So I figured since I AM here to study and all, I should give an update/summary of my classes. They’re all very different, but good.
History of Hungary: This class is giving us the basic history of Hungary from the 895 arrival of the early Hungarian people to the recent days and the entrance to the European Union. My teacher is a really cool guy who seems more focused on teaching us the basic ideas of what happened rather than knowing the names of every single battle and their exact dates (at least that’s what I’m hoping!) He also has a hilarious sense of humor that keeps class interesting. It’s nice to have this class to get a better understanding of what has happened here, in a country that so many people know nothing about but has such an intriguing past. It explains a lot about the people here and why they have such a foreign outlook on life. I feel like I should have known a lot more of this when I came here, but there’s no time like the present!
Introduction to Hungarian Language: Oh man, Hungarian is a bitch to learn. Hungarians like to joke that the best way to learn the language is to get a Hungarian lover, because there is no other reason to learn it (I’m still working on the Hungarian hottie part. The teeth…) The words are pretty crazy looking, and pronunciation is key. It can be frustrating trying to order something and saying a word exactly correctly in your head only to have them stare at you like you’ve grown another head. Then when, through a series of pointing and gestures, they do figure out what you’re trying to say, they say “ohhhhh” and repeat exactly what you think you told them. But I’m slowly getting better, and have even had a few interactions where I don’t make a complete fool of myself. My teacher is awesome, she does whatever she can to make sure we learn practical things to get by. Last week we learned how to order a pizza, we’ve learned how to order food in the market, stuff like that. I’m trying, but it’s not going to be an easy one.
Integration and Security: Honestly, I’m not really sure why I decided to take this class, especially after my torturous International Relations class that I took at Tulane last semester, but I’m glad I did. We’re learning a lot about the whole idea of Europe and how that has transformed throughout time (Hungary is NOT Eastern Europe I’ve learned, but actually Central). Then we’ve been discussing all of the different institutions that have been created, like the UN and NATO, and what directions they could go in. Later we’ll start with how the European national and international security has changed since the Cold War, and how Hungary has negotiated into European integration and the implications that will have. The professor makes it really easy for even the non-politically minded of us to understand and really makes us think. One of our projects in the class is to write a short paper taking a problem and writing a policy to fix it, which will be interesting for the Social Policy and Practice major in me
Social Change in the Era of Globalization: Not gonna lie, this class is basically boring as hell. It doesn’t help that it’s three hours long, but at least it’s only once a week. The teacher has the heaviest accent of all of them, so that can make things pretty challenging. It’s basically about the major sociological theories and how they relate to the development of a global society. Yeah, that’s about all I have to say about that one.
The New East European Underclass: This class is probably my favorite of the bunch. Since there are only 2 sociology majors in the class, the professor feels bad for us and goes out of his way to give us extra attention. We’re learning about how the underclass is put in situations where they have very little chances of getting wealth. We’re also taking tours of the extremely poor areas to see what kind of situations the poor are living in. We already went on one through the most concentrated gypsy, or Roma, area and saw the horrible conditions that they are living in. We went to the first gypsy radio station in the world (you can listen at radioc.com) and got to talk with the owner about the mission of the station and their programming. It’s a cool chance to see areas of the city that I wouldn’t normally see and see the way of life of people who I would never meet.
Speaking of class, time to head that way!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
danube bend
yesterday we continued our venture to the danube bend. we took an about 2 hours train ride (that only cost $2.50!) to Esztergom, a town right across the river from Slovakia. there we saw a huge and gorgeous basilica, that is also the tallest building in Hungary. we climbed up a monnnstrous tower to see a view that was well worth it, and also probably helped burn off all of those calories from the ice cream places our director tells us to try. we were lucky enough to catch a hilarious little "tschu-tschu" train that drove us all around though.
after our climb, we caught our little train again and took it across the bridge to slovakia. it was quite the site i imagine to see a funny little "train" full of 20 american students going through border patrol. once we got our passports checked and stamped, we had a slovakian lunch of cheesy dumplings and beer. about 45 minutes after arriving in slovakia, we headed back to esztergom to catch a bus to another little town. we hung out there for a while, then took a 2 and a half hour boat ride down the danube back to budapest.
overall, an incredible weekend :-)
p.s.-pictures are updated - http://tulane.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064743&l=85a29&id=2808002
after our climb, we caught our little train again and took it across the bridge to slovakia. it was quite the site i imagine to see a funny little "train" full of 20 american students going through border patrol. once we got our passports checked and stamped, we had a slovakian lunch of cheesy dumplings and beer. about 45 minutes after arriving in slovakia, we headed back to esztergom to catch a bus to another little town. we hung out there for a while, then took a 2 and a half hour boat ride down the danube back to budapest.
