My Big Break!

Hello. I'm writing from Frommer's travel guides. I'm the editor of our Frommer's Budapest & the Best of Hungary guide. Our web producer pointed me to some of your posts on the Frommers.com message boards, and I see you've written some handy posts and keep a blog about Budapest. Thanks for your thorough contributions. I thought I'd touch base and see if you've written anything else on Budapest. Have you published any articles or reviews? I'm actually looking for a new author for the next edition of the Budapest guide right now, so you're welcome to send clips and a resume if you'd like to apply (email is best). I'm considering a few other writers for the book, and I'm hoping to make a decision within the next week or so. Please free to send materials, and let me know if you have any questions... Best, Steve ------------------------------------ Stephen Bassman Frommer's Travel Guides

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The New Therapist

I went to a new therapist today. After 7 weeks of the chiropractor and not getting any relief, I had to do something different. I found a massage therapist that trained in Switzerland, contacted him and told him my problems. He said he thought he could help. I went for my first appointment yesterday. This was not the relaxing type of massage, nor was it the Thai type, but somewhere in between. He listened to my complaints and really spent time checking my back and leg. He did more of a physical therapy than a massage, but when I left, I was walking better than I had been. He charges 3,500 Huf an hour and it was worth it. I made an appointment for next week and will continue to see if the problem resolves. He did tell me some of the same things that the chiropractor and the Alexander therapist told me. I need to swim, but the back stroke only, to strengthen and lengthen my spine. I will have to check out some pools and stop being a slug.

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The New Campus

The campus of the university where I teach has moved while we were gone, or at least that is what we were told. I went in today with a suitcase on wheels to bring books, desk items and other things that I had stored at home during the move. My office and classroom is on the 4th floor and thankfully, there are elevators. With my leg, I would never make it to the top floor more than once.

The building is such a stretch from what we had and I timed it. It takes me 12 minutes to walk there from home. Here are some old campus pictures and some of the new classrooms and office.

One of the things that has made me chuckle is when the students say they are going to miss the park in front of the old building. They loved the green area, but the flowers were being over taken by weeds. It was not like it was well maintained or that they contributed any labor to making it look lovelier.

The old classroom had walls that would fall apart if you trying attaching anything to them. When I used Blue-Stick and took something down, part of the wall came with it. The new classroom has a virgin blackboard. I cannot wait to write on it and actually see what I writing. The old wall sucked up the chalk like a dry sponge soaks up water. All of the furniture is new , though I only counted 19 chairs and one of my classes has 25 students. Opps! First come first seated, I guess.

Then there is the office. At the old campus, I shared with the other native speaker. Now I will continue to share with him and a Hungarian instructor. However, the old office was small and cramped with furniture. We had to take turns changing our mind, due to space limitations. The new office is incredible large and we each have our own desk. Once I have my space decorated, it will feel like a home away from home. This is a place I am excited to come to, do not mind spending extra time at, and there is plenty of room to meet with students.

Classes will start next week for the last of the construction to finish and I am anticipating the students' reactions.

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Last Day

We leave today for home, but our flight is not until 8:00 pm, so we have a full day. Chris and Mark wanted to shop, so Ron and I took off to discover areas we had not been to before or rediscover forgotten haunts.

We did discover a wonderful used English bookstore owned by an ex-pat U.S. American who has lived in Amsterdam for over twenty years. The Book Exchange is located at Kloveniersburgwal 58 1012CX Amsterdam, tel. 020-6266-266 and they are open on Sundays too. Do not attempt to say the street name three times fast or your tongue will be in traction. Having already splurged on seven new titles, I did not allow myself to browse for too long, but I did have a nice conversation with the owner while Ron looked for a specific title by a Polish author. It was not to be had.

We came across this church we had not been in before. The inside was decorated, no over decorated, like we have not seen before. It looked like the artist was a multiple personality and each personality had their own opportunity to add something. There was a mass going on at the time we entered, so I had to covertly take the picture, distorting the quality and the full sense of differing styles.

After some more walking, we settled at a cafe for a coffee, not realizing that it was one of "THOSE" cafes. The list of available products to smoke was quadruple the types of coffee they had to offer. We just had the coffee and sat outside along the canal while people watching.

This was the first vacation that we have taken with another couple. I have to say that it really enhanced our trip; we had a great time sharing sights and stories. We would definitely do it again with Chris and Mark.

By 6:00, we left the hotel, took the tram to the train, the train to the plane, and the plane back to Budapest. It was a glorious time away, albeit chilly at times, I do love The Netherlands. Ron teases me that I do not revisiting places I have been since there are so many new places to explore, yet I return there repeatedly. This is my 12th time.

I kiss the country good-bye until the next time.

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Easter

Lest I forget, we are staying at The Golden Bear Hotel, conveniently located on the 2 and 5 tram line and within easy walking distance to so many places. Breakfast is provided and with this being Easter, we were given boiled eggs along with our usual fare. The Easter bunny has as much territory to cover as Santa Claus.

Chris and Mark followed us at breakfast, Ron went to church. None of us had plans since we assumed most things would be closed, but we were surprised at how many stores and museums were open.

The boys decided to try the Anne Frank House once again and I waited for Ron to return before we would meet up with them there. Again, the line was as long as a freight train and they decided not to stand in line waiting. We wandered the little streets in and out window shopping, then plunking down at an outdoor cafe. The sun was shining, but the cool breeze coming off of the canal did chill the bones after an hour.

Being a totally lazy day, we opted for a canal ride. Neither Mark or Chris had done this before, this being Mark's first time in the city. When we arrived at the dock, the next tour was leaving in 20 minutes, so we staked our seats. This was fortunate as the boat filled to capacity. This was my umpteenth time doing this type of tour and I could have provided the narration myself. I did notice things missing from the spiel like the world's most narrow house. After an hour, we were back on the dock and ready for some french fries that the Dutch are so famous for; mine has to have sate sauce.

