Eurojournal - 28 June 2006

We found this fabulous park. It is in the Central Park but further up the street. Full of play equipment old and new, for toddlers and bigger kids. What was really amazing was the line of 6 metal slides ranging from about 3 feet high to about 10! Yep the ones we grew up with that no longer exist in most parks in the states. Unfortunately it was too hot to go down. There were some rides and jumping houses for pay. Behind the park were tennis courts. With Wimbledon starting I am getting the tennis bug. Maybe I can get James to play a game with me.

We went to lunch with James and Byron. We found a spot with falafel and veggie burgers. It’s really not so bad for a vegan here. In fact we went back to the supermarket and there was a whole aisle with TVP, etc. We ordered the wrong veggie burger and accidentally received a veggie sandwich consisting of a bun, cabbage, fries and pickles. No wonder why the server thought we were nuts for declining the cheese. Apparently here fries are a condiment and not so much a side. All the veggie burgers so far have fries in them. Even the falafel had fries inside! The cabbage is really yummy. I normally do not care for cabbage.

The children are happier today. I think the long walk and park helped. Liam was acting out yesterday which was really unusual for him. Right now they are playing very well together and using quiet voices. It has been an issue having them use their quiet voices in the dorm.

I found the wi-fi café today. Free wi-fi at this coffee house. I thought it was a bar from the description in my Lonely Planet book. It's actually a tea house with several pages of teas in the menu. I am in heaven. Earl Gray, Darjeeling, Jasmine, you name it! Background music is wonderful. I mighthave found my spot. We met the guys who set up the wi-fi (and they spoke English!). They thanked us for using the wifi. James, of course geeked out with them.

It was good to get out.
It was raining with thunder earlier.
Soothing.

Eurojournal - 27 June 2006

Been in Kolozsvar for two days now. Beginning to recover from jet-lag, homesickness and culture shock. Kolozsvar is larger than expected but very charming. The views from our “window” in our dorm are amazing. We are in a dorm on the top floor of the Unitarian high school. The window is on the roof so we can open it and pop our heads out and see the whole city. It’s breathtaking.

Yesterday was challenging as the people in the town speak Romanian. Technically Romanian is easier to learn than Hungarian. However I was just getting a few words in Hungarian down, like thank you (koszonom). We found a supermarket on our street. That was an experience! We did find vegan food (soymilk, muesli, fresh fruits and veggies and bread). We also found a place that sold smoothies and fresh squeezed juices. Yum! And the worker knew English. I learned how to work with the currency from him. Later we napped for a few hours. Afterwards we foraged for dinner and checked out the skatepark and language school. We found a few places with veggie burgers and I ordered in Romanian. We spent some time at the Central Park which was really nice. We saw a horse drawn buggy and Byron found a tree with which we were not familiar.

Today we relaxed while James and Byron went to language school. Luna, Liam and I did some weaving and coloring. We napped for the afternoon. James and Byron are back. Liam spent some time studying Hungarian with the CD Rom. We are going to look into the internet café across the street and forage for dinner.

It is interesting to watch the children adapt. Luna says “Hallo” to everyone she meets mimicking those we met in Budapest. Byron has been motivated to learn Hungarian, so much that he is taking 5 days of Hungarian intensives with James at the language school. Liam wanted to go with James and Byron this morning for language school. He loves the number two (ket) and four (negy).

Eurojournal - 25 June 2006

The flight to Budapest yesterday was smooth but exhausting. Byron loved the tea on British Airways. It tasted like Darjeeling or English breakfast. London airport was kid friendly and had loungers to sleep.

Arrived in Budapest seeing unfamiliar words followed by English translations.Actually not too unfamiliar as James and I had been studying the language a bit at home. We were greeted by Lazslo, a very friendly face who took us to the apartment. He and his wife, Sandra owned the apartment. They were warm, friendly and spoke English. This will be fine. He took us to the apt, where we met Sandra and their daughter, Skye.

Later we went for a walk to the bridge at the Danube. Beautiful! Everyone was out watching the World Cup in bars, restaurants and the square.

On train to Kolozsvar now. Originally we were planning on taking a bus from Budapest but it was too full. So with bags and luggage in tow we hobbled to the bus station to find a taxi. The metro was right there and we could get to the train station from there. This was difficult as we had no idea where to go and where to get off. It sounded like we needed to transfer from metro to bus to station. We could never do that in an hour as it had taken almost that long to get the tickets. I decided we were going for the taxi upstairs. James negotiated with the drivers and to the station we went.

We waited for two hours, relaxing after we had our tickets for the 2pm train in hand. This was a direct train too, even better! I stayed with the luggage and Byron. We played cards and
scrabble.

