I am in charge of editing all of Erol's posts. What he means by "where are all the UU's " is that there are only Unitarians here, not Unitarian Universalists. We had a delicious dinner in the Unitarian church fellowship hall last night. Good to find out that Unitarians are as good cooks as UU's.
Margaret Fikrig
The photo below is of our Transylvanian high school student, Boglarka, with the Rev. Claudia on the left and Boglarka's parents on the right. They joined us at their church for dinner last night.
There is also a photo of the carpet below our table in the fellowship hall. It has chalices on it! It had been a gift to the Budapest church by their partner congregation in the U.S., but they were given two and only needed one, so they've given the second one to the church here in Sepsiszentgyorgy.
Having a great time in Transylvania. Hotels are wonderful and the minister, Istvan, in Sepsiszentgyorgy, is charming. Looking forward to the Unitarian service this morning. There are no UUs here at all.
As we were traveling along, Csilla narrated some of the history of Hungarians, Romanians, Romany and Jews in Transylvania. Here, although Transylvania is historically Hungarian, the ethnic Transylvanian Hungarians are now the minority, and the Unitarians a double minority. But what sticks in my mind most strongly is the depth of emotion when Csilla spoke of her grandparents being Hungarian and Romanian and Hungarian and Romanian again, all without ever moving, of losing homeland and ethnic identity--and this time for good and all, now and forever second-class and somehow, through no fault of their own, second-rate.
Jere
This photo is of the building next to the Unitarian church in Brasov. We drove past before I could get my camera ready, though the church is a very similar building.
All twelve of our travelers have now arrived in Transylvania!
Our first destination was a hotel on the side of a snow capped mountain, the second highest mountain in Romania. We were greeted by a green-grassy spring when we got off our plane, but by the time we made it up the mountain we had rolled back the calendar to winter.
We ate a traditional Romanian meal for dinner, involving pork, sausage (grilled veggies for the vegetarian), and salty polenta with a soft-cooked egg on top. After six plus hours in airports, ten plus hours in planes, and two plus hours on the road, everyone was exhausted but glad to have finally arrived.
This morning, Saturday morning, we are well-slept and well-fed and ready for a wonderful day. We're heading off for a visit at the Romanian royal family's summer residence, Peles Castle, as well as a stop at what is called here "The famous black church" before we go meet up with the Unitarian high school student we sponsor and her family.
Last night the Rev. Claudia reminded us we are visiting the homeland of our religious ancestors. We're invited to think about what it means to call this place our home, while also honoring that we are guests as well. We'll post more soon!
I can't believe how quickly my time volunteering in the Archives has gone. With a big Easter break and some days in Budapest, I want to finish as much cataloguing as I can of the English and American correspondence with the Hungarian Unitarian Bishop from 1823-1921. I'll be lucky if I get it half done!
Today I was reading American letters from first American Unitarian President Samuel Eliot and organizers of international conferences. As WWI loomed, the conferences stopped and Hungary suffered under battle with America's homeland untouched. In a letter soon after the war ended, Samuel Eliot told the Bishop of the American Unitarian's plan to match American congregations with Transylvanian churches decimated by war (now in Romania, not Hungary). This became the Partner Church program, then called sister churches.
In the earliest days, around 1870's, wealthy American Unitarians were sending money to the Unitarian Seminary via Bishop Ferencz Joseph in Kolozsvar to help support professors. They were well intended and often the money came erratically with the vagaries of international money exchange and political realities.
A Few Pictures....
Torda Gorge a treasured natural area.
Freedom Bridge in Budapest above.
Transylvanian valley below- haven't seen the sun in 10 days, light rain.
It reminds me of Ohio gray days in college.
Inside passenger car, above.
Train coming in to Kolozsvar Station, below.
Views from the Kolozsvar-Budapest train
Gypsy "houses" above.
Grazing sheep below- many lambs this time of year.
Trial run with Scott and Sierra-Marie for Skyping next Sunday with Boglarka went well.
It was fun to see Scott and Sierra-Marie in my office setting it up on my computer.
Hope to see you next Sunday! A nine of you I will see on Friday in Sinaia.
Last week John and Csilla Kolcsar Dale came through Kolozsvar with their first UU group of the season from Appleton,Wisconsin. They kindly invited Lehel and I to join them for lunch at the "cabbage" restaurant, only a short walk from the Archives. Here's John helping folks navigate the menu. Facing the camera in a light hoodie is a seminary student and to the right is the driver who will also be on Shoreline's trip. This group is from near Madison, Wisconsin and was happy to hear I was also from Madison! This was before we knew of John's Dad's grave medical condition.
Csilla explaining an important point, above and below.
We're in good hands and will miss John!
Giving and Abundance
A school celebration, speaker Kovacs Sandor, Church History Professor at the Unitarian Seminary
