the new place

so i realized i didn't show you around my new place yet. i've done a lot of work in it (moving things around, cleaning, taking doors off hinges, and getting things situated) and though i'm not completely done, i'm proud enough of it to show it to you.

no need to comment on all the things it's not or all the things it lacks, believe me i'm aware. i've made my peace with it by comparing it not to the apartments i've been living in for the past several years, but to the dorm rooms i lived in for 2 years. in that comparison, this place wins. no roommate! first floor with a gated front yard! cable internet! some other things i like are the full-length mirror, the really tall windows, the extra office room, the brand new washing machine, the 12 foot (?) ceilings, and the handyman who (theoretically) will repair anything i need repaired.



i'll readily admit last year's place was better (as it was an actual apartment) but i'm not scared or bummed to be living here. it's inside the gated school campus. a handyman and a preist (lady) will be living here with me the whole time, but in different "flats." the location is about 5 minutes walk to everything in the city center. as i've been exploring a new part of town i've been in some new sweet shops, two paper stores, a new convenience store, an "american" themed restaurant, and two new grocery stores. in fact, next week i'm going to have to learn where the bus stops are around here because i haven't even taken a bus since i moved in (end of june).

ok, so, it is what it is. my new home sweet home :)

cukrászda video

i was given the honey cake, the 'cottage cheese' cake, and the ones called "bambi"
at the end of the video the lady who worked there asked what i was doing and anna told her i was taking pictures, that i'm an american teacher in Nyiregyhaza, that she spoke highly of this ice cream from this place, and that she brought me here to taste it. (it's hard to hear and understand her on the video, but that's what i can make out.)

ice cream with anna

anna (the director/owner/ruler of the language school and so my boss!) grew up in a small town (Szikszó) about an hour from Nyíregyháza. she told me about an ice cream place that made handmade/homemade ice cream that was to die for and invited me to come with her to taste the goodness. so after working up an appetite swimming in caves, we drove to her hometown.

the place had a old-timey family-run type feeling so i liked it immediately.

it was busy the whole time we were there, not surprisingly

there were lots of ice cream flavors (not 31 or anything...) and lottttts of sweets.

mignon = delicious

cake display

we both had caramel and cream. the expectations were pretty high, but they were MET!

anna took me for a short visit at her aunt's house (to discuss a tablecloth, bring her ice cream, and give her some joint cream). then when we got in the car she turned in the wrong direction (i thought) and down some side street. she excused herself and said she just can't leave the town without getting some spring water from the well. we got out some bottles and headed to the pump.
i was tempted to think anna was weird, but when another kid showed up with bottles i thought maybe this really is the thing to do in these parts. in fact, the water was pretty good - natural minerals in there, ya know.
we had a nice drive home through the mountains and the plains and fields of corn and sunflowers
we even stopped in the wine region (at my request) to get a bottle of sweet winey goodness. a cute little wine shop full of the national favorites:

these barrels are typical of wine cellars in the wine region so a fitting display.

look at the cutey little gift baskets

we got back to town, dropped off some ice cream at the language school freezer (anna had to bring some back for her employees since they all knew she was going to the place), and went to her flat for a few minutes. we had a drink (more to come on that later) and she loaded me up with a variety of her summer batches of jam.
anna bought me some cakes but i wasn't paying attention and she got wayyy more than i thought. 2 bambis (chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate cream), 2 turo cakes (the translation is "cottage cheese" but i promise it's not disgusting like that sounds, think cream cheese), and 2 chocolate honey cakes (which taste like an upgraded s'mores because it has honey cake, cream, and chocolate frosting). omg, wow.

i had so much loot after this long day! i can't wait to get into it all :)

water from the spring, wine from tokaj, and
jams: orange, apricot, strawberry, raspberry, and blackberrya very enjoyable and memorable hungarian day. thank you so much, anna!

cave baths

the director of the language school i'm teaching in, anna, invited me on a day trip today. there were a few elements of the trip, but the recreation destination was the cave baths of Miskolctapolca. it's a common thing in hungary to go swimming in the thermal baths, use the saunas, and take water aerobic classes. i've done it countless times since i've been here, but these were different. in front of the caves there are a few acres of outdoor pools and grass. people were swimming, tanning, playing, eating, sitting, and having a great time as anna and i walked in. we were only interested in the cave part, as it's cooler, there's no sun, and fewer children. so we headed in to a building which looked nothing like a cave:
there we found locker rooms and bathrooms, so we changed and headed to the pools. the cave baths were discovered in the 16th century and studied for their medicinal benefits, pools were added in the early 1830s and 1930s, remodeled and modernized as late as 2005. the thermal springs in, under, and around the bath complex still supply them with a lot of water as well as some of the drinking water for the town.

here is the entrance pool: there are pounding waterfalls used like massage, jacuzzis, and "wild water" which is water with a current throughout the rivers in the cave.

the water in the caves doesn't move very fast, but there is definitely a discernable current.

it was so cool how everything was lit in there! you can see high up into the cave while you swim.

one of the tunnels leads to a dark room with music playing. it's called the "star room" because of the stars .... i don't know if those were holes or lights or what. there were a lot of lounging teenagers in there when we went in, so we didn't stay long.cave baths

to get from river system to river system within the cave, there were sidewalks and railings everywhere. some walkways had those heavy waterfalls in case you need a quick massage.

after we waded, swam in different temperature pools (not pictured), jacuzzied, and had waterfall massages, we ate a quick lunch - nectarins, cookies, and sandwiches with meat, cheese, and peppers, yum! - we took showers, changed, and left the lovely bath complex. i'm really glad i got to experience it because i had never swum in a cave before. :)

hamburgers

i went to a student/friend's house on the weekend to make some real american hamburgers. there is a burger place in the city center here which boasts "american hamburgers" but they still put cabbage and cucumbers on them and don't have any tomatoes. i mentioned this to rudi, he said it to his parents, and soon i was invited over to have a cookout with them to show them the way. here is how it turned out:

gettin' ready

rudi's first bite

(his shirt says: i'm not lazy, i'm just conserving energy)
so they were a little thick
he thought it was just a way to get mayo in his mouth
here is his family (idk what's up with his dad)

all in all, it was a success. it was a taste of home. *sigh*