saturday morning

as i was making breakfast this morning i looked out the window and saw little bustling nyiregyhaza.

stroller parents inspired me to take pics

ooh, a gypsy - see that stick? that's what she digs in the dumpsters with

is that guy on the phone?

aw, cutie

she has a cake!

isn't he kind of old to be riding a bike? ... not in hungary

bike walker

that's not a cane, that's a gypsy stick!

when this lady passed...

this lady, she bummed a cigarette off of her.

gyspy kid... with a stick

old guy

does everyone have a bag or a basket??? why, yes. yes, they do.

basket lady

friends

i see these people at least once a day; they're always walking together

bike guy

what an interesting color for hair

hehe, teeny little bike (with a gypsy girl on it)

gypsy mom (of the girl in the previous picture) i see a few times a week

i saw this guy with his dog

so i took a few pictures

because the dog wasn't on a leash

and it was so cute!!

strangers

sweet old lady

old guys and bikes just go so well together

oh! he doesn't have a bag!

this guy does

when i saw stroller parents coming back, i decided it was time to stop

spring has not sprung

happy first day of spring!!

yeah, right. it's 39 degrees today, overcast, and windy. does that sound springy to you? my magyar (hungarian) friends would have me believe that spring is here, but i insist that it is coming. to me this is entirely winter weather. people are still wearing scarves and hats and coats and gloves. that's winter!!

last night i woke up around 3:30am and looked outside. what did i see? i'll show ya:

yes, that's snow you're seeing.

when i took xander out this morning i was pelted with some heavy snow flurries, but luckily they hit the ground and melt.

i thought spring weather was swimsuit weather. man, i got messed up by living in florida.

also, i've been home sick from work this week. i went to one class on tuesday and couldn't take it any more. the doctor says it's bronchitis, but i think in the doc's waiting room i caught a regular cold, too because i got much worse after that. anyway, here is what xander and i have been doing all week:

hungarian revolution number 3

since i've been in hungary there have been 3 holidays commemorating what my kids call "hungarian revolutions." since i have little to no interest in history and i figure the story will include some sort of war and the hungarians eventually losing, i don't bother to ask what kind of revolution any more. on friday last week there was an assembly in the gym in which one of my favorite classes (10d!) performed dances, recited poems, and sang patriotic songs. i didn't know about the assembly until friday morning when i got there and everyone was wearing all balck and white... everyone but me, that is. oh i was wearing jeans and a blue sweater. i was the only person in the whole school not in the traditional black and white. greaaaat. i scolded a couple of colleagues for not passing along the wardrobe memo, but just chalked it up as another result of "well, this is hungary" and moved on. there was a cockade on my desk when i got to school, though. dear sweet english teacher agi had remembered me and brought me one so i would match the rest of the school. i'm not pictured, but mine looked like everyone else's.

the cockade

this is our principal - our "head mistress" ibolya (ee-boy-uh)
when i speak better hungarian i want to have a conversation with her. it's my goal.

those white shirts with blue trim are the school uniform which the girls only wear on holidays or special school events. i've seen them like 4 or 5 times, i think. the boys all wear suits on those days. they look all grown up; it's precious. of course the girls hate those shirts. but, oh well.

scarf dance

here they are singing about freedom and love

zrinyi things

a typical week in the life of christie

i gave a test and let this class take it in pairs. come on, how easy is that? these sweet girls who like me a lot but who can stand to improve their english wrote this on their test paper:

if you can't read it, click it. it's pretty silly. (sadly, they only got a 4)

here is a private student of mine (on the left) erika. she and her friend are school-leavers (aka seniors) and i saw them with their ribbons. they got those ribbons because they are leaving school and it's a thing of pride, i think, to have the ribbon and wear it around.

here is a close-up of the ribbon

aniko' takes me home a lot. so i see this sight all the time.

i was bored in the teachers' room.

actually, this is the teachers' room kitchen. in there people can heat up their food, eat, have a cup of coffee, talk on the phone, or just get away.

lunch one day. (bread soup YUM!, chicken, rice, and veggies - all delish)

when i came into the teachers' room on monday, all the women's desks had flowers on them - including mine. luckily people told me about women's day before it actually happened, so i wasn't so surprised. however, i got flowers, kisses, and chocolates from friday to tuesday. that's a gooood holiday, i'd say. (oh - it was international women's day and you can read about it HERE)

a borderline artsy picture of a typical bouquet of flowers given to a teacher by her students.

sometimes i'm late to class because of... well, life. (bus, late from lunch, potty break, meeting, etc.) today was one such occasion. so the kiddies drew me this on the board. click it if ya want.

this class beggggggged me to not do the whole lesson because they NEEEEDED to study for a chemistry test. i gave in and only did half the lesson with them (shh, don't tell my bosses) and while most kids studied chemistry, a few forced me to read in hungarian. i brought some hungarian material and they chuckled as i read aloud to them. two of the three recorded a video of me reading on their phones because they said it's just so cute. these are two silly and fun girls who were encouraging me to practice my hungarian. they both disapprove of this picture, but this is my blog, so here it is:

package!

these are so cute i just had to put them first!

liz sent me a package!

inside was the cutest book she made of the pictures of our vacation. it's a real book (like bound) and has narrations/captions on all the pages. so fun! it's my favorite!

some conversation hearts so i can share them with my kiddies, a box of brownie mix which i gave to a colleague b/c hers wouldn't rise, chalk holders because i HATE having chalk dust on my hands all day everyday, scooby doo mac 'n' cheese because... well because it's wonderful! a necklace, biore strips, tampons with applicators (sorry if it's TMI, but it made me happy), flossers - you know, those little plastic things, a CD of some music she likes, the first season of "the big bang theory" which is said to be pretty funny, a CD of the pictures from our trip, some cute dishes - a bowl and a plate - plastic, my favorite! (first picture), and some drink mixes that i can add to bottled water - yes!

wanna see?

the book!
the chalk holders! no more chalk dusty hands!

the brownie mix with a note to colleague rita

thanks, beenie!!

also, if you want to send something, here's my address again:

Zrínyi Ilona Gimnázium (or just ZIG)

Christie
4400 Nyíregyháza
Széchenyi út 29-37
HUNGARY