The Beginning of the Balkans: Serbia

After an eight hour train ride from Budapest to Belgrade on July 2, we began what was an incredible five week trip through the Balkans.  We had traveled to Serbia earlier in the year for four days, so this was a quick stop before moving on to other countries we had yet to visit.  It was fun being back in Serbia where we had such a wonderful first impression of the people and the food.

I think a lot of people in the west have a really negative view of Serbia because of their involvement and aggression in the Balkan War of the 1990's. Somehow in many people's mind this translates to the country being unsafe and the people being evil.  I actually found the people to be extremely nice and so welcoming to foreigners; almost as a way to show others that they don't want to forever be seen as the bullies and aggressors, and want to make a new impression worldwide. Well they made a great impression on me. One quick note though related to the war that I found to be extremely interesting, but not entirely surprising. In Belgrade we went to the military museum and were expecting some revisionist history, but it was more severe than we expected.  There was an exhibit called "UN and Western Aggression Towards the Republic of Yugoslavia,"  and the whole exhibit showed war trophies won by Serbs against UN troops and war crimes committed by UN fighters in Serbia, yet there was no mention of what brought on the UN intervention.  Essentially they mentioned the abandonment of Communism in 1989 and a run-in with the UN in 1999, but nothing happening in between. All that could come to mind when seeing this was a line that a good German friend of ours always says (and I believe was a line from Family Guy) "Nothing happened. Everyone was on vacation."  This absence of information became even more interesting as we traveled through the Balkans and visited various museums in different countries, trying to piece together all the different perspectives and interpretations of the war.
*Note: The pictures below are from our first trip to Serbia because our camera broke when we were in Serbia the second time.

Belgrade Fortress

The tiger habitat at the zoo in Belgrade was actually within the original fortress walls

Davolja Varos - Rock formation in Southern Serbia (also known as petrified wedding guests)

Bubanj Memorial Park in Nis. Commemorates the execution of over 10,000 Serbians during WWII

Burek is a popular food throughout the Balkans, but I can say that Serbia has THE BEST burek.

What a Whirlwind

Kotor Bay, Montenegro

I have so much to write about from this summer that I don't even know where to start.  I guess I can start by saying that traveling for six weeks straight has its ups and downs, but the ups far outweigh the downs. Sure, there was a broken down bus, a trip to the hospital, and being stranded at a border around 1am; but this list is so small compared to all the beautiful wonders, delicious food, unplanned experiences and incredibly kind and welcoming people we met.

We left Hungary on July 2 to begin our trip through the Balkans with a rough idea of where we wanted to go, but essentially had nothing booked except a one-way ticket from Thessaloniki, Greece to Budapest on August 5.   It was both exhilarating and daunting not having plans set; on one hand we had to constantly try to figure out bus timetables, accessibility to sites we wanted to see, and finding affordable hotels at the last minute, but it also afforded us to take an extra day somewhere we loved, go further off the beaten path with recommendations from locals, and take the time to pause and soak it all in.  Our itinerary ended up looking like this: Serbia - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Croatia - Montenegro - Kosovo - Albania - Macedonia - Bulgaria - Greece - Turkey.

I still cannot believe how much we ended up seeing, and am truly humbled by and grateful for the openness and kindness that was shown to us by complete strangers. Traveling has a way of strengthening my faith in people to a level greater than I ever imagined possible .  My greatest joy in life is being surprised by the good that I know exists in us all; and this trip reminded me that this doesn't have to be a rare occasion. 

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina 

Rila Mountains, Bulgaria

 

Nemrut Dagi, Turkey

 

Another Year in Budapest

I can excitedly say that Bill and I are going to spend a second year in Budapest!  This past year has been absolutely amazing, and we have come to feel so comfortable and at home here.  Probably since October Bill and I tossed around the idea of staying another year, because right from the beginning we felt connected to Budapest.  When March rolled around we knew we would need to start moving forward with things if we wanted to stay or if we wanted to leave.  If we only listened to our gut, our decision would have been easy; Budapest.  I would get a sinking feeling in my stomach when we talked about leaving Budapest and sometimes my eyes would well up as I looked out at my favorite view of the city across the Danube and thought all of that could be gone next year.  We weren't ready for it to be gone; not yet.  But was it smart to take a leap of faith in a country where the political and economic climate seem to be worsening by the day, where jobs are scarce, and where salaries are extremely low? We had a lot to think about.

We made the decision to stay in Budapest before I had a job completely lined up.  Bill's school loved him and immediately offered him a job back.  It took me a little longer to get everything sorted out, but I am extremely happy with what I'll be doing next year.  I am renewing my Fulbright grant, but it will be more or less a new assignment.  I will still get to work at the Fulbright Educational Advising Center working with Hungarian students interested in studying in the U.S., but it will be just one day per week, rather than 2-3 days like this year.  The other four days I will be working with a study abroad program in Budapest called Aquincum Institute of Technology, which is specifically geared towards computer science undergraduates from elite universities in the U.S.  There I will get to do a lot of student-centered work (with current and prospective students), as well as working on developing policies, assessment, and new partnerships with U.S. universities to help grow and improve the program.  I started working with them this month and am really happy with how things are going.  Next year will be a good year.