This evening, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Mark had never been to a Hard Rock and I was delighted to remedy this fault in his social past. Ron and I visit the Hard Rock in every city we happen to be in where there is one and buy a pin to commemorate our trip; it is quite a collection.

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Den Hague

Ron and I were taking the train to Den Hague for the day. At 11:00, we were meeting Germine, a Dutch doctor who we had met on our trip to Africa this last January. She is a sweet and kind person and was thrilled to be able to see us again. The feelings were mutual. We met at a restaurant of her suggestion, though we found out that she had never eaten there before. She had only been in Den Hague for six months doing her residency at the local hospital. Ron and I were immediately drawn to the Dutch pancake, so we both ordered the same thing. We were in for a treat and a surprise when it arrived. There must have been 1/2 pound of bacon on this thin, delectable crepe like pancake. The syrup was also different from our expectations and I immediately put it on our shopping list to bring back to Hungary.

We lazed our way through this brunch talking and refreshing our memories of our Africa trip, the plans for Easter Sunday tomorrow and how Germine will celebrate with her family, and our plans for the rest of our vacation. By 1:00, our friends Audrey, Mike, and their son Oskar arrived for our planned get-together for the rest of the afternoon. The Debjie family were the consummate tour guides taking us to the beach town close to Den Hague, where strolled the boardwalk, reminding me of my childhood at the New Jersey shore. Oskar was enjoying the fresh air and then the inflated oversized mats and castles that they have for children to romp and jump on. The charge was three Euros for 30 minutes and the attendant, an older woman was not the most gracious. She writes the time the child enters on their hand and must have a stop watch to keep track of them. At exactly 30 minutes, she was interrupting Oskar's jubilant bouncing and corralling him to leave the area or shell over another three coins.

The weather was perfect, so settled ourselves at an outdoor cafe, where the three Debjies had Dutch pancakes similar to our tasty morsels earlier that morning. Ron and I were still on full, so we only had coffee.

When we were leaving, we walked through the lobby of a hotel that was once a historic building. Audrey, who has been studying Dutch was able to translate the plague on the wall, but the memory of what she shared has long since slipped from my memory.

Having lived in The Netherlands for going on six years now, Audrey has learned quite a bit of Dutch, and the culture in which she lives. As we rode the trams around the city, we explored neighborhoods with wonderful architecture that I had never discovered on my own during previous trips. We were so fortunate to have 'locals' to show us around.

On the way back to their apartment, we stopped at a grocery store; I had to buy some pancake syrup and Dutch licorice, which is so different from American. I especially like the salty type.

Back at their apartment, we had tea and typical Dutch cookies and pastry, which definitely tickled my sweet tooth with greater furor than the Hungarian varieties. We then took our leave and they walked us to the tram that would deposit is at the train station. It was a wonderful afternoon shared with warm and kind people. They are the ones who introduced us to the game Apples to Apples, which has become Ron's Friday night social staple game of choice. I don't hold a grudge against them for it, though.

When we returned to Amsterdam, we tried contacting Chris and Mark, but could not connect, so Ron and I went to dinner alone. They were going to go to Rotterdam for the day to visit some of Chris's old hang-outs. He spend a semester of college studying there and had many memories. Ron and I walked the streets some to enjoy the people and then went to bed early to read.

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Exhaustion Hits

I was so exhausted from yesterday and not getting much sleep the night before that, I slept great. I had the side by the wall and that helped too. Ron was up by 8:30 and Mark called the room at 9:00. Chris, Mark, and Ron met for breakfast, but I continued to doze. Mark and Chris were going to the Anne Frank House. Chris did not want to go, so the original plan was for he and I to hang out together. He did decide to join them, so I stayed behind for a really lazy morning.

The breakfast room was filled when I made it down, so I had to wait for a table. There were some obnoxious Germans with nose piercings and raucous laughter who seemed to stay forever.

The guys never made it through the Anne Frank House, the line was wrapped around the corner and they decided not to wait. We went strolling and came across the outdoor book and picture mart. Browsing a bit, Mark found a couple of treasures and then we ventured around the city. We shopped, browsed, and just had a lazy day looking at sights and peeking in churches. I scored with a Waterstone book store. They have an on-going buy 2, get 3 sale. Although the books are slightly higher than what I would pay in the States, there were some authors that I cannot usually find: Josten Gaardner is one and I found two of his books I did not have before. I also discovered Christopher Hope's book My Mother's Lover's and bought it on chance. He is a South African writer. Alexander McCall Smith had a new book out on his series that takes place in Botswana and I scooped that one up too.

This evening, we went to the Van Gogh Museum. They are open late on Friday nights and have live entertainment. The interesting part is they project pictures of the paintings on the ceiling and have live cameras toward the floor below. It looks like people walking all over the painted ceiling. I am not a Van Gogh fan and I have been here before with Ron. Ron pours over each painting and reads everything. I speed read, look at the painting and move on. Chris and Mark beat both of us and were in the lobby listening to the music when we finished up. They do not allow photography even with a special ticket, though I am not sure there would be much there that I would take pictures of if I were allowed.

The pain in my leg is making it difficult to sit on the bed with the computer on my lap, so these posts are not as up-to-date or detailed as I would like.

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A Long Day in Bloom

We were all up and ready for breakfast by 8:30 am. The plan was to leave for Leiden by 9:30. We arrived at the train station at our schedule time, but with trains leaving every 15 minutes, we decided to have a coffee first. A round trip ticket to Leiden was 7 Euros each.

