The time when we had a vacation, pt.2

There are a lot of things to see and to do in Budapest, no arguments needed. But with the long-term project it is important to remember that eventually you will have to leave. Otherwise, you’ll always think that you have a lot of time in front of you, and never actually do what you wanted. I’ll be honest with you, it has never been a plan to travel around Hungary, but if an opportunity presented itself, then why not?

As much as I love Budapest, I love seeing new places too. And thus, with a little bit of planning, and after making a stop in the middle, we proceeded.

A very nice train ride from Budapest-Dély led us to Szombathely. It was our first stop in the western part. Szombathely, a.k.a Savaria city, is the oldest town in Hungary with its history, starting in AD as a city of the Roman Empire. And you definitely cannot forget about it, as you will encounter all kinds of the Roman legacy scattered around the town.

One of the biggest reminders of it is the ISEUM, the museum and centre of archeology in this locality. For all my geeks of Roman history: the Amber road was going through Szombathely, and you can see what’s been found by archeologists in the museum! Well, museums are good. But when you see a remnant of a Doric-style column in the middle of a roundabout, with a Synagogue on a background… that’s when the idea finally settles in your head.

If you follow the route of the Amber road, you’ll end up in Sopron, which was our next stop. I strongly believe that Sopron has the potential to become not only “the dental capital of the world” (apparently), but a very nice town to just visit and be a little lost there. But I might be biased, since this is my favourite location of the trip. It’s something about this weird blend of everything that is so attractive here.

As I have mentioned, in the beginning, it was a Roman city, so you can find their legacy. You’ll find Roman walls, fortified and developed in the Middle Ages. Within the walls, you’ll find a web of roads, that cross and wind with each other creating a beautiful state of chaos. And then, we cannot forget that Sopron is famous for the festivals it hosts. Thus giving it another name: “Sopron, the city of stars”. VOLT chairs with unique designs are dedicated to the musicians who have participated in the festivals. Each chair has a plaque with signatures. It can be a nice quest to find the chair of your favourite band in Sopron! I have found mine absolutely by chance.

Another interesting point is the Taródi Castle. Yet another 20th century castle whose creator István Taródi was working on his creation alone. This time the castle looks like what a castle from the Middle Ages would look like. Less fairy tale, more fortification! Unfortunately, the big part of the castle is closed, since it is in a quite poor condition. I hope in the future with some renovations it will be a bigger point of interest!

Our next (and the last) stop in the journey to the West was Győr. Easily reachable by train from Budapest and Szombathely, this is a city in the north-west corner of Hungary. The grand City Hall will greet you as soon as you arrive. This building has got so many details, that you will find yourself spending way more time than you would expect to spend around a city hall. And multiple fountains give the feeling of being alive during a hot day.

I will remember Győr as a city of many signs. In the centre of the city, wherever you decide to go from the Szecsenyi square, most stores have got not only labels with the name, but a sign with a symbol indicating what they are actually doing there. I think I was stopping near each and every one to just fan-girling about it. My most amazing and patient company must surely have some kind of trauma after this experience. I love you dearly, and I am very sorry if it is indeed true.

The trip was totally unplanned, the trip was totally amazing.

I love exploring so many places in one country, it gives layers and dimensions to what might seem like a plain picture. It might take some time to find a gem, a place where you’ll be in love. But it’ll happen unexpectedly, and I’m sure this’ll happen. Places love stealing hearts and dreams, after all!

The time when we had a vacation

Now that the summer is over, it is the prime time to think back on things that have happened during this beautiful season.

Summer has never been my favourite season. Back in Saint-Petersburg it didn’t make any sense: the wind was too cold, the sun was nowhere to be seen, it was never hot enough to wear short dresses, and, frankly, way too windy to wear them properly. And then, I’d always move around, for work or other stuff. In India it was the opposite, it was hot, so I’d just be around AC, and I have developed strong feelings for it only then.

So, when I had to take a summer vacation…it was something new and exciting. What to do? What do normal people usually do for their summer vacation?

