Evacuation

I have some serious and urgent news. You see, there was a part of our 2 week training to which I didn't really pay attention. It was the part about security risks and emergency evacuations. I didn't feel like it would ever pertain to me, since Hungary, despite its tumultuous past, seems to be a rather peaceful country.

This is only the way it appears from the outside.
The events of the last few days are ones that will probably scar me for the rest of my life. I want to be able to look back on this experience with a smile, so I can only pray that God allows my heart to rest soon.

I read a quote by a Nobel prize winner once. He was asked if he believed in aliens. He responded "Yes, I believe they live among us. They are called Hungarians."
Everyone thought he was kidding or being mean. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's not funny anymore.
With elections coming on April 11th, two rival 'parties' have started to rage war.

This began this last week with a simple act. One group turned off all the lights on Parlament, Castle Hill, St. Stephen's Basilica, Citadella, the Chain Bridge, and many other BIG places throughout the city. The other party, in protest, started banging on drums and revealing their true nature.

The city has broken out in violence. People have started to become no longer people. Think I'm kidding? Check out these pictures. I thought they were cute at first... we all did. Kinda like baby bears. They're cute until they try to eat your face!



Anyway, I need to cut to the chase. I don't have internet access, this is all being typed out by a telegraph machine I found in the local grocery store.

All Richters are being evacuated. Seems they have a thing for judges in any language. Since Richter is German for "judge," I have to get out of the country.
I'm posting my itinerary here for only a few hours in fear that if THEY find out, I'll be stopped. Please please please do not post this ANYWHERE!

again I repeat - this is a matter of life or death.
DO NOT POST THIS ANYWHERE OR EVEN TELL ANYONE OR SHOOT, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. They can read your minds!

This is my itinerary and I need you to pick me up from the airport. Given the severe trauma that I've faced in the last week, this is not the time for me to be stranded somewhere.

LOT Polish Air
Flight 534 Departs: 9:30a
Ferihegy (BUD) Arrives: 10:40a
Frederic Chopin (WAW)
Coach | Embraer RJ145 Amazon (Regional Jet ) | 1h 10m
Layover in Warsaw, Poland (WAW) for 1h 30m
LOT Polish Air
Flight 1 Departs: 12:10p
Frederic Chopin (WAW) Arrives: 3:15p
O'Hare Inter­national (ORD)
Coach | Boeing 767-300 (Wide-body Jet) | 10h 05m
Layover in Chicago, IL (ORD) for 1h 40m
United
Flight 7504
Operated by Shuttle America Departs: 4:55p
O'Hare Inter­national (ORD) Arrives: 6:45p
Gerald R. Ford Intl (GRR)



Please pray for Jeff, Matt, Kristy and Emilie. They've all decided to join forces fighting the aliens and fight for the rights of the Richters and Hungarian people everywhere.

PS - if you don't believe me, this is the video from when they turned off the lights and then protested with drums.

A lesson in Viticulture

When Jeff, Katharine and I returned to Budapest after an experience out in the country, we quickly realized that it would be the most clear night in Budapest. We made plans to go to the castle district so that we could overlook the city at night. My brilliant plan was to introduce Katharine to something that Hungarians take a LOT of pride in: their wine.
With the help of some very friendly shop clerks (I gave them three specifications: magyar (Hungarian), vörös (red) and fél-édes (semi-sweet) and they provided me with exactly what I needed!), I found a most delicious wine. When we were overlooking the city, it occured to me that I know very little about this product of which Hungarians are so proud. So... I did a little research. Allow me to enlighten you.

Grape vines were introduced to this area by the Romans. When St. Stephen founded the Kingdom of Hungary in 1000AD, Christianity began to spread. With it, the monasteries spread the use of wine in popular culture. Before they knew it, Hungarian vines were being exported! Sadly, when the Turks invaded, people fled and many of the vineyards went uncultivated. About a hundred years later, fearing an attack from Turks, the grapes were left unharvested until after rot had set in. In the spring, the wine that came from these grapes was of incomparable value. This is the phenomenon known as "Noble Rot."
Today, there are 22 different "wine regions" and each of these regions are known for producing different types of wine. For example:
Sopron has elegant reds,
Pécs has mainly whites,
Szekszárd has spiced, full-bodied reds,
Eger is famous for both full-bodied whites and an elegant red blend known as "Bull's Blood,"
and Tokaj has the "Noble Rot" variety.
The following wine cellars are found mostly in the Tokaj region. They are all built into the ground, where temps are regulated and mold/fungus is allowed to grow so that the wine can ferment to the highest quality.

