Hungarian Food

Stuffed Cabbage 

This past week I have been talking with the 9 KNY students about food. Why, you may ask? Well, they have an English exam at the end of May which will determine whether or not they can stay in the bilingual program or not, and one of the categories is food.  We have discussed British food, American food, and Hungarian food, but a few days ago the students surprised Aman (my British co-worker) and me by telling us a few of Hungary's more unusual foods.


Before I discuss these foods which are quite strange to Americans and Brits alike, let me just say that a lot of food in Hungary is quite enjoyable. Everyone has heard of goulash (at least I hope you have), which originated in Hungary, and there are many other food which I really like, including stuffed cabbage and chicken paprikash.  Buzzfeed Food even did an article about Hungarian food called "33 Hungarian Foods the Whole World Should Know and Love" which one of my students shared with me (If you would like to read it, here's the link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/anitabadejo/hungarian-foods-the-world-should-know ). Although there are common Hungarian foods that are still a bit odd to my American tastebuds, like soups made out of fruit, I still haven't tasted anything that I couldn't eat.


Getting back to the story, my students decided to bring up more unusual Hungarian foods for the enjoyment of Aman's and my reaction, and we did not disappoint. Here are some of the foods they told us about:

1. Some Hungarian will occasionally eat fat on toast instead of butter. One of the students also mentioned that some of the older generation will put sugar or paprika powder on the fat. I was told that this tradition started because families didn't have much money, so they would use fat instead of butter of margarine. 
2. Hungarians have a day when the family gets together and they kill a pig. They then make the pork into bacon, sausage, etc., but some Hungarians also eat parts of the pig that are not eaten in American, like the pig's ear, tail, and legs.  I think they also use pigs blood in some sort of recipe, but I'm not sure what recipe. 
3. There is another meal where they eat the genitalia of a rooster. Hungarian also will eat the lower leg of a chicken, the chicken's neck, and the head of a chicken. 

So, to my American friends, these all probably sound a bit strange and unappetising.  I personally haven't tried any of these foods yet, but I would probably try them if the opportunity arose. They have to taste alright for people to still be eating them, right?

On the other hand, some American foods seemed really gross to my 9 KNY students. First, they thought gravy looked really disgusting.  I find this amusing since I don't know anyone who dislikes gravy, but maybe if I make it for them they will change their mind. The students also did not like the idea of shepherd's pie, quiche, or chicken pot pie, and thought all three looked inedible.  They also think stuffing looks unappetizing.

I think discussing food with my students has been extremely entertaining and educational for both sides. There were a lot of horrified looks and laughter, and I personally had a great time. It's been fun learning about the cultural differences between Hungarians and Americans, and I look forward to learning more!

Vienna

I did not have to work from May 1st to May 7th, so I took advantage of the break to travel to Vienna. I left early on Saturday morning, took the bus to Békéscsaba, then a train from Békéscsaba to Budapest, and finally a train from Budapest to Vienna. Overall it was a little less than 7 hours of travel time, and very inexpensive, especially compared to train prices in Western Europe! The trip was fairly uneventful, except that from Budapest to Vienna I had to sit on the floor; they sold more tickets than there were seats, so I sat on the stairs in front of the exit with a group of boys from England.

I arrived at around two in the afternoon, and immediately did something equal parts embarrassing and entertaining. There was a taxi queue outside the train station, so I walked up to one of the cars and asked if they could take me to Wombat's City Hostel. Much to my chagrin and amusement, the car was NOT A TAXI! He had parked in the taxi queue, but somehow I managed to choose the only car that wasn't a taxi! When I realized my mistake, I said "Really? Well that's embarrassing," and started to laugh. So, I decided to take the metro instead. The metro was uneventful and it only took 15 minutes to go from the train station to my hostel.

I checked into the hostel, dropped off my luggage in my room (they had lockers in each room, so all of my belongings were secure), and took off to explore Vienna. My hostel was in the Naschmarkt area of the city, which was advertised as a sort of farmers market, so I decided to begin my explorations there.  Much to my disappointment, there weren't any fresh fruits or vegetables; instead, there were used clothes that were on the ground and looked fairly dingy and unclean. And, to make things even more excited, a man peed on the street right next to me. How weird is that?!

Next, I took off in the general direction of the city centre. However, on my way I saw the dome of Karskirche, and decided to wander in that direction. I meandered for 3 hours around Vienna without looking at a map, decided I was hungry, found a restaurant, and then used the restaurant's free wifi to figure out how to get back to my hostel.  I arrived back at the hostel with no problems, and met my roommates. The other three girls who were staying with me were all from different parts of the world. Ali, a 30 year old, was born in Puerto Rico, moved to LA when she was 12, and was in the middle of a six month solo backpacking trip through Europe. The other two girls didn't tell me how old there were, but seemed close to my age. One of the girls was from Korea and the other was from the Philippines. They were nice enough, but the Korean girl woke up every morning between 6:30 and 7:00, and was very loud, and then returned late each night at around midnight and would turn on all the lights; as you can imagine, I found this irritating, but it wasn't a huge deal. Excluding my noisy roommate and the spotty wifi, Wombat's City Hostel was extremely clean, the staff was pleasant, and it was inexpensive, so I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Vienna.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

On the second day, Sunday, I started off my morning by walking to the city centre and attending mass at St. Stephen's Cathedral. The cathedral itself is quite lovely, but going to mass there was incredible. The mass itself lasted two hours because there was a string section, choir, a professional soloists who performed mass parts from Hayden's Mass in a Time of War, which incidentally the choirs at Bluffton sang my sophomore year.  The accoustics in the cathedral were amazing, the voices were sublime, and I had a lovely time. After mass was over, I spent some time looking around the cathedral and taking pictures before returning to the city centre. Much to my disappointment, most of Vienna is closed on Sunday's because they are observing the sabbath, so I spent a few hours wandering around the city centre window shopping. there was a souvenir shop open, and since it was colder and windier than I had expected, I bought a scarf. For lunch I stopped to eat a bratwurst from a street vendor, and it was delicious!

