making an impact in Hungary! (just not the one we expected...)

This was too funny not to share right away.
so Heather has a huge 9 passenger van to use while the family that owns it is in the States. We decided to take it to our HS soccer match today and cheer on the Bulldogs. Just before we left, the beautiful weather shifted dramatically to cold, wind, and rain. After a few minutes of braving that, we decided we could best cheer on our team from the warm confines of the van. So we began the process of turning around the giant van to move it to a higher location from which we could watch in comfort.
The road is tiny. I brilliantly suggested turning off into a little driveway so we could avoid driving all over Diosd to get up the hill. This was a great plan -- except for a) the steepness of the hill b) the sand/gravel combo on the road. Heather, who was driving, tried to reverse it up the hill, but it just slid. We then tried the emergency brake - clutch combo -- and succeeded in sliding into the large stone wall before us. Huge chunks of rocks went flying. People came out of the house to see what in the world these crazy American girls were doing.

We were so embarassed.

I went and found a very nice Hungarian man and a parent at the school who is fluent in the language. They couldn't get it out either, which made us feel much better, and succeeded in sinking the car into a very large rut.

Fortunately, they were able to call the vice-mayor, who promptly showed up with his 4x4 (rare in Hungary) and cables. With the help of some of my students (who will certainly be receiving extra credit), we were able to finally get the van out of the freakin' drive.

Thankfully, there was no real damage, other than to the wall. And even that worked out well, as the owner told us, via a translator, "I've been trying to tear down that wall for years, and they wouldn't let me because it's a historical landmark!" So he was happy, we met the vice-mayor, students got extra credit, and everyone got to laugh at us. All's well that ends well, I guess!

I love living in a place where a minor incident brings out the politicians in their work gloves. and it actually was really funny. Hungarian people are great; they just shrug, laugh, and do what needs to be done!