Well, I haven’t considered one small notion. We are far, far from normal. Besides, the circumstances of life in general wouldn’t let us go wherever we wanted. So, we have decided to travel around in Hungary. At that time Hungary’s situation with the pandemic was relatively good.

So, let me fulfill one of the purposes of the blog, this now strange and unknown word that you can see in the name…Let’s talk about travel.

Even though the main vibe of this trip was “Soooo, west of the coutry then?”, the first stop was Debrecen. Keeping in mind that this trip to Debrecen was in the summer time, it was an adventure from one fountain to another in the beautiful city of Debrecen. We’ve seen my all time favourite classic: “students doing random stuff” fountain complex near the University, chilled in the park beside it, were stalking turtles and fish in the pond, wowed at the beautiful “flower” fountain nearby.

There was a lot to do in Debrecen.

But…I don’t have a TARDIS, and don’t have an ability to freeze the time around, so we had to move, and use our precious vacation time to the fullest.

And the first stop in our adventure was lebegő falu, the floating village in Bokod, Hungary. If you don’t have a car, you have to change a couple of trains to get there from Budapest. But the pictures looked nice, so nothing could change our mind. We took a train, and then another one, and ended up in Oroszlány, the town with a punny name, as it is the same as Orosz lány, which is literally traslated as “a Russian girl”. So, after arriving into the Oroszlány, we went to Bokod. I cannot say many things about this place, as it is literally just a floating village with private houses, but it would be nice to rent a house there and spend a weekend to just chill. The view is great, but as a visitor, there’s nothing to see.

Having spent a day surrounded by nature, we have decided to move to the town of Székesfehérvár. Ah, I wish I could hear you pronounce that beauty. I am totally messing up the vowels still…and I have spent a lot of time on this task.

Székesfehérvár is a town just an hour away from Budapest. So, if you are in Budapest, and you want something new and exciting, this place is quite easy to reach, and a very good day-trip.  Now that I have to think back on it, I am dragging memories from my head. And two things which I would mention if someone asks about Székesfehérvár are the Bory castle and the small tower clock.

The Bory castle is a beautiful structure built in 20th century by Jenő Bory, who was performing all the roles on his own. Architect? Sure! Foreman? Okay! Mason? Yup! Even keeping this in mind, I can surely say that it is absolutely worth it. The intricate details of the castle, windows, stairways, gardens and sculptures – all are made with a delicate touch, inspiration, and dedication. Architect’s family is still living in the castle, and they are the ones running the museum and maintaining it. I really hope that one day this will be a historical monument of what only one person is able to do, what kind of beauty people were able to do in 20th centiry.

The small tower clock I am talking about is located near Saint Stephen’s Basilica. You’d have to get lost a bit in between the houses to find it, or simply follow the music. The music starts calling the audience at 10 a.m., and then every two hours during the day, right until the last performance at 6 p.m. The doors of the clock open up, and the legends from Hungarian royalty start showing their story. Unfortunately, I cannot retell you the stories which they told us, you’d have to see it for yourself. But one I can say for sure.

It’s mesmerizing to watch.

And this was just the beginning of everything. The journey led us to explore the Eastern city from a different perspective, and the time spent in the centre around Budapest, gave a chance to be creative and go beyond the city life. But the journey led us further, to the western side, but everything shall be said in it’s own time.

to be continued…

The time we had our summer camps

What is summer? What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about this beautiful season? Sunshine, sea, sand, flowers all around? Maybe a trip that is for sure going to happen soon? The season of fresh fruits, the season of freedom. Well, it’s a bit different for most teachers I know.

Summer is the season of summer camps!

Ah, the beauty of time spent in a summer camp! The time of connectedness, understanding, sleepless nights, long discussions, preparations, hectic day of activities, songs, crafts. The time when sometimes you let yourself being silly, the time you allow yourself to play and have fun. The time when you survive on coffee and dedication. It’s a certain flow you get into; it’s a wonderful, magical flow.

And I consider myself lucky. Lucky to have a summer camp even. Only this year it’s a bit different. Just a tad. More paperwork, more anxiety, masks, questions whether it’s important to address the situation or not. More uncertainty. But then…

I was lucky with my team. Uncertainty is nothing when you have people you can rely on. Anxiety fades away when you are surrounded by your small and faithful support system. I had a huge support group this summer camp. And the teamwork was amazing, and the things we’ve done, and the talks we’ve had, and the memories we share now. It’s quite precious!