I can honestly say I wasn't much of a wine drinker before arriving here. I can also say that I have learned to appreciate wines in a new light with all the history, pride and variety available. So, next time you're in the mood for a wine, try a bottle from Hungary. It'll be a lot more expensive than I'm paying, but it'll be worth it, I promise!



various wine cellars throughout Northern Hungary





these LARGE wine cellars are in Tokaj - "Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum" (Wine of Kings, King of Wines)

No free time!!!

Let me recap the two weeks for you - hopefully there will be stories to come, but for right now I just want to provide an excuse for my lack of updates.

March 12 - hanging out with Emily E. (volunteer in Slovakia) and her friend from home.
March 13 - interviews for Hungarians hoping to go to the USA and Italy
March 14 - saw Spamalot in the Madach Theatre with my 'host family'
March 15 - Hungarian National Holiday (like our July 4) - went to the Budapest Fine Arts Museum for free :) where I saw Monet's "White Water Lillies" in person!!! wow.
March 16 - went to work and then went and helped the Otterness' clean before they left.
March 17 - cooked a delicious breakfast for the Otterness', worked and then headed to Gönc and visited the dentist, came back to find our flat had more than doubled in occupancy and on top of that, because we're in the city center, everyone made our place the 'pre-party party' for St. Patrick's Day.
March 18-19 - Roma-Gadje Dialog Through Service initiative Seminar in Magyarkút, then Katharine arrived from Japan on Friday.
March 20-21 - we visited Nyírtelek and Görögszállás (where Jeff lives and works)
March 22-23 - sightseeing in Budapest
March 24 - deliver Katharine to the airport and catch up on sleep
and the last two days have been filled with work and other random extracurricular activities...

it doesn't look like things are getting any quieter, but hopefully I'll have time to write another message to you soon.

*~*~*

I recently got a wonderful gift from Home Acres Church. Inside of it was SOOO MUCH PEANUT BUTTER! it was so amazing! This is Silvia showing her smiling appreciation for the American wonder food :)


the best part about going to the dentist? this discovery: házi túro rétes (homemade sweet cheese pastry)


Apparently this is what you do when you see a political poster you don't like. :P Elections soon! April 11!


We (Jeff, Katharine and I) were in Jeff's town (Nyírtelek), when his pastor's daughter told us about a concert that she'd be performing in Budapest and invited us to go. Turns out to be 3 Japanese women choirs (funny since Katharine was in town from Japan) and 1 Hungarian girls choir. It was really cool - this is all of them come together for the final 2 songs.


two posts in a row with pictures of the escalators! and srsly, they are one of the first things people that fly to Budapest see, so it's always funny to see their reactions. Pictures really cannot describe how high/deep they are... but I try.

I started writing this so long ago, I forgot what pictures were here!

Yesterday was a lot of adventure. I'm not even quite sure how to put it all into words. Let's just say it was a bittersweet morning turned to an interesting midday to a funny afternoon and a very very very random evening.

Yesterday morning, we said goodbye to two very important people here in Hungary: Dick and Carolyn Otterness. They went back to the states for 5 months, something that all missionaries are required to do every so often. They will have some personal time as well as an opportunity to follow up with the churches that support them. It's something that they need to do, but it's sad to see them go. They've been amazing support for all of us in Hungary and Slovakia. However, because they've always done more than we could imagine to support us, we (Jeff, Matt and I) decided to cook them breakfast. Nothing fancy, but it was nice to provide them with a good meal and share with them one last time.

Then I went to my placement. I didn't really do much except share youtube videos with Richi (my placement boss' son). I shared with him the videos from the GR zombie walk, pillow fight, airplane toss and other events. It was funny to watch him "oohing" and "ahhhing" over them. However, at one point, I was handed a 9 month old little girl named Boglarka (Bogi) while her mom got the other daughter ready. believe it or not, we both survived... and i handed her back to her mom LAUGHING! woah! :)

After my placement, I met Joe Angi, a PCUSA missionary and we headed to the Northern part of the country. We are extremely blessed here because there is a dentist up there who has offered his services to those of us working in the various causes here. This meant that when I started experiencing pain, I could go to him for the mere cost of travel (about $30). Joe and I drove through some villages while we wasted time (we were a little early) and shared in some of the amazing views from the roadside. (Pictures coming soon, I promise!) Anyway, we got there, got some stuff fixed and we headed back to the road.

