The horror

Well, Daniel and I have had a very trying couple of days. As we may have mentioned previously, the town of Máriapócs is basically broke. For the last couple of months this has had very little impact on our lives apart from the fact that our pay is usually late. No big deal.

Unfortunately, this week things went up a notch. On Tuesday morning we discovered that our modem was blinking at us strangely. After turning it off and on multiple times (the extent of our IT know-how) and not getting any response, we figured that the problem must be more serious. On Wednesday we asked the school what the issue was and were advised that our internet service had been disconnected as the council had not paid the bill!

Yes, the town is so broke that they cannot afford to pay for something as basic as the internet. Not only do Daniel and I not have internet, but the actual council offices also do not have internet. It is crazy, and a perfect reminder that we are living overseas.

Anyway, Daniel and I have spent the last few days playing a lot of solitaire and occasionally switching the modem off and on again (hope is eternal). Fingers crossed that the internet will return next week.

On a completely unrelated note, here are some pictures I took this afternoon of our Grade 3s with the kites they made in today's drawing class - the group shot was taken immediately before they started to fly them, the others were taken about 15 minutes later. Good times. 

- Amanda

Easter in Košice, Slovakia

Daniel and I decided to take advantage of our extra long Easter break (6 days!) to go on a mini-vacation to Košice, Slovakia. We set off from Máriapócs yesterday morning and a little over two hours later we crossed the border into Slovakia. Forty minutes later and we had arrived in Košice.

Košice is currently the second largest city in Slovakia, but it was a Hungarian city until 1945 when it was taken over by the Russians. Košice then formed part of Czechoslovakia until 1993 when the country of Slovakia was formed. 

 

Daniel and I checked ourselves into our hotel, then set off with Iago to wander the city's many cobbled laneways and  pedestrian-friendly areas. To our surprise there seemed to be lots of other tourists around as well even though it was Easter Sunday. I think this may have had something to do with the fact that Košice will be co-hosting the 75th annual Ice Hockey World Championships from next weekend. From what I could tell, this is generating quite a lot of buzz around the city and there certainly seemed to be lots of preparations being made, as well as lots of police cars cruising around keeping an eye on things.

After checking out the city, we jumped back into the car and set off for the nearby town of Jasov where we took a tour of the Jasovská jaskyňa (Jasovská cave). While it wasn't the most spectacular cave I've ever seen, I did really enjoy searching the intricate formations for tiny sleeping bats. They just looked so darn cute hanging upside down and totally ignored our noisy tour group. 

After visiting the cave, we headed back to Košice, did some more exploring, then returned to our hotel to check out its Roman spa facilities. After a long day, I was really looking forward to soaking in a hot pool, but unfortunately things didn't work out exactly as planned. My suspicions were first raised by the sign at the pool's reception desk showing a speedo-clad body with a line through it. Deciding that it didn't mean what we thought it did, Daniel and I emerged from the changerooms wearing our bathers. Ignoring the strange looks we were getting from the staff, we proceeded to climb into the main swimming pool. But it was cold. What the hell? Where was the 38 degree water I'd been looking forward to? It was devastating.

Then Daniel and I spied another smaller pool in another part of the complex. Aha! Maybe this was the hot water I'd been craving. But no. Upon closer inspection we discovered that this pool was even worse than the first one as it contained near-freezing water. Was this some kind of sick joke? What kind of turturous hellhole was this?

By then, the only things left to try were the various sauna rooms, so we decided to use one to warm ourselves up before giving the main pool another go. This was fine for about five minutes, then our conversation was interrupted by a parade of naked bodies walking past the sauna's glass door. Suddenly we realised that the crossed out speedo sign had in fact been telling us what we thought it hadn't - bathers weren't permitted! It was very strange.

Anyway, we survived the spa experience and managed to enjoy the rest of our time in Košice. We made our way back to Hungary earlier this afternoon and went straight over to our colleague Ili's house for an Easter visit. In Hungary it is traditional for men to visit the houses of their friends and families at Eastertime, and to sprinkle any women in the house with perfume while reciting a poem asking for kisses. Unfortunately, Daniel's rendition of the poem didn't go exactly as planned and he wound up asking Ili to sprinkle him with rabbits instead!

- Amanda

Chick bunny-coloured catkins

We got an e-card from Cammer, the agents that organise our Saturday class. It was a really nice thought and included a traditional easter rhyme, which Google nicely translated for us. I have no idea what it's talking about, but it kind of sounds scary and threatening. Still, I'm sure its a really nice sentiment in Hungarian.

Chick, bunny-coloured catkins

barricade the bell on it.

We'll send you Easter eggs
Áldomás and toilet water.

Daffodil lady of the house,
ham, horseradish to her husband.
Bone marrow of the dog.
Blessed, peaceful celebration of the house!

- Daniel

Playway to English - A cautionary tale

At our school we use the Cambridge text, "Playway to English" which is actually a really good resource for both us and the kids. There are plenty of activities, heaps of great songs and colouring exercises, and it exposes the kids to a number of different accents which is always a good thing. Lately, however, I've noticed the toll that edutaining has had upon the book's main character - Max. Gather round, little 'uns, and let me tell you of the sad, sad story of Max, the puppet come to life.

Our tale begins when Max was but a puppet on what seems to be a popular television show. Two young kids, Linda and Benny, are watching Max indulge in his most popular addiction - eating flowers. It is not too long before Max attracts the attentions of a local dog (which sounds something not unlike this scary beast) and in fear Max jumps at the TV screen only to crash through onto the laps of the two surprised children.