The train to Leiden is the same train that goes to the airport and to Den Hague. Within 35 minutes, we were in line for our combo tickets for the bus ride and entrance to Kuekenhof. Tickets were 18 Euros each. With tickets in hand, we explored this lovely and quaint city, walking the streets and looking in shops. We spotted an Oil and Vinegar store and all of us had to make a stop there. Ron and I had come across our first Oil and Vinegar store in Lisbon, Mark and Chris had their first experience with one in Chicago. It is a cooks paradise and we sampled some of their goodies.

We decided to get snacks to bring to the park and picnic there. Finding a supermarket was easy with the directions we were given from the lady at Oil and Vinegar, so we did our shopping. We found rolls and cheeses we do not normally see in Hungary giving all of us a sense of euphoria.

With our snacks in hand, we went to catch our bus for the gardens. The 54 bus was packed with standing only capacity, but we were first in line to secure seats. We arrived at the grounds by 1:30 and walked slowly enjoying the varieties of the flower beds, the magnificent and unusual colors of some flowers, and the displays of statues. After two hours, we stopped at the outdoor restaurant for beers and snacked on our picnic lunch. We had yet to go to the major exhibition hall, which I knew would completely delight all of my crew. Chris had been here 12 years prior, but the grounds had grown considerably in that time. The first hall we went into was all orchids of hundreds of varieties. They were stunningly beautiful, some magically so in their incredibly different shapes and or colors.

As we approached the main hall, we discussed how much time we would need here. The others thought thirty minutes, but I pushed for an hour and they agreed. When we walked in and they saw the enormity of the displays with the variety of flowers, they realized why I prodded for more time. We all went in different directions with a common meeting point. I was as happy as a pig in mud, snapping pictures of flowers I most likely snapped pictures of last year, but still eager for more. Then twenty-five minutes into my shutter fever, my batteries died. I had two brand new packs of Panasonic Heavy Duty batteries, so I was not distraught. When I changed the batteries in my camera and it did not work at all, I did become anxious. I then tried the second set of batteries and they did not work either. Then I became despondent. Give me a camera and keep me busy for hours. Take away my batteries and I am instantly listless. I had no other back-up batteries, having left my rechargeable ones at home, depending on two brand new packs of batteries.

By the time, we had met up again as a group, we decided that we should head back to the station. It was now 5:45 pm. However, we had only covered half of the park. There was still another section that we had not even touched. We knew if we waited longer, the park closing at 7:30 pm, we would have to scramble for the bus back to the station.

Back in Amsterdam, we agreed to a long rest and to meet at 9:30 pm for a late dinner. We walked to the Hard Rock cafe to show Mark. He had never been to one, but does enjoy music. It was fun to share this experience with him. We then found a restaurant with an all-you-can-eat rib special and went there for dinner. Ron and I had the ribs and they were great. Having a beer in the gay bar on our street was the evening closer, so we went to the Spyker. It was more crowded than I remember it being for a long time, making it hot and stuffy with our coats on.

We headed to our hotel within the same block and agreed to a lazier wake-up and tour day tomorrow.

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Amsterdam

We woke at 3:00 am, called the taxi at 4:00 and was at the airport by 4:30 am for our 6:30 flight to Amsterdam. Chris and Mark who were traveling with us had just pulled up in another taxi. Check-in, which is supposedly 2 hours before a flight, had not opened yet. After we did check in, go through security, and passport control, we sat for a coffee to wait for the flight. We flew SkyEurope and arrived twenty minutes earlier than scheduled. After getting the luggage, we bought our train tickets to the Central Station and we were off. The trains leave every 15 minutes. At Central Station after a 25 minute train ride, we walked over to the transport office to buy our 96 hour transport tickets. Now we were good to go and off we went to the Golden Bear Hotel. Our room was ready, but Chris and Mark's was not. They put their things in our room and we took off to see the city. With this being my 11th trip here, the most recent being one year ago, I was the guide. Our first stop was automat that served French fries with peanut sauce. In the same area, there is a life sized 24 piece statue of the "Night Watch" done by two Russian artists. From here, we just wandered down the streets and did some window shopping. On our way back, we stopped for a beer and a Dutch gin. It was getting chilly, but the sun was pleasant enough to sit outside while enjoying our drinks to people watch. After getting hydrated, satiated, and motivated, we continued our walk down to the pedestrian mall and did some more window shopping, but at Waterstone books, I went in to shock up on English language books that I knew I would not find in Hungary. There were some new books by my favorite authors: Alexander McCall Smith, Margaret George, and Josten Gaardner. I bought them all, getting three for the price of two. Though they were expensive in Euros, I still paid less than if buying them new in the States. It was well after 2:00 pm by now when Mark and Chris's room would be ready, so the vote was to go back and rest. We met again at 5:30 in the lobby and took another walk before heading to the all you can eat Chinese restaurant for dinner. By 10:00, we were all dead tired, so decided on an early night for a full day tomorrow. Our room was disappointingly small. Having been to this hotel last year, I had a large room with a wonderfully comfortable bed; it was disconcerting to get a smaller room now that there were the two of us, when I had more luxury when I was here alone. The bed was so small for the two of us; I barely slept the entire night.

