The School.

Iskolaban.

(in the school)

So far I’ve given only a small picture of life in Magyarmecske, now for a bit of the day to day routine during the week and a little update. The weather has changed quickly and now feels like winter (temperatures in the lower-mid 40s I would guess). I am resisting taking out my winter coat until November because October just seems too early. We’ll see how that goes… Winter seems to be the trend for now though. I hear that there was a snow delay for the World Series playoffs in Colorado, not too strange I suppose, but also snow in the Northeast! We turned on the heat at the beginning of the week and I am very glad for that. I have also found out how the wind can really whip across the flat land. In other news, I am excited for Obama to have won the Nobel Peace Prize (and hope that he will have earned it by the end of his four…or eight years in office and life thereafter)*; disappointed that the Sox lost and will not even make it to the ALCS; Simon is happy that Germany has qualified for the World Cup (by the way, so has the US); and a loaf of kenyer (bread) costs 210 forints at the kicsi bolt (little store) in Magyarmecske.

Daily Life.

Livia and I go to school Monday through Friday at 8am and are there until about 3:15pm. Livia alternates between helping in the 3rd and 4th grade classes and I “help” mostly in the 2nd grade class with the exception of Tuesdays when I am in the 4th grade class. I am now called Emilie-néni or tanarnéni (tanar is teacher). The néni suffix is for a woman older than you, kind of like “aunite,” but a term of respect and affection; the male equivalent is bacsi (eg. Laci is “Laci-bacsi”). A typical school day includes lessons of math, Hungarian (reading and writing), as well as dance two times a week, a little phys ed class a few times a week, a little bit of music, and for the 4th graders some German, Beas, and of course little breaks of recess during the day. Lunch is provided by the school for all of the children (and teachers) with a little breakfast in the morning and a snack in the afternoon. Luckily for us we haven’t had to do much (or any except the little treats we have made) cooking because we get leftovers from lunch which is a big meal, consisting of soup, bread, and a main course (usually involving potatoes, pasta, potatoes + pasta, some kind of sauce and meat). School food has been great! Much unlike the stigma that school food has in the US of being horrible…although I have great memories of school food…maybe I was just lucky…or just love food…

The school from the back.

To the left of the above picture, little playground, and the white building in the background is the cafeteria.

So far most of what I have been doing is just helping to keep kids on track, paying attention, in their seats, and on the right page. Luckily that can involve mostly action. I have been able to help with math and writing because I understand numbers and can write, the frustrating part is when it comes to explaining the math, which I have few words for other than add and subtract (I’m working on the whole multiply, divide, equals thing). I usually play with the kids at recess and they are forever asking me “Lesz a parom?!” (I think the spelling on that is wrong…but it means “Will you be my pair?” aka “will you hold my hand when we walk to the next destination?”)

4th grade classroom (taken by Livia)

For the most part school has been very good, the kids are always happy to see me, which washes away any frustration of not knowing the language / not knowing what they are saying to me / not being able to talk to the other teachers or people at school. As I said before I am primarily with the second graders, but one day at recess I played with some first graders and now everyday at lunch and/or snack there is a handful of them who yell “Emilie-néni! Emilie-néni!” I have also learned how to play tag in Hungarian and a few other recess type games that involve running (which is good because that is the only exercise I get). In tanc (dance) the other day they also played musical chairs, so I understood that too. So I have found that excited, happy children are some of the best bright lights to any situation and have found them to be great friends! (Especially because they will talk and talk and talk to me, even if I don’t understand—which is good for language learning and for morale—and they are definitely helping me on both accounts.)

4th graders working hard on some coloring (taken by Livia)

This is not to say that the school day goes along smoothly or easily by any means. Everyday at least one child in class is crying because of some kind of violence inflicted upon them from another—a kick or a punch, ect. The kids are always fighting—sometimes in fun, sometimes for real and the teachers are constantly working to break them up. Listening doesn’t happen a lot of the time and sometimes a good chunk of time is spent just trying to get attention so things can get done. One good and bad thing about not knowing the language is not knowing when bad words are being said—but also a downside because I can’t tell a child to stop saying something if I don’t know what they’re saying. Also bad because I can’t understand why a child starts crying if only words were spoken. (Understanding body language and tone does go a long way, but I am generally helpless when it comes to stopping it and can only offer a few words of comfort afterwards. There are a lot of bad words spoken as far as I can tell and by now I have picked up on a decent amount of those words.) Comforting a hurt child has also been somewhat difficult and something that makes me feel like I wish I could do more. I can ask what hurts, but can’t find out the story behind why it might hurt (other than who might have hurt them), so most of my comforting just comes from holding them and/or getting the kid doing wrong to leave them alone.

