Alive and thriving in Hodmezovasarhely ...

Szia from back country Hungary! How best to describe this charming town and my first week on the last volunteer stint of this most incredible sabbatical year??? After a hectic first week, I am beyond exhausted ...... I just walked back from the Liszt Ferenc Middle School where I teach/help with English in grades, 4, 5, 6, and 8. In a few hours, Milt, Rick and I have a meeting at the town hall with employees wishing to practice their English and later this evening, we also teach a two hour adult English class ..... so am attempting to at least post something resembling a blog entry while I still have some energy reserves to draw from :) ..... at the risk of repetitive dialogue, I love Hungary!! (I know I say this about every single country I have been to!!) I adore Hodmezovarsarhely even more ...... it took me all week to get the pronunciation correct and even now, I still slip up. It helped to break it down into sections .... as many Hungarian words are strung together, a single word can actually be many words in one .... sounds somewhat "singsongy", like a poem and quite lovely ..... so, Hod means beaver ..... Mezo refers to meadow or plains and Varsarhely is market place ..... ie. Beavermeadowsmarketplace :) and pronounced "Hohdmezzovarshahheh" ... the trick is to say it as quickly as the locals!! There were many beavers here at one point but they have in recent years been moved to another village after the diversion of the Tisza River. For expediency, I will shorten the village name to "Varsarhely" as Milt, our local Global Volunteer host does .... Milt is from Sarasota, Florida ..... has been the Global Volunteer Hungary host for many years and behaves pretty much like a local and indeed has as many friends here as he does back home! We cannot walk fifty feet without someone greeting him like a long lost relative!! He is a total delight to be around ..... just a ball of energy and cheerfulness. He may be 73 years old, but you swear you are spending time around a goofy 25 year old ..... there is not a grumpy bone in his body .... he makes me laugh with such regularity that my tummy muscles are tightening up!!! ..... way more fun than situps :)!!! So, to backtrack to last week ........ Rick Kapka and I met up in Budapest on Friday to get to know each other a bit, shared family history etc. and counted our lucky stars that we both have spouses supportive of our independent natures ..... Rick's parents were both born in Hungary ..... Hungarian was spoken in his home throughout his childhood, hence he is fluent in the language (a big bonus for us!) ..... the theory is, that Hungarian, Estonian and Finnish people share many similarities and that thousands of years ago, we migrated to these European countries from a tribal region of Mongolia ..... so here we are comparing notes of this sort, in Budapest on a lovely spring evening enjoying a glass of local wine at a streetside cafe ..... what were the odds of a woman from Canada of Finnish heritage and a gent from Kansas of Hungarian descent, volunteering for the same two week period, to work in the wee village of Hodmezovarsarhely, in back country Hungary??!! ...... The synchronicity of life ...... ever interesting!! We did and still do wonder why there were only two of us here ..... where is this community of volunteers we had both expected?? ..... Perhaps the economy has stymied travel for many Americans ..... we are not sure, but after the initial disappointment, realized we now have an opportunity not available to a large group. We are both the sorts to see the glass as half full, squeeze the lemon and enjoy the contents :) On Saturday morning, Milt, driver Emerc and Rita, our municipal government host from Varsarhely picked Rick and I up from a prearranged spot at a Budapest train station .... It was a two and a half hour drive to Varsarhely and our home for the next two weeks .... I have simply been in a constant state of amazement at my good fortune in the people I meet! ...... it has become obvious that I must either be beyond easy to please or darn lucky ..... it doesn't matter where my feet tread, I am inundated with good people everywhere!!! I have stopped questioning and have adopted a thankful attitude for the many 'people blessings' in my life ..... this is a quick post as I need to shower and head for the meeting at the city hall, about a twenty minute walk from the little Hotel Fama that is my home for two weeks .... It is more of a B&B than a hotel .... a very warm, welcoming home ..... will get back to more stories and some pictures postings on the weekend hopefully .... Horray for some free time :) ..... Visohntlatasro ... love to all.