And we were lucky with our group of kids. Even if we had to spend two hours in the bus or go from one location to another in a very old van, and hope for the best. Even if sometimes it was not what we have anticipated. Even if sometimes the plan apparently was just a paper with some useless words written on it. Even with all these “if”s, the time we spent with kids, the connections we have made, the progress we could see…was absolutely worth it.

Summer camp is a place where you have to give all 100% of yourself. And weeks of summer camp go by so quickly that when you look back at it in the end, you wonder where did the time go. But even if they go by quickly, it feels like a lifetime.

A small life which you’ve lived through during one month of one summer.

It’s tremendously difficult to sum up and reflect on the whole month of life. I am missing quite a lot, how can I possibly fit everything into one post. I’ve had a cozy, homey, most amazing weekend, and a short vacation in between the camps. I’ve had some ups, and downs.

C’est la vie ~

The time when life is uneventfully eventful

The meaning of “simple life” can be seen throughout the ages in literature. And if you were reading a lot of classical literature, you might understand right away what I’m talking about. Comparing idyllic simple rural life to the corrupt city life can be seen in many literature pieces, starting with the romanticization of the rural life in the early 19th century, to such ironical pieces as “Three men in the boat”, to the creation of the transcendentalism as a movement in the US.

Of course, as usual, everything depends on your definitions. But how do we get these definitions? Why, through the narrative! Yes, my examples belong to the 19 century and industrialization, the world has changed since then. But the narrative stays. And perhaps this narrative is true for me because I can somehow relate to it.

Now, my perspective is the one of the person from the big city. Fast-paced lifestyle, always running somewhere, while at the same time having morning coffee sometime in the afternoon and making some plans on the phone. Having a loaded schedule is normality. Finally taking a deep breath late in the evening at home and instantly going to social media for the sake of communication is normality. That’s the age we are living in. And if for me everything which I’ve said above is normality, it is not a case for the person from the previous generation. And here comes the narrative, wich we grew up with: life in the city is toxic, you need to have a “spiritual refuge”, and you can’t have it in the city.

So…in the essence, it’s not that different from what the writers and philosophers were talking about since the early 19th century, don’t you agree?

And then, when you feel tired, when you have time to breathe, you think: “Oh, how nice it would be to live a simpler life”. And when you think that, you imagine living in the countryside, where even the speed of life is different. And the narrative says that you definitely will feel better, you will feel connected, refreshed, reborn after the toxic life in the city. You imagine how your schedule would be easier, or…you might not need a schedule at all! (gasp! can you imagine?) And maybe, just maybe, you can plan all the meetings with friends in advance, and not last minute, like you usually do. And you will have some time to do things for yourself for a change. Or finally take a proper vacation (at least a weekend) when you don’t have to go to the office or answer the emails of your colleagues.

Just needed time to breathe.

Well, my dear friends…The day has come. The concept of the simpler life we’ve been striving for is here and now. Do you feel connected? Maybe reborn? We wanted life to slow down a little. We wanted a change of pace. Well…we got it!

Many people including yours truly have found themselves in smaller towns or villages to escape the dangers of the city (off-topic: which is yet another narrative, I just love the world of narratives we live in). And I’ve mentioned it in a previous post…the simple quiet life is more suffocating for a lot of people, even if we are meant to breathe here. And don’t get me wrong! It’s true about finding peace while grabbing some oxygen and connecting with nature…it’s true but you need a balance of things. And oh well, we now have to plan all of our meetings for May or June, it really depends on the situation. We might start writing letters to each other at some point (which by the way would be amazing! If anyone is up for it, let me know!). And the part about freeing up the schedule can do two directions: you either end up having more work than usual or not work at all.

