We're pretty much completely set up and official now. We are the proud owners of the following: health insurance cards, residence permits, a bank account at the terrifyingly named German bank Raiffeisen, monthly bus basses, tax cards, bicycles, wireless internet, a coffee machine, a microwave, new beds, new wardrobes, and a teacher travel discount card. We feel settled and happy, things are becoming routine, and we're even trying to pick up more of the language. All in all, we are adjusting quite well, I think.
Our incomparable contact teacher, Gotti, has a fantastic little Irish Terrier named Füge (fig). He may be the only one in Hungary, and he is the star of many a dog show here. Burke and I were fortunate enough to attend one two weeks ago in Deszk, a small village near Szeged, with Jon Clark. Some of the Hungarian breeds that we saw there are amazing--enormous, dreadlocked, like nothing I've ever seen at home. No standard issue Labradors for this country. Jon also introduced us to our first Hungarian friend, Peter. Peter is awesome and is really good at English--much to the chagrin of his British-English language tutor, he has been picking up American slang from us left and right. Peter introduced us to another friend, Kornél, who runs a restaurant in Sándorfalva, one of the villages in which we teach. Both of them have been wonderful and we're so happy to have met them! Also, they read this blog! So they win. Thanks, guys!
The first weekend in October, we endured a five-hour bus ride to visit a beautiful town called Eger in northern Hungary.We met up with Jake and Jamie, friends from CETP, to do a little sightseeing and a lot of wine drinking. (Check out Jake's blog!) We stayed at the lovely, highly recommended Afrodite Apartments in Dobo utca, right next to the castle. We toured around, braving death to climb up the incredibly unsafe, lawsuit-waiting-to-happen-except-this-is-Hungary-so-it-won't Minaret; investigating the remnants of the Turkish siege at the Eger castle, checking out the beautiful churches, and enjoying the medieval feel of the place. On Saturday night, we ventured out of town into the Valley of Beautiful Women--200 wine cellars carved into the side of hills creating a cave-like atmosphere in each one. For about 70 cents, you can get a full glass of wine and then check out the cave/cellar next door. Incredible. On Sunday morning, we visited to Lyceum, home to the camera obscura, which projects an amazing panoramic of Eger onto a table using an 18th century device kind of like a periscope. Eger is certainly worth the trip, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking the bus...
Last weekend we went back up to Budapest to see my Uncle Marty and his friend Vasee, who came into town from Germany, where they were working during the week. We led them on an exhaustive tour of the city, doing everything we had already done plus a few additions: exploring Hero's Square, climbing up Gellért Hill, and seeing the city from the top of the Szent Istvan dome. We had a bit of unpleasant weather on Sunday morning, but the day turned out to be amazing by the time we reached the Gellért summit. It was so wonderful to see a member of a family, I can't even explain. I may or may not have cried. Okay, I cried. We also caught up with some fellow CETP teachers at the Pálinka & Kolbasz Fesztivál at the castle. Pálinka is pretty delicious, actually...my favorite flavor is pear with honey. Mmm. Warms you right up.
So those are maybe the highlights from the last month or so. The weather is starting to turn very cold here, the leaves are starting to fall...winter is approaching. Burke and I are looking forward to our October break, which begins on the 22nd, because we are heading on an epic tour of Slovenia and Croatia. All we have to do is get through the next week of teaching and we're set.
Our incomparable contact teacher, Gotti, has a fantastic little Irish Terrier named Füge (fig). He may be the only one in Hungary, and he is the star of many a dog show here. Burke and I were fortunate enough to attend one two weeks ago in Deszk, a small village near Szeged, with Jon Clark. Some of the Hungarian breeds that we saw there are amazing--enormous, dreadlocked, like nothing I've ever seen at home. No standard issue Labradors for this country. Jon also introduced us to our first Hungarian friend, Peter. Peter is awesome and is really good at English--much to the chagrin of his British-English language tutor, he has been picking up American slang from us left and right. Peter introduced us to another friend, Kornél, who runs a restaurant in Sándorfalva, one of the villages in which we teach. Both of them have been wonderful and we're so happy to have met them! Also, they read this blog! So they win. Thanks, guys!
The first weekend in October, we endured a five-hour bus ride to visit a beautiful town called Eger in northern Hungary.We met up with Jake and Jamie, friends from CETP, to do a little sightseeing and a lot of wine drinking. (Check out Jake's blog!) We stayed at the lovely, highly recommended Afrodite Apartments in Dobo utca, right next to the castle. We toured around, braving death to climb up the incredibly unsafe, lawsuit-waiting-to-happen-except-this-is-Hungary-so-it-won't Minaret; investigating the remnants of the Turkish siege at the Eger castle, checking out the beautiful churches, and enjoying the medieval feel of the place. On Saturday night, we ventured out of town into the Valley of Beautiful Women--200 wine cellars carved into the side of hills creating a cave-like atmosphere in each one. For about 70 cents, you can get a full glass of wine and then check out the cave/cellar next door. Incredible. On Sunday morning, we visited to Lyceum, home to the camera obscura, which projects an amazing panoramic of Eger onto a table using an 18th century device kind of like a periscope. Eger is certainly worth the trip, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking the bus...
Last weekend we went back up to Budapest to see my Uncle Marty and his friend Vasee, who came into town from Germany, where they were working during the week. We led them on an exhaustive tour of the city, doing everything we had already done plus a few additions: exploring Hero's Square, climbing up Gellért Hill, and seeing the city from the top of the Szent Istvan dome. We had a bit of unpleasant weather on Sunday morning, but the day turned out to be amazing by the time we reached the Gellért summit. It was so wonderful to see a member of a family, I can't even explain. I may or may not have cried. Okay, I cried. We also caught up with some fellow CETP teachers at the Pálinka & Kolbasz Fesztivál at the castle. Pálinka is pretty delicious, actually...my favorite flavor is pear with honey. Mmm. Warms you right up.
So those are maybe the highlights from the last month or so. The weather is starting to turn very cold here, the leaves are starting to fall...winter is approaching. Burke and I are looking forward to our October break, which begins on the 22nd, because we are heading on an epic tour of Slovenia and Croatia. All we have to do is get through the next week of teaching and we're set.
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