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The Wall

Strangely, I ran into the complaining neighbor from downstairs who has not bothered us since they ripped open our bathroom wall to fix the pipe. Well it was not so strange to run into her, but I did ask her if she heard anything about when they would come to do the repairs of the things they destroyed. She assured me it would not be until after Easter Monday, a holiday in Hungary. About 4:00 pm, the doorbell rings. The people from the building management are there to look at the hole. Pantomime is not getting us anywhere, so I call Balazs to translate. They want to know if they can do the repairs now. There is a glitch though. The tile that is in there now is no longer being made, so unless we have some hidden spares, they cannot match it. Well, we don't. They wanted to know if we wanted the whole bathroom re-tiled or just the hole. The entire project would be our expense; the hole was on the house. Just the hole, thanks. I suggested plain white tiles since it was low to the floor and to the side, in a not too noticeable place. They said they would be back in 90 minutes and do the work. Okay, but hey guys, we have a 6:30 am flight tomorrow to Amsterdam and have to get up at 3:00 am. They returned after 2 1/2 hours and started working. We did not get to bed until 10:00 pm, a couple of hours later than we had planned, but the work was done and it looks great. They did an excellent job of it.

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Timing is Everything

After getting 10-15 page essays from my group of 25 students, I resent them out to different students to be the 'editor' of that paper. They had a week to edit it, then sent it back to the original writer and to me. The student then had one week to do a final revision of the essay and send it back to me for a final grade. My Inbox was splitting its sides with the now 50 essays in both edited and final draft form waiting to be graded, though with the mess on moving the campus, I fell behind in my work. Yesterday, i started the process and just as I opened the first one, there was a message for me from MS Office 2007 Beta. It had expired and needed to be uninstalled. Okay, fine! I loved the program and plan on purchasing the full version, but for now, I needed to grade papers. I went to uninstall it with Add/Remove programs. This attempt gave me a "Sorry, no can do" message. It would not uninstall. I tried through the Program Files and it was a no go there too. I could not access my real copy of Office 2003 either until 2007 was uninstalled. Essays glaring at me and I cannot open them...what to do, what to do? I burned them on a DVD R/W disc and graded them on my laptop. At the same time, I put the call out for some computer help. My TA Balazs came to the rescue with a friend of his who does computer work for a living. He spent three hours trying to fix the problem or at least fix my corrupted Windows Installer program. Trying to download the program again only resulted in the message that the version I had was newer than the one I had downloaded from Microsoft. The final conclusion was that I would have to reformat the computer. This is not a task I enjoy and will hold off until the semester is over. There are too many necessary programs to reinstall, making it too time consuming otherwise. This computer man also clearly recognized that my fan sounded like a lawnmower. He offered to replace it and it is so quiet now, I need to see the lights on the front to make sure it is still on. We are leaving for Amsterdam on Wednesday and I am determined to have all of the grading completed before I leave.

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The Old and the New

We were informed that we were to go to the new university building on the new campus today between 10 am -2 pm. I was so excited to see the new building, I was tempted to cancel classes today, just to get there early, but I did not.

When I walked into my office this morning, it was like the little elves were there the night before. All of my boxed things were marked R-5 432, so was each piece of furniture marked in the same way. All of a sudden, I had a nostalgic moment. I have spent five years of my professional life in this office, in this building, and in the classroom that I use. As much as I have hated the deteriorated walls, the blackboard that is so old, you can barely write on it, it was now going to be a thing of the past. I had to take pictures and I did. Actually, I have shared this office with the other native speaking instructor, Aaron Hunter. Sometimes it has been a tight fit. I never did get my name put on the door either. My predecessor's name plate had been hammered in with screws, not nails. I had covered it with a sign I made on the computer. It will be interesting to see whose names are put on the new office door if any at all. See the photocopier in the left hand corner of the picture? We have not had a toner cartridge for it for over two years.

Classes were over and I ran for the bus to get to the new building, wanting to be enthralled, but was prepared for disillusionment. I walked up and down the street where construction was going on, but could not find the entrance. After walking around to the other part of the campus, the road was congested with trucks, cars, and workmen with little room to get by. I had to ask where the building was and how to get it. A very helpful young man helped me along, but the construction foreman wanted to know why I wanted to go in. Surely, I could not have been the first one there at 1:20 pm.

This kind young man decided he needed to escort me upstairs to the room number I had been given, 432. Yes, the fourth floor with the ground floor counting as zero. He must have caught me looking longingly at the two elevators, as he said "The lifts are not operational yet." Dear higher power, make them work soon, really soon.

There was every time of construction worker imaginable working furiously in all of the halls and some of the rooms. The halls are filled with dust from cutting wood, sheets covering the floors for the painters, but through it all there was a gloriously bright and cheerful new building.

When we reached room 432, I had to keep from falling on knees with praise. The office is incredible. It is huge, with three desks, a glass cabinet, locked drawers, a coat closet, and other desks to spread things out on or to work with students. This was beyond my dreams. I cannot wait to move in now.
Our old classroom was spacious, but when you used blue stick on the walls, it took part of the wall with it when it was removed.

The classroom that is supposedly where all of my classes will be is equally new and luscious. The brand new chairs and tables with a virgin blackboard will thrill the students to no end. I will have to be creative to find some way of make it less teacher-centered and more seminar centered, but that will work itself out in time. It is all so impressive.

This is a space that one can be proud of and I certainly hope the students appreciate the differences.

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U.S. Freedoms

I am sure that I will get some hate mail over this post, but here it goes. This article was sent to me by a former Fulbrighter who was here for one semester. She is a Ph.D. in Nursing, an R.N., and a J.D., an attorney.

She is also active with Frank Cordaro, the former Catholic Priest who marches and gets arrested for Social Justice issues, a Berrigan-like priest carry over from the 60s and 7os. You can read more about him here. http://no-nukes.org/frank/f-biography.html

This is the news story from The Gazette newspaper as it appeared online.

Parade turns into a clash with police By Brian Newsome and R. Scott Rappold The Gazette

March 18, 2007 - 12:56AM

Seven war protesters who tried to march in Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Colorado Springs were accused of refusing to cooperate with police and arrested. One of them was injured as she was dragged off the road.