I don’t mean to be negative, really. But it’s amusing for me to realize how perspectives on things can change in such a short time. How a hundred kilometers can suddenly become the distance you are not able to cross. Or how the place of peace (according to the narrative) can become the place of burden. How we can reevaluate some basic social concepts and values. Or maybe we change the way we define ourselves. Maybe life had slowed down, but we just couldn’t do it.

It’s been just a tad more than a month.

Life has never been simpler.

The time the Universe asked everyone to chill

Hello again! It’s been some time.

It’s been a few weeks of quarantine.

Few weeks ago Hungary went on lockdown. No traveling (officially), no hanging around the parks, no picnics, all the plans went down the toilet. It’s okay to feel down sometimes. But it’s not okay to be drowned in the negativity, and to then spread it around. 

It is difficult. 

Media tells us about the bad side of life, and it has been telling us that always, but now we retell it, drown ourselves, and drown each other in it. Every topic you discuss with your friends or colleagues circles back to Corona, no? And it’s normal, to discuss it I mean. But… How to put it… Have you seen Howl’s Moving Castle? Do you remember the Henchmen, the jiggly dark creatures from the Studio Ghibli’s movie? So, that’s how I see everyone as soon as they start being genuinely extremely negative about everything.

So, it’s been quite some time, as I have said before. I am not a list person, but since quarantine is the prime time to try new things, here we go. A new adventure, the grand adventure of making a list. I’ll try to sum up everything happening now in three main points, in three categories: past, present and continuous. Heh….the English teacher inside never goes away.

Let’s start with what I’ll call in this context “present”: What has been done? 

a) Sports activities! I am amazed by it, actually. But I stick to the scheduled activities I have! Yoga in the morning, and something extra in the evening. Never happened before because there’s always work.

b) Languages. I have returned to learning French. Again. This time for sure! Bit by bit every day is the path to…. something. I hope success. But I will be content with a simple understanding of course.

c) Communication. I love Internet, really. It gives us this great opportunity to connect with people who are far far away. And all the chats are alive nowadays. 

I’ll continue with ‘continuous’ (pun was not intended): What has stayed the same?

a) Professional development. Here’s to everyone amused at the number of the webinars they are watching and the courses they are taking. Welcome to what the government calls ‘continuous learning for educators’. I still have the same number of courses, trainings, and webinars. Only the topics have changed to being concentrated on online education. Which is… understandable.

b) Lust for life. It’s either a curse or a blessing but finding something positive in a day is not that difficult! Even if it’s just a song you listen to. Or a small chat that you’ve had. Or even a short message during the day. 

c) How much I talk. I am truly sorry for everyone who has to suffer through the flow of information and request of information. But life is better that way, no? Please? 😀

And let me finish with a point of past. Which is the most difficult part to talk about, since mostly it’s about things…and living things which/whom I miss.

a) People. I miss people. There are plenty of jokes about how much extraverts are suffering but let me be real. I miss people. I miss places. I miss that one café and that one bakery on the corner of the road I absolutely love. I miss the cacophony of smells and noises of the busy street. I miss seeing cars going back and forth and I miss waiting for the green light on the crowded zebra. I miss that annoying tourist who stops in the middle of the road when you are trying to not be late for a meeting. I miss the two guards in front of the consulate, the two amazing buddies. I miss the hustle. I miss what makes our stone jungles feel alive. I miss people. And if I miss some random strangers, whom I don’t know, will never know…Can you imagine what’s happening when it’s time to talk about people whom I care about? As they say in Confination songs, “Instagram is not enough for me.” Gotta love these Stay Homas guys!

b) Freedom. Freedom of movement I’d say. And as soon as I forget how much I miss it, the airline pops in with an update on my refund status. I need to go places, I need to have an option to go. Even if it’s just going to the neighboring town. I need to feel the world around, as cheesy as it sounds.

c) Work. I miss work, I’m a workaholic. Even the most misbehaving kids, I miss them. One of my good friends mentioned it to me recently, and since then I’ve had a different perspective on this situation. For the last three years, maybe even more, I haven’t had a vacation. It’s the first time in more than three years I’ve found myself with a more or less free schedule. Not considering the webinars and small tasks, I was on vacation…I should still take a proper one once everything is over. 


