(Em)bracing Baja

While I tally up my list of "lasts," Baja counts down to its famous Bajai Halászlé Festival. Halászlé  is a savory fish soup made with a specific species of mirrored carp, and paprika. It simmers for hours in a big cauldron over an open flame. When a neighbor makes Halászlé the whole neighborhood smells delicious. Our family have a specific site set up on the property for butchering and cooking the fish. Work stops when the fish have to be but herd. My nephew came home from his job for a couple of hours to slaughter the fish one night on our last visit. It was a matter of course and his boss totally understood. The town braces itself for an influx of people that can temporarily double its population. 

As I ticked off my last langos at the piac I saw a young-ish woman in a lovely green dirndle. It was so simple and functional that I assumed it was regular street wear. It wasn't until later, after I turned in my key at the gym after my last workout, that I realized that the dirndle might be a costume. I saw a teenage boy waiting at a bus stop, he was wearing a traditional black suit with a feathered hat. And, he was playing with his phone. It was a wonderful incongruity. I saw this as I rode my bike past the Franz Liszt School of Music, where I hear an orchestra rehearsing. It all fell into place; the costumes, the platforms spot hat suddenly appeared on the walking street, and other signs of construction in Centrum. Thousands of people will soon converge on Baja from all over the world to compete. Not everyone is excited about it. Some long time residents stay away from Centrum for a while. Others are excited and regret that I can't stay to enjoy the event. Some year I would like to witness it. It must be grand!

This was a poignant week. I felt tearful several times. My sister in law and I went on our last bike ride, to the national park. We discovered that the trails run for miles. I plan on another adventure there when I return! We saw cousins in neighboring Fajst, we visited neighbors for the last time, and other neighbors visited us. Several brought gifts. (Writing "Thank you" notes in Hungarian is an adventure. I threw away as many as I wrote. You can't write "neigh" when you mean "néni"!) I got my eyebrows painted for the last time. I think this is a very sensible cosmetic procedure. In my niece's words, we just wake up looking this beautiful! We don't have to put on a new face each day and wash it off each night. At my last pedicure the technician gave me the cute little snail-shaped toe separator. It is pink and adorable with little antenna! I ate a cinnamon roll called Cocoa Snail. Snails are big here. Literally, see the picture!

Last night as I listened to the frogs through my open window I thought of how difficult the trip has been. I've spent 12 weeks immersed in one of the wickedest languages for an English speaker. I've gone from understanding about 1% of conversations to understanding 10-15%. My family always understand me, and my communication grew in vocabulary and complexity. Maybe I now speak like a 3-year old. Or not. My 3-year old cousin understands conversations better than I do. And my 7-year old cousin tutors me. Friends and family happily congratulate me and tell me I speak beautifully. But I think that is love talking (thank you!) because I still have a hard time hearing l, r, t, ö, ü, and ij. Well, maybe it's progress that I kind of know what I don't know! 

Now I am in Budapest. I stay with cousins till Tuesday morning, when I am off to Paris. I hope to get a makeup makeover, and get my hair trimmed. I am embarrassed to say that it was so hot in Baja that I took scissors to my already short hair, and snipped off about an inch. I got the hair off my neck because the heat and humidity was stifling me. All the cute, whispy, fringes my stylist created looked like I was just pulled dripping wet from a lake. Not a good look. So, now it's more like a bob cut. I hope a stylist in Paris can shape up a bit so it looks more intentional. 

I have a second round of "Goodbyes" this week, and a new "Hello!" Next stop, Charles de Gaulle Airport!

Stork family in their nest at the gym. I saw two storks fly over the house this week, and another one hunting in a field. I love them, they are so graceful. 

Global Fitness. I bought the T-shirt. It's pink. 

Global Fitness has all the equipment you need. 

And, a room for classes. Take Andi's aerobics or Pilats classes. Guaranteed to kick your you-know-what (in a good way!)

Now why did my sister in law insist I take a different picture?

Ok, here is a better picture. 

Cocoa Snail. Better than escargot. 

