UUWorld has just published some great coverage about Transylvania and partner churches:
- Photos, complete with great captions.
- An overview article about Transylvania and UUs
- Celebrating 20 years of the partner church movement
Finally, condolences to the Transylvanian Unitarian community on the passing of the Bishop Emeritus, Arpad Szabo. (more info here)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Reportback Photos and Recording
I finally put together the slideshow and audio from the reportback I gave at church on my trip.
I haven't figured out imovie yet, so you'll have to manually sync the slideshow photos with the audio (don't worry, I've given you an audible "ding" each time you're supposed move to the next photo).
Here's the audio
(you'll have to download it and open it with itunes or something - there must be a better way but I haven't figured it out)
And here's the slideshow:
You can also click here to see the photos in a bigger window.
I haven't figured out imovie yet, so you'll have to manually sync the slideshow photos with the audio (don't worry, I've given you an audible "ding" each time you're supposed move to the next photo).
Here's the audio
(you'll have to download it and open it with itunes or something - there must be a better way but I haven't figured it out)
And here's the slideshow:
You can also click here to see the photos in a bigger window.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Home again - more to come
I've landed safely in San Francisco after a wonderful and hectic couple weeks. I hope to post further reflections and photos on the last two weeks as well as my trip overall - stay tuned!
For those of you who are in the Bay, I'll be sharing photos and reflections at my church, First Unitarian of Oakland, after worship Sunday May 30 (starting around 11:45am).
For those of you who are in the Bay, I'll be sharing photos and reflections at my church, First Unitarian of Oakland, after worship Sunday May 30 (starting around 11:45am).
Monday, April 26, 2010
Travelling by the Numbers
Numbers obviously can't begin to tell the story of my time here, but I had fun compiling this list:
Hours on Trains, Planes, and Automobiles: over 100
Chocolate eaten: 1 lb American, 1/2 kg European (so far)
Beds slept in: 11 (so far)
Pulpits I've tried out: 13+ (Unitarian ones, that is)
Balazs scholars met with: 8 (I think)
Ministers met: approx 30
Women ministers met: 4
Students met: approx 100 (including middle school, high school, and seminary)
Americans met: 4 (2 Peace Corps, 2 Unitarians also visiting)
Out queers met: 0
Interviews given: 2
Hours spent washing clothes in the sink: 12+
Shots of palinka (home-made brandy): approx 25-30
Plastic water bottles used: more than I'd like (20?)
Contacts added to my Romanian cell phone: 16
Gods found: up to one
I leave Transylvania tomorrow for Taize, an ecumenical (inter-Christian)chanting, peace-promoting, youth-focused monastic community. Then I'll have a few days in Barcelona before I come home. I doubt that I'll be blogging, but check back and see!
I'll sign off with this song that I've come to like here (don't read into the title though). It's a poem by the famous Hungarian poet Jozsef Attila called
"Tudod, hogy nincs bocsánat, or "You say there's no forgiveness." Thanks to Gyero Attila, a student here, for sending me the link and to Nagy Endre (Balazs 08-09) for introducing me to the song.
Viszontlatasra - Goodbye for now
I leave Transylvania tomorrow for Taize, an ecumenical (inter-Christian)chanting, peace-promoting, youth-focused monastic community. Then I'll have a few days in Barcelona before I come home. I doubt that I'll be blogging, but check back and see!
I'll sign off with this song that I've come to like here (don't read into the title though). It's a poem by the famous Hungarian poet Jozsef Attila called
"Tudod, hogy nincs bocsánat, or "You say there's no forgiveness." Thanks to Gyero Attila, a student here, for sending me the link and to Nagy Endre (Balazs 08-09) for introducing me to the song.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Where I've been
This map has icons for each of the places I've stayed, as well as markers for many of the places I've visited. Be sure to zoom out to get the full picture, and click on the blue and green icons to see more info about my time there.
View Cathy's travels in Erdely (Transylvania) in a larger map
View Cathy's travels in Erdely (Transylvania) in a larger map
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Finally I have uploaded photos for you!
Homorodszentpeter
Kinga-Reka's kids showing their temporary tatoos
Sepsiszentgyorgy
Traditonal painted Easter eggs in Arcos- a huge collection a man has built in the church there.
On the hillside of Brasso (a bigger city near Szentgyorgy) with Erika and Feri, the minister there, with an encyclopedic knowledge of history.
Musings on Travel, Theological Education, Worship, and Music
I'm "skipping" class to catch up on the blog. (It doesn't actually make much sense to go to class when my Hungarian vocabulary is too limited to understand!)
I’m full of so many things to share that I don’t know where to start. I keep reminding myself that the purpose of this blog is not to catalog everything I do or think or learn here! Perzse (of course), that’s impossible.
Here's a shout out to Starr King from Orban Erika, Balazs scholar 3 years ago. This is in her kitchen in Sepsiszentgyorgy ("St. George").
[Oh, this may have to wait until later - uploading is quite slow]
And one from Nagy Endre, Balazs scholar last year. This is in the foothills near Gyergyoszentmiklos (St. Nicholas), where we ate an incredible meal cooked over this fire. This is a cabin of friends of friends.
[Oh, this, too, may have to wait until later - uploading is quite slow]
And one from me to both sides of the Atlantic:
I know that folks here are reading this blog--I'm so glad that you are and I hope you'll tell me what you think! (In case you don't know, a "shout out" is a way of sending greetings and recognizing a person or group of people.)* And to those of you back home, I know you're out there too, and I'd love to hear what you think as well! Thanks for your emails - keep'em coming.
My experience is that travelling - throughout the states or internationally - changes me. It opens me to new and different perspectives, traditions, ideas, and ways of life that inevitably impact my own. This is one of the reasons I was excited to have the opportunity to come here. I'm still so immersed in this experience that it's difficult to know what impact it will have.
Just as travelling changes me, so too with the Balazs scholars. I've enjoyed learning how their time at Starr King and in the U.S. has impacted them. They have talked about how they are more open after their time in the US, and at the same time more appreciative of their home here. Endre and Eva became much more appreciative of the local and fresh meat, cheese, and produce that is easily accessible here after being inundated by packaging, processed, and even "hip" organic food in the U.S. They now get all of their dairy products from local farmers and not from the grocery store. Zsolt and Boti are some of the first (or only?) ministers here who are willing to perform queer/"same-sex" weddings, after which people assumed they were gay, which they're not (I am the first openly queer/gay* person that many of the students here have met). Each of the scholars has an openness to change and different perspectives from their travels to the U.S. Does openness create the urge to travel and see new things or does the travel create the openness? True to Starr King culture, I'd have to say it's a "both/and."
One of the young ministers I spoke to is not interested in applying for the Balazs scholarship in part because the experience at Starr King and in the U.S. is difficult to apply to ministry here. Indeed!
Seminary here, as in much of Europe, comes directly after high school. Most of the curriculum is prescribed (now they have a few electives, but even that is relatively new). Starr King, on the other hand, has students from 22-82 years old and only one required course. Obviously SKSM is on the fringes of theological education in the U.S., which makes the difference between SKSM and the Theological Institute in Kolozsvar even bigger!
The pedagogy here is mostly quite traditional lecture with minimal participation, though the students and professors have a good raport. There are 3 professors plus the dean for just under 20 students total. The first couple years some of the curriculum is shared with the reform (ie, Calvinist/Protestant) students.
After four (or maybe five?) years of classes, students do 2 years of Assistant Ministry during which they report back to the seminary quarterly. At the end of those 2 years, they do an exam with a committee of professors (and I believe a lay person and minister too?). In some ways, this is quite similar to our 3-4 years of classes, 1 year of internship, and seeing the MFC (Ministerial Fellowship Committee).
