Fulbrighters

As you might know if you have read this blog, each August we reach out to the new Fulbrighters coming to Hungary from the States. This year, it is slim pickings as there are only 14 coming this semester and then another 16 in January. Most of the 14 arriving or having arrived are outside of Budapest, so our chances of being social are slim.

One Fulbright teacher exchange wrote me back after our initial welcome letter and we exchanged quite a few back and forth e-mails. She and her husband will be in the Balaton area.

She e-mailed me about a month ago stating that she and her husband wanted to splurge and stay with us for one night while in Budapest for a Fulbright meeting. She went on to say that with the poor exchange rates, this was an extravagance for them. I booked them, but asked that they not share the information that I agreed to the one night since this is really against our two night minimum policy.

When she wrote back pledging her silence, she commented "You seem like such a great person who gets along with everyone. Is there anyone you do not get along with?"

I decided to give here the really abbreviated short list. Why scare her off before meeting. : ) So, I responded simply "Yes, there are those who I don't get along with. Anyone who tries eating my peanut butter...and Republicans."

I have not heard from her since.

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Trains of Hungary

Yesterday, we went to Balatonkenese, the second town on the west shore of Balaton, almost opposite the river from Siofok. A friend invited us to a small BBQ. This being the first ever invitation, we were intrigued. I really did not want to go since I knew they would have to speak English just for us.

So we go get our train tickets: Deli pu to Balatonkenese and return. No problem. I checked the Hungarian train site and took a screen shot of all of the returning trains so we could leave at any time. The train going was 3 minutes late leaving Budapest, HOT as hell. I swear, I could have baked cookies in the train car and the seats were the old-fashioned bench like seats. All of the windows were open, yet there was not a modicum of a breeze coming through.

Thinking it was only a 2 hour trip, we only had a small bottle of water, not knowing if we had consumed a barrel full, we would have sweat it out and never needed the WC. We get there over 20 minutes late. They have a lovely home two blocks length from the train station. The party was nice. There were some conversational strains when they turned to us to translate their lively conversations.

They all decided they are going to the lake for a swim and are curious why we don't have our suits; no one suggested it, but I don't do swim suits with anyone I know personally. Perfect time to announce we had to make the 4:26 train back to Budapest. My department head checks my print out to make sure I am correct; she is sincerely disappointed we would not join them to the lake, and we take off. We are at the station with time to spare, but no train. I looked at the schedule on the ticket office door and the 4:26 is not listed there. The next train is at 5:29 and shows Budapest Deli pu. Okay, it is blazing hot, but we are covered, so fine. There is NOTHING around to get fluids. The little restaurant at the station is locked shut. Okay, we can survive this.

The train comes; they make some announcement at the train. There are only two tracks and the station is not much larger than our apartment, so no sophisticated equipment, let alone English translations. The train was headed in the right direction, the time was correct, so we board. Most trains have signs on the door listing their destinations. The train coming did not, so I did not think anything of the fact that the one we were climbing onto did not either. It was jammed with high school kids and difficult finding two seats together, but we finally managed. Only alter alternate windows would open, but those that could were open to the max. Noticing the puddles on the floor as we passed other passengers, we knew this was not a good omen. Within 30 minutes, we had contributed our own pools of water to the others; again, it was hot enough to roast a turkey. The open windows were a spiteful mirage of relief.

The conductor made his rounds for tickets after we had melted for an hour. He accepts the tickets from the two sitting with us and then ours. Looking at our seatmates, he says something in Hungarian. The young woman across from me gives the conductor a slight nod in my direction that I happen to catch. My thought was that he was questioning why one of our tickets had been discounted, but he did not ask for my teacher pass and I was too dehydrated to make the effort to dig it out if he did not insist. After a shrug, he moved on.

Two hours and forty minutes later, already off schedule by a half hour, we reach Budapest-Kelefold, the suburbs of Budapest. The next stop was Kobanya-Kispest, the end of the Blue metro line, followed by the small airport. No stations are announced ahead of time. Unless you know the stops, you have only minutes to catch a glimpse of the sign as you whisk by it entering the station, grab your things, jump over other’s luggage and legs and run to the door.

Ron made a comment that we crossed the river if we are stopping at these stations, but why would we cross again to return to Deli, which is on the Pest side? I check the schedule yet again, showing it to him for further confirmation. That is what the schedule states. As we leave this last station, panic rises in our throats choking off the hot air that refuses to circulate.

Ron decides to find someone with some English skills, but it takes him two cars to find success. We missed out on all Budapest opportunities. The next station would be another hour away, a town called Cegléo. We pour ourselves onto the platform and then into the station. I realize I don’t have much money with me, not expecting the need. Between the two of us, we can purchase tickets and buy a soda. We have 30 minutes to wait for the train back again, which will bring us to Nyugati, a closer station to home than Deli making this a minuscule reward.

