The cat person and some homeless Hungarian dogs

Yeah, I am a cat person.  I have an old photo of me when I was about 2 years old and draped in my arms is this huge cat and I am wearing a smile from ear to ear.  We never had dogs when I was a kid, only cats (I guess that I come from a long line of feline fanciers.)  The only time I had ever walked a dog was about 25 years ago when Jack and I babysat his parents' poodle.

Well, here in Hungary dogs are plentiful, but the number of cats I have seen can be counted on one hand.  I was going through animal withdraw!!

So, I did some research and found out that there is an animal shelter not too far from our school in the burb where we are living.  I sent and e-mail of inquiry and much to my surprise got a response in english along with an application form.  I filled it out, sent it via Hungarian snail mail and was notified that I could start the "work".  So last week I walked over after school and found the shelter and what a shelter it is.  It backs up to a large wooded area and has several structures strung along this path.  As I walked along I spotted a chicken shelter with some "fancy" chicken strutting around, an area with goats, a pen holding a ferret and then the dogs' buildings.  They are build it a circular formation with little pie wedge shaped pens which house three dogs each.  The advantage is that the dogs can see out through the bars because they are at the wide end of the wedge.  Of course when they saw me  I received a loud doggy welcome.

I found a sign which looked like it said something like "administration".  Sometimes Hungarian words look similar to English but usually there is no way to figure out a word.  They have lots more vowels than we do and some of them have accent marks.  The thing that makes a lot of sense to me about their language is that each vowel always sounds the same no matter the position in the word, (what a concept, huh?)  So I entered that building and found an office with several chairs and two women behind the counter.  I asked if either of them spoke English and the one at the computer responded and said that she recognized me from the passport photo that I had included with my application.  She asked if I would like to start.  I responded that I would and that I had lots of experience in cat shelters.  "We don't have any cats here, " she responded. " Would you like to walk a dog?"

I agreed but told her that I could only handle a small to medium sized dog.  They handed me a leash and lead me out to the round dog areas to a cocophany of barking.  They must have seen the lease and everyone wanted to go for a walk.  I was introduced to the fortunate pup.  I asked, Nav? which means name and patted the yellow mixed bread doggie.  As soon as she was clipped she took off, pulling like crazy on the lease.  How can a dog that weighs probably 35 pounds pull so hard that I almost went airborne??  She obviously knew the route, around the building to the gate which leads to a path through the wooded area.  This dog was SO excited to be exploring.  She took me along the creek and through the woods.  Who knew that all dogs do is pee, sniff and poop!  She could have cared less about me, she had her doggy agenda.  Luckily when I turned her around she knew the way back because I was really not sure!   When we got back to the ad building I took her inside.  The English speaker got on her walkie-talkie and called back the employee who had set me up with the dog.  When the young woman came in she swooped the dog up and then took her paw and helped the dog to wave goodbye to me.

I have been back several times to be pulled by a dog though the path.  They all seem to be estatic to be free.  When the lone English speaker is not in the Hungarians that work there and I just guesture and nod.  Everyone seems to know me and I don't have to show my picture ID.   I am probably the only non-native volunteer that they have.

The good news is last time I was there a cat who lives on the grounds found me.  He was one of those super friendly big males who purrs as soon as the petting commences.  So hopefully sometimes I can get a kitty fix when I am improving the lives of dogs!

Christmas in Europe

    We took the train to Prague for Christmas.

    You know the images that people have of trains in Europe where you have those cool compartments where you can slide the doors shut?  Well, the folks who were traveling 1st class had those, but the 2nd class cars which we were in were just like trains in the U.S.  As we stepped on the train to look for our seats which were printed on our tickets we saw someone in our seats.  Turned out that they were American and that someone was sitting in their seats, so appartently the seating assignments weren't adhered to.  So we sat down across the aisle from them.  Turned out it was a father (about mid 40's) and his daughter who were in Europe for Christmas.  Well, we talked almost the entire 7 hours of the trip.  We didn't realize how hungry we were for conversation with Americans!  And these folks were aligned with our values and lifestyle.  Mark had served in the Peace Corp and so he understood the challenges of being in a foreign country where little English is spoken.  They were politically liberal just like us and Morgan was quite the composed and mature young woman of 18, so we enjoyed talking with her as well.

