Virginia 5:25 p.m.

I've finally managed to get some of John R's pictures posted. Just a "snapshot" for some who weren't there.

We will share more photos and stories in September at our Partner Church Service. Hope you'll join us. You can also learn more about the work of the Partner Church Circle at that time. I hope you might be inspired by our journey to be a part of this wonderful work.

Thanks for your interest.

Virginia, 7:16 a.m.

Taking a long, hot shower. Sleeping in my own bed. Watching the Olympics. Going to work. I overheard Natalie asking people yesterday morning what would be the first thing they would do on arriving home. I'm sure showers and sleep and stories told have been happening in the twelve hours since we landed at Dulles.

The reunion at the airport was great. We found at least one parent for every youth. (Except Andy who took a cab.) The excitement of being home was all that kept us standing.

I will write again tomorrow (after going through piles at work) with closing reflections. I'll add some pictures, too.

Budapest, 5:25 p.m.

We've traveled a long way today. We were down loading our shuttle at 4:30 a.m. this morning. All the youth were on time and offered great help. The shuttles took us the short distance to the train station where we caught the 5:50 a.m. inter-city to Budapest. The accomodations on the train were pretty plush...especially compared to the bus trip the other direction. But even more wonderful was watching the sun rise over the mountains in this most beautiful part of Transylvania. Breathtaking.

Last night we had a nice celebration. We surprised John L. with Gary's version of the Beverly Hillbillie's theme song. I had talked to folks earlier in the week about how we might offer our appreciation to John for all his work. Two days later Gary gleefully showed me his wonderful ditty. And he didn't know that this was the song a previous group had offered at the bonfire in Szentgerice years before. John was surprised and I think he knows we do appreciate all he has done.

We arrived here today at around noon. This gave everyone a chance to do a few last things. We tried to see the Parliment but arrived too late. I found a beautiful book about Transylvania. Please ask to see it if you're interested in some beautiful perspectives on this place. Tonight Emery has made a reservation for any who are interested at a restaurant that features gypsy music.

We will be shuttled to the airport tomorrow morning around 8:30 a.m. Our flight from Paris is scheduled to leave at 4-something in the afternoon here to arrive at Dulles at 6-something Virginia time.

As I return and gather my thoughts more, I will add some final reflections to the blog. I hope some of my fellow travelers might add their own comments (and probably corrections). Thank you for reading.

Koloszvar (yes, I've been spelling it wrong), 8:16 p.m.

What a wonderful day! No where to be too early--but church service was at 11:00 a.m. The minister was so warm and greeted us after the service with lots of helpful information about the history of the church and of our faith. He even took the time to take us to the crypt. After lunch our hosts from the Unitarian High School (two lovely young men, both headed to University this next year) gave us a tour of the city. We saw the Catholic Church, that for a time was Unitarian; the birth place of King Mattias, a much loved leader for Hungarians; the Reform (Calvinist) Church; the University; and the Botanical Gardens. Tonight (soon, so I have to hurry) we will have a community celebration. We have a surprise for John L. and Emery--they both have worked so hard to make our trip wonderful.

I'll write one more time from Budapest. We leave at 4:30 in the morning, egad. That will give us about 24 hours more in the city before we head home. Sorry I don't have time for more today...

Kolosvar, 4:00 p.m.

We gathered early this morning (but after the church bells rang--from 6:30 to 6:40, Monday through Saturday) to say goodbye and board our bus for Kolosvar. One of the reasons we left so early was that seventy villagers were leaving at 7:30 for the World Unitarian Congress, held each summer a couple of hours from Szentgerice. Sandor was proud of their representation--very large for a small village. So traveling Unitarians from the village and from Fairfax converged on the village square before 7:00. We took a group picture and then our group sang "Come, Sing a Song With Me." I've sung it a million times--and it will never feel the same to me after this morning. There were tears all around. Real affection. What a privilege and a joy to share this time with our family in Szentgerice. Owen presented gifts to Sandor from our partners in Puriang. Often during the week I heard Sandor say he hopes we are able to help the Unitarians there.