Police halted about 45 people with the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission just steps into the parade where it began at Tejon and St. Vrain streets. They wore green shirts with peace signs and carried signs that read “Kids Not Bombs” and “End This War Now.”

The group had a permit to march under the name of The Bookman, a business owned by commission chairman Eric Verlo. But when parade organizers saw their anti-war signs, they asked police to prevent them from proceeding. Although most cooperated, some in the group sat in the road, police and bystanders said. “We asked them to move from the parade route, they refused and we escorted (them) off,” said Colorado Springs police Sgt. Bob Weber.

Political candidates are allowed to take part, but the parade has never allowed “social issues,” said parade organizer John O’Donnell, a condition to which participants agree. “It is our goal not to turn this into a confrontational political atmosphere,” O’Donnell said. “It really is to come and have fun. “A political message, ‘vote for me, vote Republican, vote Democratic,’ is OK.”

Elizabeth Fineron, 65, suffered a leg injury from being dragged off the road. She requested to be taken to the hospital, said Sgt. David Whitlock, a public information officer. Fineron was treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. Fineron could not be reached for comment Saturday night. The anti-war group began circulating photos Saturday afternoon showing Fineron being dragged away with her pants ripping and a bruised welt showing. Other photos showed a police officer pointing a Taser gun — no target was visible in the picture — and an officer with his arm around a man’s neck.

Whitlock, who saw the photos, said there will be a thorough review of the incident, and he urged witnesses and those involved to contact internal affairs if they thought excessive force or inappropriate police action had occurred. He said they show just an instant in time, however, and until police can conduct their review he could not comment.

Paradegoer Rachel Eggleston said the group was confronted shortly after it began to march. She said five group members sat down in the road and three others ran down the parade route. A police officer drove the Bookman bus off the route onto St. Vrain. One officer broke one of the protester’s signs on his knee, she said. People began taking pictures, she said, and some were yelling in support of and against the protesters and the police.

One woman, Eggleston said, called the police Nazis, and another paradegoer yelled a profanity at the woman in response. Many were yelling at the protesters. Verlo, who was one of those arrested, said the group wasn’t advocating a social issue, but peace. “We did this last year,” Verlo said. “We thought we were fairly innocuous. We were walking about peace and ending the war.” O’Donnell said he didn’t recall seeing anti-war signs in the parade last year. The protesters are due in court April 10.

To the best of my knowledge, these photos were privately taken.

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Ropes to the Sky

We again had the pleasure of seeing the performance Frenák Pál Társulat: FIÚK - Les hommes cachés at the Trafo Theater. This theater is all about experimental dance. We went to this show last year when they performed for the Spring Festival and were in awe at the dexterity and strength these young men displayed.

Lynn and my student/guardian angel Balazs went with us.

Three ropes to the sky, 4 men. Beyond being a beautiful work about the masculine body and the use of spaces and falls as tools of a choreographic expression, “Fiúk” is an immersion in the unconsciousness of men and boys. A research into the very foundations of the common inheritance that feeds the construction of man as a social animal. By calling up alternately male chauvinist violence, stupid pretentiousness, the balance of power that structures our exchanges with others, both men and women, Pal Frenak, offers us a radical vision, somehow desperate, of human relationships. Once again, Pal Frenak presents a show whose theatrical dimensions, almost cinematographic in conception, is the expression of his intuitive knowledge of human functions, a kind of direct access to the unconscious as well as a social vision without concession.

http://www.ciefrenak.org

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The University Speaks

This is the e-mail I received this morning: Dear Colleagues,

As you know the spring holiday starts on 2 April and ends on 10 April (Tuesday). Since the exact date of our move to Rákóczi út is still uncertain, we are considering making the holiday three days longer (i.e. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday could be "non-teaching workdays"). This would give us some time to get settled in the new place and then we could continue teaching in a more organised way. The Institute Council will make the final decision on Tuesday (27 March), about which I'll inform you on the same day. So PLEASE CHECK YOUR E-MAILS ON TUESDAY. I will be anxiously waiting Tuesday to see the results. Notice that in the note above, it is mentioned that the "exact date of our move to Rákóczi út is still uncertain". Um, doesn't anyone think this is a bit late not to be certain? In the meanwhile, I have all of my smaller classes on alert that we are meeting at my apartment that week. The semester is too short as it is to miss another week.

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University Woes

Back in September, we were told at the university that the campus has been sold and we were to move to the main campus over the winter break. They were remodeling a building that the university purchased with this in mind. In December, we were told the remodeling was not done yet and we would wait until the end of the spring semester. Last month, we were told that the university will lose money each day we stay on the current campus after April 1st, so we are moving during our spring break. It is now March 22nd. We have been told to box up all of our things in our offices and classrooms to prepare for this move, leaving out last minute things until last. We had to submit an inventory of the furniture in our office that we wanted to use in the new building, too. Next week is the last week of classes before spring break. As of now, we don't know where our classes will be held in the new building. We don't know if we will start on schedule after the break. We don't know how the students will find out when the classes are to start again or how to inform them of the room numbers once we do. We were told to expect an extra 'reading week' after the break, so this will extend the break by another week. Now rumors are going around that the end of the semester will be extended in May. IF our students were only single majors, this would not be too much of an issue; however, many of them are double majors and start exams at the end of the semester. A large number of them do not live in Budapest and staying here for a few classes will be a drain on their finances. Some have tickets for other countries to study and work as soon as the semester is over. My additional concern is our tickets already booked for Rome in May when one of our friends comes to visit. My co-teacher, the other native speaker is getting married right after school was originally planned to end. He has a honeymoon planned. It seems that when they allocated rooms for this semester at the main campus, they 'forgot' all of the programs that are on our campus. Scheduling now is a nightmare. Since I live so close to the main campus, I have offered almost all of my classes, the smaller ones, to have classes at my apartment, so they could finish the semester on time.