More 4th graders working on some drawing (taken by Livia)

A few times I have been left alone in charge of the children—a frightening experience which has gone both ways. One time I successfully got the 2nd graders to lunch and recess afterwards without incidence; another time got them to snack with only one incidence (someone got kicked and was crying); and the other two times absolute chaos has broken loose and I felt helpless and voiceless. But thanks to the advice of Livia (or what I think she said) was that I might as well just talk to them in English. So that is my new weapon against the chaos of the Hungarian classroom (luckily I am also learning more and more commands as the days go by, such as Stop! And Sit down!)

I do my best to help where I can and also try to learn as much as I can. The kids get a kick out of my little notebook where I copy down their lessons and try to figure out what they are learning. I definitely am learning, which is great, and anytime I can understand what is going on (or think I understand) is a wonderful feeling. At this point I am feeling very hopeful about the school and very glad to be where I am. I enjoy the kids and look forward to getting to know the teachers (when I can speak with them)!

And that is the school day.


More to come on what happens after school.


*I was reading the NY Times online the other day and looked at an article, “The Real Peace Prize will be Elusive” by Peter Baker (from 11 October 2009), where he discusses the war in Afghanistan and the eight years he has covered it, being one of the first journalists, and the first American journalist to go to Afghanistan after the start of the war. In the article he talks about Afghanistan and the long drawn out war in a country that has been fighting for decades. At the end he says, And perhaps the biggest question of all: With the Nobel medal staring down at him in the White House for the next three years or perhaps seven, will the designated peacemaker eventually figure out just what peace means in a land without it? Will he earn the prize he has already received? I found this to be a good expression of how I have been feeling ever since I heard that Obama got the Prize and I hope that good will come from it for Obama, his work, legacy, as well as the work in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  (And this is me, trying to keep up with the news in the world...)

Eszunk. (we eat)

Főzok Liviaval.
(I cook with Livia)
Livia and I have tried some different recipes together and have enjoyed making and eating the food (despite the slow stove that we have). The first weekend I made apple crisp and the next week applesauce. Livia and I made French fries on the stove (fried in sunflower oil—a big Hungarian product) and the next weekend made “Olmos Almas” which is an apple bar type thing (layer of sweet dough, layer of shredded apples, layer of sweet dough) as well as “palacsinta” (pancakes). Everything was FINOM. PERSZE! (Finom=delicious; Persze=of course)

 

With Olmas Almas

Livia with palacsinta

Huge stack of palacsinta! (An hour's worth of work thanks to the stove, but well worth it!)

Livia and Simon (notice the great tablecloth made by Liz Swenson! Thanks Mama!)

 

A Glimpse at Mecske

Magyarmecske.

These pictures are kind of dark, but a little picture of the village at least.

The main street (only street)

The church with dark clouds in the background (looking the other direction was a beautiful sunset!)

Magyarmecske church steeple through the corn (in Magyartelek, about a mile away)

*More Mecske pictures to come in the following weeks and months!

The Garden.

Kertben.

In the garden

I have really enjoyed the backyard, the garden, and the apple trees behind our house. There are tomatoes, paprika, cabbage, beetroot, and types of squash which are unidentifiable to me. They had corn in the summer, as well as pears, and it looks like there were also potatoes. There are some grapevines along a few of the buildings in the back and a couple of walnut trees. An abundance! It is peaceful and relaxing (especially because I didn’t have to do any of the work to grow the fruits and vegetables, I just pick them!). We’ve had more tomatoes than I know what to do with (have made lots of bruschetta) and have been trying different apple recipes. Here are some photos from the back.

Sirius keeping busy in the garden.

Apple picking in the back

Tomatoes, apples, and peppers!