I’m gonna cut this post here. Just like that, bluntly cut it, abruptly. I don’t want to finish it, to think about the conclusion, because it’s still going on. Yup. See ya!

The time when we decided to travel

I probably have mentioned it before, I must have at some point, but I’m proud to say that. Our VKV team (very kind volunteers) lives in a beautiful town of Szecseny. Some might have an opinion about the terminology I’m using, but it’s okay. So, since we have explored quite a bit here, we’ve decided to see what Hungary can offer. And Hungary can offer many things!

And thus, our first location was Debrecen.

Debrecen is the second largest city in Hungary, so I’m writing about it before the first largest city because…logic? Because logic fails me sometimes, that’s the answer!

Ah…what can I say about Debrecen…So much and so little at the same time. This city will always hold a special place in my heart. But what I can do, is to give out some insider information, along with some tips and tricks. I’m not saying it’ll be useful, but amusing to read. That I can provide!

We arrived in Debrecen on Friday evening. And since we were feeling adventurous and apparantly we assumed we were very smart, we thought it would be a nice idea to find a pub. As it turns out, finding a table in a pub on the Friday evening is not an easy task. On the bright side, we saw the night life of Debrecen! If I am to describe what I’ve seen, it would be like that: mostly the streets are empty, if you see a crowd…it must be a pub. And well, since there’s a crowd on the sidewalk…it’s probably full! BUT with the power of local knowledge we managed to do it! And let me tell you, it was such a fine choice! Artsy picture on top? It’s just a ceiling of that pub. The “Rock” pub in Debrecen. If you like rock, art, and cozy vibe, I would really recommend it! I think I enjoyed it the most because it reminded me of my favourite pub back in St. Petersburg. The music, the atmosphere…just a general vibe. And the highlight was the table football match. Quite randomly, some visitors of the pub invited us to play with them. We failed, they were too professional, but we failed gracefully.

Mafia goes to sleep, the citizens wake up. Let’s talk about what’s there to see in Debrecen. Whatever you read below won’t be the complete giude. Unfortunately I can’t talk about everything you can see and do there. But as some media outlets say…”Here’s what you can do in Debrecen in one day!”

And number one from my list will be the Great Reformed Church of Debrecen. Ever heard someone referring to Debrecen as “the Calvinist Rome”. I haven’t! Kudos to you if you have. The church was built in 19th century and it looks as you would expect a building from that period…neoclassical! But ah! The best thing about the church, apart from architecture is that you can go up to the roof and see everything from above. You can see all the beautiful historical buildings, all the bell towers of churches around the city, and the splendid contrast between the historical part of the city, Stalinist architecture, and newer buildings. If that doesn’t excite you, I don’t know how to proceed with this part of the story. Oh! Another facinating thing for me was the collection of post marks picturing Bible from all over the world. They have an amazing collection, and it was quite interesting to see the differences between the portrayal of it between the countries.

Another landmark we had a chance to visit was the University of Debrecen. Can you guess what was the name of it in the past? The Calvinist College of Debrecen. Makes perfect sense, right? The main building is very beautiful on it’s own. I’d say it is very baroque-ish. It gets even more beautiful when you go inside. There are two main features of the complex. The first one is the glass roof. You must take a look at the roof if you are somewhere nearby. Especially if it’s sunny. The sun goes through the roof and falls on the peacefully studying students. Making their day presumably much better. The second feature of the complex is the park. And if I was there in February, and I couldn’t see the fountains and greenery, I saw something better. The statues. I have absolutely no clue what they supposed to represent, but in my opinion, it’s a student’s life. One is trying to pick up his grades, another is working hard for the athletics scolarship, and the rest are just day-dreaming…or maybe they are thinking hard about their thesis. Both? Neither? And there are professors all around them looking very judgmental. Perfect student’s life description.

And last but not least would be the Great Forest Park. What memories do I have from the park? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the location. It’s located right near the University, which makes it a great location for students to hang out after classes, to think back on their decisions, or to plan some great parties. Who knows what students may think of, right? Especially when the park is an artsy place. There are many interesting statues over there. Interesting? Is it the right word for this thing? Free-spirited, I’d say. I couldn’t find pictures of my own, so to give you an idea what I am talking about, here’s a fish. Still love the place though. Nevermind the statues, this place is cool and chill. If you want to have a deep breath after the long day, it’s the right place to go!