   When we arrived at the train station the first thing we had to do was change money.  At the time I had in my wallet Euros, dollars and Hungarian forint.  When we got the Czech currency I was carrying 4 currencies!  Both The Czech Republic and Hungary are part of the EU and are scheduled to change to euros.  However with the global economy such as it is there have been delays in the process.  Hungary was supposed to change in 2010, but there economy is really depressed and so it has been postponed indefinitely.

    We felt quite comfortable taking the subway to our hotel stop and felt pleased that we are now able to negotiate subway systems with relative ease.  The Hotel Europa was just a short walk downhill (thank goodness for suitcases on wheels).  When we arrived we walked into a grand old hotel with character oozing from it's 120 year old walls.  Our room was on the 4th floor which we got to in one of those old elevators with the metal gates.  To make a long story short, the room was a massive suite with old style furnishings and built in closets overlooking a square with lots of action.  We were enthralled until we discovered that the toilet only flushed intermittently and the shower lacked water that was warmer than tepid with no water pressure!

    As soon as we dropped our luggage, we bundled up to go explore and find dinner.  Following a glimpse of a steeple that we could see, we found the main square which was dominated by the most beautiful Christmas tree that I had ever seen!  It literally brought me to tears!

  So, we spent 3 days walking the streets of Prague with a lot of tourists and locals as well.  The city is about half the size of Budapest, so it was an easier feat to accomplish.  It was super cold the whole time, but each day had fewer clouds so our pictures improved.  We had an incredible time and really felt like we had been dropped into a fairy tale.

   We made some interesting observations about the Czechs v. Hungarians.  First of all there is much more english spoken at least in the areas that we visited.  Language was just not an issue.  Also, the Czechs understand about service in a restaurant, offering excellent service and suggesting additions to make the meals more complete.  This is something that we never experience in Budapest.  There, they take your order which sometimes means that we point to the Hungarian words on the menu and pray that we are making a good choice, bring it, and then you never see them until you have to flag the server down to beg that they bring the check.  Once they do, though, they hoover over you as you look at the bill and calculate the tip.

   I have included several pictures which speak to our experience in Prague as well as anything.

Acupuncture in the land of the Magyars

Since we have been here, I have not slept through the night once.

 I mentioned to one of the English speaking teachers at school that I was not sleeping.  She is a vegetarian and seems tuned into her health, so I quizzed her about her health care preferences.  Turns out that she goes to an acupuncturist whom she feels has changed her life.  He is Chinese and speaks no english  (only Hungarian) and is a professor here in Budapest. According to her, he has helped her manage with what sounds like some major intestinal issues. That is what I was able to infer from our conversation. I am never totally confident in my ability to communicate with the Hungarians because even the teachers speak only passable english.

She called and made me an appointment and offered to take me to it.  That would have meant that the school would have to substitute for my classes and hers.  They don't have a sub pool like in the states, the staff just covers for each other.  So I told her that I was sure that I could find it on my own.
The day of the appointment,  I traveled into Budapest by tram/subway armed with the map and an address.  The challenge in Budapest is that with every takeover they change the names of some of the streets.  Instead of taking down the old plaque, they just put another one above it.  Sometimes you see buildings with 3 different street names attached to the walls. Luckily, I did find it.  It was in one of those old buildings in Europe where you have to be buzzed in.  Well, Gobi had neglected to tell me that part.  I scanned the list of Hungarian names by the bell and found one that said "Wang" (well that certainly isn't a Hungarian name) so I decided it was the most likely and buzzed #I 11.  Sure enough, I could now push the door open.  Thankfully, once I entered the courtyard there were signs for the business and I entered.  The first thing I encountered was a rack full of sandals.  Okay, so I was supposed to take off my shoes.  I replaced them with sandals and walked to the receptionist, an elderly Hungarian lady.  When I spoke to her in english, she got an expression of understanding and got up to go into the other room.  Out came a younger man who was dressed in white (an assistant I supposed) and spoke to me in english with a Hungarian accent.  The receptionist handed him a form in Hungarian, of course and he started to ask me the usual questions about name, birthday, etc.  Then it got to the part of the form where you list your complaints.  I told him that I was waking up several times during the night and as soon as I did, I would have to get up to empty my bladder.  At that point he got this puzzled expression that I have come to recognize and he announces to the room full of patients and the receptionist something in Hungarian.  One of the patients spoke to him.  Then he turned to me and said, "I wasn't sure what you meant by bladder".  Great!  Now the entire room knows why I am there!  So much for confidentiality!