The liturgy here is incredibly standard - Sunday morning, funeral, morning chapel, and other gatherings that I've been to have been pretty much the same: One hymn standing, one hymn sitting, prayer from the minister, bible verse, sermon, hymn, and benediction. (I might not have this exactly right - please correct me if I'm wrong!) The minister is the only one who speaks. Hymns are sung with organ or a capella if it's a less formal occasion. In a Q&A after church this Sunday with Endre's congregation, I asked, "Why do you come to church?" I sensed their deep faith as a couple women talked about how worship connects them to their faith and God, that they need to come for this weekly service and it helps them in the rest of their week -- pretty similar to how I would answer this question! However, this liturgy doesn't move me and I find it rather stiff (not to mention that I don't understand the words!).
Many folks have a desire to change the liturgy and music, but tradition is really strong. I have seen only a couple variations: during the ministers' retreat in Budapest, we had a service in a local congregation that was led by 4 ministers and three of them did not climb into the high pulpit to preach, but instead spoke among the people (this was quite unusual). This week I also attended the student-led devotion. When I walked into the classroom with chairs arranged in a circle and candles lit in the middle, I immediately felt a different energy - like I had walked into a YRUU (the UU youth group) worship. It began with rousing singing with guitar accompaniament and continued with brief reflections (spoken, then literally - passing around a box with a mirror inside!), then more singing, prayer, and finally a pile-on group hug. Sound familiar, YRUUers? There is a vast chasm between this type of worship and the traditional services -- it's a generational difference that will take a very long time to shift.
Hymns are sung at every worship, as well as other gatherings - Bible Study (an exegetical presentation by the Dean) opened with a hymn, and in preaching class this morning each student began with a hymn before preaching. Seminarians must learn piano and memorize many hymns. Folks always sing loud and proud! The hymns themselves have a different tonality than "traditional" Protestant U.S. hymns - I don't know how to describe it musically except that it's a different modality than we're used to in Euro-American culture in the U.S. A song will sound almost like a hymn that's familiar, then it will take an unexpected twist (often in a minor direction). All of the hymns are slow, and folks don't tend to harmonize (though the tunes could have some incredible harmony!). Most people (clergy & lay) don't use the hymnal but sing from memory.
Outside of worship, guitars and folk songs abound. I also got to sit in on the award-winning choir at the middle/high school here. A hundred 7-12th graders with a wonderful tone - it was delightful to get to sing 3 and 4-part harmony with them in Latin, Hungarian, and English. Last year or the year before they won the international choir competition in Budapest.
I am so glad for the opportunity to be here and grateful for all the folks here and in the U.S. who made this possible. My hosts have been incredibly hospitable and kind - partly because they want to return the hospitality they received while in Berkeley, and partly because hospitality is the name of the game here! I am learning so much in meeting many, many amazing people and seeing so many different places. Sure, it's sometimes hard, lonely, and frustrating - this is the nature of cross-cultural immersion. It's also beautiful, energizing, and wonderful.
Hopefully I'll be able to upload some photos soon!
*Because I know that there are folks here reading this, I'm doing a bit of "translation" to make it more accessible to those not quite fluent in English. In the U.S., I rarely identify as gay since I much prefer queer, but of course there are many contexts where queer is not a known category.
I’m full of so many things to share that I don’t know where to start. I keep reminding myself that the purpose of this blog is not to catalog everything I do or think or learn here! Perzse (of course), that’s impossible.
Shout Outs
Here's a shout out to Starr King from Orban Erika, Balazs scholar 3 years ago. This is in her kitchen in Sepsiszentgyorgy ("St. George").
[Oh, this may have to wait until later - uploading is quite slow]
And one from Nagy Endre, Balazs scholar last year. This is in the foothills near Gyergyoszentmiklos (St. Nicholas), where we ate an incredible meal cooked over this fire. This is a cabin of friends of friends.
[Oh, this, too, may have to wait until later - uploading is quite slow]
And one from me to both sides of the Atlantic:
I know that folks here are reading this blog--I'm so glad that you are and I hope you'll tell me what you think! (In case you don't know, a "shout out" is a way of sending greetings and recognizing a person or group of people.)* And to those of you back home, I know you're out there too, and I'd love to hear what you think as well! Thanks for your emails - keep'em coming.
Balazs Scholars
My experience is that travelling - throughout the states or internationally - changes me. It opens me to new and different perspectives, traditions, ideas, and ways of life that inevitably impact my own. This is one of the reasons I was excited to have the opportunity to come here. I'm still so immersed in this experience that it's difficult to know what impact it will have.
Just as travelling changes me, so too with the Balazs scholars. I've enjoyed learning how their time at Starr King and in the U.S. has impacted them. They have talked about how they are more open after their time in the US, and at the same time more appreciative of their home here. Endre and Eva became much more appreciative of the local and fresh meat, cheese, and produce that is easily accessible here after being inundated by packaging, processed, and even "hip" organic food in the U.S. They now get all of their dairy products from local farmers and not from the grocery store. Zsolt and Boti are some of the first (or only?) ministers here who are willing to perform queer/"same-sex" weddings, after which people assumed they were gay, which they're not (I am the first openly queer/gay* person that many of the students here have met). Each of the scholars has an openness to change and different perspectives from their travels to the U.S. Does openness create the urge to travel and see new things or does the travel create the openness? True to Starr King culture, I'd have to say it's a "both/and."
One of the young ministers I spoke to is not interested in applying for the Balazs scholarship in part because the experience at Starr King and in the U.S. is difficult to apply to ministry here. Indeed!
Theological Education
Seminary here, as in much of Europe, comes directly after high school. Most of the curriculum is prescribed (now they have a few electives, but even that is relatively new). Starr King, on the other hand, has students from 22-82 years old and only one required course. Obviously SKSM is on the fringes of theological education in the U.S., which makes the difference between SKSM and the Theological Institute in Kolozsvar even bigger!
The pedagogy here is mostly quite traditional lecture with minimal participation, though the students and professors have a good raport. There are 3 professors plus the dean for just under 20 students total. The first couple years some of the curriculum is shared with the reform (ie, Calvinist/Protestant) students.
After four (or maybe five?) years of classes, students do 2 years of Assistant Ministry during which they report back to the seminary quarterly. At the end of those 2 years, they do an exam with a committee of professors (and I believe a lay person and minister too?). In some ways, this is quite similar to our 3-4 years of classes, 1 year of internship, and seeing the MFC (Ministerial Fellowship Committee).
Worship
The liturgy here is incredibly standard - Sunday morning, funeral, morning chapel, and other gatherings that I've been to have been pretty much the same: One hymn standing, one hymn sitting, prayer from the minister, bible verse, sermon, hymn, and benediction. (I might not have this exactly right - please correct me if I'm wrong!) The minister is the only one who speaks. Hymns are sung with organ or a capella if it's a less formal occasion. In a Q&A after church this Sunday with Endre's congregation, I asked, "Why do you come to church?" I sensed their deep faith as a couple women talked about how worship connects them to their faith and God, that they need to come for this weekly service and it helps them in the rest of their week -- pretty similar to how I would answer this question! However, this liturgy doesn't move me and I find it rather stiff (not to mention that I don't understand the words!).
Many folks have a desire to change the liturgy and music, but tradition is really strong. I have seen only a couple variations: during the ministers' retreat in Budapest, we had a service in a local congregation that was led by 4 ministers and three of them did not climb into the high pulpit to preach, but instead spoke among the people (this was quite unusual). This week I also attended the student-led devotion. When I walked into the classroom with chairs arranged in a circle and candles lit in the middle, I immediately felt a different energy - like I had walked into a YRUU (the UU youth group) worship. It began with rousing singing with guitar accompaniament and continued with brief reflections (spoken, then literally - passing around a box with a mirror inside!), then more singing, prayer, and finally a pile-on group hug. Sound familiar, YRUUers? There is a vast chasm between this type of worship and the traditional services -- it's a generational difference that will take a very long time to shift.
