At home in Debrecen!

We have made it to Debrecen! We have a two bedroom flat in an old communist concrete building. It may not be the cutest part of town, but it is only a twenty minute walk from the main square. Ben jokes that he is waiting to see a dog with a hand in it's mouth walking around our apartment area. (This reference is from the movie Euro-Trip)

The first thing we did in our apartment was to unpack our luggage, it is wonderful being free of carrying it around everywhere. We then were invited to a dinner with some teacher friends from our language school. They cooked us a traditional hungarian meal over a camp fire. We had to end the party early because of rain. 

Yesterday, we toured around the city with another CETP teacher, Nancy. She has lived in Hungary before and this is her second time living in the country. She is able to speak and read hungarian-which is a huge help to us. Especially when we went to the store trying to figure out food items. We went to TESCO yesterday and bought some essential items like towels, a toaster, an iron, and hangers. 

As we were walking back from the store yesterday, we saw a hot air balloon take off  from the main square. 

The city square of Debrecen.

We are suppose to start school this week either, Wednesday or Thursday. They have what we would call a "slow start" to the school year. Hopefully we will get more information about exactly what we are teaching and when. The motto we keep hearing from our contacts is "this is the hungarian way" "you will find out soon enough"  etc, etc. So we are just going with the flow-this seems to be the way to do things here. 

We like our apartment, but there are obviously a few distinct differences between it and a place in the States. Such as drying our clothes on a clothes hanger in the bathroom. The toilets are also different in design- so that when you go number 2 you see everything on the "first level" of it and the water then pushes it down into the hole. Nothing like blogging your personal business for everyone to read! :) But nothing is off limits in this blog. :)

We will have internet soon in our apartment and hopefully can update more on a regular basis. We are currently blogging from a cafe in downtown with free WiFi. Once school starts we will have even more stories to tell.

River Cruise Down The Danube!

Parliament from the front.

We went on a river cruise!

Parliament

St. Stephens Church

Pictures of us in Budapest

Me in front of the Chain Bridge

View from our window at our hostel 

Ben on top of the tallest hill in Budapest.

The Hungarian Parliament in the capital of Budapest

Me in front of the Hungarian Parliament

Budapest at Night/ the view from our window

This is the view outside our window at our hostel

Here is a sampling of our pictures from Budapest so far. We have started our orientation classes, which include learning hungarian culture, hungarian language and teaching methods.

We Have Arrived in Budapest!

We arrived last night in Budapest. All our luggage made it! Once we left baggage claim we immediately spotted Mary with the CETP sign. Then we traveled to our Hostel in downtown Budapest. We actually have a wonderful view of the city from our room. I'll make sure to post those pictures soon!

Last night we received our orientation packets and cell phones, but we have to load minutes onto our phones first.

After we got settled into the hostel we went with a group of people to dinner. It was good that some of the people in our group were returning teachers and therefore were fluent in Hungarian. We went to a turkish fast-food place. Ben and I both had a turkish chicken burrito for dinner. Then we headed back because we were exhausted from all our travels.  More updates to come! But first we must go explore the city.

Last Day in London

Today was our last day in London before we leave for Budapest. We first went to a WWII exhibit called “Churchill’s Britain at War.” We thought it was the Churchill War Rooms (it’s located practically in the same place on the map), but it wasn’t. It was still very interesting and had a lot of memorabilia from WWII. It was interesting to see the history through British eyes. 

We then headed to Buckingham Palace to view the Royal Mews, The Queen’s Gallery and the State Rooms. Getting around the outside of Buckingham was a bit claustrophobic feeling. There were dozens of tour groups and hundreds of other tourists. Also, today was the Changing of the Guard, which is cool, but makes it almost impossible to get around. We had a quick lunch across the street from the Palace and then toured the Gallery. The Gallery showed works collected by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. We then went to the Royal Mews where the horses, carriages and cars are kept for the Queen.