Oh and one last thing.  Lucky for Bill and I, there was a small miscommunication with our landlord which has resulted in us needing to move out of our apartment for the month of July.  What was initially really frustrating has turned into a great excuse to go do some more traveling! We are packing up and leaving at the beginning of July to go traveling through the Balkans for a month!

Inching Its Way Up

Over the past couple of days there have been  massive amounts of flooding in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary.  Germany has gotten the worst of it, and had to evacuate thousands of people from their homes.  In Budapest, the Danube is at its highest point ever recorded, and water has spilled over onto the streets that border the lower banks.  Luckily there is a water retention wall that has kept the rest of Budapest dry, and the city has been vigilant about setting up sandbags in problematic areas.

On Saturday night Bill and I walked a couple miles along the Danube to check out the flooding, and chatted about how just the week before we were walking on the very path that was now under 15 feet of water.  What was even more surprising than the water levels were the amount of people lining the Danube.  I had never seen so many people along the Danube. Everyone was snapping photos and children were in wellies testing their courage by giving a quick stomp at the edge of the water and then running back to their mom and dad.  People are saying that the water levels should not continue to rise, so now we will wait and see just how long it takes for the water to get back to normal level.

A Sneak Peak

As I am a few weeks away from the end of my Fulbright grant, I realize that I have been awful about keeping people informed about what I've been doing and seeing here.  My goal for the next couple of months is to retroactively update everyone on what I've been doing this semester for Fulbright, and where I've been traveling, .  Below is just a quick preview of some trips I'll be writing about in the future....

Kalambaka, Greece

Mohacs, Hungary

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sibenik, Croatia

European Court of Justice, Luxembourg

London, England

Prague, Czech Republic

Oxford, England

Venice, Italy

Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

Pitlochry, Scotland

Nis, Serbia

Abisko National Park, Sweden

Brussels, Belgium

Granada, Spain

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Sintra, Portugal

Zaanse Schans, Netherlands

Bojnice, Slovakia

Home Sweet Home (Budapest, Hungary)

The most rewarding of days

Today was a good day.  A really, really good day.  Over spring break I received an email from a student I had been working with on a regular basis, requesting that we meet because he had some good and bad news (regarding college applications to the U.S.) that he would like to discuss with me.  I was giddy with excitement, hoping that his good news was that he was offered a scholarship to one of the schools he applied to.  Getting accepted was not going to be enough; the biggest challenge for Hungarian students wanting to study in the United States is financing their education.  International students are not eligible for any federal financial aid, and that is what is most commonly used to supplement domestic students (grants, loans, federal work study, and even most scholarships).  Salaries in Hungary are low, and we all know the sticker price of undergraduate education in the U.S. is astronomical.  His dream for the past four to five years has been to study in the United States.  He has gained my respect through his relentless determination and immense amount of preparation; and I feel lucky to have joined him in his quest for success.  There have been ups and downs, with rejections, wait-listings and moments of doubt (on his part, not mine).  I was ready to hear some good news for someone I know deserved it.

At half past noon I saw Bence standing in the doorway to my office, and my anticipation started to build.   I had  not felt so anxious and excited to hear about something since I was waiting to hear about my own application for Fulbright last year.  He pulled out three (big) envelopes from his backpack, which first made me think that it's nice that schools still send snail mail (because email takes a little wind outa the sails), and secondly I thought, this is good news!  He was being offered three full ride scholarships (tuition, room and board, and other related expenses) from three very good (and expensive) liberal arts colleges.  I was overwhelmed with happiness, and felt so proud and relieved that Bence would have the opportunity to pursue his dreams.  We discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each, but I know that wherever he chooses to attend, he will absolutely love, because he is the type who will make the most of his college education, and not take a single thing for granted. 

Probably what makes me happiest about this experience I had with Bence is that I really cannot take any credit for his success.  Although we met countless times and exchanged many emails, he was the one doing all the work, putting in countless hours of research, phone calls to schools, and revisions to essays.  I simply was someone to listen, to help him clarify the many thoughts and emotions that were going through his head during his journey.  I couldn't help but see a little bit of myself in him.  As a student I never went to an academic advisor or dean to have them give me information; I went to them so I could have someone listen to my ideas and plans that took a lot of hard work to develop; to make it clear to myself, that I was doing the right thing for me.

On Our Way to Fame

As months went by with no word from House Hunters International, we were beginning to think that we (and by we, I mean Bill) made too many 'inappropriate' jokes that made our footage unusable.  I guess we were wrong, and they were somehow able to put together something that would be seen as HGTV appropriate.  For those of you who have been asking if this would ever air (or even questioned whether we really did film for HHI), we finally got word about our airdate, so I figured I would share it with everyone.

Wednesday, March 6 at 10:30pm EST and 1:30am EST

Here is the blurb they have about it on their website.  Apparently the air date and time is subject to change, so if you tune in on Wednesday at 10:30pm and don't see our smiling faces, maybe they realized they shouldn't air our show, or they changed the time (likely the latter, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised by the former).

Bill and I haven't seen it yet, and likely won't be able to see it for another 3-4 weeks when they email us our DVD (I don't think it will be posted online yet).  Feel free to make fun of us immediately, so we can have weeks of wondering what they actually decided to use of our footage :)