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After begging the Russians for help in getting the Nazis out of their country, Hungarians were surprised to find out their “liberators” would stick around for almost 50 years afterwards!  Most of the Communist memorials, statues, and other public relics were taken down immediately after they became a democracy (between 1989-1991) but fortunately they have been collected at Memento Park on the outskirts of Budapest.  The park contains a facade, a cyclical road to nowhere, and ends with a final wall–what a metaphor!  My favorite parts included sitting in the Trabant–a famously cheap car whose body was made of recycled cotton and plastic.  I also enjoyed watching a movie about how to become a secret agent.  Hint: you’ll need a keen eye for searching among the roadway litter for the special containers that hide messages.

We continued our look into Communist Hungary the next day with a visit to the House of Terror Museum, former home of the Nazi “House of Loyalty” and also the Arrow Cross party headquarters.  The Communists soon turned it into their AVO and AVH (secret police) building.  So after years of symbolizing inhumanity and dread, it has become a memorial building for those who dared to speak out against dictatorships, particularly the members of the 1956 Hungarian Revloution.  (You must see Children of Glory to get an idea of politics of the time…)

1956 wasn’t that long ago, and 1989 is just as important.  It has been amazing hearing presenters who remember it all–it’s clear Hungarian history has just begun.

Budapest is beautiful, but driving through the countryside was literally a breath of fresh air!  We started in Debrecen, then went to Hortobagy, Eger, and  Holloko.  Impulsively, we decided to add Slovakia to our itinerary, too, since we were driving by it anyway.  Being part of the EU means there’s no checkpoint, no gate, no passport needed–just a desire to walk across the bridge. 

Our bus driver was waiting in the middle of the roundabout waiting for us silly Americans to get back on the bus.  I don’t think he could grasp how much fun it was to literally be standing in two countries at once–much like he couldn’t grasp the idea of driving more than 50 km/hour–even on the M roads.  Elderly drivers were passing us and making inappropriate gestures!

So, I loved Hortobagy and the horse-drawn cart ride through the National Park.  I loved seeing the really old library in Eger.  I now know a children’s song about going to Debrecen to buy a tom turkey–in Hungarian!–because we were forced to sing it all the way to Holloko.  Shame we didn’t sing it while actually going to Debrecen, but tempers were already flaring when our tour guides realised we were running two hours late on account of our bus driver’s methodical driving.

The great plain was fun, but now I am happy to be back in Budapest where I can rely on the tram, bus, train, and subways for transportation.

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Although he’s not really old enough to be my grandpa, Dr. Huba Bruckner sure feels like one!  He has been a really wonderful and cheerful Hungarian host.  He invited us over to his apartment following the folk dancing presentation we saw the other night.  The apartment is surprisingly large, with a beautiful view of the Danube and Parliment right outside his balcony.  As we all rushed out to take pictures, he warned us, “No more than four at a time on the balconies, please!” 

His daughter and wife are equally gracious–Mrs. Bruckner offered to carry my offically “heavy” bag up the escalator steps at the airport, and I look forward to getting introduced to the local hangouts with his daughter tomorrow night.  I’ve heard that Hungarian men are internationally regarded as excellent husbands, but I will only be looking on behalf of my single friends.

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What a joy to finally visit a school in Budapest.  Whereas we are often assigned schools by the district we live in, the Hungarians are able to choose and the state pays for it.  However, that means that very good schools such as this have many more applicants than they can ever accept.  The truth is that many of the children in poorer areas will never be able to take an entrance exam to get in, and most of these well-regarded schools have supplemental town money to provide the best for their children.  So, unfortunately the best education is really only available to the already privileged students.  Sound familiar?  The teachers barely make a tremendously low salary–in fact they simply can’t live on it, so most work three or four jobs–walking dogs or house cleaning in the afternoons and relying on their spouses and families for making ends meet. The Hungarians really do value education, but they are struggling with a decling population and twice the amount of teachers and schools needed, but no politician dares mention shutting down half the system to make it sustainable.  And so the challenges continue…

The school buildings themselves are quite charming and clearly the students take pride in building their own community.  I wish we could have seen the schools in session, but they were out for summer vacation of course.