The best part of the tour of course was seeing the Queen’s State Rooms. They were beyond ornate and even explanation. I would gladly post a picture or two from the State Rooms, but no photography was allowed. In the Palace there was also a special exhibit about “The Queen’s Year” and what she does from season to season. 

After our tour we walked through the Royal Gardens, which is really just a big park we sat down to rest and figured out what do for dinner.

Royal Carriage that carried the Queen after her Coronation 

Besides all the touring around London here are a few other things I’ve observed.

One: Fashion, as in I’m sooooo out of fashion here in London. Every girl wears skinny jeans, tights or leggings (I’ve seen  toddlers even wearing them). Ben rolls his eyes every time I say “If only I had some skinny jeans, then I would fit in!” Of course I’m saying it sarcastically, but also a tinge of truth. Ben just thinks everyone here looks like they’re from the 1980’s. :)

Second: The Tube/Underground really should be considered for an Olympic sport. After all London is hosting the 2012 games! Ben and I consider ourselves brisk walkers, but Londoners take it to a whole new level of walking. We move at a snails pace compared to these people. I’ve had old ladies carrying their cane in one hand pass me! 

And last: This isn’t so much an observation of London as it is of our Hotel. Where we’re staying at must be considered very international because at breakfast we’re one of the few people who speak English. The rest speak Italian, German, Spanish, and who knows what else. I suppose this is a good thing considering we’re about to live in a country where English is not widely spoken. 

We look forward to getting to Budapest for our orientation and then onto Debrecen. We miss having a home base and we’re tired of lugging around our bags. Until next time take care in the States, especially Texas with it’s 100 degree temperatures! Not to brag, but today’s high in London was in the 70’s. :)

Day Two in London

Our second day in London we traveled to Westminster Abbey first thing (last time we were here it was closed). We enjoyed seeing the Abbey and the many historical gems it has to offer along with it’s breathtaking design. We saw the tombs of many famous people including numerous Kings and Queens, most notably Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Tudor, Mary Queen of Scotts. We saw the tombs of Newton and Darwin, Poets Corner including Chaucer and many other famous English writers. 

While walking from the Abbey to Parliament we saw a statue of Abraham Lincoln in a Park. There are just two of these statues one in London and one in Chicago. It was nice to see a bit of home in the middle of our travels.

At Parliament we got to see both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. On the tour a Lord came up to our group and introduced himself! It’s not every day you get to meet a real Lord. Parliament was beautiful and has such a rich history, it’s hard not to be impressed. It also made us want to visit our own capital someday.

After Parliament we walked to the London Eye to view the city from the best view. The lines were luckily not too long. In line we met a family from the States who had a cute little girl that reminded us of our niece, Anna. 

Getting on the Eye is a bit of a trick. The wheel never stops moving, which means getting onto the capsule platform takes a bit of jumping/jogging. We then went around on the wheel for 40 minutes-taking pictures and resting a bit. 

Us in front of Big Ben and Parliament

After the Eye we went to Tower Bridge and the museum inside it. Tower Bridge is probably the most famous Bridge in London and is recognized around the world. However, it is not the original “London Bridge” that one is strangely enough in Arizona. (But that’s another story). We enjoyed the museum and then went to dinner-throughly tired out from all the walking and site seeing. 

I don't even know where to begin...first I'll start with our airport travels and our first day in London. 

When we got to DFW airport we were told that we were at the wrong airport. Yes you read that right. We were suppose to be at Love Field, but our ticket said DFW. So we purchased a ticket from DFW to Houston for our connection (only a small fee). Then we checked in our bags, except none of them except ONE made it through. The other three were over the weight limit and had to be "reorganized" and put into a new bag (that we got to purchase from Continental Airlines of course). We then unpacked this bag and that bag to redistribute the weight. The new bag contained a mix of belongings including all of Ben's graphic novels, some clothing, a few toiletries and one cowboy boot. Yes, just one boot because that's all that would fit. 