Our bus ride this morning wasn't long--but, we took the long way. I'm sorry I don't know the details, but we stopped for a long look at a beautiful gorge. The bus ride was quiet--lots of sleepers, and not a small amount of reflectiveness. It is so much to have this experience of living with people who experience life so differently from us. And people, all the same, who share with us the things that really matter.

Now we are in Cluj Napoca (the Romanian name), or in Hungarian, Kolosvar. I heard someone say they were struggling with a little culture shock. The Unitarian Collegium is a large building, right next to the Unitarian Church in the center of the city. Our rooms are beautiful and luxurious. Several of us did not have any running water in the homes we stayed in in Szentgerice. The showers were a welcome sight. Tonight we will receive a tour of the Collegium and have dinner together. (Pizza, I think I heard. What a change that will be.)

On the way here we passed through Torda--a very important place in the history of Unitarianism and religious freedom more generally. (Thank goodness Emery woke me to see it!) In 1568, under the influence of his minister, Francis David, King John Sigismund issued a statement legalizing religious toleration. The language goes like this:

His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he - together with his realm - legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the preachers shall preach and explain the Gospel each according to his understanding of it, and if the congregation like it, well. If not, no one shall compel them for their souls would not be satisfied, but they shall be permitted to keep a preacher whose teaching they approve. Therefore none of the superintendents or others shall abuse the preachers, no one shall be reviled for his religion by anyone, according to the previous statutes, and it is not permitted that anyone should threaten anyone else by imprisonment or by removal from his post for his teaching. For faith is the gift of God and this comes from hearing, which hearings is by the word of God.

I've always loved that "don't abuse the preacher" part. In all seriousness, though, the persecutions of non-majority religious leaders was swift and harsh in those days. The Edict was a significant step forward for religious freedom--but it is important to remember that the King was magnanimous only to a point. The Edict did not include legal protections for Jews, Muslims, or the Romanians who were Orthodox.

Tomorrow we will attend church here and then have some more organized tours of the city. I saw the most recent pictures of the progress on our sanctuary expansion. I can't wait to see it in person!

Host Families

Pictures of Host Families

Szentgerice, 8:10p.m.

The traditional bonfire is tonight. I learned from Sandor that the "officials" had some questions about this. They were thinking they would send security people to make sure there was no trouble. Sandor was perplexed by this. He talked them down and then complied with their request to write a letter taking responsibility and assuring them that there would be no trouble. Emery said it seemed like Ceauşescu was still causing some trouble from his grave.

You may know that Ceauşescu held power in Romania from 1965 until 1989, becoming President of Romania (he had been President of the State Council since 1967) in 1974 by conferring that title on himself. His security force, the Securitate, enforced strict regulations inhibiting civil liberties. He was especially hard on the ethnic Hungarians who found themselves under Romanian rule. (Because of the provisions of the 1920 Trianon Treaty.)

There is a story here in the village, I've heard it twice now, in somewhat different forms, about threats they faced during Ceauşescu's rule. A monument to commemorate the return of Szentgerice to Hungary stands right at the center of the village. (This state of being a part of Hungary only lasted for four years.) I heard that officials asked a teacher the nature of the monument (its inscription is in Hungarian) and she answered that it was a monument to the communist party youth pioneers. The monument stands to this day.

One of Ceauşescu's tricks was to move Romanians into cities with largely Hungarian populations in order to diminish their power. In the cities we have visited we have seen Ceauşescu style apartments--hastily built, simple in style. There was also a case when he built a damn in order to flood and destroy a Hungarian village. His abuses were drawing wider and wider criticism within Romania and from around the world. The revolution in 1989 was the result of growing dissatisfaction with Ceauşescu. One of his deputies, Iliescu, took advantage of the moment and claimed power. (It might be described as a coup.) Things have changed slowly. It was interesting especially to hear the perspective of the doctor in the village about how her work has changed over this period. She said before 1989 she knew she would always receive a paycheck.