Music
Hymns are sung at every worship, as well as other gatherings - Bible Study (an exegetical presentation by the Dean) opened with a hymn, and in preaching class this morning each student began with a hymn before preaching. Seminarians must learn piano and memorize many hymns. Folks always sing loud and proud! The hymns themselves have a different tonality than "traditional" Protestant U.S. hymns - I don't know how to describe it musically except that it's a different modality than we're used to in Euro-American culture in the U.S. A song will sound almost like a hymn that's familiar, then it will take an unexpected twist (often in a minor direction). All of the hymns are slow, and folks don't tend to harmonize (though the tunes could have some incredible harmony!). Most people (clergy & lay) don't use the hymnal but sing from memory.
Outside of worship, guitars and folk songs abound. I also got to sit in on the award-winning choir at the middle/high school here. A hundred 7-12th graders with a wonderful tone - it was delightful to get to sing 3 and 4-part harmony with them in Latin, Hungarian, and English. Last year or the year before they won the international choir competition in Budapest.
Gratitude
I am so glad for the opportunity to be here and grateful for all the folks here and in the U.S. who made this possible. My hosts have been incredibly hospitable and kind - partly because they want to return the hospitality they received while in Berkeley, and partly because hospitality is the name of the game here! I am learning so much in meeting many, many amazing people and seeing so many different places. Sure, it's sometimes hard, lonely, and frustrating - this is the nature of cross-cultural immersion. It's also beautiful, energizing, and wonderful.
Hopefully I'll be able to upload some photos soon!
*Because I know that there are folks here reading this, I'm doing a bit of "translation" to make it more accessible to those not quite fluent in English. In the U.S., I rarely identify as gay since I much prefer queer, but of course there are many contexts where queer is not a known category.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Information Overload! System Reboot
I owe you all some posts, but for now you'll just get a very brief synopsis. Tonight I will sleep long instead of writing, after sleeping in 6 beds in the last 8 nights! Here's the brief scoop:
Sepsi Szent Gyorgy for 3 wonderful days with Erika(Balazs scholar my first year at Starr King) - including side trips to Brasso (Brasov/Kronstadt) and Arcos (a village with a fortress-church and a "castle"), as well as a classical guitar concert in the modern Unitarian (UU-looking) church and a visit to the hospital where Erika's a chaplain (as well as many good meals!).
Gyergyo Szent Miklos for the weekend with Endre (Balazs scholar last year) and Eva - including a trip up into the mountain lake of Gyilkosto, where we climbed the big rock you see here 
(and got hailed on), went to church and had a great Q&A session afterwards about churches here and UUism in the US, and then went up into other foothills for a beautiful afternoon of streams and delicious food and mineral water collected where it bubbles up from the earth. (I would be remiss if I didn't mention the slang that Eva's cousin taught me, and the chocolate-liquor-crepes (polochinta) that we made)
Kolozsvar I took a train at the ungodly hour of 5:30am yesterday to Kolozsvar (Cluj). (Really, I don't think God ever intended us to travel at such hours!) Today and yesterday I've been here at the "headquarters" that houses the Bishops' office and Unitarian schools (K-12 plus a seminary).
Total transit time thus far: 65-70 hours. (Perhaps I'll make another google map)
I'll write you much more about the many things I'm learning and wonderful people I'm getting to know later. Thanks to Zsolt (Balazs scholar 4 years ago), I now have a laptop for the week which will make it easier to catch up on this blog.
Jo eszakat! (Good night)
(and got hailed on), went to church and had a great Q&A session afterwards about churches here and UUism in the US, and then went up into other foothills for a beautiful afternoon of streams and delicious food and mineral water collected where it bubbles up from the earth. (I would be remiss if I didn't mention the slang that Eva's cousin taught me, and the chocolate-liquor-crepes (polochinta) that we made)Total transit time thus far: 65-70 hours. (Perhaps I'll make another google map)
I'll write you much more about the many things I'm learning and wonderful people I'm getting to know later. Thanks to Zsolt (Balazs scholar 4 years ago), I now have a laptop for the week which will make it easier to catch up on this blog.
Jo eszakat! (Good night)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Trying to make sense of history
The relationship between Hungarian, Romanian, and Transylvanian identities, language, ethnicity, and nationality is incredibly complex - and thus confusing to this relatively ignorant North American. Any one telling of history is but a piece of the truth. Indeed, this afternoon I spent nearly an hour with Erika Orban and her brother unraveling and retelling two paragraphs of 16th history from a cookbook with has historical/gastronomical essays.
That said, I found the following excerpts from Robert Kaplan's 1994 book Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History to be quite helpful.
At the end of WWI, the vast lands of Hungary were divided among 7 nations, and Transylvania went to Romania (though its landmass is larger than modern-day Hungary).
That said, I found the following excerpts from Robert Kaplan's 1994 book Balkan Ghosts, A Journey through History to be quite helpful.
Part I: Hungarian rule
"The mass of native peasants - the Orthodox Romanians, that is -- did not enjoy the benefits of [the] Enlightenment. They labored at the bottom of a medieval apartheid system, in which Hthe Hungarians and the Saxon Germans, whether Protestant or Catholic, enjoyed all the rights. (Count Dracula had a Romanian name because he was from Moldavia. in Transylvania, the Hungarian elite never permitted the formation of a Romanian nobility.) Romanians, therefore, are not impressed with Tranylvania's historical role as an eastern beacon of the West and of Central Europe; no more than black South Africans are impressed with the white community's role as a beacon of Western progress and efficiency on the African continent.
The cultural conflict has been further poisoned by Transylvania's particular importance in both Romanian and Hungarian tradition. For Romanians, Tranylvania (Ardeal, "the land beyond the forest") is the birthplace of their Latin race, since the ancient Roman colony of Dacia was situated in present-day Transylvania. For the Hungarians, Transylvania (erdely) was the site of their most famous viotires over the Turks and of the democratic uprisings against Austrian rule that led to the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy in 1867. Janos Hunyadi, who defended Central Euopre against the Ottomans; Matthias Corvinus, the greatest king in Hungarian history who brought the Renaissance to Hungary; Janos Bolyai, one of the independent inventors of non-euclidean geometry; and Bela Bartok, the composer, were all hungarians from Transylvania." (Kaplan, 150)
Part II: Hungary gets divided up
At the end of WWI, the vast lands of Hungary were divided among 7 nations, and Transylvania went to Romania (though its landmass is larger than modern-day Hungary).
Part III: Fast forward to the late 20th century, Kaplan continues:
[communist dictator] Ceausescu forbade all public use of the Hungarian language and of Hungarian names for cities and towns. He sut down Hungarian newspapers. he closed hundreds of Hungarian schools and completely Romanized the Hungarian faculties at the university in Kolozsvar-Cluj, which nineteenth century hungarians had developed into one of the world's finest universities...To alter the demographic balance, Ceausescu prohbitied abortions and the use of birth-control devices among Romanian women, and he forbade Hungarians from giving their children Hungarian names at baptism. finally, he moved hundreds of thousands of Moldavian and Wallachian farm and factory laborers into Transylvania, while forcibly relocating Hungarians from their territory to other parts of Romania. the border between Hungary and Romania was for decades the meanest frontier crossing in Europe, certainly scarier than the Berlin Wall. Travelers would be stopped for hours in the middle of the night, no matter what passport they carried, while suspicious Romanian police searched every suitcase for Magyar (Hungarian language0 publications, among other subversive items...
The 2.1 million Hungarians in Romania consituted non-Soviet Europe's largest ethnic minority and were double the number of West Bank Arabs living under Israeli occupation. But while ethnic Hungarians during the Ceausescu years suffered repression as bad as or worse than that endured by Palestinian Arabs --the 120,000 Jewish settlers on the West Bank were few in comparison to the numbers of Romanians that Ceausescu settled in Transylvania -- the American media establishment's knowledge of Transylvania until the December 1989 revolution was limited to an image of Count Dracula." (Kaplan, 151-2) {and I would argue that it still is! Hence, the name of this blog}
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Okland
Monday evening Keleman Eva (names are written and said "backwards" here) brought me to her home here in Okland, sister church of my church in Oakland. Rev. Levente, Eva, and their 3 kids have had busy schedules and yet welcomed me warmly.
