Bye Bye Budapest!

I kicked off my last few weeks in Budapest with a swim on Margaret Island with Zsofia. Though I can stay above the current offshore very well, I am not a lap swimmer. It was, thus, a humbling experience. A few weeks before my departure, I had a goodbye lunch with my colleagues.  I enjoyed my work, and my time with them, so it was a bittersweet lunch.  I did have some good news, though. I was asked to keep working as an intern with MRG. I started a project on Russian indigenous people during the summer, and my boss and I agreed I should keep working on it after leaving Hungary.

My last weekend in Hungary was spent on a lovely day trip with my wonderful Landfamily.  We went to Esztergom, which houses the famous Basilica-- the largest in the country.  The view from the Basilica was unfortunately of a Slovakian industrial town, but oh well.  After walking around the town of Esztergom, we headed to a bend in the Danube to swim and lay at the "beach" for a while.  It was quite relaxing, and little Malna was having fun.  Before heading home, we went through the town of Visegrad to see the view from their massive castle, which was lovely.  I bid them goodbye with sadness; hoping very much to see them again.

Before I left Budapest, I went to some other fun touristy things, which I won't bore you with. I also went to a great concert by the group Budapest BAR at Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park. They were a really fun and interesting band, and it was a cool experience.  One of the things that struck me most about the experience has inspired this list of...

Things Amy thinks are wonderful about Hungary

1) After the Concert at the castle was over, I simply walked into the metro station, hopped on and got home at a reasonable time.  When I go to concerts in the US, getting home is one of the worst experiences that I am subject to (in my middle class pain).

2) Speaking of walking home, I also walked to work; I walked to the market; I walked across any one of the main bridges in Budapest or along the Danube, and it was lovely.

3) On the topic of modes of transportation: trains are magnificent.  Although, this is more a Europe-wide comment. The ability to slowly watch the countryside welcome you to a new country or city is a remarkable thing.

4) Additionally, the scenery in the America is beautiful, but it takes longer to get there.  I've seen many of the beautiful US National Parks (as many of you know), but it's not something you see on a day trip.

5) I also absolutely loved the market where I got my groceries. The veggies and fruit were so fresh and delicious!

6) On a very different topic, I really appreciated the way Hungarian parents talked to their children about strangers. In the United States, "stranger danger" is what kids are taught. Any unknown person is a threat. While it is true that you never know, and I understand that parents would "rather be safe than sorry," I feel like it breeds an unhealthy fear, which is often racist and sexist.  Hungarian parents, on the other hand, warn children that not all strangers are friends, but don't tell children that all strangers are enemies.

My last night in Budapest was spent with a wonderful boat ride on the Danube. I saw the four bridges lit up, and all the beautiful buildings along the river.  It was a magical ride.

The next morning, I left my apartment at 4:00am.  It was a little too early for emotions, but as I waited in the airport to board my plane, the bittersweet feelings of leaving Hungary behind hit me.  The more times I leave a place, however, the easier it is.  I've come to realize that because every place means something special, something different, so will the next place.  I can't replace Austin with Budapest, just as I could never replace Athens with Sherman or Brussels with Chiang Rai.  And I don't try to.  I'm back in Austin; classes have started up again, and they're as crazy as ever. So long Budapest! I hope we meet again. But, in the meantime-- I think it's going to be a great year back home.

Ljubljana and Bled: Strolling in Slovenia

I took a very round-a-bout and long trip from Budapest to Ljubljana. I arrived there at 5am, from where I promptly took a nap in a lovely park.  I wandered around the old town, and walked across the lovely bridges in the center.  While strolling around in Slovenia's capital, I saw probably one hundred bikes, and maybe a dozen cars.  There was also graffiti across the city, which said "CARS KILL."  After enjoying the center of town, I walked up to Ljubljana castle.  They had books to peruse and chairs in the castle courtyard overlooking Ljubljana. It was a lovely afternoon.  I walked back to the station through a park before taking the bus to Bled.

The road to Bled was probably beautiful, but I slept through most of it, so you'll have to ask someone else. I was, however, awake for the stunning walk around Lake Bled from the bus station to my host's apartment. We chatted about Slovenia and what life in Bled was like before going to sleep.  After an exhausting day and a half, I fell asleep almost instantly.