While much of my trip has been a celebration, we were compelled to remember the sad history of the Jewish communities of Budapest.  During the Holocaust, over 400,000 Jews were deported from Hungary within a matter of months.  The Synagogue and Museum offer reminders that we must never forget.  The ramifications of this “final solution” is that there are very few Jewish communities left in Hungary–where as they used to be a significant part of the population and inhabit a large part of the city.  Many of the very few Jewish families left in Hungary are still afraid to worship, tell others of their faith, or live in area at all.

The monuments we saw were moving and remind me that even amongst the horror, there were those who helped save others’ lives while risking their own.

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The Hungarian Parliament is the third largest in the world, but considering it is made of entirely Hungarian materials like marble and a heck of a lot of gold, you could say it’s the most extravagent.  They really only use half the building because they have a unicameral system, and it houses the holy relics like the crown of St. Stephen.  Why the cross atop it is crooked, no one will ever know, but I personally like to think that he dropped it and then didn’t want to fess up.

A note about the flag with a hole inside it: after the Russians left, the people wanted all things hammer-and-sickle gone, so they sinply cut it out of the fabric.  No one had ever asked the Hungarians if they had wanted it there anyway.

Time for me to eat breakfast before heading off to see some schools.  Yay!  Felling hungry yourself?  Check out the pictures of the two lunch options at Stex Haz.  Which one did I have?

I was not content to sit in my room on the second night I was here…so I decided to do what any good Hungarian would do–visit the Opera!  What an experience.  I really have so little Opera knowledge, but I did recognize some of the songs titles and melodies.  We literally got the last tickets in the house–our own private box–for the last performance of the season.  Talk about luck…

The highlight for me was when one of the tenors started to dance like Michael Jackson!

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After a long day of lectures and project work, I was eager to feel like I was on vacation again.  So Franzie and I went to discover the Labyrinth caves under the Buda castle.  It turns out getting there is harder than walking through them!  After begging my hotel concierge to write down the metro and bus stops for me in Hungarian, we felt well prepared to get there (plus we has walked by it the day before).  Turns out the bus number was wrong, but we did take a nice stroll (and climb) through some lovely residential parts of Buda–the hillier side of Budapest.  Fortunately the caves were very cool, but also a little dank and wet (big surprise!)  On a more serious note, the people of Budapest lived in the caves during bombing in World War II and even created a hospital in them, so it must have been a very difficult and scary place to be. 

Also interesting was the installation piece called the “Panthenon.”  I’m going to have to read more about this to understand the artists’ intent.  There were lots of everyday items on display in ice cubes and in the rocks of the wall, plus some carved into ancient dolomite rocks.  Note the cellphone and Coke bottle…

Afterwards, we came out by the Fishermans’ Bastion and ate a little bit while admiring the view of Pest–the more modern and flat part of the city.  Prices here are quite reasonable and I was lucky enough to watch some impromptu folk dancing by a girl next to me while I ate.

In other news, I finally have my own hair dryer and won’t need to keep signing out one of only three the hotel has…

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Thanks to some overseas help from my husband, I was able to make a photo gallery of my first day.  I regret that I didn’t take my camera to the Sczechenyi Baths, though, which were expansive and the perfect way to wash off the stress of air travel.  Now that I have internet in my room for free, I am looking forward to posting more often, but I originally thought I would have a little more time to do so.  Today is going to be busy, and I am already late in getting ready for breakfast.  So, I must get going so I am ready for the two sightseeing tours, coffee in a cafe, and then finally the Opera tonight!

We ate dinner here last night...

I had my first taste of Hungarian food last night–well, the truth is I ate the more familiar part of it:  Buckwheat pasta, salad, and fruit.  The meat and gravy diet is going to be a challenge, but I’m told that there is plenty of fried vegetables for me to try when I am there.  This is why I am happy to be making friends with some serious exercising folks…

Here we are on a walk between lectures…which is very hard to do when you’re used to being up and running around a room of five year olds.

Fortunately there are lots of sidewalks in New Brunswick. These are some of my new Fulbright friends.