They really appreciated the letters and updates from folks at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland . I haven't been involved in our partner church relations before, and its really neat to see how lively these partnerships are here and in other congregations.
For those of you who donated money to the youth fund, the overambitious Peace Corps volunteer didn't actually get it started in Okland (oh, why do we "Americans" have to be so full of grand ideas that we know best???). Instead, the money will be used to do repair the floor of the community house across the street from the parish house.
This afternoon, I purchased embroideries to bring back to sell at church--I hope you all like the ones I've chosen! I don't much like being the buyer who must choose which ones to get, but I'm glad that we can help with this little bit of economic development here.
Also this afternoon, I attended one of Eva's English classes and learned the favorite sports, animals, and colors of a gaggle of 11 and 12 year olds. Then I attended a funeral of an elderly woman who died on Saturday. It began at her house, then a brass band (with a dreadfully out of tune bass/tuba) led a procession to the church where there was a service much like a Sunday service, except the pulpit and tables were covered in black and the family sat around the casket. We then all processed to the cemetery while singing or listening to the band. Cemeteries here are on hills - whether its to be closer to God or because its unfarmable land depends on your point of view! The beautifully carved casket was lowered into the ground, Levente said a prayer and read a couple Bible verses, then several men shoveled the dirt back into the 8 foot deep hole until it was full again. Another brief word, and we processed back down the hill for a piece of bread and shot of palinka (homemade plum/peach liquor), and it was done. I appreciate getting to experience a funeral here, but it was also strange to be part of a ritual for someone with whom I have no connection.
Last night I met the very pregnant horse here at the parsonage. Today, I met her foal, born without assistance last night. The foal has legs nearly 3 feet tall and is walking, if tentatively, already! He looks out of proportion with his tall muscular legs and skinny little body. I can't quite believe he's not even one day old!
I've had the house to myself this evening (hence the long blog posts!) while Levente and Eva are at a Project Harvest Hope meeting in Kelezstur. Harvest Hope began partly in our church in Oakland, and I'm still learning about it! It is one of several economic and civil development programs in post-communist Szekelyland. You can read more here.
They really appreciated the letters and updates from folks at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland . I haven't been involved in our partner church relations before, and its really neat to see how lively these partnerships are here and in other congregations.
For those of you who donated money to the youth fund, the overambitious Peace Corps volunteer didn't actually get it started in Okland (oh, why do we "Americans" have to be so full of grand ideas that we know best???). Instead, the money will be used to do repair the floor of the community house across the street from the parish house.
This afternoon, I purchased embroideries to bring back to sell at church--I hope you all like the ones I've chosen! I don't much like being the buyer who must choose which ones to get, but I'm glad that we can help with this little bit of economic development here.
Also this afternoon, I attended one of Eva's English classes and learned the favorite sports, animals, and colors of a gaggle of 11 and 12 year olds. Then I attended a funeral of an elderly woman who died on Saturday. It began at her house, then a brass band (with a dreadfully out of tune bass/tuba) led a procession to the church where there was a service much like a Sunday service, except the pulpit and tables were covered in black and the family sat around the casket. We then all processed to the cemetery while singing or listening to the band. Cemeteries here are on hills - whether its to be closer to God or because its unfarmable land depends on your point of view! The beautifully carved casket was lowered into the ground, Levente said a prayer and read a couple Bible verses, then several men shoveled the dirt back into the 8 foot deep hole until it was full again. Another brief word, and we processed back down the hill for a piece of bread and shot of palinka (homemade plum/peach liquor), and it was done. I appreciate getting to experience a funeral here, but it was also strange to be part of a ritual for someone with whom I have no connection.
Foal!
Last night I met the very pregnant horse here at the parsonage. Today, I met her foal, born without assistance last night. The foal has legs nearly 3 feet tall and is walking, if tentatively, already! He looks out of proportion with his tall muscular legs and skinny little body. I can't quite believe he's not even one day old!
Project Harvest Hope/Pro Homorod
I've had the house to myself this evening (hence the long blog posts!) while Levente and Eva are at a Project Harvest Hope meeting in Kelezstur. Harvest Hope began partly in our church in Oakland, and I'm still learning about it! It is one of several economic and civil development programs in post-communist Szekelyland. You can read more here.
Monday, April 12, 2010
To Budapest: Ministers Retreat, Call
I had the privilege of spending 4 days with 25 ministers (mostly from Transylvania, but a few from Hungary as well). Two of those days were spent entirely on the coach travelling to Budapest and then back. Thankfully, we had plenty of space, and one table where many a game was played (some of which I understood and played, some I only appreciated the laughter coming from them).
As a minister-in-training, I'm still pleasantly surprised each time I'm with a group of ministers that they're just regular people who laugh, tell stupid jokes, share stories, stare into space, sing songs, tease each other, and talk theology or church politics too. It's an obvious fact that miniters aren't exculsively serious and churchy, yet one I appreciate being reminded of! (You may notice that my English is subpar these days - it's because I'm immersed in Hungarian and Hungarian-influenced English is all that I hear these days!)
Pretty much all of the ministers speak some English (even if many of them held out until the last day to speak any), which means I got to have lots of conversations with ministers from small towns and big cities, young and old, etc. The Unitarian church here faces many big questions about the future, some of which they talked about during this retreat.
The ethnic/religious politics here are supercomplicated, especially to an ignorant North American who came of age during the Cold War). (As a side note, today I've enjoyed reading feminist Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic's "How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed," a 1992 volume that gives me a bit more context on daily life pre-1989.) My crude summary for you at this point is this: Transylvania was majority Hungarian (ethnically, linguistically, and politically) until WWI, when it became part of the nation-state of Romania. According to Wikipedia (yes, I know...),
Under Communism, Ceacescu continued importing thousands upon thousands of ethnic/linguistic Romanians into Transylvania, as well as moving huge numbers of rural folks into massive apartment buildings (one of the Unitarian churches we visited in Budapest is in the middle of one of these massive apartment neighborhoods called "Havana" after Cuba -- indeed, it looked much like many neighborhoods I saw in my 2003 trip to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade - that was the unabashedly pro-commie trip, this is the wholeheartedly anti-commie trip; I'll withhold judgment until later).
Thus, the Transylvanian Unitarians (nearly all Hungarian) feel totally screwed over. This has been their land for a millenium, yet for decades they were forbidden to speak their language and practice their ethnic and religious traditions. During this time, several generations from the villages of Szekelyland (Eastern Transylvania, the Hungarian subgroup called the Szekely, pronounced "Sekay") left to the cities (afterall, much agrarian land was nationalized and thus not usable, as I'm told). Now, 20 years after the '89 revolution, the villages are missing these generations. Okland, where I am now, had 1500 people 30 or 40 years ago, now it has barely 500.
Many villages are shrinking, yet the church has a commitment currently to maintain a (fulltime) minister in each village. Obviously, a shrinking village cannot financially support a fulltime minister. The Romanian government provides nearly half the budget for many churches, thanks to the often-unforunate influence of the Greek Orthodox church here (this seems strange from a U.S. perspective, but is actually quite common in Europe - ask me later about the class I took in Rome). Of course, this money comes with strings attached.
So what is the Unitarian church here to do? Do nothing: die out. Do something: maybe survive. This is what a few ministers have told me. What is that something? What is the vision? This is the conversation happening everywhere, and was much of the conversation during the retreat. I skipped the focused conversation on this, however, because without translation it would have been quite meaningless!
I did, however, participate in the first part of the conversation on Call and Vocation. What is call, vocation, professionalism? What is your story? How does this unfold over time? This was the topic of conversation the first day. I only caught pieces of the conversation from bits of translation thanks to Endre and questions to others later. These pieces remind me how similar we are across geography and ecclesiology -- calling is at times cloudy or clear, intense or ambiguous, full of love and frustration. There are more questions than answers, and there is slim comfort in sharing the questions without answers. I found comfort in knowing that the ministers here, old and young, are wrestling with these questions just as I am.