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not done exploring Debrecen. I want to see what this city has to offer. So there absolutely will be Debrecen adventures part 2!

The time we had our first sessions

The time when we had our beginning and the time when we had to say goodbye would be a more accurate heading. But a bit too long for my liking. Besides, it’s not exactly a beginning, and these were not exactly farewells. At least, I like to think so. Please, allow me to live in my beautiful bubble.

The “see you later”s were said, the hugs were given, the promises were made. It was the time when we had to say goodbye to the previous volunteers in our project. I just have to say some things to them. I’ve said it before countless times but I’m not shying out from repeating it. I’m happy that the Universe gave us a chance of meeting each other. I wish all of you to be happy and accomplished in whatever you do in life. You have such big hearts that it’s hard to let you go. I’m sure the farewell party was more emotional for them, but as Sofie said, it was like looking into our own future. Packing, going to see the people one last time, and a farewell party. Brings a lot of memories to me personally.

The first week we spent around two locations: Szécsény school and Vársany school. Vársany is a picturesque village very close to our base town, Szécsény. And there we met our amazing teenagers a.k.a. the students of grades 7 and 8. To say that I fell in love with this school is to say nothing. It’s a small school, but it feels very cozy and welcoming. Trust me, I’ve never said that about a school where I go to teach teenagers! And while I’m on the topic, these teens are the nicest kids I’ve seen in a while! Sure thing, sometimes (and some of them) are moody, but that’s teenagers we are talking about. It’s in their nature more or less. And the teachers who we work with are the cutest! So far, it’s my favourite location!

In Szécsény it’s something a bit different that we are doing for now. A little info about cool ESC stuff. There’s a thing called “a mini-project” that we have here. And basically, it’s an idea that you can theoretically bring to life within the project. As long as you have passion, motivation, and your idea is a good one, you can do it! Motivate people to invest their time, energy and resourses and you’re good to go! And so it happened that Max, one of the volunteers from the paragraph above (miss you!) had a very cool project, and we just had to continue her work, and it was such a cool idea that we were eager to invest our time and energy into this. So her project was to create some paintings on the walls. And since kids are the main reason for the existence of the school, the kids were supposed to create these paintings! And they did! And if I may add something, it is beautiful! I will talk about it in details a bit later. So if you want to know the results and just about ESC fluff, stay tuned. Oh that was such a weird phrase. Bloody hell I’ll never repeat it again, I promise! But really though, I’m definetely writing more on that later.

Our first week and first sessions have given me something to look forward to. And even if sometimes it can be challenging, it’s exciting! The week when we had our first sessions was just a taste of what was coming later on…

The time we went for the on-arrival training

I’ve mentioned the on-arrival training before when we were talking about APV. And from that time everyone was quite hyped about this training that we as ESC volunteers have to go through. Personally, I was moderately excited about it. First of all, it’s a place where people from many different countries meet. Like a big salad of cultures. It would be very Russian of me calling it Vinegret, but it is kinda like it. If you look up Vinegret’s ingredients, you would think WTF they are thinking about mixing that stuff together in one bowl?! But when you taste it…it’s just perfect. I think it was the case with our group for the on-arrival training. It was just how it was supposed to be. It felt right. Right people, right time…But more about it later. Secondly, it’s a nice learning opportunity. It’s time to think again about your place in a group, your behavior in some situations.

Ah, there’s so much to say about the training and at the same time, it’s quite difficult to put it on the paper. It feels like a whole other lifetime has been fit into one week.

Let me start with the workshops. It was a nice touch that all the suggestions and needs of the participants were noted before the beginning. We were asked what we would like to talk about, what information do we need and I believe we got as much as we could.

I think I wouldn’t be wrong saying that we can divide all of them into three categories: personal development or personal awareness, legal information, and culture. Teamworking, adaptation, taking and giving up the lead would fall into personal awareness and development. Legal information is more or less about rights and responsibilities plus some useful information about European Solidarity Corps and everything around it. And the culture was about…Hungarian culture. We learned some words, danced some dances, screwed up, played some games. Fun times!

