Adventures in Targu Mures

The weather is not cooperating. It is very cool and rainy, but not just here, but all over Central Europe, so it doesn't matter where I am. Being here is a new experience and that's a good way to deal with ugly weather.

Yesterday and today I walked to the University of Medicine and Pharmacy to teach the courses to Ms. M. The University area is absolutely beautiful.

Here is the facade of the main building.

However before one gets here there is more beauty. This university was started quite soon after World War 2. If I understand correctly, part of the beauty is due to the fact that it has botanic students. There is a special botanic garden behind the University buildings. The inside of the buildings are very attractive, too.

While being escorted around today we ducked into the dental building, too, and I found this view. Chairs are empty because this is the "exam" time, a special feature of the way higher education is done in Europe --often hard to understand if one is part of the U.S. higher education system.

I'm done with the teaching and so glad I came. Ms. M is a highly talented professional. I'm so very glad I could help her get a couple steps closer to her PhD. This strikes me as one of those experiences in which one gets much more than what one gives. I'm not certain which one of us has learned the most in the past few days.

After lunch I took a bit of a nap and then went for walk to take some of the above pictures.

Further down the street I found the Student Center.

Across the street from this building is a small park with a monument to those who protested and fought against Communism.

Here too is a view of houses in the area. If you all still think Central Europe is gray and drab, here is another photo to change that perception.

I went into a grocery store to explore and purchase a few things. The biggest surprise I had is how eggs are sold. In Hungary they come in two different ways. In a supermarket one finds them in a carton. In the smaller markets one is expected to bring a container of some sort for the eggs, and hence it is a good idea to save the egg cartons from the supermarket!

One thing I found is packets for making salad dressing. Now I'll have to get someone to help me read the Romanian directions. These are not available in Hungary so I'm glad to have them for salads for the next coming weeks. Hopefully the weather will change soon and we'll be back to spring and summer when salads will taste good.