After about 1/2 and hour, they came for me and Zolton (I had to ask him his name) took me back to a curtained off area to see the doctor and acted as a translator.  There were about 6 little  sterling timers on the desk.  They were all a different design. As the two of them were talking about me, I spent the time puzzling as to the purpose of these little timers. Through the translator Dr. Wang tells me that my tongue is coated white, my pulses are weak and my kidney yin is low.  He told me that I needed 10 sessions and asked if I would like to start that day. I responded YES, so they put me in a bed behind on of the curtains and Dr. Wang did some points on my feet, legs, abdominal, the exterior part of my palm and my all time favorite, the 3rd eye point and left me for 30 min.   While I was laying there, I figured out the reason for the timers.  There were a bunch of curtained off areas in this big room and each one had a patient in it.  The timers were to indicate when each patient's needles were ready to come out.

Zolton helped me make the next two appointments and I changed my shoes to leave.  Okay,  down the steps to the courtyard, hang a right, down some more steps, yes, I found the exit! But the doors are locked and I can't figure out how to get out of the building!  Great, so I retrace my steps, have to get buzzed back in to the office and pantomime that I don't know how to get out of the building.  One of the other patients takes me to the front door and shows me the buzzer to release the front door.  Whew!  This really is a metaphor for living in this country, nothing is easy!  The good news is I left feeling clear headed and rested for the first time in months.

The homesickness

Jack and I have been here 3 months now.  In many ways it seems longer to me.

Our impression has been that sunset here is earlier than at home, so I did some research and sure enough, in Budapest the sunset is currently 14 minutes earlier than in Portland.   That makes for a very short afternoon and
 l-o-n-g evening.

I am beginning to have some homesickness, so I thought that I would write about what I am missing.

1.  My family

2.   Independence.  Currently the toilet is leaking, the washing machine is acting up and we have not been refered to a doctor.  We have to wait until someone at the school helps us with these things.  It is very frustrating and something that I have not experienced since I was a child.

3. Companionship.  I miss being able to pick up the phone and have a heart to heart with my girlfriends.  Other than Jack and the occasional American that we are able to spend time with we are alone.

4.  Being able to jump in the car anytime you want and go.  We spend lots of time waiting on buses, trolleys and trains, but the subway is great!

5.  Space.  Jack and I have no where to be away from each other in our flat.  We have always respected each others' need for alone time and now it is a very rare occurance.

6. My cats snuggling on my lap, T.V., the big fir trees in our yard, dense whole wheat bread, Jazzercise, yoga, salads, a garbage disposal, the phone ringing, the cats sleeping with me, comfortable beds and couches, watching my yard change with the seasons, meeting friends for lunch, drinks, dinner, or any social activity, being able to have a conversation at a normal speed, my sauna, watching the boys chase each other down the hall, shopping at New Seasons, Indian food, buying Advil, cough syrup or other mundane items at Fred Meyer instead of at a pharmacy.

And here is what I am enjoying over here in list form; being a minority, planning a weekend away which means another country, the depth of history which surrounds us, the incredible architecture, museums, sculpture that is so accessable, living outside my comfort zone before I am too old, the walnut filled, horseshoe shaped pastry which I am quickly becoming addicted to, living as an expat which is an experience not many people are lucky enough to have, living to the fullest, not just moving through life.

My "areobiks" class

As you would expect, I have been doing a lot of walking here. In fact I am down to a weight that I have not seen since high school (and it looked much better then)! But as the weather is due to change, I needed to find an option for keeping up my cardio vascular fitness and upper body strength. So I started asking around and was invited by a Hungarian friend of a friend to go with her to her" areobiks" class which was held in a community center.

