Chestnuts Roasting on the Open Fire

I got up about 7 AM and started working on a Powerpoint presentation for next week. Sometime later I looked out the window and was so disappointed when I saw snow again. I called up Europe radar and found there isn't warm air anyplace. Even the northern shore of Africa is only showing temperatures of about 45 degrees. This type of weather is not unusual for Minnesota, but the people of Pecs are really tired of winter. This is the week that the almond tree festival is held because usually the almond trees are blooming!

I went for my Hungarian lesson and then went to the Arkade to do some shopping associated with the Metropolitan State students coming tomorrow. One can always do a sidetrack however. I ended up buying a ring for a whole $5.00. I headed back to my flat to leave the groceries.

My next stop was at American Corner. The U.S. Embassy had staff there today and I wanted to know what will be done for us regarding the census. The answer -- nothing, the U.S. government is not going to count "expats." Well, I didn't think I was an expat. The Embassy officer didn't sound happy with this answer from Washington either. Somewhere in this conversation, I thanked him for his time. He told me I wasn't a typical American, because I was satisfied with getting information, rather than getting the answer that I wanted. I explained I had lived in Europe 15 out of the last 33 weeks, so perhaps I'm not a normal American!

At the corner I found some guys with a bad job today.

A couple of weeks ago, the workers were in shirt sleeves enjoying the spring weather as they worked.

I went to the hair salon and it turns out to be a wonderful experience. First, it is a lovely space, done in a modern, minimalist way. Someone helps you hang up your coat -- this is Hungary after all. Then I was seated and asked for what kind of beverage I would like. One young woman who spoke some English put the color on, I wondered how it would turn out for the process looked very different. Then I was turned over to another person to cut my hair. By then I could see the color and it was just fine. Translation for all this done by the young woman who acted as the receptionist. She explained to me she had lived in England for awhile and spoke excellent English.  She and the person cutting my hair starting a conversation in Hungarian and then stopped and apologized to me for that! I told them I had been in Europe enough not to be at all upset when I didn't know what was being said. I ended up with a hair cut that I really like, sort of what I've been trying to get my Minnesota hair dresser to do. I was trying to figure out how I could explain the need to get out the thinning shears, when the hair dresser got them out. She truly knows what she is doing. This was not inexpensive, cost about the same as in Minnesota, but worth every penny.

Came home and opened up the chestnuts. This seemed to be the day for this.

I can't quite decide if I like chestnuts this way. However, if one doesn't ever try something new, one doesn't know if the decision will be yes or no. Gesztenye is the Hungarian word for chestnut, not a brand name. I did, however, very much like a chestnut puree dessert we had in Parkany last Friday. That was exquisite.

For supper, I made gulyasleves for the first time, made from a mix, that's about all I can do with my two burner gas stove.

Making Plans

I started out the day stopping by the American Corner. We have spoken in the past about making some presentations at high schools, but much to my surprise, the topic will something about blogging. Hey! I must be an unusual Grandmother if I'm talking to high school students about that. In our conversation, I suggested talking, too, about a special kind of blogging when one uses Caring Bridge.

I went on to give a lecture to a group of nursing students. After the lecture I walked to Pecs Shuttle to see if we can swing by Kaposvar and pick up Fulbright professors there as part of our trip to Berlin. I was delighted that the woman there remembered me, that I had a reservation already, and that it made sense to her.

Then I walked back to the Cella Septichora to advise them that I will be bringing a group of American students there on Thursday. From there I went to the Tourist Information office and got maps for the American group. I found a hamburger for lunch and then went to the Elefant Haz and made reservations for dinner for the group.

Then I got brave and walked into a hair salon and made a reservation for tomorrow afternoon. The women there seem to know what they are doing. Oh well, hair can grow and one can always change the color! Watch for news tomorrow to see how this all worked out.

In some ways, I am utterly amazed at how easy this all was.

Day with Students

My university now has a group of students in Hungary. I met them  and the faculty with them Saturday at breakfast at their hostel. We traveled together on the Metro to meet the guide organized to work with the group and spent the day doing an overview of Budapest. We started out on the Pest side of Danube for a bit and then took the Metro over to the Opera and then up to Szechenyi Baths.