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Hats Off to Elizabeth

I knew I had the names wrong for the Bob Newhart characters, but I knew someone would correct me. Thank you Elizabeth for the correction. It is duly noted and changed. Ryan

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Crackle, Snap, Pop

The title of this entry is a sequence of events of the pipe and my mood. I hate sponge baths and washing my hair in the kitchen sink, but at least there were no guests here this morning. I left for school close to 9:00, yet no plumber. I purposefully stayed at school later than usual to avoid finding out that the plumber did not show again for as long as possible. To my surprise, he or rather they did and the pipe was all replaced. He came in to demonstrate that the water was back on by turning on the small sink in the small bathroom. I went around running water in the bidet, the tub, the sinks, but the toilet in the large bathroom was still not filling. After chasing him down, he came back up and fixed that too. Our fingers are crossed that our neighbors will no longer be cross.

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A Royal Flush

After taking a sponge bath in the kitchen sink this morning with an ever alert ear out for sounds of guests getting up, I dragged myself off to the university. My office hours kept me there until 12:30, so there were fantasies of the plumber having the pipe at least 3/4 finished. I called home and Ron said he was SMS'ed by the neighbor that they would not come back until tomorrow at 9:00. Hmmmm....call in sick or see how much of me I can fit into the kitchen sink. At least all of the guests have left today.

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The Last of the Whine

Since we live in a secured building, 99% of the time, when we get someone visiting, they have to ring our bell to be let into the building. One percent of our guests have been sneaky enough to get in with another resident as they are coming in. So when our front doorbell rings, we are a bit suspicious as to who may be there. Last night the doorbell did not ring, but there was knock at 10:30 pm. We ignored it until the knock persisted. Ron knew immediately, who it would be...THE NEIGHBOR. We were informed that at 1:00 tomorrow, the manager of the building would be coming to look at the flood in their two bathrooms and to investigate our leak. I have learned not to allow this to make my nights sleepless. It could be age, but we have covered our bases, so it was with confidence it was not our problem that I went to bed. When 1:30 rolled around and no one showed, I remained mellow reading my book "The Shadow of the Sun" about the horrors of Africa by the Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski. My neighbor problems seemed trivial in comparison. At 2:00, we were SMS'ed that the people would arrive at 2:30. Yea, sure! I called my friend Laszlo to ask if he were free to phone interpret. I did not want our neighbor to translate for us; my trust level has diminished. When the building man showed up with who I assumed was the plumber, they were like water diviners. With the immediacy of two bloodhounds on a hot trail, they went to the small bathroom, looked for two minutes and said the problem was a broken pipe in the wall. On the wall is a red cap, which apparently turns the water on and off. When the neighbor asked if the plumber could work on it then and there, I said sure. Little did I know. There was an old Bob Newhart Show who had three characters. The one always introduced himself by saying "Hi, my name is Darryl, this is my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl." They were a cross between rednecks and hillbillies. This was my first impression of the plumber. His hair was short and springing in all directions. He wore a blue coverall that had straps down below his waist allowing the waist of the coverall to hang close to his bellybutton. The legs of the coverall were so flared, they looked like they were cut at the seams. The expression on his face was what one would expect from a baby raised by wild animals who came into contact with humans for the first time. The neighbor said they would have to shut the water off for an hour. He was going to take his over energetic son home and he would return when the plumber did. Two hours later, the neighbor returned with the plumber on his heels. I was asked again if they could work on it now and again I said yes. The next thing to break the silence were bangs, clangs, and other industrious sounding noises filling the closet size bathroom with the plumber. It seemed like quite a cacophony for one little knob. The neighbor asked me down to see his bathrooms, to appreciate the damage. One look gave me a new appreciation for their dilemma. Their small bathroom was ruined from the ceiling down to where the tile started half way down the wall. It was blistering and looked ready to fall in. As horrific as this was, the large bathroom was even worse, looking life the aftermath of a hurricane. Yes, I felt saddened and ashamed that they had to live with this while my attitude was turning self-protective and apathetic. I raced back upstairs, hoping the plumber did not leave for any reason and close the door behind him. Ron was out teaching and I was without my keys. My timing was impeccable. The hallway was flooded. The small bathroom was flooded. The plumber passed me in the doorway as I walked in without a word exchanged since we could not speak the same language even in this emergency. The neighbor had to interpret that as the plumber was breaking through our tiles to get to the pipe, the pipe had its last hoorah and broke completely pouring water up and out. They had to shut off the main water valve in the building. Bear in mind that we have 4 B and B guests in one room and a single in the other. The group of four are college friends of one of the Fulbrighters here, who stayed out really late last night and I was hoping would do so again. Neither bathroom had water. The plumber worked on getting the pipe out until 9:30 pm before disappearing from the apartment below and without turning the water back on. Seven people in our apartment without running water in either bathroom, was not a pleasant thought. Again, I let my mind drift back to the trials of Africans and went to bed in peace, leaving Ron to stay up to tell our British guest.

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St. Patrick's Day

In the U.S, tomorrow everyone has enough Irish in them to drink a green beer or to join is some sort of festivity private or public. It is a great excuse to have a party.

Here things are different. The majority of Irish are the ones who came bought blocks of property and then went home again while collecting the rents. There are enough ex-pat Irish here to have a decent party and there are a few Irish pubs here that are like Irish McDonalds. They have a strange similarity to a franchised Irish opportunity as you can find them in just about every country and they look surprising alike. We have also come across franchise literature for Irisih pubs, so the idea is not my imagination.