I observed a family, perhaps from Turkey. Many children and a handful of adults-VERY poor. We looked so rich next to them with our nice matching luggage. Mother was caring for about 6 children varying in ages. She was pregnant and looked exhausted. She was stressed when baby cried, often slapping the baby. Painful to see. There were 3 men there, assuming one was the father and another a grandfather. They offered little help for the mother. Later Liam started playing with the baby. James offered to share some cotton candy he got for Luna, Liam and Byron. The children seemed delighted and hungry. Mother smiled at me. It was neat to watch Luna and Liam interact with the children. James too. To show gratitude, the younger man offered James a sip of his vodka. James initially declined but took some later.

Our train arrived and we managed to get on with all of our luggage. The ride so far has been smooth and relaxing. We just had our passports stamped after crossing the border into Romania. In Hungary, the view is green, flat and agricultural with some small towns interspersed. In the distance are red roofed houses with a prominent steeple in town. The rounded ones are Eastern Orthodox, others are protestant. In Transylvania the squarer ones are Unitarian. The church steeples were contrasted by concrete block buildings – reminders of the iron curtain era. The train is old. The smaller train stations and areas surrounding have a feeling of a Solzhenitsyn novel. Romania has more hills. Just passed a runned down concrete complex with grassy area between train tracks with 2 sunbathers.

South Central Farm in LA

Found this on my Parents for Peace mailing list...*sigh*

South Central Farm, a 14-acre community garden in a sea of warehouses in urban L.A., is being bulldozed to make way for a warehouse. The 350 low-income families who for years have been growing food on the plot last week lost their fight to save the farm. Landowner Ralph Horowitz obtained an eviction order, and protestors, who in recent weeks have included celebs Daryl Hannah, Joan Baez, and Julia Butterfly Hill, were forcibly kicked out by the cops. More than 40 people were arrested. Horowitz had been forced to sell the land to the city in the 1980s for a project that never happened. In 1992, the city turned the site over to a food bank, which allowed families to build a community garden there. In 2003, Horowitz settled a lawsuit he brought against the city, which then agreed to sell it back to him for $5 million, and he's been trying to get rid of the gardeners ever since. The morning of the eviction, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa offered to pay Horowitz his $16 million asking price for the plot, but Horowitz declined. "I just want my land back," he said.

Romania

Been in Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvar for a few days now. I have a journal started on my laptop. I need to get to the bar/cafe with wifi to upload pictures. At the cafe across from the dorm.

Been interesting so far. It's a beautiful and charming city. Struggling with Romanian language. Just figured out a few words of Hungarian in Budapest. The Unitarians here speak Hungarian while the rest of the town speak Romanian. So for me it's been humbling. I feel very vulnerable right now. Not a comfortable place for me right now.

Budapest

Just returned from a walk around Budapest. Quite a beautiful city at dusk. It is 10pm and everyone is out watching the World Cup at outdoor bars and restaurants. Will attach some pictures in the next few days. We found an apartment in the city center. The owners picked us up from the aiport and will take us to the bus terminal tomorrow. Really nice family, they are.

Tomorrow we have a long bus ride to Kolozsvar, Romania. Tonight we might get a full nights sleep!

London!

At London Heathrow airport in the mall area with a lengthy layover. The children did fabulous on the whole flight. We go to Budapest from here and spend the night.

Such a change from from the US airports. Kid friendly. We got to the front of the line. There is a children's play area at the terminal. The security is strict but far more mellow and less threatening. The terminals have loungers to sleep too! Might have to nap in a bit.

The tea on the plane was lovely.

The journey begins

I created this blog to log our trip in Europe. The journey officially begins in about 12 hours when we arrive at the San Diego International airport for our flight out. We spent a few days here at James' family's place relaxing, buying last minute items (including laptops for James and I), eating vegan soft serve ice cream and re-packing. I had no idea how much stuff we would have for a family of five travelling for 6 mos. I was strict on the clothes rule (5 socks, 5 underwear, minimal clothes). However, trying to decide what to eliminate based on 3 seasons in various parts of Europe was a challenge. We did it though. The rest of our packing included books (far too many!), activities for the children, sleeping bags, some food, gifts and random needed items.

The bags are on their way to the car. All bags are under the current weight limit.

Children are asleep. Dog is staying at James' mom's and adjusting well. Though I notice that she was walking around with her head down and snuggling up to me when I was packing. She will be loved here.

I am more excited now about going than the last few days. Saying goodbye to friends was a little hard. Honestly, I was so removed from home with my head in Europe my feelings were distant. Dearest friends cried. Others visited. On my drive down to San Diego I longed for my friends and home. I was stressed about packing and immediately landing in a country where I know only one sentence of the language. Hungarian is so foreign to me. French and Spanish I can do. I know enough to get around. But the sounds in Hungarian are unfamiliar. That will pass as I immerse myself. My stress level is lifting as I am letting go of expectations and fears of chaos and the unknown. Reminds me of birthing my children.

It will all workout. Everything up until now has. We are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. Here we goooo!

Transylvania, Scandanavia, Paris, Europe, Oh My!