Secession Building

Next, I headed back to my hostel to drop off a few things before walking to the Secession Building, which looks interesting with its gold dome, but was vastly disappointing. This building is a modern art museum. I personally don't enjoy modern art much, so it wasn't really enjoyable to me, especially since one of the exhibits was a bunch of insolation that had been cut out into capital letters and then nailed to a wall. There was also an exhibit that contained pictures of plaster feet. The best part of the Secession building was the Beethoven Frieze, which is a fresco created by Gustav Klimt that narrates Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Karlskirche

My next stop was Karlskirche. This church was incredible! It is so stunning from the outside, but the inside is even more amazing! There is a small museum section that contains religious art and objects, as well a photography of the church, and then there was the church itself.  The dome is beautiful, and the whole place had lovely artwork and exquisite detail. I personally found this church more appealing than St. Stephen's cathedral because of how light and lovely it is, but I enjoyed both considerably.

I took a selfie in front of Schönbrunn Palace 

On Monday, my third day in Vienna, I went to Schönbrunn Palace.  This palace is where the Habsburg's spent their summers.  The palace itself is beautiful, ornate, and quite large, but the gardens were so extensive it was amazing. They include the first zoo, a maze, numerous fountains, and the Gloriette. Schönbrunn Palace was my favorite part of Vienna by far.  

Inside the Belvedere

After visiting Schönbrunn, I went to find the Hunderwasserhaus (a crazy building which appears to have no straight lines in the entire place) before going to the Belvedere. The Belvedere is another palace, although it wasn't inhabited by the royal family- it was built by Prince Eugen who was a general.  Like the Louvre, the Belvedere is now an art museum. I enjoyed looking at the art, but I also spent a substantial amount of time enjoying the palace itself and its extensive gardens. Unfortunately I only had time to go the the Upper Belvedere, but I still enjoyed myself thoroughly.  

Hunderwasserhaus

On Tuesday morning, I woke up early, took the metro to the train station, and went home. I was tired, but happy with my trip. So, I went to a new country, explored a city, saw a lot of beautiful places, and had a great time. It was difficult to settle down into working after vacation, but it was nice to see the students and teachers again. 

I also have started to finalize plans for this summer! In the beginning of July I will go with Szilvia to Poland, visiting Krakow, Auschwitz, an old salt mine, and some other interesting things in that area. At the end of  July, I will return to Rome to meet my Aunt Mary! This time I will be able to see the Sistine Chapel since they won't be electing a pope, so that's really exciting! We also might take a few day trips, so that will be fun. 

Finally, in August my parents and younger sister will meet me in Ireland. I am so thrilled to see my family! 

Those are my upcoming trips, and I will do my best to start blogging more about Hungarian culture and my life here. Ta-ta for now!  

Easter and other tales

The longer I am in Hungary, the more I appreciate certain things, and the more I miss certain aspects of life in the US. I miss my family, and I really miss being able to understand people. I'm still trying to learn Hungarian, and failing miserably.  But, life goes on, and here's what has happened recently.

Over Easter break, I spent most of my time sleeping, cleaning, and reading.  I read the Anne of Green Gables series, which was one of my favorite series growing up. It was nice to reminisce! Then, on Easter Sunday I went to Békéscsaba to spend the day with Szilvia and Lajos. It was quite nice! Szilvie made wonderful food and the company was superb. On my way to Békéscsaba I met a nice lady on the bus. I moved over so she could sit, and after she spoke to me for a while in Hungarian (which I didn't understand), she asked me a question. The question contained the word "magyar" in it (that means Hungarian for my non-Hungarian friends), and I replied by saying "Nem ertem. Amerikai vagyok" (which means I don't understand. I'm an American.). She began to laugh, said something in Hungarian, and then said IN ENGLISH, "Good girl." My day was made! She then helped me to buy my next ticket from Gyula to Békéscsaba, so I really appreciated it.

I am now on another break, from May 1st to May 7th. Tomorrow two of the classes, 13B and 12A, have a graduation ceremony. Then, on May 5th-7th, they will take their written exams. They also take speaking exams at the beginning of June, but in the month in between they no longer have to go to school. There will be optional study sessions for them, but that's it. I do find it interesting that they students have a graduation before they take their exams. When I asked students about it, they just shrugged and said they weren't sure. Oh well, I hope all of my students pass with flying colors! I'm glad that these students are almost done. I know that it is such a relief to reach the end of high school, and they all seem thrilled to be finished with this portion of their academic career.  It will also be nice to have a few free periods, and I'm planning to use them to learn Hungarian and help out with study sessions.

For the rest of my break, I'm planning to go to Vienna! I'm really excited; it looks like a beautiful city. I'll hopefully have many stories to share when I get back.