overall, an incredible weekend :-)
p.s.-pictures are updated - http://tulane.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064743&l=85a29&id=2808002
Saturday, September 22, 2007
oops pictures!
pictures from western hungary:
http://tulane.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064737&l=f320a&id=2808002
AND
http://tulane.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064743&l=85a29&id=2808002
http://tulane.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064737&l=f320a&id=2808002
AND
http://tulane.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064743&l=85a29&id=2808002
western hungary
So sorry about the recent lack of blog posts! I have been super busy, and on the occasions where I do get internet, I’m so busy checking e-mails (and, who are we kidding, facebook), that I don’t get to blogging. Some of my good friends from Tulane who are studying in Prague for the semester were here last weekend, which was a blast, then I had another full week of class, complete with a field trip that I’ll write about later. This has been another weekend. We spent Friday and today traveling through Western Hungary, then tomorrow morning we’re headed off to the Danube Bend. I’m using the internet right now at a friends apartment, so I figured I’d give everyone a quick update on the weekend so far while it’s all fresh in my mind.
We woke up disgustingly early on Friday to meet up with our group at Hero’s square and all load up on the bus. Our first stop for the day was a Benedictine Abby at Pannonhalma. It was a gorgeous tour. We watched a quick video on the life of the monks there, then went on a tour of the grounds. It was on the top of a hill in a very peaceful location with a breathtaking view. We saw the chapel that they pray in, the boarding school that they run, and the most impressive library I have ever seen. It was stocked with books from floor to ceiling and covered with gorgeous art. If all libraries were like that, I might have a chance of actually spending more time in them.
After seeing the Abbey and stopping for a quick lunch, we headed to Veszprem, that’s called the Queen’s City. It was an adorable town with all these cute little squares. While we were there we climbed up into the fire tower, which used to be used to keep a watch of fires in the town, but now just gives a great view. Once we snapped enough pictures, we got to take a tour of the Archbishop’s Palace which was randomly open for the public to see that day. Not only did we get to put on the funniest little booties over out shoes to keep from messing up the floors, but we had the absolute most adorable little old lady as our tour guide while our program director served as a translator. She was so proud to show us all of the artifacts there, and kept saying how sweet we all were. When one of the girls wished her a long life (she was already 81) in Hungarian, she even cried. We all wanted to take her along with us for the rest of the trip.
Unfortunately, we had to leave her behind as we headed off to Nagyvázsony, where we spent the night at an adorable hotel/restaurant. The town itself was also charming, definitely a place I’d love to return to. We went to go see ruins of Paul Kiniszi’s fortress, which were astounding. It’s weird to think of all the history that took place right where we were sitting. Then we were treated by the program to an incredible dinner that we supplemented with a few bottles of wine, before a good nights sleep.
This morning we went to the Herund porcelain factory. We got a tour of a mini factory to see how all the pieces are made, and wow those people have a steady hand and lotsss of patience. Then we got our own try at it while we made some porcelain roses. Let’s just say, I don’t think I’ll be getting a job there anytime soon. We got to go to the museum, which had all of their patterns. I never thought that I’d be someone with much of an appreciation for porcelain, but this stuff was awesome.
After grabbing lunch (and a beer), we went off to a small town that is on the edge of Lake Balaton. We decided to be brave and walk down the monster hill (and unfortunately later back up it) to test out the waters for ourselves. It was freezing. Us girls stuck with just going in up to our calves, but one of the guys, Chris, was brave enough to go completely in. After recovering from the numbness, we shopped around the town a bit. Jacqui and I both got gorgeous Pashmina scarves that we have been lusting after since we got here, and at a price of about $9, I have a feeling there will be more of them in our future. Then we made it to the bus to head back to Budapest before another adventure filled day tomorrow.
This weekend has already been so incredible, it seems weird that there is more in front of us. It was nice to get a chance to get out of Budapest for a bit and be somewhere a little calmer. I didn’t realize that not only would I have to adjust to living in Hungary where there is an entirely different culture and language, but I’m also having to adjust to life in the big city. So many times this weekend we would just step back and realize that we’re traveling through small towns in Hungary seeing incredible things that so few people get the chance to see. The phrase “our lives are incredible” basically sums it up.
However, these incredible lives do get exhausting, so I better wrap this one up, since we’re meeting up at the train station early tomorrow morning. I hope to be better about updating this though, since I already have things from before stored up to blog about. Hope everyone is doing well and I’d love to hear from all of you!