In the silence of nem-bezselek-magyar ("I don't speak Hungarian"), however, I am realizing the culmination of my seminary education that this trip is. One of the stories in the book about Pilgrimages that I read last week was called "Spiritual Discomfort." Indeed! I am not comfortable not understanding so much around me, yet I am getting so much better at simply being present to what I can see, hear, appreciate and what I can't. Most of the time, I am patient to be with the questions, and with my lack of understanding of most of what's said around me. It forces me to go inward to my own resources, thoughts, feelings, and ruminations more than I ever do in the hustle-bustle of my U.S. life. Kinga-Reka has asked me repeatedly if I'm bored -- how can I explain what a luxury it is for me to be bored? Those of you who know me have never seen me bored. Yet here, I can say that I have been bored for a few hours a couple of times -- and yes, this is in some ways a luxury I never allow myself in the U.S. Even with my regular, even hard-core at times, Sabbath practice, one day is never enough to actually be bored. Several days of limited access to those who speak my language, or internet, or to-do lists has actually led to some boredom. Hallelujah! Not that boredom is all great--it can be somewhat lonely and exhausting too. I am that much more appreciative of short or long conversations about ministry, English, village life, history, children, seminary, etc.
The folks here are smart: they plan the talky program for only half the day, leaving much of the day for informal conversation while doing other things. The first day, we all went to St. Luke's spa, which was quite similar to Szechenyi Spa that I went to when I first arrived. It was fabulous, and fun to be there with 20 ministers.
The second day, I skipped the official program (since I was quite bored and frustrated by not understanding the first day), and went to the biggest synagogue in Europe, and the second-largest in the world, the Duhany St. Synagogue. I mistakenly walked into another synagogue (Rumbach Street) first and was quite depressed that it was empty and under serious construction - only later did I realize I was in the wrong place, and in fact that was a more orthodox synagogue that split off from the main one for such practices as allowing organ music during services.
The first thing I noticed was the Minaret-like spires of the Synagogue that you see here. Inside, the floors are "Turkish," there's an organ and pulpits mid-way in the hall like you find in some Catholic churches. The design is surprisingly multi-religious, as pointed out by our Broolyn-accented-Hungarian-New Yorker tour guide, though he didn't give an explanation. This is where early Jewish Zionist Theodore Herzl was born (across the street) and had is Bar Mitzvah. Behind the synagogue is a haunting yet beautiful memorial to the approx 600,000 Jewish(and other?) Hungarians killed by the Nazis. Each leaf of this tree has a name on it, or "anonymous number XX." The structure is an upside-down menorah - the flames have been snuffed out because it is upside down. You can see photos here.
I would, of course, be remiss not to also mention the huge Unitarian building just blocks from the Hungarian parliament! Interestingly, the sanctuary is nestled on the third floor, where it is sheltered from the city noise. Constructed in the same era as the Great Synagogue and the Parliament, all three have stained glass windows by the same famous Jewish artisan. You can see photos and read more history here. Minister Jozsef Kazsoni gave us a warm welcome and shared much history and conversation with me during meals and our walk to the historic Castle area of Buda on Friday. Like many Unitarian ministers here, he knows more about U.S. UU ministers and churches than I do! The three Unitarian churches in cosmopolitan Budapest are quite different in flavor from the village churches - more fluid membership, more young folks, etc.
Friday evening, Kinga-Reka, Orban Erika, Elud, Arpad, and others led an innovative worship service at one of the other Unitarian congregations. While it might not be anything special from a U.S. perspective, it was highly unusual to have several ministers presiding, and most of them did not speak from the elevated pulpit. After the service, Kinga led a discussion. Since the congregation has been without a minister for a year and no one has yet applied this year, the discussion drifted from the topic of the service and into the congregants' frustration about their situation (including fear that they may disappear if they cannot get a minister - lay-led worship or congregations are quite unheard of here).
Are you tired of reading yet? I'm almost done! Saturday we took another long, long busride home (doubling my travel time for a total of 60 hours thus far). After learning and playing a travel game version of Settlers of Catan (I recommend it!), I had hoped to have many more conversations with ministers, but it was a rainy, dreary day and the cold I was fighting caught me. I slept most of the way home, and literally all day Sunday. Monday I felt relatively healthy again, and spent a final day with Kinga-Reka and the kids.
Next up: Okland, gender, and more theology!
As a minister-in-training, I'm still pleasantly surprised each time I'm with a group of ministers that they're just regular people who laugh, tell stupid jokes, share stories, stare into space, sing songs, tease each other, and talk theology or church politics too. It's an obvious fact that miniters aren't exculsively serious and churchy, yet one I appreciate being reminded of! (You may notice that my English is subpar these days - it's because I'm immersed in Hungarian and Hungarian-influenced English is all that I hear these days!)
Pretty much all of the ministers speak some English (even if many of them held out until the last day to speak any), which means I got to have lots of conversations with ministers from small towns and big cities, young and old, etc. The Unitarian church here faces many big questions about the future, some of which they talked about during this retreat.
Historical Tangent
The ethnic/religious politics here are supercomplicated, especially to an ignorant North American who came of age during the Cold War). (As a side note, today I've enjoyed reading feminist Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic's "How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed," a 1992 volume that gives me a bit more context on daily life pre-1989.) My crude summary for you at this point is this: Transylvania was majority Hungarian (ethnically, linguistically, and politically) until WWI, when it became part of the nation-state of Romania. According to Wikipedia (yes, I know...),
The new regime's objective became to effectively Romanianize Transylvania in a social-political fashion, after centuries of Hungarian rule.[66] The regime's goal was to create a Romanian middle and upper class that would assume power in all fields. The Hungarian language was expunged from official life that it solely occupied before, and all place-names were Romanianized.[67] About 197,000 Transylvanian Hungarians fled to Hungary between 1918 and 1922,[68] and a further group of 169,000 emigrated over the remainder of the interwar period.[67] In 1930, Romanians formed the majority of the Transylvanian population (58.2%, up from 53.8% in 1910), while Magyars (26.7%, down from 31.6% in 1910), Germans (9.8%) and Jews (3.2%) were minority groups.[69]
Under Communism, Ceacescu continued importing thousands upon thousands of ethnic/linguistic Romanians into Transylvania, as well as moving huge numbers of rural folks into massive apartment buildings (one of the Unitarian churches we visited in Budapest is in the middle of one of these massive apartment neighborhoods called "Havana" after Cuba -- indeed, it looked much like many neighborhoods I saw in my 2003 trip to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade - that was the unabashedly pro-commie trip, this is the wholeheartedly anti-commie trip; I'll withhold judgment until later).
Thus, the Transylvanian Unitarians (nearly all Hungarian) feel totally screwed over. This has been their land for a millenium, yet for decades they were forbidden to speak their language and practice their ethnic and religious traditions. During this time, several generations from the villages of Szekelyland (Eastern Transylvania, the Hungarian subgroup called the Szekely, pronounced "Sekay") left to the cities (afterall, much agrarian land was nationalized and thus not usable, as I'm told). Now, 20 years after the '89 revolution, the villages are missing these generations. Okland, where I am now, had 1500 people 30 or 40 years ago, now it has barely 500.
Back to the Retreat
Many villages are shrinking, yet the church has a commitment currently to maintain a (fulltime) minister in each village. Obviously, a shrinking village cannot financially support a fulltime minister. The Romanian government provides nearly half the budget for many churches, thanks to the often-unforunate influence of the Greek Orthodox church here (this seems strange from a U.S. perspective, but is actually quite common in Europe - ask me later about the class I took in Rome). Of course, this money comes with strings attached.
So what is the Unitarian church here to do? Do nothing: die out. Do something: maybe survive. This is what a few ministers have told me. What is that something? What is the vision? This is the conversation happening everywhere, and was much of the conversation during the retreat. I skipped the focused conversation on this, however, because without translation it would have been quite meaningless!