The following morning, I left early to walk to Vintgar Gorge.  It is a part of the Triglav National Park.  It was about 5 km to the Gorge, and the views there were breathtaking.  It was a great feeling just walking for a while across the countryside in Slovenia nearly alone. I would pass the occasional Gorge visitor on their way back to Bled, but mostly I was just walking through a roadside town where the villagers were going about their day.  It gave me some perspective on the urgency with which I sometimes go about my life.  

Vintgar Gorge was every bit as beautiful as I had been told, and walking along the path with rapids and streams was one of the most wonderful (and wet) parts of my time in Slovenia. The walk back to Bled from Triglav National Park was just as lovely on the way back.  

After returning to Bled, I climbed up to Bled Castle.  The Castle wasn't particularly remarkable-- the trouble with being in Europe for a while is that castles stop impressing you as much-- but the view from it was incredible.  It was certainly worth the trek up the hill.

I walked back to my host's apartment, and we chatted for a while before we went to watch the 10K around the Lake.  The yearly run starts at 10PM, and people from all over Slovenia, and the rest of central Europe participate. It was such a blast to cheer everyone on, even though I'm sure many of them didn't understand my encouragement in English.  The next morning, I started my 13 hour trek back to Budapest with thoughts of beautiful Bled swimming through my mind.

A Sunday in Slovakia

I woke up early Sunday morning to visit lovely Bratislava. Luckily, I arrived early because it took quite a while to get my ticket.  I got on the train just a few minutes before its mechanics rumbled, and it headed West. I read and watched the lovely views of sunflower fields and small towns.  I was also mentally preparing myself for my challenge of the day.  I had €4,20 leftover from previous travels and I was determined not to withdraw any more money just for a day trip.  I had packed lunch and dinner in preparation for my task.

I set the camera timer, and tried to jump
at the right time; I think I did pretty well.
Also, note my lunch/dinner.

Concert time!

Once I arrived, I took the bus to the city center (€0,70 down).  I saw Grassalkovich Palace and some of the rebuilt city center before heading to the historical center.  I wandered for a while until I found an info center with a map of Bratislava.  I really enjoyed the old sites, and enjoyed my lunch in the city square.  When I walked through the Primate's Palace (don't ask), I noticed that there was a free symphony concert later in the afternoon. Count me in!   The symphony was a college-age group from Poland, who were quite impressive.  When friends of mine go on choir and orchestra tours through Europe, I often wonder who goes to their shows, but apparently it's people like me. I ventured to the public restroom, and refilled my water bottle (€0,30) before exploring more of the Old Town.   

View of St. Martin's Cathedral from Bratislava Castle

While near St. Michael's gate, there was a foreign tour guide explaining the history to some tourists.  An angry Slovakian tour guide who was giving a tour to a bunch of Americans started shouting that he wasn't even Slovakian, and that he shouldn't be giving those people a tour.  It was uncomfortable for everyone involved.  While Americans-- like any other group-- have our fair share of subtle racism, few Americans react well to outright racism.  After that event, her guidelings followed her more reluctantly.  

UFO Bridge

Slavin Memorial

 I walked along the Danube, and marveled at the incredibly bizarre UFO Bridge.  It's technically called the "New Bridge," but the guidebooks and my map called it the UFO Bridge, which is a much more fitting name.  I walked under the bridge where there was some really neat graffiti before walking past the lovely St. Martin's Cathedral to Bratislava Castle. Overall, the castle was underwhelming, but the view from it was quite nice.  I, then, took what felt like an insanely long walk to the Slavin monument.  It was an interesting and beautiful monument, and the views were incredible.  After that, I walked back down the hill and took the bus back to the train station (€0,70).  The train was delayed half an hour, and as I saw the exhausted, hungry, war-worn backpackers, I felt no nostalgia.  It must have been more glamorous at the time.  I had a relaxing ride back to Budapest where I was glad that I had a bed with my name on it.  

Back in Budapest!