Here are the students overwhelmed at the decoration inside the lobby of the Szechenyi bathhouse. We viewed other things in the City Park and then went to Heros Square.
One of the students said to me, "At first I couldn't believe I was really coming on this trip. Now I can't believe I'm here."

We hopped the Metro again and then took a bus to finish the trip to Castle Hill.

There we found this fine view from the Fishermen's Bastion. We explored more of the Castle Hill area and then took the bus down the hill, took two trams (we made good  use of the Metro passes and never lost anyone!)and then arrived a the Market. By this point in my stay, shopping has lost its attraction -- it's become a task, not recreation. I took off to do some exploring on my own and then have a bit of a rest.

I joined the group again for a very nice, relaxed dinner. Looking forward to seeing the group in Pecs on Thursday.

Sunday morning -- finally a time of relaxation and moving slow. I took the train back to Pecs at 11:45, stopped for a great Sunday lunch, and then crashed at my flat.

Fulbright March Gathering

Thomas, Carol, and I boarded the 11:23 train in Pecs for the start of the March Fulbright gathering. In Domobvar, we were joined by Richard and Wendy. When we were about 20 minutes out of Budapest, the conductor came to our area of the car with a University of Pecs student who spoke excellent English. He explained there was "chaos at Keleti" and that the conductor advised that we get off at the Kelenfold station and take a bus into Budapest. We agreed and by the time we got to Kelenfold station, the announcement came that the train was officially terminating at that station. The student assisted with buying Metropasses and getting us on the right bus. It took us right to the Ter at which our hotel is located. Couldn't have been better.

On Thursday evening, Thomas, Carol and I took the Metro a couple of stations and met Harry and Tari. We had a lovely dinner together at the Gerlocsky Cafe. Each of us chose something diffferent and every entree was excellent as was the conversation.

On Friday morning we were out the door around 7:30 going to Batthyany Ter to meet up with the entire group and catch our private bus. This is a beautiful Ter. I enjoyed the flags waving in the breeze in front of the church spires.

We went first to Pazmany Peter University north of Budapest in the Piliscsaba Mountains. We met again with the university doctoral student who did the architecture lecture at our orientation. He first explained more about his dissertation which is the spatial and literature representations of 9/11 trauma. He described the books he is analyzing for his dissertation and also explained how the memorials to 9/11 fit into his analysis. I found it fascinating that someone outside of our country is so interested in this topic, but perhaps it must be someone outside of the US to bring this perspective to the events.

Then he went on to explain the architecture of the university, which is heavily influence by the work of Imre Makovecz, one of the leaders in organic architecture.

Above is the outside view of the building in which we gathered. Non-eculid geometry is another part of Makovecz's work.

At the left are some examples of his spaces at Pazmany Peter. We see the group geting organized for the presentation and then the ceiling of the room in better detail.

But is was the atrium area of this building that "knocked me out." I've never before seen anything like this in my life. Trees and then Greek columns all mixed up together.

This column is quite inventive. One can see if has a whole in one side. That opens into a winding stair to the upper levels of the building.

Another buildings in the university complex are re-purposed Soviet Army barracks. I tried to take a photo to show that anything that is white is part of the old barracks building and anything gray is new space added into the buildings.

There still remains one old Soviet building on the campus. Someday when there in enough money, this builiding will be taken down and University library built in its place.

This was a truly fascinating visit. We then drove about 45 minutes and crossed over the Maria Valeria bridge into the town of Parkany/Sturova in Slovakia. This appears to be quite a new town when looking at the present buildings, but in fact goes back to the days of the Romans. This town has a huge population of ethnic Hungarians, and all the signs are in both languages. However, it is Slovakia. I ducked into a bank and got Euros out of the ATM to start my stash towards the funds I'll need for the Berlin trip in a couple of weeks.

We also had lunch here in a restaurant called Casablanca. How's that for a Central European name?

My meal began with  fruit soup. Yum!

The main entree was pork roast and saurkraut with a steamed bread. This bread was very unusual, but very good for soaking up the meat juices.

One of the reasons one comes to Parkany is to get the best view across the river of the Eszetergom Basilica.

We went back across the river to see the church. It is magnificent.

The church also includes a 15 century funeral chapel. This was saved from earlier versions of the church, dismantled and then built into the side of the present church. It has beautiful marbles of several different colors.