At first, life is good for Max as he bonds with the kids and they teach him the ways of the real world. It is not long before he learns the names of fruit, vegetables, the toys in their room and a number of other common nouns. It all starts to go wrong the day that Max was juggling apples by the side of the road as he sang "Apples, Apples, I like Apples". Linda and Benny tried to warn their Pinocchioian friend, but sure enough an apple fell in front of a car leading Max to try and chase after it. It was only through the quick reflexes of Benny that our hero was saved.

By now they were in their second year together and their relationship had become tense. Linda and Benny had started to berate Max and tell him off if he ate the flowers he so used to love, they would deny him treats if he ate too much or if he refused to assist with the household chores, and maybe most damningly they had started to refer to Max as "stupid".

It is not known where any adults were at this stage, but it was becoming obvious that Linda and Benny's attempt to raise Max was slowly killing him.

By the third year, little is seen of Max, and now a much older Linda and Benny mostly play with new friends. Real friends. Not a poor old puppet who voice actor seems to have aged terribly in the last couple of years, now sounding tired, sad and weary of this non-puppet land.

Next year is the last Playway to English, and I'm almost afraid to find out what happens to this misanthropic fabric figment.

- Daniel

Blue houses

Recently Daniel and I learned of an old Hungarian/Transylvanian custom that I thought I'd share. Many years ago, whenever Hungarian parents had a daughter that had reached a marriagable age and that they wanted to marry off, they would paint their houses blue as a signal to prospective suitors.

Unfortunately, I'm not really sure what happened after the paint job was finished. I assume that any single young men who wanted to get hitched would just knock on the front door and ask for an introduction to the daughter. And then if things went well enough, they would get married and the poor family (including their new son-in-law) would end up having to paint the house again. Seems like a lot of work. Surely a "Daughter Available" sign in the window would have been easier?

There are currently at least three blue houses in Máriapócs but as far as we know, none of them have daughters available for marriage.

- Amanda

Bunnies gone bad

I spent some time this afternoon preparing for my drawing lesson tomorrow with our Grade 2 class. As Easter is only a few weeks away, I want the lesson to have an Easter theme. Last week we made crepe paper eggs, so this week I wanted to do something bunny related.

As Daniel and I have been saving our toilet paper rolls for a while in anticipation of needing them for a craft activity, I thought we could use them to make some bunnies. I also thought it might be fun if the bunnies had pictures of the kids' faces on them (kind of like a photo frame).

Unfortunately, as you can see from this picture, the samples that I made this afternoon did not exactly work out as planned. Instead of being cute and whimsical, they just look evil. Really, really evil.

Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess.... 

- Amanda

Zombies, storks and the musical stylings of Daniel

Today was another exciting day in Máriapócs. The highlight was the two classes that Daniel and I had with our Grade 2s this morning. We started the second lesson by trying to teach the kids a new classroom game, but they weren't particularly interested in it, so we switched tactics and taught them the 'Jack and Jill went up a hill' nursery rhyme instead. I'd never really thought about it before, but it's actually not a very nice story. Two siblings set out on a simple journey to complete a household chore (fetching a pail of water), only to both fall down a large hill. One of them sustains a nasty head injury and manages to make it home, only to find that the medicine cabinet holds little more than vinegar and brown paper.

As I was trying to teach the rhyme to the kids, their little eyes were widening in horror. Now that I think about it my gory depiction of Jack's head wound on the blackboard probably didn't help. At around this point in the rhyme, one of the kids raised her hand and asked 'Jack is dead?'. In spite of my assurances that he was still very much alive, the kids decided amongst themselves that Jack's tumble down the hill had indeed been fatal. They refused to budge from this conclusion even when I explained that Jack was able to get back on his feet and make his way home. In fact, they concluded that this was only possible because Jack was now a zombie!

So, for the rest of the lesson we had pairs of students come to the front of the classroom to act out the rhyme, and each time that Jack made his way home after falling down the hill, he did so with his arms outstretched and his eyes half-closed in true zombie style. It was pretty funny.

In other news, flocks of storks are currently making their annual migration to Europe from Africa. We first saw some of their nests on the drive back from Mohács a few weeks ago, but last week one of our Grade 3 students pointed out a nest right here in Máriapócs. It's in the central square, just in front of the famous church.

These huge birds build their massive nests just about anywhere, and in much of Europe it is considered a blessing if storks deign to build their nests on your house. It is thought of as a sign of good fortune, creativity and fertility for the coming year. However, it seems that in Denmark, the opposite is true. If a stork builds a nest on your home, then according to superstition someone who lives there will die within a year.

In any case, I had quite a nice time watching the stork couple in Máriapócs fussing over their nest a few days ago and thought I'd share some photos. Storks form monogamous breeding pairs, and these two certainly seemed quite smitten with one another. I'm really looking forward to keeping my eyes and ears open for their chicks over the coming weeks - I imagine that it's going to be pretty crowded up there soon.

Finally, here is a quick video of Daniel playing the citera at the school's musical gala on Saturday. I think he did really, really well and lots of people came up to congratulate him on his performance afterwards. I find it hard to believe that he's only been learning to play for about 6 months.

- Amanda

Interesting Hungarian Word #5 = Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért

In the tradition of April Fool's Day today, we gave our Grade 3s a test. It started with very easy words like dog, cat and scared, but quickly devolved into tintinnabulation, acetylsalicylic acid, antidisestablishmentarianism and anarchy (I don't know why, I couldn't think of  any more long words off the top of my head). They kids were really very upset with us, as although we assured them that these words were in last week's homework they really didn't remember ever meeting them before. The last two words of the series were April and First, so they quickly got the joke.

I had a class with them later in the day and they got their revenge: Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért. This word seems to be a satirised play on the over-usage of prefixes and suffixes in Hungarian and is thought to mean something like "because of your continuous pretending to be undesecratable".

Nice.

- Daniel