Zumba Pajama Parties and Pride Protesters

Life in Budapest is going swimmingly as ever despite the sweltering temperatures.  Last weekend, I went to the House of Terror.  Though it sounds like a haunted mansion, it was instead, a museum. Fortunately, I knew that before going.  It is a memorial to the victims of the fascist and communist regimes of Hungary.  I had heard excellent things about the museum from peers and guidebooks, so my expectations were high.  The museum was sometimes touching, sad, and scary, but my overall impression was quite negative. Throughout the House of Terror, there was strangely dim lighting, harsh colors of red and black, and horror movie style music. It was as though the designers and planners of the museum were manipulating the visitors. The events which occurred were tragic and alarming on their own without creating a contrived setting. This was particularly ironic in the hall of propaganda. Despite the historical significance and fascinating aspects of the House of Terror, I left with a bad taste in my mouth. 

The next day, I walked around Heroes' Square and the city park.  Early in the week, my shower broke, which certainly brought some excitement into my life. Luckily a plumber-- with whom I could not communicate-- came the next day and fixed it.  Speaking of bathrooms (worst transition ever, I know), let us move onto our second edition of:

Things Amy thinks are bizarre about Hungary:

8) Perfumed toilet paper and only perfumed toilet paper.  I understand that some people must prefer it, but there should be an unscented option, no?

9) Popped collars on normal people.  I know that there are some people in the US who pop their collars, but it is almost entirely constrained to a specific age and social group.  In Budapest, men of all ages and types seem to find popping their collars as if it were a reasonable fashion.

10) Speaking of fashion, women seem to always be wearing tights. Sometimes with patterns, sometimes beige, but just always. With skirts, shorts, capris, sandals, flats... always.  

11) Also, smoking. all the time. everywhere.  I know it's a European thing, but why? In Budapest, someone smoking is the norm.  The outliers are us crazy tobacco-free people. I thought that it wouldn't be as much of a problem because you aren't allowed to smoke inside, but that just means people are smoking all along the sidewalk.

12) Because I included a laundry-themed point last entry, it only seems fair that I do so again.  Why doesn't Europe believe in dryers?  I understand that they use a lot of energy and will eventually ruin your clothes. Maybe that's it.  But after line drying my laundry for a month-and-a-half , my clothes are noticeably baggier. How do you deal with this? Do you just buy clothes more often? Resign yourself to baggier clothes? (Note: Although most of the questions I ask on this blog are rhetorical, I legitimately want an answer to the baggy clothes question.)

13) Most people who have ever been to Budapest will join me in the next one. The escalators are insanely long. When you step onto one, you cannot see the other end.  Getting on an escalator when you don't know precisely where it leads is a pretty strange feeling.


14) On the topic of public transportation: people talk on their phones in the metro, on the trams, and on the buses. I find it odd enough that they get service in the oldest metro line in mainland Europe. (Note: You know a metro line is old when it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.) The fact, though, that people have extended conversations whilst surrounded by commuting strangers is even more surprising.

My Fourth of July in Budapest was a lot of fun.  While at work, I listened to uber-Patriotic GO AMERICA music, and even shared some with my colleagues. I also made a few the USA beat the UK jokes at the expense of my British boss. I have been going to zumba on Wednesday nights with a Hungarian friend Sophia, and tonight was themed.  I didn't quite understand what was happening when they told us that it was going to be a "slumber party." I was told to bring pajamas, so I obediently complied.  It was only when I arrived that I realized we were doing zumba in our pajamas.  Looking back, it seems obvious that that was the case, but it surprised me at the time.  It was fun and bizarre, but something was missing from our workout experience. Luckily, after the second song, they filled the hole.  I know some of you may not have participated in a zumba pajama party, but let me tell you, they are incomplete without dixie cups of sangria being served after every few songs. Happy Independence Day everybody!

On Saturday, I participated in the Budapest Pride parade.  It was inspiring to see gay Hungarians marching together.  Unfortunately, there was a great deal of opposition.  Neo-Nazis dressed in all black with combat boots were shouting fiery things that I'm glad I didn't understand. At one point, they broke through the barrier and dozens of police officers forced them back.  As I watched their angry faces and prejudiced shouts, I was reminded of their homophobic counterparts in the U.S.  I wonder if the cruel American anti-gay advocates know that in Europe, those bigoted epithets they yell are repeated by Neo-Nazis. I wonder how the revelation that they were sharing beliefs with such a violent group would affect their views.  I wonder if it would.  I hope it would.