Then, we headed to the middle of the eastern part of Hungary to Polgar, the town where Joe was born. Joe has an interesting story which involves his family leaving Hungary after the 1956 Revolution and relocating to the United States. Now he's back here with his wife and his father is back here as well. We went to Polgar to pick up his aunt and so it was neat to see some of the more personal history in this country. Also, apparently the center of the world is in Polgar, Hungary (there you have it! interesting facts according to Joe Angi!)

We arrived back in Budapest to find our apartment filled, or nearly filled. We welcomed Emilie, Livia, Emily, Lisa and Stefanie into our flat for the night. The reason we were so full is because we had a seminar starting the next day for RGDTS... and it was St. Patrick's Day! In true Budapest style, within minutes of my arrival, in piled 8 more people (4 of the Budapest boys and 4 Germans we hadn't met before). Chaos ensued. Laughter was had. Friends were made. When everyone left to go to the bar to celebrate in style, I had a chance to write about half of this. Then, I finished it today. wow.



*~*~*

One of the cool things about my new placement is the family that has seemed to adopt me. It's great! Richi (the son) and István (the dad) were performing poetry in honor of the National Holiday on March 15, so I got to attend this event. It was interesting and there were some good poems... and I even understood parts of them!



Also, check out these escalators! This is in Budapest and the girls in the picture are Emily and Stefanie. They're sooo deep and fast, it's surreal!

Mega-church style

disclaimer: this post may offend. If you're still offended 12 hours from now, talk to me. I'd be interested to hear your opinion of what I've gotten wrong.


I often times talk about the fact that my sister and I want to do similar work with our lives, but then joke that we will never compete for the same job because she tends to favor larger, "mega-churches" while I tend to favor a small, community church.
Then, if the conversation is in English, the following question is often: "what do you have against mega-churches?" No matter where the person stands on mega-churches, I can always say that they just aren't where I see myself serving.

In the last 24 hours, I have realized why.
1) My home church sent me a care package. They've sent me two so far this year and I am so so so thankful for their continued love and support. I wonder... if I had been working for a mega-church, would this have happened? Sure, money MIGHT have been easier to come by, but the support that I've seen in other ways would have been, I think, way less.
2) Last night, I went to a Wednesday night Bible study at a mega-church mission here in Budapest. I have been going here FAIRLY regularly since October and have only had ONE PERSON ever say "hello" to me. We realized pretty quickly that there was a language barrier, but she still said "hi." Now, I'm not going here to be welcomed. I'm going to be led in personal worship and study... but to also practice my Hungarian pronunciation (singing is amazing for this!). I mean, I can't really say from experience that smaller churches are better, because I've rarely gone alone to a new church before... and if I have gone alone, it's been to Mars Hill or Resurrection Life in GR, and the experiences are pretty much the same.
3) I wrote an email to the people working with youth at this mega-church and because they have a conference coming up, I asked if they needed any help with anything. I explained my experience and offered my free time. It took the church over a week to get back to me and it seemed like my offer to help was way out of line, but what they could offer was that they needed help with practical things like preparing the lunches. They made it clear they had no place for me as a leader because they don't know me, but if I would accept the terms they laid out, I could come. As a former youth leader, I understand why I wouldn't be a leader. In fact, I never asked to be a leader (hello! I can't exactly hold a conversation in Hungarian, much less teach a lesson!). But the fact that they pitched 'making sandwiches' as a menial job and something that they really don't need help doing, but a place where they could put me really struck me. To me, providing lunch for hungry teenagers is a fairly important thing... so to make it feel unimportant didn't really make me want to sign up. Maybe it was a language/mis-communication thing, but to make those who want to help feel like they're needed, but not wanted didn't really appeal to me.
Maybe I've done the same thing in the past. In fact, I feel like I probably have. To have been on the receiving end now, I wish I could change those reactions.

unfortunately, after re-checking my calendar, I found that the weekend has been filled with other things since I first wrote them, so I won't be able to even attend as a sandwich maker.



Also, on a side-note, be praying for the homeless mission that this church has. It's the same homeless mission that I worked at one day last October? November?... however, Zsolt, the director, had a vision of moving the mission into a hotel for more space and actual beds for the homeless. Well, they found a hotel. And after a while, the landlord finally said "yes, you can rent this building from me!" WOW! Pray that God continues to move and clear this path.