When we were living in the States, I would have our house decorated for the occasion and we hosted dinner parties each year with the traditional corned beef, cabbage, and boiled potatoes. Funny, when we were in Ireland, a few of the Irish told us that they thought Americans were funny for serving this dinner. We were told it was not customary in Ireland and it was considered pauper's fare.

We have no decor for the holiday here, no corned beef, and nothing that will set the day off from any other Saturday, but that is tomorrow.

This evening, Lyn and Nicole came over with a friend. We sat around and talked, not moving forward into a card or table game. Again the evening was pleasant and filled with laughter, until Ron's mobile rang.

It was the neighbor from hell calling from his vacation. His brother who is supposedly watching his apartment told him they had 2 cm of water in their bathroom. Can we say "hyperbole"? Ron allowed him to rant and rave and then mentioned that it had rained for the better part of a week, which seemed to slow him down. He insists he is going to get an 'expert' to check out our bathroom. More power to you, Sparky, but we are not paying for anything. We put out 40,ooo Huf already for 'experts' who could find nothing in our apartment to fix.

This leak is dampening my mood one drip at a time.

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1848 Not Forgotten

roundToday is the memorial day of the 1848 Revolution. There are usually speeches and music pieces performed and people wear a round flag with the national colors (red, white and green). However, due to the unrest in past months, there were expected to be riots this holiday. Everyone from students to the English paper warned about not being around any crowds or group gatherings. Even the Embassies of the U.S., Great Britain, and Australia had warnings out. Regardless, since it fell on a Thursday, this gave me a five day weekend. Ron and I took a walk to the video store and then took the bus around the Parliament area to see what was happening. The Parliament is now walled off with a fence, but there were few people hanging around. We went for a coffee, then heading home. Ron stayed on the tram to continue to Blaha, his curiosity getting the best of him. There was nothing happening there either, but one of our guests who came in later that evening said there was tear gas on Andrassy and he felt the remnants of it as he walked home. The events must have happened later in the evening.

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Another Fulbrighter Returns

John Jai, a former Fulbrighter was coming to Budapest for a visit with his new finance. They had popped in one day to say hello, but Ron was out. They are staying at a friend's unused apartment. It was good to see him again and to meet the love of his life. We had invited them for dinner this evening. Ron made a wonderful dinner and the conversation was flowing, but then the doorbell rang. Dum-de-dum-dum...It was the wife neighbor downstairs. She came to complain that their roof was leaking yet again, that they would be gone for a week and could we please be careful with the water in the shower. I am so sick of this issue. After having three plumbers check out our bathroom and not finding anything wrong, they told the neighbors, it has to be a pipe from outside. The last plumber found a pipe, cut it and bent it. For a few months, this solved the problem. Coincidentally, this leak started about four days after days of rain. The same thing had happened in the past. We had a bad rain, their ceiling leaked. They cannot seem to get it through their heads that the problem may not be our bathroom, but the building. This aggravation threw me for the rest of the evening, though I tried to not let it bother me, it did dampen my spirits.

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Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut...

and sometimes you don't. If you remember that slogan, you are most likely American who saw the ads for Almond Joys and Mounds. I am paraphrasing it to sometimes you feel like a slug and sometimes you don't. I am not sure I can say I have been a slug lately, but certainly not interested in sitting at the computer for productive reasons. Non-productive reasons have drawn me to the keyboard, admittedly. My other excuse is that I have blogs for each of my Ethnicity, Critical Thinking, and Gender Issues in Film classes, which also keep me busy. We went to brunch with Chris and Mark at Eklectika, the favorite restaurant of all of us. They make great omelets and the service is usually the best in the city. Three topics dominated the conversation: Crocs, London, and their leaving. I had bought my first pair on Crocs while on vacation in Cape Town. It was an impulsive purchase, but they felt comfortable and I have problems with my feet bones. When I came home, I realized that they were the most comfortable shoes I have worn that are not Birkenstocks. Then the dilemma of how to get more. It was then that I had noticed Chris and Mark both had a pair that they bought here in Budapest. It turns out that Crocs are from Boulder, Colorado. They have them at the Overland stores here, so this was a highlight of conversation while eating. www.crocs.com Chris and Mark are leaving for a long weekend in London this next week. They are going to see Eqqus with "Harry Potter" Daniel Radcliffe. http://www.equustheplay.com/cc/daniel_radcliffe.php The boy wizard will be doing a nude scene, so this kept us chattering for a time also. I am a little green with envy they they are doing theater at all in a language we all understand. I remember, but did not see the original Broadway production of Equus with Anthony Perkins, many moons ago. The third topic of conversation was not as upbeat for Ron and I. Chris and Mark know they are leaving Hungary, most likely at the end of summer or the beginning of fall. They are not sure if it will be back to the States or somewhere else. The two of them have been a boon to our social life, but Mark especially has been a godsend for Ron. For the first time in a long time, he has a 'buddy' to pal around with. They discuss museum things and meet for coffees, giving Ron a social outlet he has long needed. Their leaving is going to be traumatic. We really need to make more friends. Well actually there was a fourth topic, but primarily between Chris and I. Chris is trying to donate through his company, ten computers to the American Studies department at our university. Sadly, our current campus with thousands of students only has a computer lab with twenty computers, but ten of them are now working at any given time. The English department has their own computer lab through some special grant, but will not let any other department use them. No one in my faculty seems to be motivated to look for grants, so Chris's offer is a dream come true. Now it is a matter of getting his people to speak to my people to make it all happen and happen before he leaves. I hate being in the middle of things like this. I would not like losing face on either side, but it would be worse if I lost it with the university not following through. My contract is up for renewal in August; this may be a boost, though I do not think I need one.

