The First Two Weeks

What a fantastic and crazy start to my year this has been! It will be two weeks tomorrow that I arrived in Hungary although I have been out of Hungary more since I got here than I have been in it. The first couple of days in Békés were spent finding an apartment, going to see the school, attempting to learn my way around, meeting new people, and all the other things you have to do to settle in to a new place. The town is great. It is small, so hopefully I can learn my way around pretty quickly. The people have been fantastic too! I really can't say that enough. Everyone I have met has been so welcoming and genuinely excited I am here.

Right when I started to feel a little settled, Nora and I headed off for a week in Bosnia and Croatia. She is a tour guide, so I got the opportunity to tag along for one of the tours she was leading. We went to Sarajevo and Mostar in Bosnia and then headed for five days on the coast of Croatia in Drvenik. While we were in Croatia we took day trips to different places. One day we went to Trogir, Split, and Makarska. Another day we went to Dubrovnik. And another we went to the island of Korčula. This trip was incredible and eye-opening for me. When I found out that we were headed to Bosnia, and especially Sarajevo, I really didn't know what to expect. I am ashamed to admit it now, but the only time I thought about Bosnia was when I was connecting it to the war in the 1990's with Serbia. I didn't really understand why we would take a tour group there because I couldn't imagine what there was to see besides destroyed buildings. I was incredibly wrong.

We arrived in Sarajevo the first evening, right before dusk. The older part of the city sits in kind of a valley so when you drive to it, you get this beautiful view of the city spread out before you. We went on a walk along the river that runs through the city and saw the Latin Bridge. In 1914, Arch Duke Ferdinand had just driven over this bridge and was headed into the city center when he was assassinated, setting off WW1. It was a pretty incredible feeling to stand in the same place where one of the most significant moments in history took place.  We then took some time to walk around the old city center. As we were driving to our hotel, which was located in the newer part of Bosnia, I was surprised to see bright lights and tall buildings. For a minute, I felt like I could have been transplanted back to any city in the USA. It was a little surreal to me because in a place where I expected to see war torn ruins, here was this thriving, vibrant city. I wish I could have spent more time in Sarajevo to really understand both of its parts - the new and old.

The Latin Bridge

View down the street where the Arch Duke was shot

After Sarajevo, we went to Mostar. This is one of the most incredible places I have ever seen. The main attraction is the Stari Most, (Old Bridge) which spans the river that runs through the town. I was already completely captivated by the beauty of the place, and then I learned more about its history and I appreciated it even more. During the war between Bosnia and Serbia in the 1990's Bosnia and Croatia sided against Serbia. After the Bosnian/Serbian conflict ended, Bosnia and Croatia began their own war. Over the course of these two wars, Mostar was pretty much completely destroyed and the Croatians blew up the bridge in 1993 or 1994. At this point, the city was basically rubble and destruction and stayed that way until the early 2000's when UNESCO stepped in. UNESCO gave money to Mostar to rebuild and they started renovating. Today the bridge is completely rebuilt as well as most of the city. Some buildings are left in ruins because no one knows who owns them and so they can't be renovated.

Building left over from the wars in Mostar

The Stari Most today

I did not expect to be impressed by Bosnia. In the beginning of this trip, I thought of it as a stopping point on the way to Croatia, but it blew me away.  Seeing the buildings that were still destroyed in the cities and in the countryside really made me realize how incredibly lucky Americans are to not have fought a recent war actually in our country. I can't imagine driving down the streets of Stevensville and seeing the remnants of war - but that is what it is like in Bosnia when you step outside of the touristy areas.  Being able to see how Bosnia has overcome its history and begun recovering was humbling and amazing.

When we arrived in Croatia and got to our room for the rest of the week, I opened the doors to the balcony and saw this:

 

 

And that is pretty much how the rest of the week went. Croatia is incredibly beautiful. My favorite thing did while there was go to Dubrovnik and take a walk along the top of the city walls that encompass the old part of the city. Even though it was SO HOT, the views were worth it. Dubrovnik is famous for its red roofs and every building in the old city has one. Some even still have their original roofs, but others have been repaired and replaced. The following pictures are all from Croatia and are just a scant few of what I actually took!