Magyarmecske!

Finally.

The first two weeks in Magyarmecske, Magyarorszag.

I am sitting at our table in the kitchen/dining/living room after being here in Magyarmecske for almost three weeks. I have been meaning to write an entry after the first day. After the first week. After the first two weeks. And finally now I have begun. There was a beautiful sunset tonight after some rain last night and this morning and a day that fought off clouds. It seems that fall has come to Hungary as well (except for last week when there was a record high temperature!) with cool nights and mornings and bright, warm sunny afternoons. The apple trees are still heavy with fruit and I happen to believe that all of the best apples are at the top, far from anyone’s reach, even with a ladder. The corn stalks in the fields are being plowed down and nights are coming sooner. These first days and weeks have been a mixture of emotions, full of excitement, of the unknown, of happiness, of frustration, and of adjustment, all taken in good measure with hope for good things in this year in Hungary. (Also a great sense of disbelief that I will be here for a year, trying to figure out what that means!) I’ll start with the beginning of the journey to Magyarmecske…

Sunset behind the house tonight (11 oktober)

The first ones to leave orientation, Livia, Simon, and I got into a van and said goodbye to our new friends and fellow volunteers, excited and nervous to finally get to our village. The ride was about 3 hours, by the shores of Balaton, through fields and fields of corn, through large rolling hills covered with trees, through tiny villages, and larger towns, all the way to the flat farmland of Magyarmecske with glimpses of the hills of Pecs in the distance. It was a beautiful sunny day, hot and bright and the countryside was lovely. Along the way we stopped for a little break and I think all of us wondered how we would communicate with each other and what we would meet in the upcoming hours, days, and months. Livia speaks only Hungarian, Simon speaks German and English (fluently!), and I speak English and Spanish (with a few Swedish words every once and awhile), making for an interesting combination of languages and with few similarities. Unfortunately even after the language training Simon and I still found ourselves unable to even create decent sentences in magyarul (Hungarian) so we all knew it was going to be an interesting time when it came to talking with each other. Our driver, a local minister (which we found out later) spoke German in addition to Hungarian. Luckily Simon (who is from northern Germany) was able to translate for me during our time in the van and the first hours in Magyarmecske. I was thankful for that (especially because he was supposed to go to a different village, where it turns out they didn’t really need a volunteer, so he was a last minute addition for us!).


When we arrived at the house we met Andrea, whose family owns the property. She works with the Saint Marton Caritas program (of which we are a part of via the school and after school center) and she and her family now live in Pecs. (Her parents and grandmother still come by a few times a week to take care of things and gather fruits and vegetables from the garden.) We got a little tour of our house, learned how things worked (eg. the burners on the stove are opposites, so to turn on the back left burner you have to actually turn on the front right burner!). I was simply blown away by what we met when we arrived. I was expecting the worst (a tiny two room house with a wood stove. More like the size of the old shed which is in our yard) and we ended up with a beautiful house, garden, backyard, and even a dog! When we pulled up to the house I thought that maybe we were stopping by the driver’s home to meet some people, but no, it was our house! Those first moments I felt so overwhelmed, surprised, and lucky!

The house (from the backyard)

Inside (living/dining room/kitchen)

Sirius, our dog (named after Sirius Black of Harry Potter)

We then walked over to the school and met a few of the teachers; again a few of them speak German, which I could actually understand a bit of (much more than the Hungarian) and told Simon a few things that they were telling to Livia. By the way, Livia, is from Trans-Carpathia, in the Ukraine, right over the border from Hungary. After WWI Hungary lost about 70% of its land to surrounding countries, so there are many Hungarian nationals living just outside the borders, with towns and villages still functioning completely in Hungarian (see Treaty of Trianon). Livia’s village is one example, where it is technically part of the Ukraine, but everyone there speaks Hungarian, not really any Ukrainian. I was impressed with the school and excited to begin work there the next day, but was also nervous and completely unsure of what I would be doing and how I would understand anything. Another cause for concern I realized as I tried to think of things to say in Hungarian was that my little Lonely Planet language guide was nowhere near sufficient to express the things I wanted to say. For the first hours and days together we didn’t speak very much to each other. I didn’t want to speak too much English with Simon because it would leave Livia out, but couldn’t speak really any Hungarian to Livia or to Simon (and Simon none to Livia or me) so there was a lot of language barrier calm in the house among the three of us. To start us off the school gave us some food so we didn’t have to cook that first night or worry about food the next morning. A great treat.