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Ron Retires

I had suggested to Ron that he ask our accountant about retiring from our business here in Hungary. We have been paying a number of taxes for him and vast amounts each month. Since we now have our Permanent Residency, he does not need to be employed any longer for an annual Visa. However, I wanted him to keep his health insurance here since his US insurance requires he pay out of pocket and if they deem it necessary, they will reimburse him 80%. When I came home, Ron had the paperwork that the accountant was going to submit retiring him. The accountant said he could not get insurance any more. I know this is not true. There was an article in the English papers stating you could. Something for him to investigate and for me to worry about until he does.

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Airfare Madness

We have tickets to the Military Tattoo in Edinburgh for August. We are combing that with the Fringe Festival. Last year, we went to the Fringe and had a great time. I have been searching for a good airfare. Last year, I found 33 different ways of combining budget airlines to get from here to there. Of the 33, only 11 would feasible due to connections. Then of those 11, all were more expensive than flying Malev, the Hungarian airlines. This year, I thought I hit gold. I found a website that allows you to type in the information one time and then you can search 20 different sites such as Expedia, Sidestep, Orbitz, and so on. Many of these sites do not allow travel that does not initiate in the U.S., thus limiting our possibilities. I did find allcheaptravel.com through this and also a great airfare. I booked it immediately with my American Express card. I received a confirmation number and a confirmation booking e-mail and I was pleased with myself. Four hours later, I happened to check my e-mail only to find another message from Allcheaptravel. They canceled my reservation since my Amex card had a foreign billing address, even though it is a US based account. Using Jajah, I called them and tried to salvage the seats, but was told they were gone. Back to the beginning again, but hopefully, since we are trying so early, the prices will go down later. The taxes on all airlines are more than the tickets themselves.

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The Chiropractor Still

I am still making weekly visits to the chiropractor. I did find out that there are only 5 of them in Hungary. Four of them are from the U.S. and one from Canada. Some days after I leave, I feel great with no pain in my back, hip, or leg and other days, I feel worse than when I started. The four thousand Huf a visit was also a major factor, so I mentioned it to him. He reduced my rate to two thousand, saying he was not there to make himself rich. That was very gracious of him, but I still wish it would get better and I could quit going at all. When we were in South Africa, I bought a pair of shoes called Crocs. I thought they were made there, but found out differently later. I just started to wear them and they are by far the best thing I have done for my feet. They are so incredibly comfortable. It was not until Chris and Mark came over one night, that I had noticed they were wearing them too. After Googling Crocs, I found that they are from Boulder, CO. I ordered three more pair to be sent to a friend of mine who is coming over in May. At $39.00 a pair, you cannot have too many. www.crocs.com

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Brunch for the Gang

Ron decided he was going to use my horded Bisquik for a Sunday brunch. He had invited Lynn and Nicole, both Fulbrighters as well as his museum buddy, Mark and his partner Chris. Now, normally, I am a generous person, but when I started to think about the amount of Bisquik this was going to consume...hmmmm.... Bisquick is not available here and it is such a diverse product. I have to beg people to bring it over, not to mention maple syrup. These are second and third on my Wish List after peanut butter. As it turned out, Mark was sick with the flu, Chris had to nurse him, so it was only Lynn and Nicole who came over. Ron made enough pancakes for Cesar's army. He had some with pecans and bananas and others plain. The ladies enjoyed themselves as did we, so after the initial casualty tally to my stock of goodies, I was able to relax and have nice relaxing Sunday with good company too.

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Guinea Pigs

I received an e-mail informing me that a Hungarian doctoral student who had gone to MIT was looking for native English speakers for his doctoral research. I immediately sent him a note and Ron and I volunteered for whatever he needed us to do. Having gone through the process of needing and cajoling people into being part of you doctoral research, I could certainly sympathize. We arranged to meet this morning at his university here in Budapest, the Technical University. It was only minutes later that we realized where the Ministry of Education is allocating their funds for higher education. The buildings and the equipment were pristine. Tamas, the researcher, is a young, attractive, soft-spoken gentleman. He had two computers set up so both of us could go through the experiment simultaneously, not waiting around for the other. We had to listen to different patterns of speech and determine different qualities about the voices we heard. It only lasted for 45 minutes, though he warned us it could take up to an hour. After we were done, he gave each of us a box of chocolates as a thank you for participating. After us, he only 3 participants and his goal is 10. I continued to spread the word with Fulbrighters and others that I knew, but could not convince anyone else to give so little of their time for a good cause. What a shame!

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A Fulbrighter Returns

There has not been a whole lot of excitement going on. One of the former Fulbrighter exchange teachers returned for a week and stayed with us. She was here our first year here and it was through her and a professor at my alma mater that we became involved with the Fulbrighters originally. Jennifer is an interesting person. While she was here, she went to see 137 movies, some of them twice. Her excuse was not having a television, but OCD rings in my mind. Regardless, she is a wealth of information on movies and television shows, plus she is pretty bright in her own area of English literature. She is very entertaining to have around, but she does have an agenda to see many of the teachers and students she spend nine months with, so we may not see too much of her this week.

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ELTE is Moving

I received an e-mail from my department head at the university last night. We have to submit our course that we will teach to the secretary this week. The semester has just nearly begun and they are concerned about the next one in September already. There is a rumor, a strong one, that we will be moving our campus on April 1st. At first I thought this was a secret, but the students knew already and are planning for an extra long vacation come April. We are on break until April 9th, so if they planned ahead, they could have us situated in time, but then again, planning is not the strong point of upper administration. Most of my classes are so small; I could have them come to my home and may just do that for most of them. We cannot afford to lose another week's classes, when Tuesday classes only meet for ten sessions as it is.

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