Irises

Today is Mother's Day in Hungary, so I am posting some pictures I snapped of one of my mom's favorite flowers - the iris. Right now they are in full bloom here and nearly every yard has some.



I remember learning what an iris looked like when I was a little kid because they were on all the Puffs tissue boxes.



My mom told me what they were called and that they were one of her favorite flowers.

Because we had pictures (on tissue boxes) of this flower all over the house, the iris was one of the first flowers I learned to recognize and one of the first favorites of my mother's I remembered.

My dad and I tried grow some in the back yard, but the squirrels would always dig up most of the bulbs before they ever bloomed.

(Hungary does not have squirrels.)



To this day, whenever I see this flower I think of my mom...



... and squirrels and Puffs tissues.

Boldog Anyák Napját Kívánok!

Happy Mother's Day!

Dinner in Dóc: The Height of Hungarian Hospitality

Twenty-five kilometers outside of Szeged lies a tiny little village called Dóc (pronounced "dotes"). With a population around 800, its "city center" is a traffic circle and a bus stop.

downtown Dóc

Jon and I were invited to visit Dóc by high school freshman Norby Rostás. Norby attends the high school in Szeged where Jon teaches, though he is not actually in any of Jon's classes. Norby met Jon when he and some other classmates interviewed him for their English class. A few months later he invited Jon and I to dinner.

the guys check on the lamb stew

I had never met Norby until that afternoon. He speaks English pretty well, but was very shy at first. We met him and two of his friends in Szeged and rode the bus together to Dóc. When we arrived at his house we first met his father and his godfather (who is also his uncle). They were cooking bárány pörkölt ("lamb stew") in a bogrács (a traditional Hungarian cauldron). Shortly after we met his mother, his godmother (also his aunt), his younger sister Letícia, and his little cousin Martin.

notice my huge plate of veggies on the left

The meal was enormous: lamb stew, fish soup, breaded mangalica pork, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried fish, a plate of various pickled treats, plus fried eggs and a special plate of veggies just for me. For dessert we had coffee and palacsinták (Hungarian crêpes) with jam and cocoa.

I had never seen black tulips before

Jon and I realized that we make a great team for pleasing Hungarian hosts. Jon eats, and I talk. Since I do not eat meat (Hungarian cuisine is very much centered around meat), I save face by speaking in Hungarian. Since Jon doesn't speak Hungarian, he pays the host(ess) the ultimate compliment of eating and eating and eating. It worked quite well in Dóc.

looking for fish in the backyard pond

After dinner we walked "across town" (maybe 4 blocks?) to Norby's godparents' house. There we saw his godfather's garage where he works on cars and sat for a few minutes before heading across the street to Norby's grandparents house.

Norby's cousin Martin strikes a pose in his mom's arms

At the grandparents house we sat down to coffee and two different kinds of pastries. It was hard to believe that just a few hours before I had never met any of these people. By this point we were all more relaxed and having fun sharing stories. Both Norby and I got some good language practice translating for each other. Norby's grandma even got out the photo albums so Jon and I could share in their family history through pictures. Norby's grandparents used to run a little convenience shop out of their home. We saw pictures of everyone when they were babies, various bad hair cuts and fashion mishaps, and some wedding pictures too.

Norby and his grandfather

In the front room of his grandparent's house Norby has a little museum of antiques he's collected, so he gave us a tour. The feeling of the whole visit was so intimate, and I was just amazed at how quickly I felt like part of the family. Before we knew it Jon and I were walking to catch the last bus to Szeged. They insisted on paying our bus fare both ways and told us that we had to spend the night next time. (They had invited us to stay the night that night as well, but Jon and I had to travel to Budapest the next morning.) I am already looking forward to our next family dinner in Dóc.

Easter Eggs 2009

Without any PAAS Easter Egg Dye kits in sight, it was a good time to try something new. Thankfully Briggi came to Kalocsa on Easter Sunday and taught Jon and I some new techniques for dying eggs.