The school (From the back.  To the left is another building where the cafeteria is and behind where I am standing is a big concrete slab for futball.)

The three of us went to our first day of school at 8am the next morning and bounced around between a few different classes—from 2nd grade to 3rd grade and were bombarded with questions from the children. I quickly learned the phrase “Hogy hivnak?” (What is your name?), but for the most part other than that I was at quite a loss for understanding and for words! (The most I could really say was my name and where I was from.) I was pretty overwhelmed and tired, but excited to have “met” some of the children and the teachers. The school is made up of children from the four neighboring villages and there are between 17 and 25 children per grade (my estimate), grades 1-8.


After school we were picked up by Laci (pronounced “Lotsie”, short for Laszlo, which I just googled and found out that it is the Hungarian name for Lesley), and went to the after school /community center in Gilvanfa, the next village over from Magyarmecske, which Laci is in charge of. This is where Simon is working, while Livia and I are at the school and go to Gilvanfa three times a week. The center is in the back of the church and consists of two sets of two rooms. One set is like old classrooms and the other set, where people spend most of their time (when not walking around or playing outside), is computer rooms and tables, with three computers for people (youth) to use. Outside there is a nice little playground (well used!) with some swings, a slide, a sandbox, some bouncy things for little kids, and a see saw (which they got through a grant from the EU). We also met Peter who is a lawyer in Pecs and comes frequently to Gilvanfa to give free law help to those who may need it. They told us a little bit about the community (both Laci and Peter speak English). The majority of people (if not all) in Gilvanfa are Roma and many are unemployed due to lack of education and opportunity in the area (population is somewhere around 200 I think). We have been told that it is the poorest village in Hungary. These statistics made us unsure of what we might meet and what we would be doing. Currently what we are doing is a lot of “being” in Gilvanfa and just getting to know people—those who we meet on most days range in age from 2-22.


After introductions that first day we got right down to business: Livia and I in the school and Simon in Gilvanfa. So far our only interruptions from our work have been for getting residence permits, which took me three times at the immigration to have the right contracts and documents regarding where I was living and working. But thankfully it all worked out and on one of those days Livia and I got to spend the day in Pecs (it was much easier for Simon, only 1 time, since he is an EU citizen). Unfortunately the bus to Pecs doesn’t come as frequently as we might like, but at least it comes! (It is about a half hour by car and over an hour by bus. About 30km.)


So with a visa that goes until 31 July 2010 (and three months after that) I am here in Hungary, in a house, with other volunteers, in a school, and in a new community!  And that is just a bit about the beginning.

Orientation: Post Language Classes, Real Hungarian. (Almost)
Monoszlo, Magyarorszag

Our language classes winded down and we greeted a whole new group of people, doubling the size of the group in Monoszlo (I believe 26 volunteers in total, plus other staff). The new group from Transylvania (Romania), Ukraine, other places in Hungary, and Switzerland (Hungarian ancestry, I think she speaks 4 or 5 languages fluently!) helped us to realize just how little Hungarian we knew and once again made us come to terms with the fact that indeed we would have to learn the language to get around. Our language classes had been based in English and all the volunteers in the class spoke excellent English, so even while in Hungary, we were continuing to live our lives in English. What a good wake up call the other volunteers were to us!

We spent time getting to know each other through games and activities as well as a couple of night sessions of telling our stories—how our lives have gotten us to the place to be volunteers. A variety of backgrounds and lives, some harsh, some relatively easy, all coming together to give a year to do something that hopefully will be positive and meaningful, all looking for depth and meaning in life. The group meetings and sessions were interesting experiences because they were done in both Hungarian and English. When someone would speak it would be translated. This was a nerve wracking experience in some ways because you hoped that what you expressed would get translated properly! I found myself trying to be very careful with words and fearful that a wrong message might get sent. For the most part however the translation seemed to work smoothly. An amusing thing was when someone would say something funny all the people who spoke that language would laugh and about 2 minutes later when it finally got translated everyone else would laugh. Oh the language barrier!