Now, of course, yet more changes are coming as a result of Romania's entry into the European Union. Our partnership with Szentgerice has spanned a very interesting period in history. I am sure the coming years will continue to reveal a fascinating story.

On a lighter note, this afternoon we gathered at one of the houses and learned to make kurtos kalacs, a wonderful coal cooked donut. The slightly sweet dough is mixed in a big bowl and then cut into a long strip. The strip is wrapped around what looks like a large rolling pin with a handle. It can then be rolled in sugar. Then the dough is spun over the hot coals while water and oil are brushed on periodically. At the end it can also be rolled in crushed nuts. The end result is what some of the youth were calling a smokestack. It tears off in scrumptous strips, hot, sweet dough, crisp on the outside and wonderfully soft on the inside. Everyone had a good time helping and eating. It took all of the late afternoon.

So, today, I started (as I am sure all of us did) with a large breakfast. We had a large hot lunch at 2:00. We had donuts at 4:30. I had cookies and juice at 6:00 when I visited a family. And I have just finished another full meal. If you were expecting us to arrive home diminished in any way, you will be surprised!

Now to the bonfire.

Szentgerice, 10:55



We took the back road back to Szentgerice. I haven't commented much about the bus trips. Some of the roads aren't bad--Sandor explained some improvements happened a few years ago just before an election. Despite some "exciting" moments, the trip was wonderful. Beautiful forests, foothills, valleys. Splashes of purple and yellow. And the view of villages from a distance is really something. (I think John has figured out how to help me get some pictures posted...we'll try tomorrow.) Many in our group enjoyed swimming in the salt lake. It was good weather for it--the warm water matching the not too hot temperature.

We are just over half way through our trip and everyone seems to be holding up fine. Tomorrow we have a free day here in the village. I think this is very good timing. I hope some will be catching up on their sleep. We said goodbye today to Bill B. We also learned from Luke the good news that his uncle seemed to weather surgery well.

But now I'd like to get back to some of the history of Szentgerice. If this kind of thing bores you (I don't know how it could...) you can skip this post... I am using a brochure about Szentgerice that Sandor put together. Credit goes to him. (We talked tonight about helping to get the entire brochure on the web.)

There are indications of the presence of ancient peoples on this land. The first written evidence of the village comes from papal tithes in 1332 as Sancta Gerecia and in 1334 as Sancta Gratia (Holy Grace). In that pre-Reformation time the village was primarily Catholic. By 1559, apparently, the church had turned protestant. (As evidenced by the visit of the scholar from Wittenburg.) The period during the 16th century when the congregation was Unitarian may have been short. After Sigismund (the Unitarian King of Transylvania) died, the Bathory family took the throne. They set in place restrictions on religious practice and many of the formerly Unitarian Churches were "re-Catholicized"--Sandor's word. Sandor thinks this is likely to have happened here because of Szentgerice's proximity to the largely Catholic areas of Transylvania. The Reform Congregation was established sometime in the 17th century.

Now the Unitarian Church stands at one end of the village and the Reform Church at the other. The majority in the village is Unitarian. The ethnic history of this region, not unrelated to the religious history, is also fascinating. But, I won't go into that now.

Thanks to Betsy for alerting us about the Washington Post article quoting Bill Welch. I was also happy to hear from my friend Lynn today about her piece that appears on the Post's website. I think she represents Unitarian Universalism so well. If you haven't seen them, you can find her reflections at: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2008/08/post-traumatic_unity.html

Goodnight

Corund, 2:35

We've just arrived here after visiting a salt mine in Prajad. What a fascinating place. It's like a huge underground playground. People had brought picnics and were playing pingpong, badmitton, swinging on the swingsets, playing cards. There were large inflated play areas for the smaller children. The old mine is supposed to have theraputic benefit. The cool and dry air did feel healing to me.