Last templum in Baja

This is my last week in Baja.  Next week I head to Paris. So I am now counting down the last time I do things. For example, Friday was my last eyebrow tinting. Today was my last walk to church (templum). I put some pictures below. Church bells ring telling people church is starting now. The bells ring half an hour before the service and again 15 minutes before the service and finally a minute before the service. That tells people when to start walking to church. I usually head out at the 15 minute warning. The workmen finished laying bricks in the new sidewalk. Now when I walk home arm-in-arm with the neighbor néni we don't have to walk in the street!

Yesterday was my third to last fry bread at the piac. Wednesday will be my second to last, and Saturday will be the last. I could get langos at a shop on the Sugo canal, but that's not near as fun as going to the bazaar. The sights and sounds, smells of fresh flowers fruit and veggies, people of all descriptions, sellers calling out to passers by, baby chicks and ducklings peeping, kids eating ice cream, it is all rich and full of life.  I love the piac! 

I expect my last pedicure this week. And last visit with neighbors and friends. I hope we will to to Fiszt to see cousins. If we go we will take the bus. My husband told me what hard workers they are, and how picturesque was the town when he last saw it. The cousins came to the funeral, and we're very kind to me, inviting us to visit. I am looking forward to it!

I finished my mending, and will ask if there is anything else I can sew in these last few days. I haven't had many chores while my husband's sister is off work. She fees the animals and does the marketing. I do my laundry, clean the floors, help with the weeding and mowing. But she is a busy gal, taking care of dozens of things, and there's not much left for me to do. She will return to work a few days a week after I go home. She is basically retired now, just working a bit for extra pocket money. 

I think I understand a bit about how retirement and healthcare works here. I think that folks get a small pension when they retire. Everyone has basic health care and can go to the doctor whenever needed. There can be a long wait for major services. So people also pay privately for services that they need fast, or for specialties. For instance, I understand that many women get private pay services for gynecology and for delivering babies. Gals will save up money in order to pay. A doctor can have a career in a state hospital and a private practice at the same time. When a dog bit me I went to the hospital emergency room for treatment. I received treatment free of charge. Thankfully it was a minor injury. I don't know what it would be like if I needed stitches or surgery. Please, I don't want to find out! The pharmacies here are pretty cool. It's almost like going to see a nurse. You walk in to the shop, tell the white coat clad service personnel about your problem. Then he or she gets the medication you need. I was bitten by some kind of insect and my face swollen  up like a balloon overnight. I took a Benedryl in the middle of the night. The next morning we went to the pharmacy and the pharmacist gave me a stronger medication. It knocked me out! Note to self: take prescription antihistamine on my next trip. Benedryl is good, but my reactions are pretty strong and Benadryl only takes the edge off, I need something stronger. I hope that was my last allergic reaction in Baja!

What else is last? Today's lunch was the last meal together with my husband's sister and niece. We ate outside, it was sunny and breezy. I said grace, and started tearing up as I spoke. Afterward, Frank's sister hugged me, we both cried a bit. We agreed that it is sad that I only have one week left here. I will treasure every moment. Even the difficult ones wherein I can't make myself understood. Or when I don't understand someone else. That is most moments! Really, this language is wickedly difficult to learn! I know lots of words, but the endings are all twisty and turn-y. I recognize lots of root words, but with the multitude of suffixes I feel like the words all swim around in a big cauldron, swirling together and making no sense. I know that that is a piece of meat, that is a carrot, and that is pasta. But I don't know their relationship to each other so I don't know what kind of stew it is. I am positive that my niece told me that the gym is closed on Sundays. But yesterday she said, "no, it is open in the evening." Most of the time I just say, "ok," and follow along like a little duck after its mother. This will not be the last week of that! When I get to Paris I will follow my other niece around like a little duckling! The rest of the meals this week will be just me and my sister in law. She cooks like crazy and I look forward to her home fries. They are the best fries I have ever had. I think I already said that, but they are so swesomly crunchy on the outside and tender and buttery on the inside, that I have to say it again. I will be sad to eat my last meal of home fries!

Here are photos of my last walk to templum in Baja. 

When in doubt, follow a néni

The word, “néni,” (NA-ni) is a respectful term used with the familiar form of an elderly woman’s given name. Thus, “Elizabeth “ becomes “Ergi” and if she is an elder, she becomes “Ergi néni.” (Be careful about using the term though, as I discovered one day. Do not use néni until it’s super duper obvious that a lady is a néni. Otherwise she might feel offended that you think she is old!)