Upside down flowers and Horilka with Breakfast

 This past weekend, my landlady and her husband invited me to their lovely cottage in a small town called Sur in the Hungarian countryside.  Boroka and Janos are both very nice and they have the sweetest one-month-old little girl named Malna, which means Raspberry.  The first evening, we read and relaxed and had a lovely dinner in the garden.  Saturday was the village festival, and I was very excited to see what this 1000 person village was planning for the event.  Before we even finished our breakfast, though, some neighbors came by to say hello—especially to Malna.  Janos offered everyone some Ukrainian vodka, horilka, to go with our yogurt and toast.  Before I knew it, we were drinking horilka with our breakfast, which—while not particularly unpleasant—was quite bizarre.  After that, we set out to the village festival.  There was folk dancing and singing, but most fascinating to me was the baton twirling.  There were seven separate groups of little girls and young women doing baton twirling.  Most of my knowledge about the metal rod laden dance comes from the American Girls and Miss Congeniality, but apparently in Hungary it is still quite popular.  

Some of the baton twirlers

This brings me to our first edition of:Things Amy thinks are bizarre about Hungary.

1) The strange preponderance of baton twirlers as mentioned above. 
2) Eggs come in cartons of 10. What is this madness?!

3)  More than anywhere else I have ever been, shop owners seem to hate tourists.  Also, extend tourists to everyone who doesn’t speak Hungarian.  Whenever I ask one a question in English—which s/he speaks fluently—s/he breathes a heavy sigh and begrudgingly answers me.  Why do you hate me so?!

4) They carry bouquets of flowers upside down.  They hold the stems upright with the buds facing down.  This not only seems strange to me, but also impractical. The petals will fall out more easily if you hold the flowers in such a manner, no?

5) My washing machine takes a full two hours to wash five kilos of laundry. I honestly don’t know what it does the whole time, but there you have it.

6) Ambulances are not given much reverence. Cars and people will move out of the way, sure, but in a “because I have to” sort of way, and only if the cars are directly in its path.  When I drive, I take it as a duty and a responsibility to ease the path of an ambulance, but maybe I’m just weird. 

7) The commitment to accurate inventory is very limited in the grocery markets.  When I was buying shampoo a little while ago, the bottle wouldn’t scan at the checkout.  Where I’m from, they would call for a price check, or if they are feeling particularly trusting and/or lazy just ask me for the price.  My cashier conferred briefly with her fellow worker, and then just scanned my bread again.  I didn’t mind this—not least because it meant my shampoo cost 80 cents—but it was quite peculiar. 

My landfamily

After the baton-twirling heavy village festival, we walked around in the forest and watched the sunset atop a lovely hill.  We saw beautiful trees and interesting animals, of which I knew embarrassingly little.  He would point to a tree and ask me if I knew the English name.  He knew the Hungarian name and the Latin name, but I was usually unable to tell him the name in English.  That was moderately embarrassing.  Later in the evening, we saw a badger scurrying in the woods, and he identified it quickly.  Once we returned to the little cottage, he showed me a picture of the badger with its Hungarian name and asked me what it was.  It took me an absurdly long time to come up with badger, and he showed me a picture of another common animal, which I recognized but was unable to identify.  That was quite embarrassing.  I guess we can cross field biology off my list of future careers. 

Sunday morning, we packed backpacks and headed on a common Roma pilgrimage trail.  It was beautiful, but very hot.  We passed hills and different types of forests, a well that was at least a century old, and fields of many different crops.  Once we finally arrived, we drank some holy water and rested for a little while. We also helped a little boy find his family. He was only a little bit lost, and when he found them he yelled “YES!” and pumped his fist in the air, which I suppose he might have learned from American cartoons.  It was pretty funny.  We walked back home, had a leisurely lunch, and then I took a bus back to Budapest.  It was a lovely and relaxing weekend, but I’m glad to be back in the city.

Really old well

Holy water tastes delicious

Turkish Delights

view from the airplane

view from my balcony

First of all, Istanbul traffic is ridiculous. I don’t actually have a “second of all”, but Istanbul traffic is really ridiculous.  Once we arrived in Sile, we dropped our things in our rooms and headed down to dinner.  There was a table full of vegetables, and before I knew it, I had a mountainous plate of fresh veggies that I was eating. They were delicious and refreshing! After dinner, we headed to the plenary room where we played some get-to-know-each-other games. They were actually pretty fun. We also made a cool map with our bios, and where we were working.  I headed upstairs with my two roommates—Natalia from Moldova and Heidi from Finland—and everyone went to sleep.

