It’s Saturday afternoon and the temperature is lukewarm (can you describe weather as lukewarm?) and cloudy. Tonight, I’m going to a colleague’s wine cellar. The secondary school is having a going away gathering for the native French teacher, Marjorie, and me.
I have a few hours and so I’m using this block of time to write…
~ LAST WEEKEND ~ (see above my translation: The Cool Weekend)
Eight CETPers and I traveled to the town of Síofok, near the touristy Lake Balaton, where many Hungarians make their summer holiday and also the biggest lake in Central Europe. It was a three-day weekend and also the last chance for many of us to see each other before departing the country. We wanted to have one last hurrah before things change suddenly for all of us.
On Friday afternoon, I was a little discouraged by the umbrella demolishing wind and steady rain, but as soon as most of us met in Budapest to catch our train to Lake Balaton, we were in good spirits…we were drunk off natives…we were the obnoxious Americans on our way south, but this time we didn’t care, because we knew that this weekend was different than most.
After arriving to our destination, we grabbed some pizza and eventually found our hostel. Harpswell had called ahead to make reservations, but when we walked into the “Katica Panzio” just minutes from the lake, there wasn’t a sound, not even a mouse. If Stephen King wrote about a deserted hostel instead of his infamous “Shining” hotel, the Katica Panzio was it. The lobby, breakfast, lounge area was huge, but vacant. And in the long corridor down to our rooms, one could expect two twin girls to appear only to be followed by a rush of blood. We had many names for the hostel: “That 70’s Hostel” was my favorite, because everything from the furniture to the colors was connected to this era.
The rain poured steadily outside and we soon discovered that our proprietress, or the woman who owned the hostel, was to become our “Balaton Mom.” We were the only guests that night and she told us that we could have a party in the lounge. There were drinks in the refrigerator and we could even hook up Harpswell’s laptop to the huge speakers near the bar. The night started out with cards, but our energy level spiked too high to just sit there, so before you could say “Magyarorszag,” we were on our feet dancing maniacally, playing badminton, vaulting barstools, and attempting Shakira dance moves. Gaines and Nicole even had a lesson going at one point.
I don’t remember the last time I danced for that long and that intensely. The huge lobby/lounge/breakfast room complete with a piano catered to our energy levels nicely in that it was HUGE, with high ceilings. I felt like a caged tiger who was let loose into the jungle for the first time. In previous entries, I’ve mentioned how I sometimes feel too large for this country. In this lounge, I could stretch my limbs, run around, and absolutely exhaust myself to sleep.
The next morning, our “Balaton Mom” brought us tea in bed and cooked us French toast for breakfast. Just about every muscle in my body ached as I sat eating breakfast. My calves were so sore that I could hardly walk on them the entire weekend. I was okay with it: it was that good sore and reminded me of the fantastic night we all had.
After breakfast, we suited up and walked two minutes to the lake. Although it was June, it was still far too cold and cloudy to jump right into the water, so we amused ourselves by talking, taking photos, and playing cards. I guess this weekend wasn’t really about being on the lake and going swimming, but more about spending time with each other and that’s just what we did.
I had eyed the beach volleyball court earlier and eventually Jeremy, Jillian and I joined a casual pick-up game with some other Hungarians. Like most Hungarian experiences, it was a good time to practice my language comprehension and bring out the old volleyball player in me. I was very rusty to start, but eventually I was diving around in the sand, the athletic adrenaline spreading. From the court, I could see Janos and Liz kayaking out in the now glittering lake. The others sat near the water playing cards and sunbathing. The sun was out, it was hot, and the moment was perfect. If we had gone home at that moment, I would have been completely satisfied with the weekend…
But there was more to come…
That night, we decided to forgo a sequel hostel party, and explore the nightlife of Síofok. Fueled by gyros at a stand that “didn’t close until September,” we found a fairly empty disco near the lake at the top of several metal stairs. Although no one was there, colored lights splashed against the floor and good music was pulsating off the vaulted ceilings. Gaines decided to organize a group drink called the “Napló.” The napló is the Hungarian school gradebook for each class. In it, you must write down a few words about that day’s lesson. All of us are completely annoyed with it and find it utterly pointless.
We used 45 shot glasses total and consumed about nine bottles of champagne. Needless to say, we got that party started and after finishing our drinks, the dance floor became crowded. Jeremy, Nicole, and I came home as the sky was going from dark blue to light.
On our final day in Balaton, the weather let us down again…but our spirits remained high. We were fed scrambled eggs by Balaton Mom that morning and walked around the lake. Most of us were feeling too sluggish to be that active, so we mostly lounged the day away. That night, we watched my CETP picture show and Jeremy handed out awards to us. His way of getting rid of all the extra crap he didn’t want to bring home (but much appreciated!) I got a Connect Four game, an oversized 10A class T-shirt, a deck of cards, a book, and some pencils. Balaton Mom came through for us again and provided us with palacsinta material (aka thin crêpes, jam, Nutella) as an evening snack.
The next morning, Jeremy left us for good. He flew home to America this past week. So the good-byes are starting…
Some people don’t like good-byes and some need them. I like good-byes, but lately there have been so many. I have 18 classes to say good-bye to, three schools of colleagues to bid farewell to, and a handful of CETPers that I may never see again. It’s certainly a process and luckily I’ve been so incredibly busy that I haven’t had too much time to dwell on it.
When I returned to Szerencs on Monday night, I had to unpack my bags and quickly pack again for Class Trip 1 to Eger and Mátra with 6C on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, I had several of my final lessons. Friday afternoon, I traveled to Tiszaújváros to bake chocolate chip cookies with Liz. Today, I came home to Szerencs and my head is overwhelmed with things to do:
1) Monday is my last day of lessons in Szerencs (distribution of American chocolate chip cookies!)
2) Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday is Class Trip 2 to Szeged with 10H from the secondary school.
3) Friday, I go to Budapest.
4) Saturday morning, I fly to Madrid to visit my friends Alicia and Jon!
Yikes! The end of the year came so fast…
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