It's raining, it's pouring

The old man is snoring. 

Lightning overhead when we went to bed

And flooding in the morning!

We get some fall thunder-boomers here, and they last for hours. Back home in Colorado raging thunderstorms are rare. When we do have them they last for a few hours at most. Here, the rain can come in and stay for days, raining off and on, never letting things completely dry out. I welcome the rain because it breaks the heat. But, it's kind of flat here, and so the rain pools up and floods in lots of places. 

The photos below show our street, and an intersection near the Aldi grocery store. Police closed the road near Aldi because the water was so deep and covered a long stretch of road. I was out with our niece in the car, and we drove through lots of water. I saw it lapping up against the garden walls, and running into the courtyards. I wondered if the car would stall but we got through it ok. Only a few bicyclists were out, I was impressed by the hearty folk who braved the rain. 

The dog is afraid of the thunder and lightening. So we let him in when it's bad. However, he is an outside dog and is only allowed in the mud room. He keeps trying to sneak into the house and we shoo him out. He knows better, but fear is a powerful motivator. He has a secure place behind the door where he feels pretty safe so he settles there. 

The water drained off prettying quickly after the rain stopped. It is humid here so it certainly didn't evaporate. Some ditches still contain water, and it's hard to know whether it will drain off, if it rains again tomorrow or tonight the water won't have a chance to drain. 

I like the thunder and lightening shows. It is amazing to me how long they go on, it's hours and hours. All night long, and all day long, the show continues!

I think the most recent storm was strong even by local standards. I saw folks taking photos, and there were stories on the news the next day about big hail in Budapest. How did I know of stories on the news, you might ask, since I don't have TV. Well, our niece arranged for me to join the local gym for a month! (I need it too, I can't keep up with the wonderful food our family cooks!) The gym has TVs and so I saw the report on the news. It was neat looking at the TV footage of homes and city streets. The picturesque buildings are normal to everyone here, but still very interesting to me. 

The family's Facebook friends posted lots of images and some video footage. One video showed kids playing in the water. I told my sister in law that when I was a kid in New Orleans we had similar flooding. Other kids got to go out and play in the water. But my mom never permitted it. "Right, it is dirty water," affirmed my sister in law. Thanks, mom!

Country mouse and city mouse

Last weekend I went to Budapest for a few days. It was Memorial weekend in the USA, and Children's Weekend in Hungary. I felt like the country mouse going to visit the city. I got on the bus going north, and we drove through several picturesque villages.

For some foolish reason I presume that everyone is going to Budapest, so when I get on the bus I just say "good day," and hand the driver cash for the fare, without requesting my city. He looks at me. Oops! "Budapest, please." He makes change and gives me the ticket, "good day." The bus is full when it leaves Baja, and it empties out as we go north. People get on and off, mostly off. By the time we arrive there are only a dozen people on the bus.

I'm getting used to the stucco houses and shops with tile roofs. The really old buildings have moss growing on the tiles. It looks like lots of the roof tiles are made of stone. Some of the major buildings in the villages are made of stone, such as municipal buildings and churches. Most shops are brick covered with stucco. I keep my eyes open for stork nests, hoping to see a stork or some babies. I finally get a picture out the bus window, see below. May Day was May first, and it is a national holiday. I see decorated tres all over the place. In one town I saw giant dolls in a tree; a boy was climbing up to a girl at the top of the tree. I think that the idea was for him to reach her and ask to marry her. It's very sweet! After about a three hours we reach the Budapest suburbs. My cousin picks me up and takes me to the house. The children will arrive in the morning, so the adults have a quiet evening at home. .

The next day the children arrive. The little girl will turn seven this weekend, she has a friend over to play, and I play with them as well. It started out as Hide and Seek, but turned into Zombies. I was naturally, the Zombie (see the post about the dog bite). But after a while the little girls turned and started chasing me. I was a very fearful zombie! I ran away howling, waving my arms in the air. We made so much joyful noise that the next door neighbor girl came to join us. Little kids are such fun!

The birthday party was the next day, Saturday. So we went to the piac (bazaar) for fresh fruit, veggies and eggs. The city piac is open every day of the week unlike the country piac. Well, except for Shopping Day, of course. We also went to the toy store to pick up a couple of presents. I told her she could choose anything within a certain price range, and she got a little doll that smells like cake. It's a "thing" here, and she has several of those dolls. Children's Day is a big deal, and is actually the whole weekend. We buy presents for all the kids, even the children who are now grown ups. 