The next morning, the conference started with an introduction to UNITED, and the participants.  When the participants were talking about themselves and their organizations, some were talking so quickly that it was difficult to understand them.  I realized how nerve-wracking this must be for participants whose English is limited. I would be in just as much of a hurry to finish my turn if this conference were in my second or third or even fourth language.  After, the introductions, we split into groups to discuss “The Danger of Words.” We discussed the meanings and connotations behind tolerance, prejudice, and anti-Semitism.  I learned a great deal from my colleagues, and it was a great start to the conference.

After lunch in the afternoon, we learned about some Turkey-specific minority issues before we split into our working groups.  Mine was titled “Refugee Rights: Suspended Lives?” Even if we didn’t accomplish anything else at this conference, we certainly established that the question mark is unnecessary.  The members of my group were incredibly insightful and experienced in the issues of asylum seekers and refugees. I will admit that there were times that I felt out of my depth. I learned a great deal from them, and I hope that I imparted a new perspective onto them as well. 

That evening we had an Info Market where the different organizations laid out publications and fliers from their organizations, so that we could learn more about each other’s work.  It was fascinating to see the diversity of issues, yet also see how connected they are.  After the serious business, we also had a presentation of “International Snacks,” which turned out to mostly be treats and alcohol.  It was a really fun night to get to know everyone in a more social setting.  A few of us decided to sing ABBA during the Intercultural Evening. A decision, which was reversed by the time the performance date rolled around, thankfully.

The next day we started by talking about hate crimes. It was really interesting to hear them talk about fascism in regards to hate crime.  In the U.S. (at least to my limited knowledge), hate crime is more common with isolated people and groups, but they were talking about hate crime as a movement.  Often when they were discussing the fascists, they talked about shutting down websites and political parties.  The thought of those ideas alarmed me.  I understand that free speech must have its limits, but I don’t think that when security overrules it there is cause for celebration.  During the lunch break, I went swimming on the beach.  Everyone had warned me about the alarming cold of the Black Sea, but it wasn’t too bad.  It also happened to be quite lovely outside that day.  In the afternoon, we met more with our working groups, and then I went to a workshop on FRA.  The Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU does great work in monitoring rights across European Union countries, and I enjoyed hearing about how CSOs can participate in their work.

Friday morning, we put the finishing touches on our working group presentation for the rest of the conference after which I went to a workshop on the monitoring discrimination. During the workshop, we learned about using situation testing to determine if discrimination is taking place.  In the afternoon, we took a bus ride to Istanbul for an afternoon of tourism.  We took a ferryboat across the Golden Horn, then we walked. And walked and walked and walked. Oops.  By the time we arrived to Sultanahmet Square, I was fairly certain I would never walk again.  A few of us split off to venture on our own, with less walking. Garrett, Michael, Rubina and I saw the Blue Mosque—which was incredible—and walked around the Grand Bazaar—which was huge and overpriced and interesting.  After those adventures, we headed to have dinner with the rest of the group. It was a lot of fun, and we were all very tired when we headed back to Sile.  On the way back, our bus broke down.  Fortunately, it was fixed relatively quickly and I was able to sleep most of the way back to the hotel.

Blue Mosque

Grand Bazaar

Our last day at the Conference, we talked about Islamaphobia and using social networking in human rights.  Both were informative, and I feel like the latter gave me useful tools for future advocacy.  The working group presentations were interesting and occasionally fun.  The diversity and depth of knowledge within this conference continually impressed me.  After the presentations, we evaluated the conference.  We started by doing a verbal evaluation.  Many of my colleagues echoed this resounding belief that this conference had brought to us: “We are not in this alone.”

That evening I went swimming on the rocky beach, and it was very cold.  The waves were lovely.  So, apparently, were we.  There was a crowd of about twenty people watching us swim and taking pictures.  After the frigid, but fun swim, I took my first hot shower in Turkey. It turns out you just had to wait 10 minutes for the water to heat up.  Good info to find out on my last day.  That night we had the intercultural evening, which was a lot of fun.  After which, we watched Eurovision.  This was my first exposure to the European singing adventure.  It was fascinating to watch the citizens of different countries vote based on cultural/ political ties rather than performer talent.  That night everyone stayed up all night saying our bittersweet goodbyes and fruitless assurances that we’ll be together again soon. 

