprise.  I’m sure I’ll hear all about it Monday at school.  Hopefully they didn’t have to do anything too horrible…

Boo is back in action!

Well, last week was one of damage control, but I think all will be fine eventually… at any rate, there are a few updates that need to be shared.  First, Boo is home from the vet.  As I’ve said before, everything in a foreign country is an adventure – this was no exception.  The vet told me that he was going to call me on Friday – took my phone number and everything… so I waited and waited on Friday, no call.  I didn’t know if the vet was open on Saturday or not, so I decided to just head over and see if I could check on her.  As I approached, the place looked more like a zoo than a vet/pet hospital.  There were two crates of bulldog puppies outside in the courtyard.  There was a semi-stray (I don’t know who he belonged to) black and white dog checking out everything he could.  He even wandered into some of the exam rooms.  The funny thing was, so many people were coming and going, and she would put her paw on their legs so they’d pet her – and six people gave her a treat from the bowl on the counter.  She knew how to work her magic.  There were other dogs that were obviously not happy to be there, and some who had no idea what was going on.  One was having four teeth removed, one was getting a large thermometer shoved up you know where- lots of action at the vet.  As usual, I waited until I could survey the situation fully to see what exactly I should do- luckily the vet spotted me and called me in after a while.  I could hear her meowing while I was in the lobby- and she didn’t know I was there.  I don’t think Boo was happy.  She was there for three days, and the vet told me that her intestines were swollen.  I’m not sure why- after effect of the fall?  Who knows.  He said that she was on some antibiotics and that things should be fine.  I have been watching her eating – she still seems to struggle with swallowing a bit, but he said that dry food was the best – so I’m sticking with it.  She has been playing more than ever – thanks to some new toys sent from home, and she is very liberal with her use of the “meow”.  I suppose that means she is feeling better and wants attention.  She seems to be much more active in her jumping too – so I’ll have to make sure that anything harmful to her is cleared off any surface.  At any rate, she seems much better- so hopefully that will last.  

Ugh...

So I have experienced enough cultural differences in this week to last me a lifetime.  Sadly, that won't be the case since I'm only a month in...

As I stated before, my students found my blog, and I think they mostly liked looking at the pictures of themselves on the internet - who knows.  But, they were talking about it, and my colleagues were curious about it as well.  So I gave some of them the site, and three of them spoke with me yesterday about their feelings.  Two basically just said, keep names out - we understand, but keep names out.  The third one said that she was offended multiple times over.  I still don't really understand why, I guess when I think about it, I have mentioned their dress- but that's all I can recall... she was mad that I mentioned her husband and thought I was being ironic when I stated "Sweet Hungarians" at the end of an entry about them helping me.  I was not being ironic.  I think that, at least in my family, we have some issues getting the tone across in typed form- so yesterday I made the site private.  I know it's a hassle for all of you, and I apologize, but I don't want to ruffle any MORE feathers here if I can help it.  

I did set up a blog that will be specifically for school stuff for the kids to look at.  I will most likely post similar information (in addition to the other stories) on this site, but I didn't want to leave them in a lurch wondering why they couldn't access the site they could before.  SO- I told them today that I had already put too much info on the site and that blogger wanted me to start a new one - so I did.  Hmph... 9th grade naivete?  I'm thankful for it. 

Today at school - the teacher who was REALLY mad approached me and asked about the cat, so hopefully things are smoothing out a bit.  Speaking of - Boo is in the animal hospital.  I brought her in yesterday with a sheet of broken Hungarian saying things about "vomiting and diarrhea - not eating - not drinking" etc. etc.  The receptionist recognized me, and probably thought about why I was back so soon.  At any rate, one of the vets spoke perfect English.  So after an hour of Boo squirming in my arms, we were seen by this guy who studied in Ohio.  He said that she looked skinny and needed some fluids (duh) so he'd keep her until Friday and watch her.  I don't know if it's after effects of the fall or what, but hopefully she'll be back good as new when Friday rolls around. 