Kristy, Matt, and Jeff (American volunteers) taking a rest when we went on a long walk through the countryside around Monoszlo

Country roads along the way

On the Saturday night during the five day orientation a Roma band came and sang/played for us. Made up of children from the Budapest area, there were 3 young singers, a drummer, and the leader (father of the drummer) played guitar. After some songs we also learned a few Roma dance moves. A great night!

The band

A gypsy song they taught us

 Throughout my experience from the application process for the YAGM program, to telling people about it, to asking for support, and finally being in Hungary I have felt so enormously blessed and thankful for the kindness I have met along the way. It has been absolutely overwhelming to have experienced so much love and generosity and many times throughout the past months I have been moved almost to tears from the great and beautiful human spirit that binds us all together. At the YAGM orientation I felt so grateful and happy to be with the other volunteers, former volunteers, and in the presence of the ELCA Global Mission staff because of our common interests, hopes, and ability to share our lives and spirituality with each other. At orientation and since arriving in Hungary I have also felt overwhelmed and amazed by kindness and hospitality and once again have been grateful for the ability to share openly about feelings, spirituality, and life in general. Even with language barriers and inability to express oneself well with words, graciousness and kindness show through and the chance to meet with people and feel connected can still be experienced.

In the end, a really good orientation even though I have felt a little oriented out! (A week in Chicago, 10 days of language "orientation," and then 5 more days!) It is a good and strange feeling to finally be starting the work that I have been orienting about for all this time! Excited for Magyarmecske.

Language School: Monoszlo, Magyarorszag

10 Days of Realizing How Much there is to Know about a Language.

We arrived in Monoszlo from Sarszentlorinc. And we thought Sarszentlorinc was small. Monoszlo has a population of 100 some people. Located about 4 or 5 km (1.6x4=miles) from Lake Balaton, it is a beautiful, quiet little village, nestled in between hills of vineyards and fields of corn. Our first night we met the other non Hungarian speaking volunteers—people from Germany, Denmark, and France (with some other people helping out from Transylvania and from Hungary) and the next day made no hesitations in diving into the Hungarian language. The alphabet proved to be difficult. 44 letters (I think…) and 4 different o’s and 4 different u’s (a total of 14 vowels, I think…). Pronunciation can make a big difference too! (Saying ass or police for example…similar sounding words.) But we made it through 10 days learning way too much information to absorb anything!

Where we were staying

Looking out over Monoszlo (church steeple and hills of vinyards in the background)

Most of our days were spent in class, with breaks for tossing around a Frisbee and for lunch, the nights free for futbol, Frisbee, or movies. There were a few exciting adventures though.

Language Class (from above!)

We visited Hegesto, a basalt intrusion (I believe) that towers over Monoszlo and the surrounding area. A little hike to the top and some beautiful views of the area and the lake.

One rewarding part of it however was when we took a trip to a nearby town (Tapolca) and were able to understand some of the signs. The little joys of learning. A beautiful day spent walking around and also venturing into a cave that is underneath the town! We went down the stairs into the cave and paddled little boats in the water of the cave, in some places having to duck quite a bit in order to fit through! We finished the afternoon by taking the train to Zanka (the town next to Monoszlo) and went swimming in Lake Balaton. A good day and nice break from class.

Inside the cave!

By the shores of Balaton

We also visited the wine cellar of the local church and tasted some delicious Riesling and learned a little bit about the process. The church set up the vineyard in order to make money to survive and continues to make wine today.

A candlelit night in the wine cellar.  A dark walk back, but great stars! And bellies full of delicious wine and bread with zsir (aka spreadable fat), salt, and onions. Great breath.

Overall the language experience proved to be very challenging , but a good foundation for the language. It would have been nice to spend a month or more on just language and easy. Amazing how much you still don’t know how to say even after learning what seemed to be a lot. All in all, excited to learn more and put it into practice (as well as understand what is going on around me). Language school was also a great time meeting and getting to know new people and eating A LOT of food! (And loaves upon loaves of white bread per day. A staple of the Hungarian diet.)

Language Class Group