Now this stop is for a little shopping. (I'm not telling what you're getting from your teenager...) After a little shopping we will move on to Sovata for swimming in a salt lake. For this trip a number of the villagers, young and old, have come with us. (We rented a larger bus so this would be possible.)

I've got to find John--he's got the cash! I'll write more tonight if the power holds out.

Szentgerice, 10:05 p.m.



There is a lovely rain (you can tell I'm inside) falling now. We were without power for several hours. We learned quickly that in a village where water comes from electric pumps in the wells...well, you know. Dinner was by candlelight but power was restored before the full dark came.

It was a free day today. Rev. Sandor and his wife Sarika took us (John, Emery, and me) around the countryside with a bonus stop in Csicso, a village near Csikszereda where the new grandbaby, Soma, lives. The elder Balazs son, Sanyi and his wife Palma had a son in May. The baby was almost as cute as the grandparents. In Csikszereda we also visited a Catholic Church which is a place of pilgrimage for many Catholics in this region. The statue of Mary is said to have been seen with tears in her eyes. I followed a woman to see the statue who reverently took her handkerchief to the bottom of Mary's robe.

The best part of the trip for me was having this chance to hear Sandor speak of the history of Unitarianism in Szentgerice. The church was built long before the Reformation. However, there is a record of a visit from a Protestant scholar (assumed to be Protestant because he came from Wittenburg) in 1559. The Unitarians came later in the 16th century. (Sorry, I'll have to finish this later...the power went out last night, again, and I had to abort the post. Now I'm on an exursion with the group and typing without my notes in an internet cafe. I'll do more with the history later.)

Szentgerice, 9:06

I just walked the village, running various errands. Arriving at the home Natalie F. is staying in, we were greeted with rapid Hungarian and the insistance that we sit down at the table outside. Then within seconds there were two plates of goodies set out for us. We stayed and visited (Emery was there to help some) as we got the business done. So much graciousness and hospitality here!

The teens are down at the community gathering place (that sounds better than bar...) playing cards. There is also a group of adults there. Everyone is pretty tired from today's excursion. First we traveled to the nearest city, Marosvasarhely. It is a city of about 120,000 people. (There are about 800 in Szentgerice.) Many of the young people from Szentgerice go to High School there. We exchanged money and walked around. Saw a beautiful Orthodox Church in the city square (the Romanians are Eastern Orthodox). Then we found the Unitarian Church. We met the minister there, Nagy Laszlo. It is a large congregation, 1800 members. And in the last decade they split, so now there are two congregations.

We also visited Segesvar. There are claims made about this being a place where Vlad Dracula originated. (You can find the history and the source of the adaptation with a web search...) We climbed and climbed to see an old castle tower and a beautiful Lutheran Church at the very top of the hill. An odd sight was a group of four dressed in Renaissance garb walking through the streets offering greetings to the city in whatever language they thought appropriate. With us they began with German, then tried Hungarian, and then we told them American, so they did it again in English. Caleb RM was with a group of youth wandering around who stopped for pizza. Caleb told me he was suspicious about the real purpose of the "pizza" place. Hmmm.

We have two who are/were feeling under the weather. One of our young adults and Morgan W. (how unfair is that?? Oh, I think I failed to report she got her luggage before we left Budapest.) She was much better by afternoon. She and Andy W. went off with the minister of another village to visit River Road's sister congregation. Their grandparents are part of RR's partner church program.

What a fascinating reality to be like an outsider in your own home. These Hungarians must learn Romanian, the state language. Only recently it was illegal to sing the Hungarian National Anthem. There is much more freedom now--but still, there is a sense in which they are outsiders in their own home.

Another fascinating thing to observe is the "progress." Those on the trip who have visited before tell the stories about how much has changed. There is a regular commuter bus to Marosvasharhely. The road has been repaired, so now the commute is only thirty minutes. As a consequence, (among other consequences) all kinds of foods are available now that these adults wouldn't have dreamed of having. Sandor (the minister here) tells the story of feeling it was unfortunate that there was starting to be trash in the village. (Before there was no pre-packaged food.) He encouraged (as only a minister can...) the young people to go out and clean up the trash. Now there are trash cans on light poles along the streets. This is progress...there is a need for trash cans. The ironies are fascinating.

