School party in Hernad and swimming in the caves.

This past weekend I took a train (a relatively short trip of 2 hours) to the tiny village of Hernadnemeti. Many would ask, and in fact most of my students and colleagues did ask, why are you going there? What is in the tiny one street town of Hernadnemeti? Well Laura is in Hernad! So Eve, Ben and I made the trek to the village of Hernadnemeti for what is always an interesting time.
On Friday night Laura and I waited around for Eve and Ben’s late train and I got into my first Hungarian car accident. No, I wasn’t driving, in fact I wasn’t even in a car and yet I managed to rear end a mini van! Laura’s friend Janos had given us a ride back from the train station and after we got out he took off driving (pretty fast I must say!) but with my bag still in the back. I started running after him to get his attention but he realised the bag was in the back (but not that I was!) and slammed on his breaks and I smashed into the back of the car. A full on, cartoonish splat- ouch! A bit bruised but laughing the whole time.
What better way to sooth an aching body and be oh-so-Hungarian than to go to one of the many thermal baths that are found all over the country? I’ve visited the famous Turkish style baths in Budapest and the castle baths in Gyula and this time the 4 of us traveled to the northern part of the country among the Bukk hills for the cave baths. This is a complex of baths and pools that run through a cave system. It has been very modernized, the pools are all concrete and tile and roofed in and there are families and kids with inflatable wings running all over so it looses a bit of character but still a pretty cool experience floating through the water under the natural caves.
That night, after a rushed trip back to Laura’s from the cave baths, we went to a party at Laura’s school. This past week there have been parties at most of the schools for what they call Farsang- like carnival. Generally what happens is that each class of students choreographs and performs to a piece of pop music for the school and parents and after this the school turns into a mini Disco for the kids to rock out. Laura’s school in Hernadnemeti had an extra addition to this party, the school-leavers dance. Because her village is small the 8th grade students will have to go to another town next year for high school (usually one where they will board during the week) this means that their departure is extra special. The eighth grade girls all wore amazing white dresses with full skirts (I think they actually were wedding dresses) and the boys wore tuxedos with white bow ties and they did an impressive ballroom dance routine. After this the school did indeed turn into a party with band and the kids all dancing. Meanwhile the teacher’s lounge turned into it’s own party that we went to. There were plenty of snacks and cake and Champagne and wine and the ever present Hungarian Palinka- a wicked shot that Hungarians drink at any and all special occasions and are more than excited to press on their guests. So we partied with the teachers and danced with the kids and when the party closed down at 1am we made our way over to the next village (home of the Borsodi brewery- one of the most common Hungarian beers) for a drink with one of Laura’s co-teachers before eventually making it back across to Laura’s.
The weekend ended as they all do, with a long Sunday of train travel (but not too long this time thanks to the destination finally being somewhat near to me.)
Next up...a quickie to Bratislava- why? Why not!