Fesztival Képei és Másik Képek

Some background information to go with the pics: The picture of my in the red t-shirt boogeying down is from the festival, grooving down to Kerekes Band with Séverine, Fabian, and Maja. These pics are courtesy of Maja. I stole them off of her facebook page.

Me in the black shirt - that's from Monday night dancing at the post "tánc ház" disco. We had folk-dancing lessons, that then turned into a great '80s music disco. Amazing! Only in Eastern Europe! I'm dancing next to Marta, from Poland, who is in my class at Debrecen.

Sitting in the chairs: I'm sitting next to Sarah Louise, graduate student in the French program at Columbia. We discovered after a week of hanging out here that we both went to Staples High School in Westport, CT. 5 years apart. But we had some of the same teachers, and hung out in the same small part of the Staples cafeteria. Amazing! A small world.

The "tánc ház" folk dance instruction included a great deal of "egy két ticky tak," which took me right back to that night of dancing Hungarian style in my kitchen, late into the night after the Hungarian class buli this spring. An experience that will stay with me forever!

The Most Famous Dancer in Debrecen

Apparently, I am now famous around the summer university for my dancing.

I went to a music festival last week on Thursday with some of my classmates and we saw this great band, "Kerekes Band." I am now totally smitten - I've never seen a group lay down an amazing groove, totally danceable, with hypnotic psychedelic overtones, using Hungarian folk-tunes as the lyrical and musical basis. The instrumentation is amazing - penny whistles, flutes, and recorders, lutes, a violin, bass and drums. And man they rocked!!! It was so great. I danced my butt off.

And of course one of my classmates recorded me on her camera, and then showed some other folks the next day. And now I'm the most famous dancer at Nyari Egyetem. I don't mind really, but it's a little strange.

Here is the link for Kerekes Band: www.kerekesband.hu/

My favorite thing about the site: their tag-line:

"The tunes preferred by 9 out of 10 betyars!"

Amazing!

Attila's Revenge

I came down with a bit of stomach bug yesterday. I'm a little bummed because I had to miss the end of the week "dance" and then the trip to Budapest and Kecsekemet this weekend. I basically stayed in my room most of the afternoon and evening yesterday and today. Among various other symptoms, I had the chills, cramps, and a fever - I had this strange experience of being really hot on a hot day and not sweating at all. And then when I took an advil, I would suddenly lose the fever and start sweating profusely. Needless to say I've been keeping myself well-hydrated.

Really, all I've wanted to do was sit around and read a good fantasy novel. Luckily I have one, thanks to the recommendation of Adam Schive. (Props to you!!!)

I'm feeling a little better, thanks to a prescription of Cipro that I was lucky enough to have recommended to me by the travel nurse at Harvard before I left.

I think it is because I have been drinking the water served at the cafeteria since I've come to Debrecen. I usually have been very careful about drinking only bottled water when I've been around these parts. But for some reason I thought perhaps the water they would serve here would be filtered for us "foreign guests" at the university. Unh unh. So, bottled water from now on!!!

Debrecen Reflections

I've been in Debrecen now for 4 days - finished my fourth day of classes at the Debrecen summer university intensive Hungarian course. It's been a very interesting experience, so far. Like so many experiences I've had traveling, I've been thrown together with a totally random bunch of people, with little to no rhyme or reason why we should all be here together, besides the purpose of learning Hungarian. And really, that isn't much of a binding force that should help us become a community. But what is interesting about this Debrecen summer university is the fact that there are repeat attendees here who make this feel a bit like coming to an actual university setting. They've been here several times, know the staff, know the city, can reflect on how bad the food is and how it has seemed to have gotten worse since last year. (A common topic of conversation).

I feel like I'm learning a lot in my classes. And it's a real pleasure to be studying with other people who are my level. It's just a pleasure to be studying with anyone, after 1.5 years of mostly doing my work alone. Hearing Hungarian spoken in a variety of European accents is fascinating - there are Italian, Polish, French, Swiss, German, and Belgian people in my class. Fascinating stuff. It feels very European - y'know, the "new" Europe where there is less local loyalty and everyone at least tries to make an effort to be functional in everyone else's language.

Yesterday and today, though, I've felt like I'm almost regressing in my ability to speak Hungarian, but I think that's because we've moved beyond the well-trod topics of "Why are you here?" "Who are you?" And "Why are you learning Hungarian?" I have an easily prepared answer to those questions, but to questions like, "Why do you think it is important for someone to be honest in their everyday life?" Well, that is another kind of question. I'm pushing the boundaries of my conversational abilities, and that is good, but of course challenging.

