Midweek in Pecs

When Monday is a holiday, the week goes by quickly. Suddenly it is Wednesday. I went to my Hungarian lesson and gradually it is all beginning to make sense. My goal is to write 20 sentences in Hungarian by the next lesson.

There are many, many cultural events coming up and I was determined not to miss out. In the midst of winter it was easy to go the evening of the event and get a ticket. Then I missed out on St. Patrick's Day because the concert was sold out and was determined not to let that happen again.

I found the right place to get tickets for the filiharmonic concert and then started out for the events at the Dominican House.  I started with that ticket office and learned that tickets are only sold there on the night of the event. I had to walk back to Szechenyi Ter. I went to the Cultural Capital office on the west side and was sent over to the east side. I went to the office that had a ticket sign on the window. No, I had to go next door. I went next door and was rewarded with a beautiful interior I'd never seen before, but no that wasn't the right place. Continue going next door. There a woman was in long negotiation with someone on the phone about what tickets to buy for an event and was occupying the clerk I stood and waited and then another woman came in and went right up to the desk for attention. So I decided Minnesota Nice was not going to work and it was time to use Central Europe pushy, I'm in line. I got my tickets. Three events for about $20.00 and no parking fees!

Went to meet with Agnes to organize lecture events for the next couple of weeks but I was early by about 30 minutes so decided to walk on along the promenade by the Basilica and sit on a park bench.

Then I noticed the cafe was open so decided to investigate it. I had wondered about this building all during the winter. Walked up the stairs to find a very lovely spot to sit in the spring air. I asked for a Coca-Cola light and the waiter said, "With ice?" Oh happy day, a Coke with ice. This definitely will not be the last time I go there.

The schedule for this month is intense, so that is one reason I tried to organize a bit of recreation, too. 
One lecture, put in my schedule at the last moment when I should instead be developing the second doctoral nursing class, is about the health reform effort in the United States. The professor is mystified about why there is opposition. It will be a challenge to explain that in a more professional manner than simply my personal opinion.

Came home to meet with my neighbor girl  for an English tutor session. She arrives with a bottle of pink Hungarian champagne and a plate of cakes from her Easter baking.

When the lesson was done, I e-mailed Thomas and Carol to see if they wanted to share in the champagne and headed out to eat a bit of dinner. Came back and found e-mail from them and we made plans to meet at 8 PM. Meanwhile I started to work on the health reform lecture when all of a sudden the Internet connection totally crashed. Nothing related to the wireless connection was on my computer. I started the the computer on a restore function and walked away with the Hungarian champagne. We had a great time, catching up on all we had done over the past two weeks with our various travels. Came home to find the internet would work again after I did the restore function.

Found a great campaign sign related to the upcoming Hungarian parliamentary election. In English, the slogan is something like "Now is the time." Seems in my opinion to relate to the health reform effort, too.