I know that these churches are enabling some great ministries and I can't discount that. sadly, much like the megachurches in Michigan, the people who run the missions usually know how to be a church and if everyone would follow those workers' examples, the new people or regular church goers wouldn't be ABLE to remain anonymous.

Women's Day and Singleness

Today was a well celebrated holiday here in Hungary: Nemzetkozi Noi Nap! International Women's Day! Unlike Mothers Day, this celebrates all women. People get chocolates or flowers for the important women in their lives. Employers often give their female employees gifts. Kids bring oranges to their teachers. All over Budapest, as I traveled home by trolli-busz, I saw women carrying flowers. We, at the girls' flat, celebrated by having a few boys over and sharing a meal together. Zoltán brought chocolates and flowers, and Matt and Timothée brought ice cream. :) Even if I don't understand the meaning, I do enjoy getting flowers and chocolates, so I'm all for it! :) (and yes, I did do some research and do understand it now. you still don't? http://en.wikipedia.org - search it out yourself :D)



Also, this is going to a be a longer blog post that will probably take me two evenings to properly write. There's been a topic that's come up a lot since I've been here and that is: Singleness (the art of being single) :P Mostly, it's come up in the form of "What ifs". Like "What if you find a nice Hungarian man?" or "What if so-and-so doesn't stay in contact with you for the year?" or "What if so-and-so met this year so that you could meet for lifelong love?" There have been others, but I don't really want to bring them all up again.
It's not a bad thing and it's something I've gotten used to answering, usually in light because I am a girl, and girls sometimes have easily manipulated hearts as far as feelings go. If someone suggests something, we can too easily work ourselves into thinking that we should also suggest it. It's a complicated matter and I just gave all you dudes a short look into the minds of women. Yikes, eh?
Anyway, nearly immediately after I left the states, I left with a lot of questions of "what if you hadn't left, do you think...?" Sadly, until recently, I think that by my listening to, and taking into consideration, these questions, I attempted to set myself up for failure.
You see, I'm not here to see if I can meet anyone (to be honest, I am praying AGAINST that!). I am not here to figure out love. I am not here to test a relationship of any sort. I'm here to give my life to God and see where THAT relationship goes, since in the end, it's the only relationship that will matter. Through that relationship also comes a love for others, but without a relationship with God, I believe that unconditional love cannot exist. If I spend time focusing on anything BESIDES God, it discounts the whole fact that He brought me here. We're still working on the "why?" part in it's entirety, but I do know that part of it was to get my mind off such menial things as "finding a mate."

One of the pleasures I've had since starting my time in Hungary is reading chapters of the Bible one at a time, meditating on scripture day and night. As I read 1 Corinthians 7, I was struck by what Paul was saying. Hey, single ladies! He calls us out. Do I have too much temptation to get married or do I really think that it's God's call for me? Or, am I called to live like Paul? Quite honestly, the thought of both possibilities is a little frightening at this point, even though, as one of my youth told me "you're getting up there." (Thanks, Michael! :P)

This being said, there was a funny moment yesterday that I would like to share with you. I came to the Gyermekekért to find that we wouldn't have kids today. In fact, we were getting a lot of new furniture. Because they rarely let women do manual labor here (it's a respect thing and I respect that, so don't get all feminist on me), they had some young men helping. One of them was Zsólt, the 22 year old son of one of the ladies who works here. At first glance, he seems like a good kid with a good heart (I mean, he's helping his mom - how cute is that?! :P) and good brain. But our conversation is limited due to the fact that, well, I still can't claim to speak Hungarian, no matter what people say :P As four of us were sitting around waiting for the furniture to arrive, we were talking about the foundation, the kids, the cultural event on Tuesday night, etc. At one point, the director said to his mom, "Let's go so that they can talk." "They" refers to me and Zsólt. After a moment of disbelief and shock, they were gone and left us alone in the room. Luckily we were able to stumble through a sort of conversation about where I'm from and what disco's I've been to in the city (which he thought was too short of a list). Then the ladies came back and asked if we'd been able to have a conversation. "Próbáltunk (we tried)." Wait. What just happened? :) Yeah... awkward? :P

Anyway, that's my story. Life here is good. I've been fairly busy experiencing things lately. Partly because of my new placement, partly because the sun decided to shine again on this part of the world.



things to note: I have added a couple more links to my list of fellow bloggers. By request, I've also added an email subscription box for those who couldn't figure out the other one.

*~*~*

I've done it. I've run out of pictures to share with you. Must - find - more.