Call and Vocation
I did, however, participate in the first part of the conversation on Call and Vocation. What is call, vocation, professionalism? What is your story? How does this unfold over time? This was the topic of conversation the first day. I only caught pieces of the conversation from bits of translation thanks to Endre and questions to others later. These pieces remind me how similar we are across geography and ecclesiology -- calling is at times cloudy or clear, intense or ambiguous, full of love and frustration. There are more questions than answers, and there is slim comfort in sharing the questions without answers. I found comfort in knowing that the ministers here, old and young, are wrestling with these questions just as I am.
In the silence of nem-bezselek-magyar ("I don't speak Hungarian"), however, I am realizing the culmination of my seminary education that this trip is. One of the stories in the book about Pilgrimages that I read last week was called "Spiritual Discomfort." Indeed! I am not comfortable not understanding so much around me, yet I am getting so much better at simply being present to what I can see, hear, appreciate and what I can't. Most of the time, I am patient to be with the questions, and with my lack of understanding of most of what's said around me. It forces me to go inward to my own resources, thoughts, feelings, and ruminations more than I ever do in the hustle-bustle of my U.S. life. Kinga-Reka has asked me repeatedly if I'm bored -- how can I explain what a luxury it is for me to be bored? Those of you who know me have never seen me bored. Yet here, I can say that I have been bored for a few hours a couple of times -- and yes, this is in some ways a luxury I never allow myself in the U.S. Even with my regular, even hard-core at times, Sabbath practice, one day is never enough to actually be bored. Several days of limited access to those who speak my language, or internet, or to-do lists has actually led to some boredom. Hallelujah! Not that boredom is all great--it can be somewhat lonely and exhausting too. I am that much more appreciative of short or long conversations about ministry, English, village life, history, children, seminary, etc.
Seeing Budapest
The folks here are smart: they plan the talky program for only half the day, leaving much of the day for informal conversation while doing other things. The first day, we all went to St. Luke's spa, which was quite similar to Szechenyi Spa that I went to when I first arrived. It was fabulous, and fun to be there with 20 ministers.
The second day, I skipped the official program (since I was quite bored and frustrated by not understanding the first day), and went to the biggest synagogue in Europe, and the second-largest in the world, the Duhany St. Synagogue. I mistakenly walked into another synagogue (Rumbach Street) first and was quite depressed that it was empty and under serious construction - only later did I realize I was in the wrong place, and in fact that was a more orthodox synagogue that split off from the main one for such practices as allowing organ music during services.
The first thing I noticed was the Minaret-like spires of the Synagogue that you see here. Inside, the floors are "Turkish," there's an organ and pulpits mid-way in the hall like you find in some Catholic churches. The design is surprisingly multi-religious, as pointed out by our Broolyn-accented-Hungarian-New Yorker tour guide, though he didn't give an explanation. This is where early Jewish Zionist Theodore Herzl was born (across the street) and had is Bar Mitzvah. Behind the synagogue is a haunting yet beautiful memorial to the approx 600,000 Jewish(and other?) Hungarians killed by the Nazis. Each leaf of this tree has a name on it, or "anonymous number XX." The structure is an upside-down menorah - the flames have been snuffed out because it is upside down. You can see photos here.
I would, of course, be remiss not to also mention the huge Unitarian building just blocks from the Hungarian parliament! Interestingly, the sanctuary is nestled on the third floor, where it is sheltered from the city noise. Constructed in the same era as the Great Synagogue and the Parliament, all three have stained glass windows by the same famous Jewish artisan. You can see photos and read more history here. Minister Jozsef Kazsoni gave us a warm welcome and shared much history and conversation with me during meals and our walk to the historic Castle area of Buda on Friday. Like many Unitarian ministers here, he knows more about U.S. UU ministers and churches than I do! The three Unitarian churches in cosmopolitan Budapest are quite different in flavor from the village churches - more fluid membership, more young folks, etc.
Friday evening, Kinga-Reka, Orban Erika, Elud, Arpad, and others led an innovative worship service at one of the other Unitarian congregations. While it might not be anything special from a U.S. perspective, it was highly unusual to have several ministers presiding, and most of them did not speak from the elevated pulpit. After the service, Kinga led a discussion. Since the congregation has been without a minister for a year and no one has yet applied this year, the discussion drifted from the topic of the service and into the congregants' frustration about their situation (including fear that they may disappear if they cannot get a minister - lay-led worship or congregations are quite unheard of here).
Back "home
Are you tired of reading yet? I'm almost done! Saturday we took another long, long busride home (doubling my travel time for a total of 60 hours thus far). After learning and playing a travel game version of Settlers of Catan (I recommend it!), I had hoped to have many more conversations with ministers, but it was a rainy, dreary day and the cold I was fighting caught me. I slept most of the way home, and literally all day Sunday. Monday I felt relatively healthy again, and spent a final day with Kinga-Reka and the kids.
Next up: Okland, gender, and more theology!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Back to Budapest - and some Background
I'll write another post now since I may not be online again for several days. Tomorrow I'm off to Budapest with 25 of the 130(ish) Transylvanian Unitarian ministers to retreat with several of the 10 Unitarian ministers in Hungary. During communism, the Hungarian churches had to split off into a separate organization, despite the fact that the Unitarians in Hungary proper are almost all ex-pat Transylvanians. This retreat is part of a long (and controversial) merger conversation. I'm grateful to get to go be with these ministers for a few days (including another 20 hours in a van!) - I look forward to seeing Erika and Endre (Balazs scholars who I know), learning more about the minister's association (of which Kinga-Reka is the new president), as well as being with a group in which many folks speak English.
I realize that many of you don't know the basics of how and why I'm here. Here's my attempt to remedy that a bit. Please ask more specific questions too.
The Balazs Scholars Program at Starr King has been bringing a Transylvanian Unitarian minister to study at Starr King almost every year since 1994 (you can read more about the program and Ferenc Balazs, for whom the program is named, here.
My month here, also sponsored by the Balazs committee (donations gratefully accepted!) is an attempt to have some kind of reciprocal program, in addition to the many partner church relationships that also exist (see the UU Partner Church Council for more info). My hosts are all former Balazs Scholars - which means they not only speak good English, but they know my context and Berkeley. Kinga-Reka here in Szentpeter was in Berkeley 10 years ago. Soon I'll see Endre, who was in Berkeley just last year. They are all ministers here- serving in villages, in the city, as teachers, chaplains, etc.
It is incredible to be so far away from home, and yet connected in the same large community. One of Szentpeter's partner churches is Unity in St. Paul, where the Revs. Janne and Rob Eller-Isaacs serve (and served at my church in Oakland before I got there). So I find myself reading a book about pilgrimages that Janne read and gave to Kinga on her last visit here, and swapping updates about various Starr King graduates, ministers, professors, and churches. Kinga knows more than I do about some churches or UUA happenings!
For those of you reading this who aren't UU (or don't know much UU history), here's a very brief primer on why Transylvania. During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century (Luther nailing his 99 theses, Calvin, etc), many folks went further than the "mainstream" reformation, and were persecuted and often killed. These include Miguel Servetus, Biandrata, and others (unfortunately, I haven't actually studied the reformation & radical reformation yet, so you'll have to go research more on your own!). Transylvania, being a crossroads of empires, became a sort of quasi-haven for some of these heretics, in particular the Unitarians. Unitarians believe(d) in the oneness of God (and that Jesus is not any more divine than the rest of us), versus the mainstream Trinitarians who believe(d) that Jesus is the divine son of God, and one of the trinity of Father(God), son, and holy spirit. Yes, this difference was enough to get killed for. It is still enough for Unitarians and UUs to be excluded from many ecumenical/intra-Christian organizations. Unitarians have been here in Erdely for hundreds of years, and since the fall of Ceacescu in 1989, UUs in the US have built relationships.
That is a VERY crass history - skipping over the Edict of Torda, Unitarian King John Sigismond, Francis David, and many other nuances of theology and history.
Please go read more! You'll find links over on the right that will give you a better primer, or Susan Ritchie's longer and fascinating lecture series on Unitarians intersecting with Muslims and Jews.
Please also comment with corrections where I've written incorrectly!