This weekend we're going to Budapest and the a village called Kecskemét for an excursion. There's a famous pálinka factory in Kecskemét and we'll stop there for the night, and for some pálinka tasting. That should be fun.

All is well!

More pics from Budapest

Me and Ági

Me and Ági at Gödör. A club in Pest. Later we went to a sörkert (beergarden) and ate some Rudi (??). I think István is supposed to know what that means, and its significance. I have pictures of the Rudi, too.

1st Day in Budapest

I promised to write more yesterday about my journey and arrival. Here goes:

I'm sitting at a kávéház on Bartok Béla út, down the street from the apartment that I'm staying at. It's blistering hot outside today. I walked around some this morning in the neighborhood - the other times I've been here, usually I've stayed over in Pest, so I haven't really gotten to see this area (Buda side of the river). But I couldn't walk too far - too hot. The sun felt almost like what I remember from Taiwan - so hot you run for the shade as soon as you can. Whoo. So I retreated back to the apartment, and ate some lunch and then took a nap.

Last night I had dinner with two of the folks who live in the apartment - Gergő and Csicsi. Gergő plays in a reggae band and is off to a festival in Slovakia this evening. Csicsi works at a store not too far from the apartment (a "Magazin," she said). They made a wonderful pasta and pesto dish, which we topped off with some excellent watermelon. Like so many folks I've met here, they were eager to chat about Hungarian grammar and linguistics, about which they both knew alot. Csicsi especially, since she has a Masters degree in teaching Hungarian. I met very briefly Istvan's friend Marci, who is my "official" host in the apartment. Except that Marci went off for an extended camping trip last night. I might see him again later in August. I hope so - Istvan has told me so much about him, I'd like to get to hang out with him more. I'm also eager to get in touch with some of the other folks I know here - Bogi, Gyuri, Ági, etc.

As for my trip and adventures in Zurich yesterday: I took a train from the airport into the city (only 10 minutes!!! - compared to the 90 minutes it takes to get from JFK into Manhattan). I walked for five minutes, following a route suggested by a tourist guide. I was at a scenic spot in the old downtown, when I overhead a woman explaining to a group of touristy-looking young people about the history of a church she was pointing to across the river. During a lull in her explanation, I asked her if she was from here and if she could repeat to me what she had been saying. It turns out she was from Zurich, and was showing a group of friends around her hometown, who were in town for a wedding. I ended up joining their group walking around Zurich, getting on a boat ferry, going out into the lake, and then having lunch with them until I had to get back on a train to the airport. It was a totally fun and utterly serendipitous little adventure. I met some wonderful people and had some interesting conversations - they all worked in the International Community sector - for the UN, the EU Commission on Human Rights, etc. A great way to start the trip - the gods are shining upon this journey at the start - way cool!

Arrival, all is well!

I have arrived safely and soundly in Budapest. Found my temporary lodgings without a problem. All is well. Had a wonderful short trip into Zurich during my layover there. I will write more later.

My Hungarian Class

I can't say enough good stuff about the folks in my Hungarian class at MIT. They made the spring semester a lot of fun. They made learning Hungarian a blast. I learned so much from them (and of course from Istvan and Olga, in particular). I'm so grateful. You guys will have a place to stay in Transylvania for as long as I'm there!

(From left: Mia, Istvan, me, Matyi, Amy)

Before and After

The Haircut

Breaking into Hysterics

I had one of those "language" moments last night that bring both pleasure, confusion, and amusement.

We were talking about the Hungarian translations of the astrological signs in class yesterday, and then continued the conversation during the going away party cook-out on Amy's porch. At that point, one of my classmates asked how to say, "What's your sign, baby?" Crucial information, of course. (This came right after Matyi introduced me to the word "csajozni" - literally translated as, "to go chick-ing.")

I volunteered the only word I knew for "sign/symbol" - "jel." As in "Mi a jeled." And reduced both my Hungarian teacher and his friend to absolute hysterics. I mean, they could not speak for, like, 5 minutes. He was holding his throat because it hurt too much from laughing. We all kind of sat around for a few moments, waiting for their laughter to subside.

Finally, he explained the, in kindergarten, when little kids aren't old enough to write their names, they are given a "jel." And so to ask, what is your "jel," is basically to ask this question of a woman at a club: "What was your sign in kindergarten?" The juxtaposition was apparently beyond hilarious.

Chalk another one down to amusing cultural/linguistic mistakes.