This was on Raduly Istvan's desk when I went to his office. It's the Hungarian flag with another flag you might recognize. He received it as a gift during his most recent trip to the US and I have decided I must find one for myself.


Also, you may need to click on this one to enlarge it. This was the view from my front door one day: police tape. I never have any idea what's going on around our apartment, but this intrigued me to the point where I needed to ask someone. There were police cars blocking every intersection between me and the Parlament building, as well as taped off sidewalks. As I exited my flat, I even wondered how many times I would need to explain that I'm just going to the metro station :P Luckily, no one approached me, but as soon as I got where I was going, I asked my favorite American pastor in the Church of Scotland about it. Because he speaks both Enlish and Hungarian, we were able to do a little research and figure out that it was for an energy summit and a LOT of country leaders were coming to Budapest that day. Oh, the joys of living on Alkotmány (Constitution) utca!

Terezvárosi Gyerekekért Alapítvány

The "Children's Garden Foundation of Teresa's City" is how the name translates. Let me tell you about my first week.

On Monday morning, Emese (our country coordinator) and I met and I was introduced to my new job. We went to the foundation and met the lady who runs it, her daughter and a few other workers. After going through all of the introductions (times for things, job ideas, what the foundation is all about, etc.), i shared a tea with one of the ladies and we stumbled through a Hungarian conversation. (note: no one speaks more than a little English here, so this is going to be really fun! :D) Then, some other teachers and I sat and painted for a while... and no children showed up. I left a little early and had lunch at the hospital and worked in the office.

On Tuesday morning, I went to the Gyerekekért and during that morning, we had 6 different children and 4 mothers. It was very interesting to watch the kids interact and to see some of their tendencies already.

On Wednesday, I went to the Gyerekekért and was told to keep my shoes on; I would be going somewhere. Turns out, Teri's (the lady who runs the Gyerekekért) husband works for the government with minority issues. He specifically works in the Roma department and I went and met with him. I got to go inside a Hungarian government building (thank goodness I was carrying my passport!) and follow Mr. Raduly around for a day. It was very interesting and definitely something that I wouldn't have gotten the chance to do with any other placement.

On Thursday, I got one of my amazing migraines, so life got put on hold.

However, on Friday, it was back to work. We had 7! kids on Friday, with 5 mothers. I wasn't so sure more could fit in after 6, so when we had 7, it was a full room :) I practiced my colors with a 3 year old, and drew pictures with a 2 year old. It's definitely challenging and tiring, but it has potential to be really fun :) Also, Teri invited me to come to her family's home for a weekend (they live outside the city) and also to a theatre performance next weekend with her family. Sadly, I can't spend the weekend at their home, but I may join them at the theatre. Next weekend, I will be helping the ÖDÉ staff with interviews for volunteers wanting to go to the USA and Italy.

Because my placement is mainly mornings only, I will be spending my afternoons regularly in the office doing everything from copying and sorting to sending out letters letting volunteers know that they've been chosen to come to Hungary. My current project is writing up short descriptions to send to the German/Italian/French/American/etc volunteers coming to Hungary so that they have an idea of what they'll be doing. It's really fun and interesting, and allows me to get a look into all the work that goes on behind the scenes in ÖDÉ :)

*~*~*

probably some of the most random pictures I could have ever chosen :) - i'm running out of pictures! haha!

here, i tried a recipe for oven-less cookies. It involved frying, which explains the reason they look like pancakes. They were yummy, but yet very strange. The things we do when we're living without :P


One night, we had a very spontaneous dinner - tacos (complete with homemade tortillas by yours truly) and Settlers of Catan (in Hungarian!) with Dick, Carolyn, Matt, John S. and I. It was a good time :)



"Keepers of the Lights" - I did some research hoping to find a historical reference to these guys, but couldn't find it. But this is around the famous "New York Palace Hotel" in Budapest, which is just across the street from the church I go to on Wednesday evenings. These "Keepers of the Light" illuminate your path and creep you out just a little bit. Angelic or demonic? You decide. They kinda remind me of some of the creatures from Chronicles of Narnia :P

I've been here six months and just had my first day of work...