<3 ali
We woke up disgustingly early on Friday to meet up with our group at Hero’s square and all load up on the bus. Our first stop for the day was a Benedictine Abby at Pannonhalma. It was a gorgeous tour. We watched a quick video on the life of the monks there, then went on a tour of the grounds. It was on the top of a hill in a very peaceful location with a breathtaking view. We saw the chapel that they pray in, the boarding school that they run, and the most impressive library I have ever seen. It was stocked with books from floor to ceiling and covered with gorgeous art. If all libraries were like that, I might have a chance of actually spending more time in them.
After seeing the Abbey and stopping for a quick lunch, we headed to Veszprem, that’s called the Queen’s City. It was an adorable town with all these cute little squares. While we were there we climbed up into the fire tower, which used to be used to keep a watch of fires in the town, but now just gives a great view. Once we snapped enough pictures, we got to take a tour of the Archbishop’s Palace which was randomly open for the public to see that day. Not only did we get to put on the funniest little booties over out shoes to keep from messing up the floors, but we had the absolute most adorable little old lady as our tour guide while our program director served as a translator. She was so proud to show us all of the artifacts there, and kept saying how sweet we all were. When one of the girls wished her a long life (she was already 81) in Hungarian, she even cried. We all wanted to take her along with us for the rest of the trip.
Unfortunately, we had to leave her behind as we headed off to Nagyvázsony, where we spent the night at an adorable hotel/restaurant. The town itself was also charming, definitely a place I’d love to return to. We went to go see ruins of Paul Kiniszi’s fortress, which were astounding. It’s weird to think of all the history that took place right where we were sitting. Then we were treated by the program to an incredible dinner that we supplemented with a few bottles of wine, before a good nights sleep.
This morning we went to the Herund porcelain factory. We got a tour of a mini factory to see how all the pieces are made, and wow those people have a steady hand and lotsss of patience. Then we got our own try at it while we made some porcelain roses. Let’s just say, I don’t think I’ll be getting a job there anytime soon. We got to go to the museum, which had all of their patterns. I never thought that I’d be someone with much of an appreciation for porcelain, but this stuff was awesome.
After grabbing lunch (and a beer), we went off to a small town that is on the edge of Lake Balaton. We decided to be brave and walk down the monster hill (and unfortunately later back up it) to test out the waters for ourselves. It was freezing. Us girls stuck with just going in up to our calves, but one of the guys, Chris, was brave enough to go completely in. After recovering from the numbness, we shopped around the town a bit. Jacqui and I both got gorgeous Pashmina scarves that we have been lusting after since we got here, and at a price of about $9, I have a feeling there will be more of them in our future. Then we made it to the bus to head back to Budapest before another adventure filled day tomorrow.
This weekend has already been so incredible, it seems weird that there is more in front of us. It was nice to get a chance to get out of Budapest for a bit and be somewhere a little calmer. I didn’t realize that not only would I have to adjust to living in Hungary where there is an entirely different culture and language, but I’m also having to adjust to life in the big city. So many times this weekend we would just step back and realize that we’re traveling through small towns in Hungary seeing incredible things that so few people get the chance to see. The phrase “our lives are incredible” basically sums it up.
However, these incredible lives do get exhausting, so I better wrap this one up, since we’re meeting up at the train station early tomorrow morning. I hope to be better about updating this though, since I already have things from before stored up to blog about. Hope everyone is doing well and I’d love to hear from all of you!
<3 ali
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
So I’m sitting in my apartment watching our version of VH1, one of the two channels that we get in English (and when I saw English, I mean sometimesss they’ll play a music video in English, but not necessarily), so I figured it’s a good time to prepare a post for when I get to use the internet tomorrow updating everyone on what’s been going on.
I’m still loving Budapest. It’s gorgeous. I feel like I’m starting to get my bearings on how to get around, but at the same time there’s still so much to discover. Last weekend one of the other girls and I decided to just get lost on purpose. We saw some really cool things, like finding the local amusement park, which was basically all red with rust.
2007/09/10
Okay, I got distracted by a movie night with my roommates. Now I’m at school in the office for my program. I just got done with my first day of classes (and it’s only 2:30!) I started off with a Hungarian History class, which was really interesting. The teacher seemed less concerned with dates and names than trying to teach us the concepts and what has led to making the country what it is today. Then I took a class on European Integration and Security, dealing with the transitions that joining the EU is causing and the ways of dealing with the problems that are arising as a result. I was a little scared of that one after my torturous International Relations class last semester, but I think that this one will be cool. It deals a lot more with policy making, which is good for my Social Policy & Practice major. Then I had Hungarian class with a new teacher, but she’s really nice and young and helpful. Hungarian classes seem less about perfection in the language and more about helping us get by around the city.
