just some hungarian-ness from this week

i just had to take this picture.

this is my favorite hungarian word. it's a savings and loans type place, but that's not important. here's roughly how it's pronounced: talk-a-rake-sue-vet-kezz-et (roll the R)

some sweet old lady sweeping and gardening near my new place

i didn't even care if she saw me take this.

another lady a few minutes later. now i just need a purple one!

today i met up with laci, an english teacher from zrinyi who is going to teach in the US for a year. we had drinks (soda/tea) and chatted a while. then i went to the school and cleared out my desk (about time, right?) to make room for the teacher who will replace me. it wasn't sad at all, don't worry. then i went to the language school where i'll be teaching in august and had a short meeting with the director (tomorrow is a long meeting with her). i stopped at a little shop to get a quick snack/lunch. it was a new place, which is always stressful going through the whole "i only speak a little hungarian so be patient with me" thing. it was a success, though. relaxed for an hour or so, then went to meet anikó at the plaza (a mall). we shopped for some baby clothes for some babies she knows, hit a grocery store for a few minutes, then went to Rolling Rock Cafe, a restaurant in the city center said to be american (or with american influence). the atmosphere was more american than the food, but both were good. here's the inside:

the middle clock said "texas"

the bar

the other side

we got some chicken dishes, then dessert. she ordered "nut covered cottage cheese balls with vanilla and chocolate sauces" ... it's not really cottage cheese. it's a hungarian specialty called "túró" but "cottage thing" is the only thing close to it. it looks like THIS when it's just cheese. it's more like cream cheese with a cottage cheese texture. anyway, here she is with her dessert:i ordered "somlói galuska" which is a sponge cake with chocolate cream, vanilla sauce, and whipped cream. ummmm, delicious!