Well dressed women

What do you wear to pick your kids up at school? To go to the market? These pictures don't do it justice. This was the first day of school. This woman was SO decked out; she looked nicer to pick up her 2nd grader than I think I have ever looked. I was going to say than I look going out on the town, but really, let's be honest. I have never spend as much money on clothing as this. And the total effect-- amazing. She had the latest color on her toenails-- shiny black polish- and pink pastel on her hands. He had these hot pick patent leather shoes with 3 inch heals, a grey taffeta bubble dress with a cut out back. This dress was killer- studs all along the straps and onto the front of the dress, and (I was going down the stairs behind her and her peekaboo back was a bit too peekaboo) a baby blue thong. I had on leather flip flops and capri pants.

She's not the only one who dresses like this. The Hungarians who can afford to send their kids to the American School are paying more in tuition than most Hungarians make in a year. And it shows. They are the beautiful people. I was at the parent night for the elementary school, and there was a woman in a beautiful hand knit sweater. It was lacy and open, with some angled stripes of bright colors and some flowers appliqued on it. It was charming and whimsical and I thought someone had made it, maybe her. I shipped my knitting needles but not any yarn, and so have been hoping to find a good yarn shop in Budapest. I went up to her to compliment her on the sweater and asked if she made it. She gave me an icy stare. "No, it's Escada." I took my foot out of my mouth, smiled as brightly as I could and told her how lovely it was. Yikes! I know she was insulted- when you spend that much on some designer thing, you sure don't want people mistaking it for "homemade", no matter how whimsical and charming.

Here's another example of the variation in style that you see at pickup in the afternoon. I really wish I could have gotten a few more pictures, but my camera was acting up. I think in some ways that the fashions here are kind of freeing- people wear things that we would never wear at home. One thing I noticed this August at the water park was that almost everyone wears a bikini.  Seriously- not just the 20 somethings either-- the new moms, the older women, the heavyset. And you know what? It looked pretty good on them. I'm trying to open up to new possibilities here. I doubt I'll every put on a bikini again, or spring for an Escada sweater, but I'm gonna branch out a bit. Wish me luck- I'm not the adventuresome type when it comes to fashion!

Okay-- this is extreme. This was at 2 in the afternoon, pickup at school.  Snake skin shoes and fishnets, anyone??

To be fair-- this wasn't t school. it was at a Hungarian national holiday- the anniversary of the 1956 revolution, and the parliament building was open and free. But, yeah-- I always dress like this to go sightseeing....

Going to School

Getting to school is a challenge. We have to walk- very fast, to get to Tizan Istvan Ter, where we catch the number 63 bus to the school. We have to leave by 7:20 and walk down to town to catch the 7:42 bus.  It's never a given that we're going to make it. Usually we do, unless the game of "kill the guy" gets too intense. How it works is this.   

There are lots of plum trees all along the road. The plams are ripe now, and some of them are overripe. The boys choose a "drop" (because I won't let them ruin perfectly good fruit that we could pick and eat). Then, the kids hurl the plum down onto the dirt road, hoping to split "him" (it's always him) open. They retrieve the same plum and repeat the hurling until "his heart pops out." Then "the guy" is dead, and they start over. 

On the way there are other distractions. Dorca is our favorite dog.  She comes running over, dragging her blanket with her to get pats from the kids. Some days she has an orange pull toy that she brings instead.

Nagyszenas means "big hayfield".  

Here's the hayfield. The town has a lot of new building going on; I wonder how long the hayfield will be used, or if it will become like so many developments in the US, named for stuff they wrecked when they built it.

There are a lot of people who have chickens in their yard. Isn't he a handsome fellow!!

Here's the Templom, the church.  There's a path from the road to the church; we're almost there! The bus is here; hop on board!

It's only a 10 minute ride on the bus. Now the day starts for real!