Peace Through Humility

I've always said that the best way to get to know a place is to get lost in it. In that same sense, I have learned, since I have moved to Hungary, that the best way to find comfort/to feel at home is to force yourself into moments of humility.

I say this because I feel at home in Budapest, and it is not because I have sat at home, reading and drinking a cup of tea. I have gone to the market and stared blankely at a stand owner until he said a word I vaguely understood; I have struggled with a beginner student to arrange one-on-one lessons; I have gone to T-mobile and have been stopped in my tracks because the employees spoke no English; and I have gone to the banks, forced to go to a teller because I froze my debit card, and successfully withdrew money, and, on top of that, I learned a new Hungarian word.

It was these moments that reminded me that I'm a normal person. I'm not special; I'm not the English expert that the Hungarians tell me I am; I'm learning and living just like everyone else. I'm just trying to survive just like the seed couple I buy my dried cranberries from, or the butcher I buy my chicken from, and it gets easier every time I go and make a fool of myself as I try to talk to them with the language barrier.

Even though we don't speak the same language, I can see our relationship building. They know who I am and greet me with a patient smile as I try my hand at a new word or sentence -- it's too bad I don't understand their response. I'll figure bits of it out slowly if I keep stepping outside.

----

"People don't grow when they're wrapped in cotton wool. They grow when they confront the world." - Russ Rymer's Genie: A Scientific Tragedy. (I think of this quote every time doing something or going somewhere intimidates me.)

The following pictures were taken today at Heroes Square -- statues of Hungarian heroes who weren't sipping tea at home.

The Importance of Imagination

I'm working on a couple big posts currently; however, this is a big week for the American teachers at school because we are beginning an English club -- one of those big posts to come. So to show that I am still alive and kicking, and to give you something to think about, I want to offer an excerpt from a blog post I just read yesterday. This except comes from a post on Banned Books (last week was banned books week) by Sara Zarr. Sara Zarr is a YA author, currently serving as a judge for the national book award. Here you are:

"Imagination is a prerequisite for…everything. Without it, there is no chance for change, growth, hope, faith or peace. If those who have religious reasons for challenging or banning books want to raise up a generation that has religious faith, they’d better be on the side of imagination. If you have a faith, as I do, that centers on a in a God you can’t see, touch, or hear, you’d darn well better have a limber imagination or else that faith will be dry, impersonal, and academic. Which will make it easily lost in the thick of life. If you want a Godless generation, the surest way to achieve that is being anti-imagination, being scared about thinking about things beyond your direct experience.

Books that are about people exactly like us—who believe like us, live like us, love like us, think like us—don’t require very much engagement of the imagination. Sure, they might trigger self-centered fantasies that since we’re sort of like the girl in the book, maybe we could have that boyfriend, those clothes, that social status. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Entertainment is good. But it’s not the same as deep engagement of the imagination, which is the first and most powerful stepping stone to empathy, compassion, and the beginnings of creative problem solving, and thereby hope for change where change is much needed. In the world or just in our own little spheres and communities. "

If you would like to read the whole post, go to sarazarr.com. She also has other fantastic posts that I encourage everyone to dive into -- one recent post about faith that gives links to some other interesting posts.