 

View from highway out of the bus window

Makarska

 

Dubrovnik from the city wall looking out

Dubrovnik from the city wall looking over the old part of the city

On the way home from the island of Korcula





 

 

Prepare for Takeoff....maybe

I woke up Monday morning ready to go.  I still had some stuff to pack because I always wait to the last minute, but mentally I was ready. Mom and I went to breakfast, shopping, and out to the barn one last time to say good-bye to Murray. Then we met Dad for dinner and headed to the Kalamazoo Airport. Everything so far had gone swimmingly – until the airport. Isn’t that how it always works? We got to Kzoo and checked in, only to be told that my flight was delayed and had no hope of making it to Chicago to catch my connection to Heathrow. Of course my flight out of Chicago to Heathrow was the last one for the night, so if I wasn’t on that plane, I wasn’t getting to Hungary until a day later. I could have waited it out in Kzoo, but I had no way of getting in touch with Nora (my mentor teacher this year who was picking me up in Budapest) to tell her that I wasn’t going to be there. I also had no way to get in touch with her once I got to Hungary and being stranded at a foreign airport didn’t seem like a great way to start my trip. So, Option 2 was to drive like hell to Chicago in the hopes of making it in time for my flight. With my mom reminding me from the backseat that “80 is a good speed today” and dad saying “just keep up with the Illinois cars” we made good time and thankfully I made it to my flight – sweatier than I would have liked because of the long speedwalk through O’Hare, but with about 25 minutes to spare.

A couple things about Heathrow in London: their security is no joke and neither is their shopping. Once I landed, I had to go through security again to get into the main part of the airport. Since I had gone through security just fine at O’Hare I didn’t really think anything about it. I put my bags on the belt and expected to walk right through. Unfortunately, when they say all liquids must be in a bag, they really mean it.  I had to spend an extra half hour while they inspected my mini-hand sanitizer and toothpaste because I hadn’t gotten them out of my purse and put them in an extra plastic bag. (They actually wipe down all your stuff with a clean cotton swatch and put it in a machine to check for chemicals or explosive residue I’m assuming). My little bottles have not been a problem when I have flown recently in the US, but lesson learned for international airports!

Once I was freed from security, I was excited about the shopping – I thought it would be an enjoyable way to pass my two hour layover and it would have been had I been able to afford anything! Too bad Harrods, Tiffany’s, Cartier, Burberry, and YSL are all a little above my price range!

Anyways, the rest of the trip was great – flights were on time and smooth. I arrived in Budapest on time and so did my luggage, thank God. Nora and her husband Gabor picked me up and drove me back to Bekes. Before we went to Bekes however we took a driving tour of Budapest. It is a very pretty city and I can’t wait to go back and explore it some more. I didn’t take any pictures while we were driving around, but I promise I will when I go back and will post them soon!

                 

Washington DC Orientation

Our "Big" Orientation in Washington DC was July 29^th – Aug 2^nd. I have to say, this was the best thing that Fulbright could have done for us. Everyone got to meet their exchange partners and AnnaMaria from the Hungarian Fulbright Office was there. We were able to have some really productive meetings with our exchange partners and alumni (Thanks Ryan for all your insight!) as well as some informative sessions with professors about teaching and living abroad. I really felt like I walked away from this week with my questions answered and feeling as prepared as I could. Note: this doesn’t mean not nervous about the first day standing in front of 15 Hungarian students – it just means as prepared as possible. Here’s hoping that will translate into being prepared enough to not make an utter fool out of myself! On the topic of being nervous – everyone keeps asking me if I’m getting nervous about leaving and I can honestly say no. I feel like I have such great people supporting me, from IIE, to Nora, my mentor teacher in Hungary, to my friends and family back home, that everything will work out.  

One of my favorite parts about this Orientation was the “Cultural Celebration” that each country group had to put on, on Thursday night. The Mexican and Indian teachers wore traditional clothing and danced and sang to traditional music – very neat to see! The Czech Republic and Hungarian teachers had great info about their country’s heritage. And then there was us – the US teachers. True to form of American’s we were putting the finishing touches on our “performance” as we were starting it. We did a thing with the US being a melting pot, then moved into some stereotypes of the different regions of our country, and finished with our grand finale – American dancing! YouTube “The Evolution of Dance” – it is just one guy on stage dancing to popular American songs over the years . Then imagine 13 uncoordinated teachers trying to mimic him. We made it to The Worm and then decided the audience had probably had enough.

I was also really happy to get the chance to go back to DC. I hadn’t been since 8^th grade and it was nice to walk around the city and take a bus tour to some of the main attractions. I wish I had another couple days to spend here because there were lots of things I wanted to see, but didn’t get the chance. It truly is a beautiful city.

This picture is all of the teachers (and some of their families) who are participating in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange from the US, India, Mexico, Czech Republic and Hungary in front of the Capitol Building in DC.