I'm sorry I'm not able to get pictures posted. We may yet figure it out...

Our thoughts and prayers travel home for Luke W's uncle who is having surgery tomorrow. Sorry Luke can't be with you, Uncle Ralph. Please know you are in our prayers.

Szentgerice, 8:50

We just made the rounds of the village to meet each host family. It was a three and a half hour experience as many of the families insisted on serving us some treats as we passed through. We got pictures at each house, so I hope soon to post some pictures for you to see.

Back to yesterday: We left Budapest around 9:00 a.m. There were some interesting detours, including a trip down a narrow one way street that turned out to be a dead end! That was before we left Budapest. There was sleeping, singing, card playing, and story telling on the bus. Our experience at the border was pretty easy, according to those who have made the trip in earlier times. We drove straight through the Hungarian side without stopping. The Romanian border control gathered up our passports and stamped them with both the exit and the entrance stamps. It took a half an hour or so.

We stopped for dinner on the top of a mountain shortly after entering Romania. There was very little Hungarian spoken there--and much less English. Not even much German. We all managed to order and watch as a light rain cooled things down. It was three or four more hours from there. We arrived after dark and gathered around Sandor as he called out names and made the assignments.

Today it has been fun comparing notes. Lisa and Annalisa have "only one computer in the house." Others are without indoor plumbing. I've heard that some have fed horses and chickens. Some climbed the hill behind the church. And now all of us have seen the village during this late afternoon tour. We are all well-fed. Our experience here in the parish house is not unusual. We enjoyed a great soup for lunch and then much to my surprise the main dish came out. Though we are walking a lot, I think none of us will come home any slimmer.

The church is beautiful. The men and the women still sit on opposite sides of the sanctuary. The bells started ringing well before the time for the service. Some from the village came to visit the cemetary before the service. My sermon didn't take too too long...maybe thirty minutes with translation and all. It was really an honor to stand in that historic pulpit and give a sermon. I told about Albert Schweitzer and his idea of reverence for life. I thought this would be a good topic because this is the underlying purpose of our partnership--that through these relationships we learn yet more to love each other.

Our group sang two songs. (We did well!) Before my sermon we sang "Gathered Here." In a round even. It sounded pretty cool with the women starting from one side and the men responding from the other. Andy W. presented the beautiful mosaic chalice that Bonnie F. made for us to bring. Then Sandor presented a hand-made stole with a chalice and said he hoped my wearing it would remind our congregation of our partnership and their affection for us.

Tomorrow we take a trip to a nearby city. I'll report more then.

Szentgerice, 9:00

A wonderful night's sleep. The rooster awoke us (before we arose!). Everyone has a family to be with after a very long bus ride. I will write more later today...now, I must prepare to give a sermon. I am practicing my Hungarian for the opening and the closing. I'm so grateful Emery (Csaba) is here to translate the rest of the sermon.

Budapest, 5:25

Another hot day in Budapest. We started with a group meeting--a little tough getting everyone together at the same time. John L. was tough, reminding us how important it is to touch in at these meetings.

Yesterday was fun for everyone, I think. Morgan found some great new clothes at a thrift store. (Who needs a suitcase?! She gets the prize for good sport.) There were adventures at the baths, market, castle, and more. A lot of us found presents for some of you, too. I was with a group of fourteen for dinner. Quite a bit of confusion. (It looked like a local kind of place and indeed it was...) We finally discovered our server spoke German so John R. and Bruno helped us straighten things out. Two and a half hours later we were finished with our meal... Everyone (youth and adults) got back to the hostel in good time. The refrain I kept hearing this afternoon was "when we get back to Budapest...I'll buy that...we can get to the baths...we'll catch the..." We will have about twenty-four hours on our return. I heard one youth plotting on how to get her parents here...soon!

