Learning and Exploring

This blog begins with some helpful pictures for the students from Minnesota who will soon be visiting Hungary.

Water is Europe usually comes plain, stille as the Germans call it, or sparkling, gazowana as the Poles call it. In Hungary one doesn't have to learn difficult words to make the choice. Plain water comes with pink tops and sparkling water comes with blue tops. In most countries I drink the plain version, but I really like the Hungarian sparkling water. It doesn't seem to have quite the bite that some gas waters do, and it very refreshing.

After drinking there becomes the inevitable stop. Men in Hungary should look for the sign that says Ferfi, and women look for a sign that says either No or Noi. There you have it, all the necessities of life.

Now to the learning and exploring. Yesterday one of the Hungarian professors drove me to the Immigration Office. Her schedule allowed her to pick me up at 11:00.  We got there at 11:08 only to find the office closed at 11:00. Later in the day I e-mailed the Fulbright project officer in Budapest to tell her the sign said non-EU people could be seen only Monday afternoon or Thursday morning. About an hour later she called back to say the office would see me, this morning Friday. That didn't work, however, for just this one Friday I had a special lecture to give for MS students in nursing. So Monday, I'll take the paperwork over to the office when it opens at 14:00. Again the day is usually complicated, for just that one Monday only I have a lecture to give at 16:30. I'm hoping I can leave the paperwork for review and come back another day to pick up the resident permit.

Walking back from this disappointing morning, I took a new route. This took me by the Jakovali Hazzan Mosque. This is reputed to be the best preserved mosque and minaret from the Ottoman Rule between 1526-1686. Not only is this preserved, but it still is open for services upon occasion.

I've been visiting restaurants, trying to decide which would be the best choice for the Minnesota students when they come here on a daytrip. My landlady urged me to try one near the flat, right next to the National Theatre. I went there for breakfast yesterday. Fine, fine food! Notice the homemade bread and then the butter served in its own little dish. Where's the silverware? Out of sight on the left on its own little plate. In Hungary an omelette is made from eggs! This is unlike Poland where I got into trouble telling the students we didn't have an omleette for breakfast, only to discover that a crepe like pancake filled with jam is called an omelette!

Here is a picture of the restaurant interior. It is in fact typical. Many restaurants here have very modern interiors. I may be in trouble. This restaurant is close by and the food is wonderful. I will just be "forced" to stop there many times.  I'm anxious now to see what it will all look like too when restaurants like this open their sidewalk serving areas.

This morning was a wonderful spring morning. The sun was shining and it was very clear. I could see the TV antenna up in the Mescek Hills for the first time in about a week.

After the class was done I went wandering. The first thing I found was this monument which would be dear to any Minnesotan. It shows the weather data. The first day I was here, a professor walked me about and  urged me to follow all the lanes into courtyards. Today was warm enough that doing so seemed like fun. I'm glad I have a long stay here, for it will take me awhile to explore all the little areas like this in Pecs.

And I'm close this entry with the most charming scene I've ever seen in Europe anywhere. Here are preschool children, ages 4-5 is my guess, being served a beverage outside a restaurant. I tried to give them their privacy. I couldn't decide if it was apple juice or tea from my distant view, but what amazed me is that they all had real glass glasses! This is how Hungarian culture becomes so elegant -- children are taught it from the very beginning. They were well behaved, not running around, just enjoying a break on what was probably a field trip of some sort. This picture should easily demonstrate why I like exploring the nooks and crannies of Pecs.