As we walked into a large building with dim lighting I was surprised to see it buzzing with activity including several tables of older men in the corner playing chess.

The class was setting up in kind of a multi-purpose room with very tall ceilings with the heating vents exposed and running every direction. There was a stage and folding chairs pulled to the side and women in various stages of undress partially veiled by a particition. The floor was ancient parchet with flimsy rugs haphazardly placed in the center of the room. My host took me up to introduce me to the instructor who was fully dressed and setting up the music. Then they began to chatter and Koti turned to me and said that the instructor would like to trade me classes in return for English lessons. I was hesitant since I had never taught an adult and got the impression that Llona was a total beginner. But since I was on the spot, I agreed.

At that point Llona started to strip off her top and change into her workout gear right there in front of the class. Whoa, I had heard that the Hungarians had a different cultural take on nudity and here was a woman of about 45 with the usual lumps and bumps of our age stripping to her underwear in front of a group of women (and one guy). (Jack and I had experienced one of the pubic baths in the city a few weeks prior and I had the impression from that experience that there isn't the super body conscientiousness that we have in the states, quite refreshing).

So I took a spot in the second row where I could see the teacher because of course, all of her instructions were in Hungarian. She proceeded to lead a low impact workout with lots of reps on the floor work. I left thinking it was not going to be a serious workout for me and was quite surprised when I woke up the next morning with my gluts screaming at me. I guess if you do enough leg lifts you do work the muscle even without using weights.

That Friday, I returned to the center to start our english lessons. Turns out she is not a true beginning speaker. She spent 6 months a few years ago in the UK as an nanny, but and wants to improve her meager vocabulary. She is so sincere and wants so badly to learn. It is quite a different experience for me than working with the kids. At the end of the lesson she always kisses me on both cheeks and says, "Tank you Katie". Yes, we are working on pronounciation of the th sound as it does not exist in their language. We giggle alot because she just can't seem to make her mouth form the sound. But then she will turn it on me and ask me to say a Hungarian word that has a sound that is kind of like dg in edge. There is no way I can produce it correctly, so we are even.

I have been back several times to the class and the music is just awful. Llona is sincere but kind of turns into a drill sergent when she is leading the class . The last time I went she had on some awful Hungarian rap music. The class must have complained because there was a lot of discussion with her as we were doing our thing. Pretty soon she dug into her purse and pulled out some keys which she handed to the lone male in the class. I was clueless as to what was going on at this point wondering if maybe she left her water bottle in her car or something. He returned with a flurish holding a CD which she popped into the player and out blasted this awful folk music all accordians and Hungarian singing. Uhgg! After a couple of songs where she was trying her best to make the moves match the music she comes over to me bends down and says "Hungarian Gypsy King music" and smiles.

It was a very long class!

The teaching experience

Well, as most of you know, I have decades of experience teaching in Portland. I came over here feeling like it would be a cake walk for me. It has been humbling.

Let me start by talking about the interesting traditions that we have observed at our school. We attended the "Opening Ceremonies" on the evening of the 31st of August. This is a big deal! Lots of parents, grandparents, were there. For all formal ceremonies the kids wear black skirt or pants with a white shirt and scarf or tie with a logo on it. I have not been able to determine if the logo is related to the town that we live in, or if each school has a different one. The incoming kindergardeners were seated in the front row of the festivities which consisted of lots of speeches and the singing of the national anthem (which I have been told is full of breast beating related to their history ). Then at the end of the ceremony some upper grade students stepped up to the rows of kinders with baskets in their hands and started showering the little ones with confetti. It is a rite of passage and quite sweet.

