all saints' day

Hungarians, sadly, don't celebrate Halloween (I really missed seeing all the kids in their costumes!) They do, however, have All Saints' Day, so we had a day off yesterday! It was pretty nice to sleep late and hang out with the other teachers. At night, some of us walked down to the cemetery, which sounds pretty morbid but was really fascinating. To honor the dead, families go to the cemetery and decorate the graves with fresh flowers and candles that burn throughout the night. I was surprised at how peaceful it was, since generally I don't walk through cemeteries at night for pleasure! Although I can't say I agree with some of the religious rationale for lighting all the candles, I was touched to see their emphasis on family. Some of the headstones I saw were for people born in the 1800s, and still the vast majority of the graves were lit up and decorated with flowers. It was beautiful, and worth the cold walk.

Speaking of, it is ridiculously cold outside for the beginning of November. Perhaps it's just the gale force winds that are blowing down the street -- although Emily tells me there's a chance of snow in the forecast for this weekend. Some of the student teachers spent yesterday at the thermal spas in Budapest. I'm thinking hot springs are starting to sound really tempting...