So about my apartment. I love it, it’s probably the nicest place of my own that I’ll live in for the next 5 to 10 years. First off, the location is awesome. It’s like a 25 minute commute from school, but it’s a nice one. I only have to walk about two blocks to a tram stop, then the tram takes me straight to school. The ride is gorgeous too, it’s right along the river. I live right next to Margaret Island, which is an island in the middle of the river that has running trails, cafes, baths, and just a really peaceful park. I’m on the Pest side, which is more metropolitan. I’m about two blocks away from the river on a really main street, with tons of restaurants (24 hour gyros!), shops, groceries, and cafes. It’s right by the train station and the mall, and an easy location to get almost anywhere. Also I’m right next door to a crrrrazy underground bar with a karaoke room, a retro dance room, a hard rock room, among others, plus their own beer for only 150 forint (about 186 forint=$1) during happy hour. Niiice. I live with two other girls (at the moment). The apartment building is really nice, we have a big courtyard when you walk in. Our actual apartment has huge high ceilings and big rooms. There’s a big common room, a big bedroom with two double beds that I’m sharing with another girls, a really nice kitchen, a dining room, and a small single bedroom. However, one of the girls I’m living with has been superrrr homesick and as of now is going home on Thursday L
The past week we’ve been having orientation stuff and 3 hours of intensive Hungarian class a day. My favorite day was probably yesterday (Sunday). I went with my roommates and one other girl to the baths. They have beautiful Turkish public baths here. You pay about $12 to get in and once you get in you can go to a whole bunch of different baths with mineral waters all at different temperatures. Then there are saunas. It’s incredibly relaxing and quite the experience. It was a gorgeous day outside too, so we spent some time in the park.
Okay, I’m going to go explore and find somewhere that I can post this. Lots of love from Hungary!
<3 ali
I’m still loving Budapest. It’s gorgeous. I feel like I’m starting to get my bearings on how to get around, but at the same time there’s still so much to discover. Last weekend one of the other girls and I decided to just get lost on purpose. We saw some really cool things, like finding the local amusement park, which was basically all red with rust.
2007/09/10
Okay, I got distracted by a movie night with my roommates. Now I’m at school in the office for my program. I just got done with my first day of classes (and it’s only 2:30!) I started off with a Hungarian History class, which was really interesting. The teacher seemed less concerned with dates and names than trying to teach us the concepts and what has led to making the country what it is today. Then I took a class on European Integration and Security, dealing with the transitions that joining the EU is causing and the ways of dealing with the problems that are arising as a result. I was a little scared of that one after my torturous International Relations class last semester, but I think that this one will be cool. It deals a lot more with policy making, which is good for my Social Policy & Practice major. Then I had Hungarian class with a new teacher, but she’s really nice and young and helpful. Hungarian classes seem less about perfection in the language and more about helping us get by around the city.
So about my apartment. I love it, it’s probably the nicest place of my own that I’ll live in for the next 5 to 10 years. First off, the location is awesome. It’s like a 25 minute commute from school, but it’s a nice one. I only have to walk about two blocks to a tram stop, then the tram takes me straight to school. The ride is gorgeous too, it’s right along the river. I live right next to Margaret Island, which is an island in the middle of the river that has running trails, cafes, baths, and just a really peaceful park. I’m on the Pest side, which is more metropolitan. I’m about two blocks away from the river on a really main street, with tons of restaurants (24 hour gyros!), shops, groceries, and cafes. It’s right by the train station and the mall, and an easy location to get almost anywhere. Also I’m right next door to a crrrrazy underground bar with a karaoke room, a retro dance room, a hard rock room, among others, plus their own beer for only 150 forint (about 186 forint=$1) during happy hour. Niiice. I live with two other girls (at the moment). The apartment building is really nice, we have a big courtyard when you walk in. Our actual apartment has huge high ceilings and big rooms. There’s a big common room, a big bedroom with two double beds that I’m sharing with another girls, a really nice kitchen, a dining room, and a small single bedroom. However, one of the girls I’m living with has been superrrr homesick and as of now is going home on Thursday L
The past week we’ve been having orientation stuff and 3 hours of intensive Hungarian class a day. My favorite day was probably yesterday (Sunday). I went with my roommates and one other girl to the baths. They have beautiful Turkish public baths here. You pay about $12 to get in and once you get in you can go to a whole bunch of different baths with mineral waters all at different temperatures. Then there are saunas. It’s incredibly relaxing and quite the experience. It was a gorgeous day outside too, so we spent some time in the park.