I'm beginning to feel like I should find work in the travel industry. I spent much of the day organizing various itineraries for our trip to Europe. We begin in Budapest, take a train to Kolozsvar, Transylvania and stay there for two weeks for language school and the International Unitarian Universalist Theological Symposium. Onto Homorodszentpal where James will particpate in a UU internship through December. Meanwhile so James can focus on his work and the kids and I can focus on ours, we leave Romania for several months.

Aug-Sept is set in Paris. I just put a deposit on a fabulous apartment near the Tour Eiffel. Everything is within walking distance or along a metro line. Byron is getting excited about Paris...the DaVinci code is partially responsible for this. If it means getting my 14 year old enthusiastically into the Louvre, I'll take it. After Paris we head north to Norway to see the fjords for 3 days, to London for 5 days, Ireland for 3 and Amsterdam for 9+. From there, a long train journey to the south of Spain where we will settle for 1-2 mos near the beach.

I purchased Eurail passes for all of us to get around by train. I also bought plane tickets to many of the northern spots. The flights within Europe are a good deal. $67 (US dollars, not Euros) for a flight from London to Western Ireland for all four of us! Things are falling into place. We leave in 10 days. :)

Pleasant ramblings

I just got word for the Bureau of Registered Nursing that I am taking my boards in 2 days! Actually I selected that date but I am thrilled that it will be soon. I just received my packet today and was under the impression that it would take another 3 weeks to select a test date. That was an issue becasue I will be in Europe by then and would have had to pay extra to take the exam in London or Frankfurt. I registered online tonight and presto! there was my approval and so many dates from which to choose.

I love being out of school with my kids and planning our trip to Europe (which has developed into a full time job). Byron decided he wanted to go to Norway to see the Fjords, I saw the pictures and fell in love, so we've added that to our already tight itinerary. We're trying to schedule 6 months worth of trip to include the cheapest possible convenient travel (transit, accomodations, tours). There are a few discount airlines within Europe. The Eurail pass is a fabulous deal in Britain for the kids and I. We'll spend 1-2 months living in southern Spain in an apt and 1 month in Paris. Since I was young, I dreamed of living in Paris for a short time. I have dreamed of a romantic date with James there as well. I went to Europe for my 15th birthday as a child, now Byron will spend his 15th in Europe in Koloszvar (Cluj-Napoca), Romania. Onto a family tadition.

What a life!

Protest at Blogging Company Headquarters

This was sent to me on a parenting listserv. *sigh* can't we just feed our children without being called inappropriate?

'Lactivists' Plan Protest at Blogging Company Headquarters

Women on the popular blog site LiveJournal.com are calling foul at the company's decision to brand images of breastfeeding as 'inappropriate'. Users of the site have urged LiveJournal's parent company Six Apart to address their concerns and reevaluate the policy. The company refuses to consider modifying their policy and continues to suspend users whose default icons were deemed inappropriate, even though SixApart has asked the letter writing campaign to cease. Over one thousand complaints about LiveJournal's policy were sent by users of the site and supporters. LiveJournal stated a clarified rule, mothers are still reporting major inconsistencies in its application. A nurse in is planned to take place at Six Apart's US Headquarters, located at 548 4th Street, San Francisco, CA. The event is planned for 12 pm on Monday, June 5th. The activists encourage nursing mothers and supporters to join in the protest.

Userpics are small icons (pictures) no more than 100 by 100 pixels. They are used to represent Livejournal.com members throughout the site. LiveJournal allows users to define one of these icons as "default icon" -- a setting that automatically plugs the icon into the user's public profile. These default icons were originally not permitted to be 'sexually explicit or graphically violent.' When asked for clarification, LiveJournal changed its FAQ section to state nudity and continued to suspend users with breastfeeding icons.

Claimed Live Journal Abuse Staffer 'Erin' in a post on the site, "That's really a matter for the FCC to decide. The standard for the FCC is that bottle nipples are a-okay." These statements, however, are false. The FCC does not consider the act of breastfeeding on television to fall under the definitions of indecency or obscenity and therefore would be appropriate for any television programs or movies. Nursing photos not showing visible areola are considered acceptable on LiveJournal. Whether or not areola is visible is dependant on a number of factors, including skin tone of the mother and physical changes undergone during pregnancy.

Breastfeeding is exempt from nudity laws throughout the United States, but more notably in California where the SixApart offices are located. Advocates are urging LiveJournal to adopt the same national criteria. "It is regrettable that LiveJournal has chosen to target breastfeeding mothers instead of standing up for the protection provided them by law," says Carrie Patterson, Executive Director of ProMom.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness and public acceptance of breastfeeding. Advocates feel that banishing certain breastfeeding icons from default status only fosters the idea that the natural act of nourishing a child is scandalous.

Breastfeeding bloggers who have refused to change their default icon have been suspended from the site. These users, as well as others questioning the policy, have been treated poorly by the site's volunteer abuse team, something that is not unusual according to other bloggers on the site. For more information on the Nurse Out, please contact Lindsay Hoppe: lindsayhoppe@breastfeedingisnormal.org