Kudos to our trainers who stoically suffered through our crazy ideas and a bit of madness. Without them, nothing would be possible! And of course, the team is amazing. Both the official on-arrival training part and the non-official training part. We’ve shared our views on so many things, we’ve cried tears of joy, we’ve laughed and discussed. I really do think that on-arrival is something else! We were together just for a week, less even, but it feels like we’ve known each other forever!

Love you all and see you at the mid-term! or maybe…earlier? Who knows where the road will lead us!

The time we were settling down

It was quiet before the storm. Before work and fun we were given time to settle down. And it means so many things. Unpacking is the first obvious thing that you think of. But apart from unpacking, there’s tons of stuff to do! For example, exploring the town, and not just being a tourist and visiting the local landmarks, but also it includes exploring the supermarkets, greeting all the neigbouring dogs, finding a sunbathing street, a path to ride a bike, and so much more.

The supermarket crawl was the first thing we’ve done, of course. Still it’ll take a lot of time to settle on one store or the other, but I think I’ve found my favourite already (but don’t tell the other ones about it!).

The exploration was another big thing we’ve done.

First step was to get out and see the town. Tourist mode ON! One thing that got stuck with me is the Castle Museum of Szécsény, which is on the picture here. And behind the museum is an English style park. So all together it has a 19th century general feeling, and makes me think about Jane Austen quite a lot. Horses and beautiful dresses. We just need to add these two things to complete the look.

In general, I’d say we have a variety of one-two level buildings, all different shapes, colours and styles. Oh, and also we have what’s left of the castle wall, dating back to 14-15th century or so, and ruins of a chapel/church, where we have an altar. And as a matter of fact, there’s a well and a club “Paradise” right next to it. So make your guess about the activities we’ve thought of concerning this altar. One important point to mention: cats are almost nonexistent in this town.

On this cheerful note…let’s proceed!

We saw an opportunity and we were eager to take it. It happened that in our garage we have a number of bikes. And it also happened that we have a destination. Our destination was a lake nearby Szécsény. It’s a small fishing lake, and a tough muddy road leading to it. Nevertheless, it was a warm sunny day and the trip was for sure worth the struggle path we took. Also, turns out a child can be better in riding a bike than an adult with years of experience. But it’s a talent. And that’s how life works!

We spent half of the week exploring, settling, decorating, cleaning, sorting, greeting, meeting. And absolutely, this was the right thing to do! It feels like home.

Love,

Catherine

The time we had an APV

APV is an Advanced Preparation Visit organized by our Host Organization Egyesek. Not to be confused with on-arrival training organized by the National Agency.

During the APV we got to know the future team, the past team, and the team of all times, as well as the location, the brief introduction to the stores in the town, and the vibe in general. I think it’s the best thing ever to do such an APV. The dreaded anxiety level goes down, the excitement goes up. Especially it’s useful and needed when you are a big team. I imagine it would be awkward to suddenly just be in a house full of strangers, to share room with total strangers. Of course, as time progresses, it gets easier, but still.

What did we do during our APV?

  • Ice-breakers. I lost count to them, really. But as a teacher, I absolutely love them! The sillier, the better!
  • Getting to know the locations. The APV’s main location is Hollókő, the scenic village, where all vowels are kinda same, but very different. The project’s main location is Szécsény, a peaceful town almost at the border with Slovakia.
  • Taking a look at our future home. Which is very exciting, and it was amazing that we had the ones who were living there before us, the volunteers of the previous year, to show us around!
  • Having fun and talking business. In our case, it was about both things at the same time. Talking business while having fun? Having fun while talking business? Take it the way you want, really.

I felt like it was very important to mention an APV. Even if our project would start later, this was the point of true beginning. This was the point when we would know that this decision and this idea is the best thing in the world. This was the point when I really started to be in the “can’t wait” mode.

And actually, I’m still in this mode. And I don’t plan to drop it any time soon.

Love,

Catherine

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