March 1st was my 6th month mark. Last month I celebrated my half-way day. In a couple weeks, we'll celebrate Day 200... it seems like we're entering the 'countdown to re-entry' stage. However, yesterday and today marked a few FIRSTS for me.

a) yesterday I started my first day of work at the Gyerekekért (literal translation: kid garden... like Kindergarten!... but not) I've decided to keep any further update until I've been there for a week, especially since there weren't any kids on my first day :P
b) Today I did something I thought I would never do - from the first time I stepped foot in a Hungarian household and was asked to take off my shoes and put on sandals, I REFUSED to put on flipflops while wearing socks. Today, i gave in. At the Gyerekekért, we have to take off our shoes (no tracking mud/small stones/street rubbish into the playroom!) and put on sandals. We're also supposed to bring said sandals from home. Well, the only sandals I have are my 3 or 4 pairs of flip flops (yeah, yeah... packing fail? :P) I wore socks with my flip flops. Yup.
c) if you would have told me a year ago that I'd be hanging out with 6 kids under the age of three, I would have probably said "no way, José - you can count me out." well, today, I did it. I survived. The kids survived. Whew.
d) I made a friend. A real, Hungarian friend. Someone I went out with tonight - we laughed, we talked, we shared some good times... yup. His name is Balazs and we'll probably hang out again.

It's been a good day :)

*~*~*

Randomness

One day, as I was walking home, I caught sight of this. A Trabant parade! Trabants were produced by East Germany and are commonly referred to as "Communist Cars," as they were widely sold in the Communist Bloc - however, they were also exported, but it's rare to see them elsewhere. There seem to still be quite a few of them around, even though they were discontinued in 1990.


This is a nice breakfast compare/contrast picture. You see three pieces of 'toast kenyer'/american style sliced bread. Two pieces have peanut butter (mad props to Jay Harsevoort for the provisions!) and one piece has the Hungarian food that I will probably miss the most: vajkrém. This literally translates to "butter cream," but it's more than that. It's only sorta butter. it's really more like whipped cream cheese with a light butter flavor. It's healthier than butter (so says my Hungarian reading roommate) and it's really quite tasty. We just don't have anything like it in the states.


For the next three pictures, I owe a thanks to Claire Sofi, Silvia's friend who came to visit for a while. Her pictures turned out amazing and I must tell you - these are NOT photoshopped or corrected in ANY way. Budapest is really this beautiful!
this is our front door/gate


The Danube in the winter. I am in love with my city all over again :)

30 pictures + 1 day in Mohács, Hungary = Busójárás 2010!

On February 14, 2010, I got to experience something that not even all Hungarians have experienced. I can only compare it to Mardis Gras in Louisiana in the sense that it seems to only happen in one place in Hungary and that many Americans have never experienced it themselves. It also celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of spring, with roots involving Carnival (fársang).

Jeff, Emilie and I arrived in Mohács and we were treated to lunch at the local pastor's home. Then they had their oldest daughter take us around the city to see where things would be happening and at least get acclamated to the layout so we weren't lost. Then she found us an amazing spot for the parade and left to be with her friends.
Some sights around town:
a festival isn't complete without a pony!


the bonfire pile... pre-bonfire


masks for sale...


artwork created by the local "artists"...


and the parade begins!


This is the 'winter casket', which you will see again later.


Busos and their 'pretty ladies' (some of them were not so pretty... men dressed as women rarely are!) but a Buso is often accompanied by a lady (wife/girlfriend/random pretty lady), which helps the Buso to behave, but also shows off some of the traditional dress






This is my Buso friend. about 10 seconds after this picture was taken, he attacked me :P



"We celebrate Valentine's Day if the Yankees celebrate Busojaras" - well, we were there celebrating both!



This, if you sound it out, says "BusoRider"... cute!



See the straw man? You'll see him again later!


Note this Buso's bag. Inside you can see a bottle with something red and foamy. That's wine, folks. Inside most of the bags, you could find alcohol of various varieties. Which means, as the day gets later, the Busos start to act out more.


"Vigyazz" is like "Attention!" or "Look out!"


and yes, he's firing a real cannon... in the street... it was awesome and who wouldn't want that job?!


the Buso caught a girl!


a trazy-sized Buso!


My Hungarian husband :P



this is how I watched the launching of the casket: through some guy's video camera! haha! Launching this casket is signifying the death of winter and the birth of spring. cool concept, eh?


if you click on this picture, it will get bigger and you can actually see the casket floating down the river.


I told you you'd see the straw man again...


i wonder if they told Mr Straw Man that today he was going to be burned up...


the beginning of a massive bonfire. However, I didn't get back to see the actual fire - Jeff and Emilie had to catch a bus and then I wandered around the vendors for a while. Such a good day :)