Looking at the electronic board of arrivals and departures, we seem to think that our train will stop at platform 4, so we descend into the tunnel to cross under the tracks arise again on the correct spot. However, when the train arrives, the sign, which has been accommodatingly put on the door shows that this train has been to Budapest already and is on its way to Szeged. We found a young conductor to ask where the Budapest train was, but not only did he not speak English, he had no idea. However, he took some pity on us and looked around until he found a sign with the information and pointed us to track 6, which meant another tunnel excursion and seconds to ascend as the train arrived.

Planning on being home by 7:00 pm, we finally walked in the door at 11:20 pm.

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Kookerboom Forest

Today was an early wakeup day for everyone at 6:00 am. We have communal showers here, men on one side and women on the other. I showered last night, though the only people I would have had to share with would be Ron and Hans, but I avoided the rush. I appreciate my private time with a hot shower. We need to be on the road by 7:00.

After traveling through the Kalahari, our first stop is the Kokerboom forest of strange trees, called the quiver trees ( http://www.encounter.co.za/article/88.html). The bushmen would cut through their hard bark and use the spongy inside for quivers for their arrows. For the trees to survive, they have to grow tall enough that animals cannot eat their leaves. If their leaves are eaten, the tree dies. Contradictorily, the tree is very slow growing, so it is almost impossible for the trees to survive, but some do. The trees we are walking amongst are 150 to 200 years old. It took us four hours to reach this forest, but it was pretty amazing.

Within this forest, there was one bush that was delectable to butterflies. It was loaded with them, making the bush look like a Christmas tree with twinkle lights on it as the butterflies flapped their wings open and closed. They were white with a black streak on each wing. Interspersed were a couple of orange ones, but different from Monarch butterflies.

John and Bruce found a slow leak on yet another tire and they tried getting the other spare off to replace it. We all stood by the bathrooms in the Quiver tree forest in the shade while they slaved away, but to no avail. The spare was rusted on and would not budge with all of their yanking, pulling, and banging. They even tried pouring a can of Coca-Cola on it since rumors have always said it will remove rust. It did not in our allotted time period, so either we are too impatient or it is indeed a myth.

When the consensus was that the tire was not going to get fixed at this afternoon stop, we drove the next three hours at a slower speed, finally causing the tire to actually go flat. We pulled up to the side of the road and Bruce put up an overhang on the side of the truck giving some shade and he fixed lunch. When life gives you lemons, make lunch with them. We ate, the crew worked on the truck’s tire yet again. Regardless of their stamina, patience and ideas, the tire was not about to be removed after their constant struggles for an hour’s time.

While this was happening, Doris started to develop some reactions to the Malaria medications and needed some medical attention. Bruce told us we would have to make a diversion to get her medical care, but none of us care about that, we were more concerned about Doris. We were forced to drive with one bad tire, but it sounded like John was having a difficult time getting the truck into first gear. We thought it would be about an hour to get to a clinic, but it was more like two with our impeded mobility due to the tire. We finally pulled up to a Wimpy’s service center, where we were dropped off. Bruce called the hospital and arranged a ride for Doris. While we were snacking and relaxing in air conditioning, the garage was able to fix the tire and Doris was driven back to meet us. It is now close to 5:00 and the overcast sky that we have had all day is getting darker, threatening an impending storm is nearby. There was a photo on the wall of Wimpy’s that showed the flood they had one year ago. Half of Wimpy’s was under water. We are supposedly only 20 km from our resting place for this evening.

An hour and a half later, we were on the road again; we stopped in a small Namibian town with a Spar supermarket. This really surprised me that here in Africa, in this small village of 2,000 people, they would have a Spar with scanners at the check outs like in Budapest and other European cities. What was even more shocking was to see a restaurant with “Belaton Hungarian Take Away Food”.

Our schedule has gone askew from the itinerary a bit due to the different circumstances that had not been planned for. We are at our accommodation near the dam, where we are again four to a cottage and we are sharing with Jean and Omo. We work well together and this is a good arrangement, hopefully for all of us, if we have to share at all. This cottage is really basic, though it has two bedrooms and each has two beds, the kitchen has no supplies at all. The bathroom is without toilet paper and none of us have any, so we had to yell for Bruce to come to our rescue. We seemed to be the unlucky ones; all the other cabins are supplied with it.

Dinner was at Bruce’s cabin, where we sat around and talked for some time after dinner. When we walked back to our cabin, it was black out. It was difficult to see each other walking side by side. We had forgotten our flashlights in the suitcases, like forgetting an umbrella when rain is predicted. We minced our way back, taking small steps, not to trip and fall. As we were approaching our cabin, we heard rustling sounds followed by clomping. Our hearts beat faster, and Ron yelled “Hello”, but nothing responded back. The sounds continued and we forced our steps faster and faster to our door. As we put the key in the lock and were about to turn it, we heard “Have a good night” from the security guard who was walking by.

Today’s mileage was 450 km totaling 1440 km thus far.

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