Once that was settled we made it to our flight and flew to Houston for our London connection. We arrived in Houston with time to spare. We left Houston around 3:50 p.m. and our flight arrived in London at 6:55 a.m. We watched the sunrise while flying in the clouds, it was quite beautiful. Once we landed we had to go through customs, which took about an hour. If you ever want to feel homesick in your first hour in a new country...just go through customs (on the visiting side) and then look across the way to those who belong to that country and how quickly they zip through the line. 

After that we picked up our bags (yes all of them actually made it), which were neatly sitting there just waiting for us. Then we found a taxi to take us to the hotel. The taxi drivers poked fun at us for having such heavy bags saying a bunch of british phrases that were lost on both me and Ben. 

We arrived at our hotel around 9:00 a.m, but our room wasn't ready yet. So we waited in a cramped hallway for 30 minutes before going to our room and crashing. Neither of us slept on the plane. But before we could sleep we (as in Ben) had to take our bags to our room, which was on the 5th floor and there was no elevator (but this is common for most hotels in Europe). So to future travelers...travel light!

Ben at Center Court 

We slept for only two hours, not wanting to get too off schedule. We then went to Wimbledon to see the Tennis Museum and courts. For those who may not know...Ben is a VERY big fan of tennis, especially Wimbledon. We really enjoyed visiting, Ben got to see Center Court, where the final match is played and the museum was both modern and interesting even for a non-tennis fan like me. We then went to a pub/restaurant called the Dog & Fox for dinner. We then made our way back to our hotel by foot and tube, glad to have survived our first day in London. 

Last Day In The USA

Packing to leave the country is like planning to leave for Mars. You know that there are resources there, but you don't have a clue what to expect at the same time. Needless to say, the last couple days have been intense. Trying to figure out what clothes, toiletries, shoes, books, movies, etc gets very tiring. You never realize just how much you actually have until you move. I thought we had done a good job scaling back when we moved from our house to the apartment, but then you still end up wondering how you ended up with so much stuff. We ended up packing all of it into 4 suitcases, 2 backpacks and 1 bag of food for the plane. 

This may seem impressive...until you feel how heavy the bags are! I can already say with confidence that we have exceeded the weight limit for our bags. We'll have to pay the fines, but that's cheaper than trying to mail it to ourselves later. (At least I hope so). 

Besides the packing the hardest part about leaving is saying goodbye to our family, friends, dog, co-workers, cars, house/apartment, blue bell ice cream (Ben's favorite food), and my cinnamon bread (my favorite food). We feel like we have been saying goodbye now for months. Even though we are sad about leaving we are also ready to start our new adventure. We have been planning this for so long we almost forgot it was actually going to get here. 


So the next time you hear from us we'll be long gone to Mars, I mean London and then Budapest for our training. Two weeks from now we'll be finally at our new home in Debrecen. Until then Jo utat! (means bon voyage in Hungarian) :) 

Welcome to the Hairgrove's in Hungary blog. This is our first entry! We will officially be arriving in Hungary on August 21, but we are leaving August 18 for our first stop in London. It is so much cheaper to fly from London to Budapest than to do a direct flight. It saved us about $2000 to fly to London first. It's crazy how prices of flights vary.

We are our currently in the process of packing up our apartment and bags for Hungary. We already did our big move from our house to our apartment back in February. Most of our stuff is already in storage, but that doesn't make packing any easier for Hungary. We are taking three suitcases. One we will share during our first week in London and Budapest and then the other two bags have everything else.

We wish we could take our pup, Mr. Darcy...but sadly he can't go. He will be in good hands with my mom who will be taking care of him. He gets along with her dog, Kimber really well---we always joke we should perform a pretend doggy marriage for them. 

I apologize in advance that this blog will be a little sporadic at first, but with time will become hopefully more regular.  I hate blogs that just update every few months and you never know if that blogger is actually going to continue updating. So I promise right now that if I'm going to stop blogging, I'll let you know.  Otherwise stay patient and keeping checking back! 

Making himself comfortable in our luggage. I think he wants to go!

Can we pack our pup? 

Packing with vacuum bags

Taking 3 suitcases for possibly two years of living in Hungary! Is it too much or too little?