A great story at St. Matthias Church: During the Ottoman occupation a wall had been constructed in front of the beautiful statue of Mary and Jesus. During worship one day, the wall collapsed, spooking the Muslims who were worshipping there. This gave the Christian invaders an advantage as they came back in to take the city back. Also saw parts of the castle built first in the thirteenth century. The museum there featured the history of Budapest.

Our bus driver arrives this evening. We will leave at 7:00 am sharp for our ten or twelve hour ride to Szentgerice. We hope to arrive before sunset. We will find out after arriving where we will be staying. I am so excited to meet these new friends that I've heard so much about. It is really a privilege to get to be with them. I know that the coming days will make an impression on our youth. What an unbelievable opportunity for them. (Thank you to the parents who made this possible.)

It may be difficult to post tomorrow. I'll get back online as soon as I can.

Budapest, 4:50

It was good to see everyone together last night at our meeting. We shared ideas for the interesting things to see and arranged to meet again as a group Friday morning. We settled on a curfew and discussed again rules for the trip.

On the list to see were the traditional baths, museums, Heroes Square. I don't think many were planning to be out early today. There was some serious need for a good night's sleep. We are all getting used to the street names, public transportation, and the conversion rate. (Twenty American dollars equals approximately twenty-seven hundred forint.)

I went to the National Museum of Hungary this morning. I looked and looked for our Unitarian King (John Sigismund), but he didn't make the cut. (Each room covered about 150 years.) The history of the Transylvanians was prominent enough, though. It was wonderful putting a little piece of our religious history in a larger context. Learned of one King, 1458, who was influenced by the Italian Renaissance and welcomed the humanist scholars to his court. I have to believe this was a little piece of what made it a hospitable place for the liberal reformers of the following century. (I will look that up.)

Tonight some of us are meeting at a historic church for an organ concert. We have one more full day here and then we leave early Saturday morning for Szentgerice.

Budapest, 5:30

We have been in Hungary about six hours now. The flights were easy enough. I did not see many closed eyes...not until the flight from Paris (which left at 3 something our time). The nervousness eased up quite a bit after we took off. I think everyone is feeling more at ease. The movie selection helped...seemed like about thirty to choose from. Only one bag didn't make it yet--Morgan is being a good sport. Everyone has offered to loan her things. We were glad to find Gary E. and Bill B. at the airport here. (Bill's bags also haven't made it yet...)

Emery arranged shuttles for both groups. A small group went to a Baptist Guest House. The rest to the hostel. The seven of us who are at the Guest House will meet the others for a meeting tonight at 8:00. We'll set some guidelines and try to coordinate some sightseeing over the next two days. Here is a link to some of what we might see. http://www.budapestinfo.hu/en/things_to_see

John L. is working really hard and doing a great job keeping us on track. He has his clipboard at every turn, checking us off. Emery has already translated my sermon for Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't remember until after I'd written it that it will be (at least) twice as long as usual because of the translation. Emery has graciously agreed to help me shorten it!

I think I will have internet at the guest house once we figure it out. When that happens, I'll post some pictures.

Until next time,
Marz Katherine (those peskz z's and y's are reversed on this kezboard!)

Travel Day

Virginia, 9:00 a.m.
Welcome to the 2008 Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax Transylvania Trip blog. I'll write as often as I can to share our experience. In addition to parents of the teens traveling with us, I hope other Unitarian Universalists might also be interested in our adventures. It's my first time blogging--so, forgive me any lapses in etiquette.

There are thirty of us traveling together from UUCF. Fifteen are youth and fifteen adults. We fly out tonight from Dulles, stopping in Paris (a very fast layover...I hope we make it) on our way to Budapest. We will spend several days in Budapest, then travel to Szentgerice, home of our partner church. We will spend August 2nd through August 9 in the village, with two day trips in that time. From there we travel to Kolozsvar for two nights and then back to Budapest for our flight home.

Now I have to finish packing! I hope to write again after arriving in Budapest.