We headed back to Budapest after this visit. Everyone else had dinner plans so I relaxed a bit and then had dinner at Burger King!

Zsolany Day

Recently I wrote about an art exhibit from the four-generation Zsolany family. On my way to work I walk past a monument to one of the members. At the Arkade there is also a temporary exhibit of porcelein from the present Zsolany factory.

Above are some photos that show the variety and beauty of the work.

Zsolany is also famous for producing porcelein that looks like metal. It is called eosin. The new eosin has a bit of different color than the old eosin, as made before WWII. I like the old better.

There is also a faux park as part of the exhibit to show the outdoor work of Zsolany.

Before going to the Arkade I stopped for lunch at the Crystal. On the placard outside I could read the Hungarian words for potatoes and chicken, but I wasn't sure what it would turn out to be. Looking at this might make you think I dropped into the United States for lunch. The salad may be the give-away. It is celeric and this vegetable is not seen very often in the States.

Off to Budapest tomorrow. It will be a few days before I will catch up with the blog. It will be some very interesting days. Hope the snow has melted there.

Getting a Bit Back on Track

I have recovered Photoshop and so can work with photos again to make the blog a bit more interesting. I'm starting with food.

In my flat I have a two burner stove, no oven, no microwave (yes, Hungarian kitchens do have microwaves, but since this flat is usually rented for just a few nights, no microwave here. When the weather gets warmer, I'll put the blender to good use though making summer drinks.) With limited cooking facilities, I have to get creative. I cooked the chicken and then cut it up into small pieces. I've put together a sort of stir fry with potatoes, red pepper, and chicken pieces.

This particular meal also had carrots. It is satisfying to think I can come up with something not too bad, and it's all from farmers' gardens/fields in Hungary, too, as the food all came from the market.

I've begun to think Hungarians really like dessert. I find all sorts of prepared things in the supermarket. Don't recall seeing similar things in other places, but perhaps I simply didn't shop enough. The pictured dessert is quite special. It is small sponge cakes that are soaked in flavoring or liquors. Then whipped cream and chocolate is used to fill the spaces between the cakes. I've had this in restaurants, too. It is more than yummy.

Work continues on the renovation of Szechenyi Ter. As the above picture shows there is still plenty of work to do.

Yesterday I had time to duck into a museum to see an exhibit of the work of the four-generation Zsolany family. I got in for free because the young woman at the desk handed me back my money and said, "You must be a senior. You get in for free."

The work includes paintings. Florals and portraits seemed to be a great favorite of all generations. I particlarly liked one that seemed to be a river scene with barges. It made me think perhaps of the Danube at Mochas. And obviously it made me think of the Mississippi, too.

One branch of the family ended up in the United States and did a lot of workwith statues and commerative plaques in the southern states. The above is a photo of a monument done in honoring of opening the west. This monument is in St. Louis.

Today I walked over to Immigration and got my official residence permit. This form is glued into my passport, so I don't have to worry about losing a piece of paper. Glad to have this done.

So that's what has been happening in Pecs. Now I have to roll up my sleeves and see what I can do to restore my Microsoft Office suite. I'm supposed to have a Powerpoint ready for Monday. I tried to do this on the office computer, but I simply can't do Powerpoint with Hungarian menus! Tried to see what is available in MediaMart at the Arkade, but everything there would yield Hungarian menus, too. That simply won't work!

Update: I have my Microsoft Office suite back. On the first Global Volunteers trip, the team leader helped us learn the difference between a problem and an inconvenience. I have never forgot that lesson. What happened was an inconvenience. Real problems can't be solved, or at least not solved easily, with a bit of time and money!

Just another tale of life

Made a big mistake. I was having problems with my computer in the flat. I decided some junk had gotten on to it, so decided to cure that problem and get rid of unwanted software by using the Restore Feature. Well, I restored back to factory status. Bad mistake. Microsoft Office is all there, but it wants the key number or will stop working. Obviously, that number is on a piece of paper somewhere in Minnesota. So I am going to see what I need to do to add a new version of Office. I also had to do Photoshop over again, too. Four months is too long to wait without either of these sets of software. So the blog may be without pictures for awhile. Hindsight is 20-20. I should have chosen a date such as early January.