Fall Break 2008: Máréfalva, Romania (Oct. 23)

A typical Székely gate

In the small village of Máréfalva (Satu Mare) nearly every entrance is marked by a large wooden gate. These traditional Székely Gates are the first to be constructed, even before the house is built, and are a unique feature of the Székely region. They are typically carved and painted with flower motifs as well as other traditional symbols. Though they exist in other Hungarian communities, they are the most elaborate and abundant in Székely regions in Romania.

The top is shingled and hollow with openings to house spirits to bless those who enter. The traditional inscription on this gate reads:

"ISTEN HOZOTT ~ HA MÉSZ ~ ISTEN LEGYEN VELED."
[God has brought you. If you leave, may God be with you.]

Fall Break 2008: Zetelaka, Romania (Oct. 22-24)

A short note about our favorite hosts in Romania...

Imre and Anikó

Our second and third nights in Romania were spent in the town of Zetelaka (Zetea) with Imre and Anikó. When we first arrived they dressed in traditional costumes and greeted our whole group with pálinka, a special kind of Hungarian/Transylvanian brandy. Afterwards the group split off to different families in town, but Hajni, Margie, Hanna, Jon and I stayed with Imre and Anikó. With as much traveling as we did during the day, it was nice to come back to the same place two nights in a row. The food was delicious and their hospitality felt like we were staying with old friends. They shared pictures of their grandchildren and we marveled at the huge trophy Anikó had taken home from a cooking competition. If and when I return to Romania, I will be sure to stop in Zetelaka to see them again.

Fall Break 2008: Segesvár, Romania (Oct. 22)

Segesvár (Sighişoara) is a medieval fortified city. It is amazingly well-preserved and absolutely beautiful.

The landmark clock tower was built in 1360 and stands tall atop the entrance to the citadel.

Segesvár is the only fortified city in Romania that is still inhabited.

It is also the birthplace of Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia,
a.k.a Vlad Ţepeș ["Vlad the Impaler"],
a.k.a Drăculea ["Dracula"].



A covered staircase within the citadel leads to an even more fortified portion of the city where a school, church, and cemetery are located.

covered staircase entrance


looking down from the top of the staircase


view from the top of the hill


Some pictures from the cemetery...

Fall Break 2008: Marosvásárhely, Romania (Oct. 22)

A morning in Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş)...

Cultural Palace

ceiling in the lobby of the Cultural Palace




Prefecture of Mureş County

Avram Iancu statue

Orthodox Church

Fall Break 2008: Torocko, Romania (Oct. 21-22)

We spent our first night in Romania in Torocko (Rimetea). Throughout the trip we stayed with host families, which meant that every day we had homemade food for dinner and breakfast. Thankfully my request to not be served meat did not result in angry hosts or monotonous eating. Everyone raved about the food and a popular conversation topic on the bus was, "What did YOU eat for dinner last night?"

view from my room

9:00 AM rush hour in downtown Torocko

The significance of the chairs...

Wednesday morning we visited the history museum in town, which had many artifacts and lots of information about the local culture. These chairs carried important information for any visitor based on how they were arranged. The two chairs are almost identical except for the orientation of the top detail: there is a rounded end and a pointed end (the right one is broken) and each points in a different direction.

If the rounded ends were facing each other, this meant that the house was at peace and guests were welcome to stay and socialize. If the pointed ends were facing each other, a quarrel was taking place between the husband and wife and visitors should be advised that a short visit is in order.

Lottery Shot

I invented a little game on the bus called "Lottery Shot." I would point my camera out the window, take a series of pictures and see if I caught anything worth keeping. Riding in a big van over very bumpy roads meant it was truly a surprise to see what I captured. This is the winner for the series taken while leaving Torocko.

Fall Break 2008: Bánffyhunyad, Romania (Oct. 21)

We left Budapest bright and early Tuesday morning to start our journey to Romania. The six-day tour through Northern Transylvania was organized by Hajni, the Hungarian director of CETP. Marika, our Romanian guide, translated tour information into Hungarian and then Hajni translated it into English.

There were twenty of us packed in this little "aqua van" including our driver, Attila. Almost everyone on the trip was a CETP teacher and despite the long hours of traveling in close quarters, the trip provided a nice opportunity to connect with other teachers, some of whom had not been at our initial orientation.

Our first real stop in Romania was Bánffyhunyad (Huedin).

*A note for those looking for this and future cities on a map: I will list the Hungarian name first followed by the Romanian name in parenthesis.*

This Protestant church was built in the 13th century.

The walls are decorated with traditional Székely (enthic Hungarian) embroidery and the paintings on the ceiling depict both Christian and pagan imagery.

Services are still held in the church and the minister shared details about its history. He even offered to let someone play the organ.



I'm no organist, but since no one else volunteered, I figured it was a unique opportunity to try out a little Bach on this beast.



While I truly enjoyed pulling out all the stops,
I think I'll stick with playing piano. :)

Fall Break 2008: Szeged, Hungary (Oct. 18-20)

As if living in Europe was not adventure enough, Jon and I took a fabulous vacation during our fall break from school. In two weeks, we visited over twenty different cities, primarily in Romania, but also Hungary and Austria. The whole trip was an incredible experience and it began with a weekend in Szeged.

I snapped a few pictures around Jon's neighborhood...

Then it was pumpkin carving time!
This was the first time I ever carved a pumpkin...

... and then ate him.

Not only did we roast the seeds, but as soon as we took a picture of it, we cut it up, baked it, and then Jon made a great pumpkin soup.
(I helped make the gnocchi.)

For dessert we tried to make caramel apples.

Technically they were a failure because the end result was a hard, toffee-like candy coating, but with butter, sugar and apples, can you really fail? A bit hard on the teeth, but still quite tasty.

Our last stop in Szeged before we headed to the train station was the post office to mail our absentee ballots. This was actually my second time voting for president from abroad. In 2004, I was living in Salzburg during the general election. It is an interesting experience to watch the election take place from another country. This time around I had my own computer with internet, which made staying informed much easier. I must say that I was pretty homesick when I saw footage of the Obama rally in Chicago. I sure would have loved to have been there in person for such a historic event!