At the birthday party I met all kinds of relatives, great aunts, cousins, and people related by marriage. One of the friends has a plan to come to the USA and ride a Harley across Route 66. A wonderful tradition! We have a home made ladybug cake, it has fondant cling and marzipan flowers and antenna. The layers are strawberry and poppyseed. I bring several pieces back to Baja for the family here. We play football I the front yard before dinner, and share a round of fruit brandy, palinka. We all have to down our drinks in one tip of the glass. 

 The next day we go downtown and have a nice walk about with some, you guessed it - ice cream!  Just like in the country there are little shops of all sorts close by, an  auto mechanic is  right beside the house and you'd never know it. Naturally there are chickens and roosters all over the place. And ice cream stores a few blocks away. A friend of the family. Runs an import grocer, bringing fancy cheeses and oils from Italy. I don't think that kind of thing is available in our small town down south. 

The are a few differences, though. Our little town down south has some tourism, but nothing like Budapest. It's easyto feel like I live in Humgary since I'm staying with family. I enjoy watching tourists eagerly contributing to the national economy. Budapest has little two-man taxis, called Tuk-Tuk. I've seen them in Belize and Peru. They almost look like pedi cabs, with the driver up front, and a fold down-soft top for the two passengers. Compared to Budapest Baja is a sleepy town. I know there are tourists in Baja, but the downtown area is small and I don't see them as often. 

The ride back home is becoming familiar, I recognize towns and landmarks and I know when we are getting close. It was nice having TV, it helps with language. But it will also be nice to be able to ride my bike all over the place. 

The sound of ...

Birdies!

Every day I hear a symphony of birds. I notice more species here than in Colorado. Maybe it's because it's wetter here, and there are also more trees. They sing all day long and some of them sing at night.

My bedroom window is open all night and every night the audioscape is different. The first night I heard dogs barking on and off all night. The next couple of nights I heard a  puppy mournfully howling. I was so sad to hear his loneliness! The next few nights were absolutely quiet. Then I heard a few birds, or maybe frogs, bleating all night long. Last night it seemed to be the same motorcycle driving round and round the city every few minutes for a couple of hours.

Just about every block has hens, and lots of folks also have roosters. They start singing early in the morning, and they sound off all day long. The most amusing thing I’ve heard is a rooster crowing while I was getting a mange. The masseuse is just a couple of houses down the street. The weather is very nice, so everyone keeps doors and windows open. I was relaxing under her capable care, and I clearly heard the sound of a rooster talking to his buddies. I giggled internally. I wondered if it was fair to say that I hadn't lived untill I listened to a cock crowing during a massage. It gave me additional perspective on how different this city is to my own!

I don’t know the names of all the birds, I know we have doves, larks, sparrows, and crows. But there are many more which I don’t recognize. Below please see a picture from the national park which shows some of the local birds. We also have “dragon airplanes“ which are ultralights. That is, a giant kite with a motor, and a chair for the pilot. Sometimes in the evenings we see them flying overhead and I’ve seen two playing together. 

Some cities place platforms on top of the light posts, and storks build nests there. I tried to get a picture of a stork in a nest, but so far I have only gotten the nests. This picture is from our trip to Balaton last weekend.

Baja has a canal, called Sugovisza, where people go for recreation. I think it was originally built for shipping, and barges still use it. People sunbathe on the banks, and swim or boat in the canal. I swam there one summer when I was training for a triathlon. There is an island, with jogging trail around it. (You can see my route in Strava.) The island is well-covered with trees and so there are lots of birds.

The town has plenty of green spaces and parks. Two blocks away from our house is a big park where kids play soccer. It has a playground with play equipment: swings and slides and other toys. I never met a swing I didn’t like, so I’ve been swinging serval times already.

I practice imitating some of the birdsong. One day I fooled a dove into thinking there was another bird nearby. It kept flying from tree to tree overhead in the courtyard looking for me. After a bit I stopped because I didn’t want to frustrate it. 

I love all of the birds singing day and night. We have plenty back home, but not the same cacophony. I will miss them when I return.