For the first week, Jack and I shadowed the native teachers who are responsible for teaching the grammar related to english while we are to teach about conversational english and American culture. About the 2nd day, I said to Jack, "Boy these kids talk out so much I am really going to have to teach them what I expect". The native teachers tend to be quite strict and stern, so the talking really did not fit with those expectations. I assumed that it was just a matter of the kids not having been taught to take turns speaking and not to have side conversations during the lesson. Well, it turns out that this is a cultural issue. In the Hungarian language the emphasis is always on the first syllable of a word, the first word of a sentence, and everyone rushes in to make their point all at once. This makes giving a lesson quite difficult because the kids talk all the time. Sometimes I can tell that they are explaining something that I have said to each other, but other times it is obvious that their conversation really has nothing to do with my immediate lesson. I have had to have many conversations with them about one voice at a time and how speaking is like a chess match where only one person can move a piece at a time. Jack has the same issue with his 7th and 8th graders although some maturity kicks in by then and they can control themselves a little better. Some days we come home to our humble flat and commizerate for 20-30 minutes about how many times we had to stop teaching because our voices were being drowned out.

When the principal observed me in a 5th grade class, they were perfect, so I know that they have the ability to listen to each other. However, she said to me that she was sure that my lesson was not going to keep them engaged for the full 45 minutes and how she was surprised when it did!

On the plus side, there are students that I can tell are really gaining confidence in their english and I have been able to connect with some of the more reticient ones. And of course they do really sweet things sometimes that makes me think that I am making a difference. One day a group of 6th grade girls asked me if they could write on the whiteboard during the break. When I got back to the room they had turned it into a huge love note with "We love you Mrs. Holmes" written on it and hearts, flowers and kisses covering it.

So every day I go into school feeling challenged sometimes positively challenged and other times frustrated, but there is never a day when I am bored!

Our school

It has been brought to my attention that I have not written anything about the school where we are teaching so here goes...

Our school is named after a Hungarian poet. It will be 25 years old in 2010.

The school serves as a community hub. There is a pre-school section that has kids which look to be 3-5 years old. They get care from a full time nurse and are at the school from early morning through early evening if the parents need after school care. The school which houses grades 1-8 is physically connected to the pre-school area. The schools are very well staffed. There are 2 daytime janitors and several women who clean up after school. That is really good because the water pipes in the ceiling have a propensity for breaking, sending a river of water onto the floor and a huge commotion as the cleanup commences.

As you walk into the school, the first thing you see in the foyer is a huge candy machine and next to that is a stand that is open long hours where the kids and teachers can get baked goods, candy and other super healthy snacks. The woman who staffs it speaks no English, but understands when I request M&M's. Then there is a little room which is behind a plexiglass window where the man who dispenses the room key sits. He has other jobs as well, but I just have not figure out exactly what they are. My classes are held in different rooms throughout the day, so he enjoys it when I request a key and he can say the key number in English. He works long hours and in fact, has a small TV in the room with him. The other day I noticed him watching "Hell's Kitchen" I wonder how that translates?

Then you enter a large multipurpose room with a stage at one end. This is where they hold assemblies and other school functions. The cafeteria is just beyond that .

The school pays for us to eat the lunches which I did on one occasion which was enough for me. Just like in the U.S. the lunches are starchy and not very appealing to an adult (although many teachers eat the lunch including my husband.) The tables all have tablecloths on them and the main dish is served family style. They serve the kids strange kinds of noodles or other pasta most days. Jack has reported noodles with poppy seeds, and something similar to tapioca pudding with cinnamon on it. The cafeteria is staffed with about 6 ladies not counting the cook who all wear matching aprons and circulate around the room helping the kids.

Upstairs is set up so that you can look down onto the stage over banisters from three sides. The school day is set up into 45 min. classes followed by a 15 min. break, so the kids like to entertain themselves during the break by looking down at their friends walking or playing on the first floor.

Student art is quite beautifully displayed on the second floor. The teacher must be fabulous because the work she gets out of students in really amazing. The wall displays are changed quite frequently. Currently there is a photo essay of the events around the eviction of the communists. Last week they had a community showing of the photos which was open to the public. There are plants everywhere, in classes, in the halls, on the landings. I think they must have one person who's only job is caring for them. There is also someone who's only job seems to be to make photocopies for the office. I hope that the Xerox he uses is more up to date than the one in the teacher's room because it is painfully slow!

Next time I will talk about kids and the lessons.