Okay, I’m going to go explore and find somewhere that I can post this. Lots of love from Hungary!
<3 ali
Saturday, September 8, 2007
they lived happily ever after..... until they died.
i finally got my blog to work! thanks to the fact that it was all in hungarian and i entered my e-mail wrong, things got pretty confusing there. hungary is great, i love it. it's an interesting culture (fairy tales end with "the lived happily ever after, until they died"), but i guess that's understandable in a country that hasn't been on the winning side of a war in over 500 years and is getting over 50 years of communist rule. i promise a better update soon, but here is one that never got posted from last week:
Thursday at 4-
I’m writing this now on a break back at my dorm since I don’t know when I’ll be able to use the internet next, and I don’t want to forget about anything.
So I’m in BUDAPEST! Travels went pretty well. The international flight was actually way better than expected. There was no one next to me, so I had some extra room. Watched a few movies, read a whole book. I stopped in Frankfurt on the way, and that was pretty intimidating. German is basically a scary language. There were these little metal stand things where people were smoking all over the place. Then to get on my plane, first I wasn’t allowed into the gate until thirty minutes before departure. Then once I did, I went through this big revolving door that led to a mini bus outside. We took the mini bus from there to the plane and then we got on the plane by walking up the stairs onto it, it was weird.
Once I got to Budapest and got my baggage and everything, I was met by our assistant director, who is incredibly nice. She helped me by a shuttle ticket and I took that back to the dorms, where we’re staying for orientation. Once I got here, I met up with a girl on my program and we went over to see the school and meet the director, who is also really nice. Our school is this huge old building that’s right on the river, it’s really cool. It’s next to this big market, with all these stand selling fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, bread, prepared foods, and about everything you can imagine. It’ll be nice to have that so close.
The first night we took the tram (and got incredibly lost) to this crazy little pizza and beer place that has a communist theme. Also, pizza here doesn’t come with sauce? You just get a container of it to pour on. Beer here is pretty cheap, as is most food.
We’ve been having a lot of orientation stuff the past couple days. It’s tons of information, but I feel like I’m starting to get more of a feel for the city and how everything works. The language barrier is fairly challenging at times, but its possible to get by. A lot of people speak some English, especially the younger people. The city is absolutely gorgeous. There are so many dimensions of it – some parts have an extremely historical feel, some are extremely cosmopolitan, some are really trendy.
The other people are really fun. Last night we went to this crazy outdoor club. The people there ranged from our age to maybe like mid 40’s, and it was basically just a big dance party. They play so much random American music, including a Grease megamix, but that will be followed up by some Hungarian techno sounding song. Pretty wild.
Thursday at 4-
I’m writing this now on a break back at my dorm since I don’t know when I’ll be able to use the internet next, and I don’t want to forget about anything.
So I’m in BUDAPEST! Travels went pretty well. The international flight was actually way better than expected. There was no one next to me, so I had some extra room. Watched a few movies, read a whole book. I stopped in Frankfurt on the way, and that was pretty intimidating. German is basically a scary language. There were these little metal stand things where people were smoking all over the place. Then to get on my plane, first I wasn’t allowed into the gate until thirty minutes before departure. Then once I did, I went through this big revolving door that led to a mini bus outside. We took the mini bus from there to the plane and then we got on the plane by walking up the stairs onto it, it was weird.
Once I got to Budapest and got my baggage and everything, I was met by our assistant director, who is incredibly nice. She helped me by a shuttle ticket and I took that back to the dorms, where we’re staying for orientation. Once I got here, I met up with a girl on my program and we went over to see the school and meet the director, who is also really nice. Our school is this huge old building that’s right on the river, it’s really cool. It’s next to this big market, with all these stand selling fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, bread, prepared foods, and about everything you can imagine. It’ll be nice to have that so close.
The first night we took the tram (and got incredibly lost) to this crazy little pizza and beer place that has a communist theme. Also, pizza here doesn’t come with sauce? You just get a container of it to pour on. Beer here is pretty cheap, as is most food.
We’ve been having a lot of orientation stuff the past couple days. It’s tons of information, but I feel like I’m starting to get more of a feel for the city and how everything works. The language barrier is fairly challenging at times, but its possible to get by. A lot of people speak some English, especially the younger people. The city is absolutely gorgeous. There are so many dimensions of it – some parts have an extremely historical feel, some are extremely cosmopolitan, some are really trendy.
The other people are really fun. Last night we went to this crazy outdoor club. The people there ranged from our age to maybe like mid 40’s, and it was basically just a big dance party. They play so much random American music, including a Grease megamix, but that will be followed up by some Hungarian techno sounding song. Pretty wild.
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