Catching up...

25-26jun07
Technical difficulties while working the kinks out of my electrical convertor and the fact that I everything I tap into online is in Hungarian! By now you have guessed these curious "hiccups" have been taken care of, as here I am blissfully chattering away Color me determined!

For not knowing the language at all yet, I find most folks I've encountered thus far quite friendly, and have successfully manuevered groceries, paying rent, finding out how to turn the hot water on, and building foundation forms all with nods and gestures. A friendly face, smile and good intentions go a long way just about anywhere, and Hungary is no exception. Whew!

All good, enjoying it thus far, and beginning to get a sense of the work site routine. By the time Ireland’s Global Village team arrives July 2nd, I hope to have a working knowledge of where things are re Habitat, and at least a start towards finding things within biking distance in town.

I am undoubtedly a vision in my dirt-infused jeans, work boots, sleeveless shirt, ball cap and safety/sunglasses as I bike back and forth to the site and the office on my trusty loaner bicycle from Levi's mom. It's workable now that the seat has been lowered and tipped forward, but a new seat is definitely on the list for the coming week so I can sit comfortably when OFF the bike

Andras and I continue to be the tag team for setting foundation forms, with hello and bye added to his vocabulary and "tapla" (form) added to mine! It's been a pleasure to work with him; with very little said, we can anticipate one another and "get 'er done" with humor and some serious manual labor.

Levi, the construction manager, has begun my Hungarian lessons with the concept of greeting another on the street or wherever. Simple task? Why, no! There is no hello in Hunagrian! Rather, there is a greeting relative to time of day (changes at 8 a.m., again at around 6 p.m., and again at nightfall), gender, and age. Goodbye is another non-existent salutation, though at least there are less phrases and rules for what they DO say...."Seeya" (phonetic spelling, not Hungarian!) is an informal way of saying see you again soon for use with friends and family, and "Vislat" can be used with anyone and means roughly the same. I am told that once you learn the 44 character alphabet, you can pronounce anything you read correctly since the sound of each character is always the same. It's figuring out the rest that's, well, interesting, especially since so many words seem to be 10-12 characters long. Imagine my delight at a short one like "yo"


24jun07
Today is a catch up day for me using the internet connection at the Habitat office here in Hungary, my first opportunity to do so since arriving Thursday night...YAY! Just getting started developing blog and pix content for the Hungary links, so stay tuned and give a look every week or two for new info...very cool means of sharing the trip with everyone.

Our first global village team (11 folks from the Midwest) leaves this morning, and a new team from the US/Canada arrives this evening. I am enjoying a "day off", to find groceries and get on line here at the office (no wireless in the area that I can borrow from where I live ), my first access since arriving Thursday night. I will meet the new team at dinner later tonight and join them on the build site tomorrow as I continue to learn Levi's (the project manager) routine and begin to step out of orientation and into my role here, evolving steadily as we go.

Current mission: get the blog going and some pix posted, find a different bicycle seat for my ancient but trusty loaner, and cross my fingers that the refrigerator in my lodgings is repaired soon...the heat makes keeping much produce fresh an interesting exercise!

22-23jun07
Two days orienting by doing with Levi and a global village team from Chicago on the build site, building forms for what we would call the foundation; footings had already been poured.

They build on slab much as we are doing in Kitsap County, though the process is very low tech. Forms are laid and concrete mixed and poured by wheelbarrow one section at a time. The forms are pulled the following day and reset farther down the line so to speak. Rebar or “steel” skeletons to set within the forms were pre-made by the families, and are set on flat stones within the forms to make certain the concrete fills in beneath the steel (versus suspending the rebar inside the frame). Temps are in the 90’s each day, great for the concrete, a bit more challenging for the “work force”!

I worked with Andras, a recipient family member who works night shifts at a turkey farm and mornings on the build site. He taught me how to set the forms with just three words understood between us….”no problem” and “ok” from him, and “yo” (which means “good” in Hungarian) from me. My first experience in this context….very cool.

The global village team I joined had been working the site for four days prior to my arrival; fun to meet them, many from Chicago, one living and working in MN (small world!!!), and helped create a great start to my stay, sharing and teaching what they knew, including me in meals, and offering concrete (no pun intended) suggestions for things that might be helpful for future teams coming our way. Famlies and the team met together for pizza this evening; this team leaves tomorrow morning and the next arrives tomorrow evening. And so begins my assignment in earnest, seeking ways to streamline operations, work new systems that keep everyone healthy, happy, and, er, underworked????