Basic Balazs Background
I realize that many of you don't know the basics of how and why I'm here. Here's my attempt to remedy that a bit. Please ask more specific questions too.
The Balazs Scholars Program at Starr King has been bringing a Transylvanian Unitarian minister to study at Starr King almost every year since 1994 (you can read more about the program and Ferenc Balazs, for whom the program is named, here.
My month here, also sponsored by the Balazs committee (donations gratefully accepted!) is an attempt to have some kind of reciprocal program, in addition to the many partner church relationships that also exist (see the UU Partner Church Council for more info). My hosts are all former Balazs Scholars - which means they not only speak good English, but they know my context and Berkeley. Kinga-Reka here in Szentpeter was in Berkeley 10 years ago. Soon I'll see Endre, who was in Berkeley just last year. They are all ministers here- serving in villages, in the city, as teachers, chaplains, etc.
It is incredible to be so far away from home, and yet connected in the same large community. One of Szentpeter's partner churches is Unity in St. Paul, where the Revs. Janne and Rob Eller-Isaacs serve (and served at my church in Oakland before I got there). So I find myself reading a book about pilgrimages that Janne read and gave to Kinga on her last visit here, and swapping updates about various Starr King graduates, ministers, professors, and churches. Kinga knows more than I do about some churches or UUA happenings!
Unitarianism 101
For those of you reading this who aren't UU (or don't know much UU history), here's a very brief primer on why Transylvania. During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century (Luther nailing his 99 theses, Calvin, etc), many folks went further than the "mainstream" reformation, and were persecuted and often killed. These include Miguel Servetus, Biandrata, and others (unfortunately, I haven't actually studied the reformation & radical reformation yet, so you'll have to go research more on your own!). Transylvania, being a crossroads of empires, became a sort of quasi-haven for some of these heretics, in particular the Unitarians. Unitarians believe(d) in the oneness of God (and that Jesus is not any more divine than the rest of us), versus the mainstream Trinitarians who believe(d) that Jesus is the divine son of God, and one of the trinity of Father(God), son, and holy spirit. Yes, this difference was enough to get killed for. It is still enough for Unitarians and UUs to be excluded from many ecumenical/intra-Christian organizations. Unitarians have been here in Erdely for hundreds of years, and since the fall of Ceacescu in 1989, UUs in the US have built relationships.
That is a VERY crass history - skipping over the Edict of Torda, Unitarian King John Sigismond, Francis David, and many other nuances of theology and history.
Please go read more! You'll find links over on the right that will give you a better primer, or Susan Ritchie's longer and fascinating lecture series on Unitarians intersecting with Muslims and Jews.
Please also comment with corrections where I've written incorrectly!
Itt vadyok! Here I am!
My vocabulary has expanded to a handful of complete sentences, and lots of little words that I incorrectly string together to try to communicate. For instance, if I want to say "let's go quickly," I'll say "Medjunk nem lassan" translates roughly as "We go not slow."
That is, Happy Easter! (My spelling is probably off, and I'm missing some accent marks.) I finally mastered "Happy Easter" just in time for the second day of Easter (ie, Monday), when it's more appropriate to say Happy Holiday. The second day of Easter is a big holiday at least for Hungarians and Romanians (most of whom celebrate the orthodox Easter, which happens to coincide with Western Easter this year). The tradition for Easter Monday, besides a holiday from work and school, is that the men and boys visit the women and girls to "water" them. They come and recite a poem about flowers and women and cutesy funny things (that they often make up), then spray them with perfume. In return, the girls give the boys a colored egg (and the women give the men a drink-preferably palinka or wine). Unfortunately, I qualify as a woman in this case, but fortunately I didn't get a headache from all the perfume. Some of the boys were super cute, and many of the eggs were gorgeous (that is, before 4-year old Zsolti got his hands most of them).
Today is the third day of Easter--still a holiday here in the villages (and yet ANOTHER church service--which I did not attend but instead babysat the kids). Tomorrow I think life returns to relative normality.
In a house with 4 young kids, I often hear cries of "Anya!" ("Mom!"), which is usually answered with this phrase. My answer to you, though, is this map showing this tiny valley where I am.
View Homorod Valley in a larger map
Click on the blue markers to see Szentpeter (Petreni in Romanian) and Okland. You can see how rural this place is, and mostly agricultural. Today I climbed up the hill (mostly fields not yet planted) directly to the west of town; from the top I could see Szentpeter, Szentpal and 4 other small villages nearby. On the road outside the house today, I saw bicycles, horse-drawn carts, minivans, old sedans, semis, small trucks, and of course people. Most folks here work locally - raising cows & chickens, herding sheep, butchering, growing crops (mostly corn I think, but I could be wrong), or working in the school or small heater factory. Kinga-reka obviously works as minister, and her husband is a software engineer (working partly from home, and partly from Udvarhely nearby - Odorheiu Secuiesc in Romanian).
You'll note that the google map has only Romanian names, yet folks I'm with use exclusively the Hungarian names - this can get confusing (but luckily I have a bilingual map). Yesterday we saw a map of this area from the late 1700s, and it looked much the same as it does now (I think then it was under Austro-Hungarian rule, but my history is pretty bad).
Kelemes husvetot!
That is, Happy Easter! (My spelling is probably off, and I'm missing some accent marks.) I finally mastered "Happy Easter" just in time for the second day of Easter (ie, Monday), when it's more appropriate to say Happy Holiday. The second day of Easter is a big holiday at least for Hungarians and Romanians (most of whom celebrate the orthodox Easter, which happens to coincide with Western Easter this year). The tradition for Easter Monday, besides a holiday from work and school, is that the men and boys visit the women and girls to "water" them. They come and recite a poem about flowers and women and cutesy funny things (that they often make up), then spray them with perfume. In return, the girls give the boys a colored egg (and the women give the men a drink-preferably palinka or wine). Unfortunately, I qualify as a woman in this case, but fortunately I didn't get a headache from all the perfume. Some of the boys were super cute, and many of the eggs were gorgeous (that is, before 4-year old Zsolti got his hands most of them).
Today is the third day of Easter--still a holiday here in the villages (and yet ANOTHER church service--which I did not attend but instead babysat the kids). Tomorrow I think life returns to relative normality.
Itt vadyok - Here I am.
In a house with 4 young kids, I often hear cries of "Anya!" ("Mom!"), which is usually answered with this phrase. My answer to you, though, is this map showing this tiny valley where I am.
View Homorod Valley in a larger map
Click on the blue markers to see Szentpeter (Petreni in Romanian) and Okland. You can see how rural this place is, and mostly agricultural. Today I climbed up the hill (mostly fields not yet planted) directly to the west of town; from the top I could see Szentpeter, Szentpal and 4 other small villages nearby. On the road outside the house today, I saw bicycles, horse-drawn carts, minivans, old sedans, semis, small trucks, and of course people. Most folks here work locally - raising cows & chickens, herding sheep, butchering, growing crops (mostly corn I think, but I could be wrong), or working in the school or small heater factory. Kinga-reka obviously works as minister, and her husband is a software engineer (working partly from home, and partly from Udvarhely nearby - Odorheiu Secuiesc in Romanian).
You'll note that the google map has only Romanian names, yet folks I'm with use exclusively the Hungarian names - this can get confusing (but luckily I have a bilingual map). Yesterday we saw a map of this area from the late 1700s, and it looked much the same as it does now (I think then it was under Austro-Hungarian rule, but my history is pretty bad).
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Szentpeter
After a night at the dorm in Kolozsvar (Cluj-Napoca in Romanian), I took yet another train to Segezsvar (Sighisoara)and a car ride to this tiny village of Szentpeter, bringing me to a total of 30 hours in transit since I left home Sunday. I received quite a warm welcome in Kolozsvar, including a crash course in Hungarian/Romanian politics (there's a significant Hungarian minority in Transylvania, but they exist as 2 separate worlds and there's all sorts of complicated history, politics, & religion for another post later).