Aya Sofia

Inside the Aya Sofia

The next morning, a bunch of us boarded the bus to the center of Istanbul.  Monika (who works for FRA) and I went to Sultanahmet Square.  We had some lunch… well, she had ice cream for lunch. Vegetarian options aren’t so great in Istanbul.  We went to Aya Sofia, which was incredible.  We crossed the square to go to the Blue Mosque.  She hadn’t been before, and it was just as incredible for me the second time around.  We even got to see the call to prayer this time.  Then, I took the metro back to the airport and said goodbye to Turkey.  I had a sure sign, though, that I wasn’t saying goodbye forever when the first restaurant I saw upon my return to Budapest was called Aya Sofia.  

Turkish restaurant in Budapest

...to Istanbul I go!

My trip to the airport in Budapest went well, especially compared to my ridiculously challenging trip from the Istanbul airport to the office where we were meeting for the conference.  I turned my European phone off when I boarded the plane like I was supposed to. Good Amy. But when I turned it back on in Istanbul, it asked me for my PIN. Luckily, I remembered the PIN that I told the Vodaphone salesperson to set it as.  This didn’t work. “Two more attempts.” Uh oh. The Vodaphone guy may have told me that there was a separate PINs for phone and SIM card. He also may have handed the other PIN to me on a piece of paper that I never looked at and left in Budapest.  Uh oh. 

This normally would not be terribly problematic because I can deal without having a phone during my time in Turkey; no problem! But, I was going to meet up with some other UNITED Conference participants at the airport, so I had no way of getting ahold of them.  Despite having no form of contact at Ataturk airport, I tried to find them for 45 minutes.  Eventually, I gave up and went to take the Metro by myself.  I had withdrawn money, but they gave me a 100 Turkish Lira bill, and the metro machine doesn’t take bills over 20. How convenient.  Thankfully, I was able to communicate this to a metro attendant, and he solved my problem by using a machine in the ticket counter, which was closed.  The metro ride was long (an hour and a half), but most of it was above ground, so I got to see a lot of Istanbul.  I had the address of the office where we were meeting, but no real idea of where that was.  Once I got to Taksim Square, I pulled out the free map I had picked up at the airport to investigate.  It was absolutely useless.  It was so zoomed out of Istanbul that you could see four other countries on it.  Great plan Amy.  Still, I was determined. I would find it. 

I asked this woman who looked like she spoke English if she knew how to get to the address.  Unfortunately, the reason she looked like she spoke English was because she was not Turkish.  She did, however, speak enough Turkish to ask some men next to us. One of them spoke English, and he said it was a 20 minute walk toward Tunel. Oh gosh. That was what I was afraid of. Luckily, I packed very light, so my load wasn’t very heavy, but my ankle was really starting to hurt. Nevertheless, I started trudging in that direction.  A few minutes into the walk, one of the men—the one that spoke English—was walking next to me. He was pleasant, but his goal was pretty clear. He did tell me I looked like an angel, though, which is always nice to hear.  We stopped a few times on the way there to ask people if we were still heading the right way, and they always assured us that we were.  We parted ways when we arrived at my sidestreet, and I looked to find the right place. 

Busy shopping street!

After walking back-and-forth a few times with people pointing me one direction then another, an eclectic-looking man sitting at a café asked me if I needed any help.  I did, yes.  I sat down at the chair across from him and explained my predicament.  He told me some bad news.  The office was right by Taksim Square, 2 kilometers away, and where I had just walked from. My ankle was throbbing, and I told him that I just couldn’t walk there.  He suggested the trolley, which I thought was an excellent idea.  He brought me to the trolley stop, and on the way past half a dozen people who greeted him. Apparently, he’s a famous Turkish artist! I wish I could remember his name.  Rossi or something. Well, he took me to the trolley, and even convinced the trolley conductor to stop at the street of the office. That was good news.  I was tired of walking and tired of being lost.  The trolley conductor and I made small talk as we approached the station.  He was excited that I was from America. Also, I like the way that foreign people say “America!” He stopped at my street, and I finally finally walked into the office where we were meeting.  I met with some of the other conference participants, and we all boarded the bus toward Sile!