So- at any rate, I think things will settle down a bit with the blog stuff... I hope anyways.  In the meantime, I'll continue to read the blogs of the other teachers here on my program who can blog freely about their experiences.  Hmph.

sick kitten...

Well, I am convinced that Boo is very sick.  She threw up before I left on Saturday, and didn't eat hardly anything while I was gone.  She hasn't been drinking water, so I've been giving it to her through a straw.  She has had loose stools and won't play at all.  I thought she was getting better after I tried a third new food - a wet one, but she still had loose stool, and this morning peed on my bed as she was sitting there.  I've been doing a lot of reading on how to treat this, but the main thing that everyone says is that it is very serious and I should take her to the vet.  I'm not sure what to do, because I have only had her a week and a half... can I bring her back to the pet hospital and say = what the hell?!  You gave me a sick cat?  The language barrier is really not helping the situation.  Ugh.  I don't know what to do... wish me luck.

Hungarian or not?

I tried to exude exactly how Hungarian I am last week, and it failed miserably.  I wore my knee length boots to school with gauchos.  I thought for sure that if anyone could, I would be able to make it through the day in the boots – they have a heel that is only about 2 inches, so it shouldn’t be a big deal right?  After all, these Hungarians walk around in stilettos like their lives depend on them.  I have no idea how they do it, so I gave it a whirl.  What a mistake.  I was in pain after about the 4^th lesson- don’t forget the fact that I had to walk the mile home after school was done.  Yuk.  I got home, changed shoes, and headed to Tatabanya for a trip to the Intersparr (the grocery store).  I had been thinking the whole way there about how I didn’t have a 100 Forint coin to put in a cart once I got there, and they pretty much don’t let you in unless you have a cart – so I plotted a way to buy something for cheap and secure the coin that I needed.  There is a coffee shop in the Intersparr, so I thought if I got a cappuccino or something, that’d give me the change back that I needed.  Wrong again – it was more expensive than I had anticipated, so I got bills and some 20 Forint coins back.  Dang.  Now what?  I just headed over to the carts in hopes that someone there would be able to provide change for my 200 Ft bill.  Once I got close enough to the carts, I realized that they in fact took a 20 Forint coin, not a 100 Forint coin.  Defeat yet AGAIN!  I literally had spent the last 1.5 hours thinking of the cheapest way to get a 100 Ft coin, and I never needed it.  Man. 

Thankfully there is one part of me that is definitely NOT Hungarian – my hair.  While it isn’t necessarily a masterpiece, it’s not a Mohawk or worse yet, a faux-hawk.  I snapped this picture the other day on the bus – to try and illustrate just how awesome their hair really is.  Red hair dye is on sale at Tesco this week… maybe I’ll have to get some!

Race Day

We got up and had a nice breakfast – thanks to Hanna!  And off we went.  We got there plenty early, mostly because I’m insane and have to be relaxed before a race.  We watched the start of the Marathon, cheered on the “fun-runners” and then headed to our start.  We weren’t here to have fun –we were serious runners.  Ok, maybe not, but we had fun.  Our race was 7.5k, and that was plenty long for the running that I have been doing lately – I don’t think three times a week is enough to really be running anything too competitive.  We had many different people take our picture, and once the countdown began in Hungarian- and both of us joined in- we were off!!  The weather couldn’t have been more perfect – the sun seemed to come out as soon as we got to the starting line and it was about 55 degrees or so.  Absolutely perfect for running.  The race course was interesting, down Andrassy, then across Eotvos (the name of my school) and back up parallel to the train tracks and then through city park.  Besides the occasional cobblestone that is not really that great for running on, the course was fun!

Hanna rolled in with a smile on her face –as she should, it was her FIRST RACE!  I didn’t even think about that until right when she finished, but I am so proud of her.  This was no lowly 5k that we ran, it was 7.5k- that’s a distance!  I hope that we can continue running enough to do another fun race somewhere cool.  Prague, Vienna?  Who knows.  We celebrated by eating the goodies in the finisher’s bag, and with a trip to McDonalds’s.  We earned it!  Way to go Hanna!