For the past couple days I've been enjoying relaxation in the large parsonage here in Szentpeter with Rev. Kinga-reka and her family (including 4 kids under 9). It's a wonderful way to arrive here. She speaks great English, and the kids are helping me learn at least my numbers and colors and words like "jump." The town has 200 people in it, almost all Unitarian but there were less than 20 at Maundy Thursday services (with a Calvinist guest preacher).
So far, I like Unitarian Easter better than UU Easter because it's more explicit about it being a Christian holiday (UUs often celebrate Easter but without any Jesus, which doesn't make any sense to me). Here, as Kinga-reka explains, Easter is about rebirth and Jesus' life. Unitarians here aren't big on the resurrection and there is no cross in the church. Communion is served 4 times a year: Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, and Thanksgiving in September. It is an honoring of Jesus' life and teachings and a symbol of community (ie, all who share this cup are linked together in community with all those who drink now and did before now). The wine is not Jesus' blood and the bread is not his body.
Obviously there is more to say, but this keyboard is beginning to hurt my wrists, so I'll come back for more later.
For the past couple days I've been enjoying relaxation in the large parsonage here in Szentpeter with Rev. Kinga-reka and her family (including 4 kids under 9). It's a wonderful way to arrive here. She speaks great English, and the kids are helping me learn at least my numbers and colors and words like "jump." The town has 200 people in it, almost all Unitarian but there were less than 20 at Maundy Thursday services (with a Calvinist guest preacher).
So far, I like Unitarian Easter better than UU Easter because it's more explicit about it being a Christian holiday (UUs often celebrate Easter but without any Jesus, which doesn't make any sense to me). Here, as Kinga-reka explains, Easter is about rebirth and Jesus' life. Unitarians here aren't big on the resurrection and there is no cross in the church. Communion is served 4 times a year: Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, and Thanksgiving in September. It is an honoring of Jesus' life and teachings and a symbol of community (ie, all who share this cup are linked together in community with all those who drink now and did before now). The wine is not Jesus' blood and the bread is not his body.
Obviously there is more to say, but this keyboard is beginning to hurt my wrists, so I'll come back for more later.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
From Budapest to Kolozvar
I arrived safe and sound to gorgeous spring weather in Budapest (Hungary) yesterday. Budapest is a quiet city thats easy to navigate, despite not knowing the language. I havent strayed far in the little time Ive had here, but the tourists seem to be mostly various Europeans with a handful of East Asians (many of them living in Europe too).
This is the first time Ive travelled somewhere where I spoke none of the language (I dont speak Italian, but when I was there my Spanish got me a long way). I find it embarrassing and stifling. There are certainly lots of folks who speak English (Ive only had one waiter not speak good English so far). Yet when I wanted to find a notebook to buy in the mall, I felt totally lost and stupid simply wandering through the gigantic mall (complete with H&M), too shy to stop and ask random people. After not following through on several opportunities to acquire Hungarian learning books and cds before I left, I did manage to find a good book today (Im on lesson 2 already), and I hope to have some basics by the time I get off the train tomorrow.
After sleeping in (fighting both jet lag and pre-trip exhaustion), I headed to Szechenyi
spa-one of many, many spas that take advantage of the natural hot springs under much of Budapest and Hungary). Its huge! There are 3 big outdoor pools including a lap pool where I got some aerobic exercise and one with a tiny but super fast version of a lazy river (like they have at water parks in the US-see photo here). Inside, there are another dozen smaller and hotter pools as well as dry and wet saunas, all in an old magestic 19th century (or earlier maybe) palace. I loved the many, many types of people and bodies at Syechenyi-- Hungarian and tourist, kids, big people, disabled folks, elderly (some playing chess in the water). It was a WON
DERFUL way to spend my day (and had I brought food and a book, I would have stayed even longer).
Language
This is the first time Ive travelled somewhere where I spoke none of the language (I dont speak Italian, but when I was there my Spanish got me a long way). I find it embarrassing and stifling. There are certainly lots of folks who speak English (Ive only had one waiter not speak good English so far). Yet when I wanted to find a notebook to buy in the mall, I felt totally lost and stupid simply wandering through the gigantic mall (complete with H&M), too shy to stop and ask random people. After not following through on several opportunities to acquire Hungarian learning books and cds before I left, I did manage to find a good book today (Im on lesson 2 already), and I hope to have some basics by the time I get off the train tomorrow.
Relaxation at Szechenyi Spa
After sleeping in (fighting both jet lag and pre-trip exhaustion), I headed to Szechenyi
spa-one of many, many spas that take advantage of the natural hot springs under much of Budapest and Hungary). Its huge! There are 3 big outdoor pools including a lap pool where I got some aerobic exercise and one with a tiny but super fast version of a lazy river (like they have at water parks in the US-see photo here). Inside, there are another dozen smaller and hotter pools as well as dry and wet saunas, all in an old magestic 19th century (or earlier maybe) palace. I loved the many, many types of people and bodies at Syechenyi-- Hungarian and tourist, kids, big people, disabled folks, elderly (some playing chess in the water). It was a WONDERFUL way to spend my day (and had I brought food and a book, I would have stayed even longer).Food and Culture
Last night, I ate at Cafe Eklektika. One of two gay places listed in my Lonely Planet. Sadly, I would never have known it was a lesbian-owned cafe if I hadnt read it in my book. The food was delicious though! The rest of the food Ive had has been quite mediocre--largely because I dont know food words in Hungarian and its tough to find the affordable yet delicious food without the language! Im sure I will eat quite well once Im in the hands of my hosts though!
My hour of internet time at the ridiculously orange easyHotel Budapest is nearly up, so Ill sign off for now. Tomorrow I take the train to Kolozvar (aka Cluj,Romania- Cluj is what appears on most maps) and then Thursday another train to the Homorod Valley (also in Transylvania, Romania). I look forward to meeting my Transylvanian Unitarian colleagues soon!
Please leave me comments and let me know what you want me to write about!
(Please also excuse my punctuation. The ' and other symbols are hard to find on this keyboard)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Yes, it's a real place
You're reading this because you know I'm going to Transylvania and want to know what I'm up to (or so I assume). I've been amazed and frustrated by the many responses I get when I tell folks I'm going to Transylvania: "It's a real place?!" "Are you going to see vampires?" "You mean Pennsylvania?" "Huh?!?" "Isn't that in Romania?" "Why?!?" I was almost this ignorant not too long ago too. There are, of course, those handful of you (mostly UUs) who not only know where Transylvania is (a huge region of Romania), but that it is ethnically Hungarian, and that there have been Unitarians there since the 16th century.
I've posted a few links if you want to learn more basics - I'm working on learning them myself!
I leave here on Sunday, March 28 (right after cheering on some friends in the Oakland marathon) and will spend a day in Budapest before taking the train to Kolosvar (Cluj is the Romanian name you'll see on most maps), then another train into the Homorod Valley. I'll spend my first two weeks in the villages there, then come back to Kolosvar for another two weeks of city life - with time in the seminary & high school as well as some day trips to places like Turda (famous for the Edict of Torda).
I'll finish up my trip with two weeks of travel that's unscheduled as of now - perhaps Croatia, Kosovo, Istanbul, Taize...or somewhere you suggest!
I hope to post regularly while travelling, but that will of course depend on internet availability and my time and energy
I've posted a few links if you want to learn more basics - I'm working on learning them myself!
Itinerary
I leave here on Sunday, March 28 (right after cheering on some friends in the Oakland marathon) and will spend a day in Budapest before taking the train to Kolosvar (Cluj is the Romanian name you'll see on most maps), then another train into the Homorod Valley. I'll spend my first two weeks in the villages there, then come back to Kolosvar for another two weeks of city life - with time in the seminary & high school as well as some day trips to places like Turda (famous for the Edict of Torda).
I'll finish up my trip with two weeks of travel that's unscheduled as of now - perhaps Croatia, Kosovo, Istanbul, Taize...or somewhere you suggest!
I hope to post regularly while travelling, but that will of course depend on internet availability and my time and energy
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