First we used needles to puncture holes in either end of the eggs and blew out the contents, which were saved and eaten later.

Then Briggi and I went on a little nature walk around Kalocsa and returned with all kinds of leaves and flowers.



We wrapped the eggs in strips of nylon to hold the leaves and flowers in place. Once the eggs were wrapped, we put them in a stew of onion skins we had prepared while cleaning out the shells.



After a few hours we took them out and hung them up to dry. Another few hours and they were ready to unwrap, rinse, and string!

April Fool's "Bikini"

Kalocsa got me good this past April Fool's Day.

Well, okay, the event I'm about to describe was not directly related to me or April Fool's Day, but if I am ever in the position to have an 80's Hungarian rock group play outside someone's window, I'll probably schedule it on April 1st.

Hungarian rock group Bikini plays outside my window

I live across the street from the local radio station, Korona Rádió FM 100, and on April 1, 2009, they celebrated their 10th birthday. All day there were contests, giveaways, and bands playing on a huge stage right outside my living room. The headliners were a Hungarian band called "Bikini." I think they got started around 9 pm.

I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere that night. This was the crowd outside!

It was loud. Wow, was it loud. After a few crabby hours in earplugs, I eventually gave in and opened my window.

view of the stage and crowd from my living room window

I realized it was silly to be such an old grump about the whole thing. It certainly was a unique experience.

Mangalica Festival 2009

Frosty and De-frosty

Field Trip: Budapest (December 18)

Just before winter break I went on an outing with my school to Budapest. The students were a mixed group of 5th through 8th graders. We took a bus from Kalocsa, which took us about 2.5 hours, and spent the whole day in the city. It was a cold, rainy day, but we still managed to have a blast.

First Stop: The Budapest Zoo

After the long bus ride, the kids were anxious to be let loose. The zoo seemed like an appropriate habitat.

Nothing like a wet camel on a rainy day.

I thought it was amazing how much you could interact with the animals. Of course there was a petting zoo area as well, but in general the animals were very accessible, even the dangerous ones.

Yes, those are stingrays in a shallow, uncovered tank.

I acted as a pseudo-chaperone/psuedo-student. Technically I counted as an adult, but wasn't given any real responsibilities. I ended up keeping tabs on a few older girls who loved the polar bears. Even though they were hard to see through the rainy glass, they kept us pretty entertained.

the polar bear channel

Next Stop: The Palace of Wonders


inside the "Palace of Wonders" science museum

The Csodák Palotája ("The Palace of Wonders") is a hands-on science museum. After a few hours at the zoo in the chilly rain, it was a nice change to be inside.

Last Stop: The Parliament Christmas Market

Since it was just before Christmas, the Christmas markets were in full force all over town. We had intended to spend a bit of time at the larger market in Vörösmarty tér, but stopped by the Parliament Christmas market instead.

Christmas market with Hungarian Parliament in the background

The big attraction here was the Mikulásház (roughly "Santa's House"). This was unlike any "Santa's House" I'd ever seen.

Mikulásház

At the entrance was a man dressed in black with devil horns. The structure itself was quite elaborate with many different rooms. In the first room we were greeted by two women dressed in black with devil horns and long capes. These were the Krampusz. In order to see Santa, you had to recite a poem, or sing a song for the Krampusz.

a young boy stands on a box to recite a poem for the Krampusz

Now, when I lived in Salzburg, the Krampus looked a bit more terrifying. These guys would roam the streets with whips and then hand out candy to the children. I had a bruise on my thigh for weeks after getting whipped by one of these scary monsters!

an Austrian krampus

After enough poems and songs, the Krampusz let the next big group in to see Santa. Here he told stories, everyone sang songs, pictures were taken and candy was handed to every child.

Mikulás ("Santa")

We stayed quite a bit longer than planned, but the children seemed to really enjoy themselves. There was actually one more stop after the Christmas market - McDonalds! No class trip in Hungary is complete without a trip to Meki ("McDonalds"). There isn't one in Kalocsa, so the kids got really excited for Happy Meals.