A weekend in the countryside...

My Friday night Independence plan of an open-air concert was thwarted by a random rain storm (that did not stop until Sunday afternoon). Instead I explored our neighborhood on foot, going for an hour-long run through the streets of the 2nd District of Budapest. Then, Saturday morning, Peter and I went to Debrecen, where Peter lived from the time he was 13, to visit his mother. Debrecen is about 200km outside of Budapest and to get there we passed through Hortobagy, the Hungarian prairie. What? The Hungarian prairie? I know, I know. But it's true...and apparently is quite unusual for this part of Europe. It was a lovely drive and I marveled at the massive fields of sunflowers from which the oil is pressed and sold for cooking.

We got to Debrecen and were greeted by a feast prepared by Peter's mom. She cooked all of his favorite foods and I must say every last bite was delectable...The best part is that Eszter wrote the recipes for me (in Hungarian, of course, so Peter will translate). I cannot wait to try to replicate what she created. Poor Peter...if he thinks he is going to get that meal again...well, he has another think coming, that's for sure!

Unfortunately, Eszter and I still cannot really talk to each other, though I know a few Hungarian words and she knows a few English words. In fact, we managed to communicate to the point where she taught me the Hungarian word for skinny (the cat was very skinny)! And then she told Peter she was planning on learning some English so we can talk to each other (she studied English when she was at the university, but that was about 40 years ago and she doesn't remember much!). Well, depending on what happens with Peter and I after this summer, I may actually take up Hungarian myself and then I can talk to her. Either way, she is very sweet and we manage to convey our warm feelings for each other.

In Debrecen we went to meet up with Peter's friend Lajos (Pronounced Lahw-yo-sh - I really love this name, actually) and his family, including his two exceedingly beautiful children. His daughter's name, which I also love, is Lilla (lee-lah) and his son, get this, is Marci - but it's pronounced Martz-ee. Great, so now not only do I have a boy's middle name, in this country I also have a boy's first name!

Lajos was fantastic. He spoke in English the whole time! His English isn't perfect, for sure, but it's good enough to communicate and we did. I was so grateful to him and he has won a soft spot in my heart forever!

AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, TODAY IS A HOLIDAY
229 years ago today my country officially became independent! Or at least, that's how we celebrate it. So, nobody in the US is working today (well, plenty of people are working, I just don't happen to know any of them). Most people I know will be at BBQs or pool parties. I, on the other hand, am doing no such thing. As I mentioned earlier, the US Embassy is celebrating tomorrow (??). But I think I will declare a personal holiday and take the afternoon off. My boss is out of town...I am the only one in the office today and I have little to get done. I have a meeting tomorrow with the woman starting up Hungary's first SRI fund but other than that, not too much is pressing. So, I am going to head out, I think. How strange, though, that for the second year in a row I am "celebrating" the 4th of July in Europe?