Blogs from Northern Great Plain, Hungary, Europe - page 2

In the morning we awake to a nearly cloudless day and Gabe, Kristen and I drive to Jozsi’s house to practice with the horsebows. Just as we feel we are beginning to get a handle on shooting and aiming, Jozsi shows us just how much farther still we need to go by firing his arrow into the target from four times our distance. Regardless, we are finding that the horsebow requires less effort to shoot than English longbows, as they are both easier to pull back and to aim. Noon approaches and the sun begins to bake our backs. We will be attending Anikó and Krisztián’s wedding this afternoon, and so, not wanting to become too sweaty before changing into our formal attire, we retreat to back to the house to prepare for the day. Klara ... read more

The Republic of Hungary - former member of the Soviet Bloc, current member of the European Union. A little more than twenty years ago, as American citizens, we would not have been allowed in this country. Likewise, Hungarians could not leave. The Warsaw Pact of 1955, which created economic and military alliances with the Soviet Union, raised the Iron Curtain in Europe, dividing it into two distinct and antagonistic entities. Immigration and media in the Eastern European countries were severely restricted. However, while the western NATO states flourished, the cooperating Bloc countries stagnated and floundered. In 1987, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reform ideas of perestroika, and in 1988 Hungary, always the most liberal of Bloc members, officially eliminated all travel restrictions, even removing its border fence with Austria, effectively revealing the many crack... read more

Hey everyone! Yes, it has been at least a month since my last entry and I feel horrible. Have gotten a few emails from concerned friends wondering if all was well here...the answer is 'yes'. I have been busy since the last blog....Habitat work has been increasing as teams have now started to arrive, my good friend Liz visited from London (we were at Queen's together), I finally got to meet Suzanne and Pierre who are teaching English over here (they have visited Budapest a couple of times and made use of 'Hotel Kim'), spent a weekend in Bratislava with Suzanne (where my camera disappeared), spent the better part of a week on the Csurgo build site with an Irish school group from St. Columba's near Dublin (have gotten an invite to visit there in June) ... read more