Perpetual Change

Zagreb, final notes

We drove to Mishkoltz in Hungary that night. Bathroom breaks were always a problem as we had two buses and stops often had only one toilet, not to mention there were a million busses on the road, many heading our way. All these buses are also trying to cross the border. I never thought we would make it, but we did. We got there mid morning and went downtown which was alright, as was the Hungarian food at the mall food court where we had lunch. We were dragging, but then we went to the baths, which is why we stopped in this town, and they were cool! They had rooms from different bathe styles throughout history and they were carved into a deep grotto in the mountain. Everything was very clean. I hadn’t been excited about the stop, but it was well worth it.

People came back to the bus late even though Jura had announced it on the loud speaker to the whole complex. This included the group that I had gone in with. I had again wondered off on my own, and Gino, another Jura, Lesya and Ira were coming back as Jura and I made our way back to round people up. [I had met the girls in the bathroom line at a stop on the way to Zagreb, and we all hung out a good bit at the conference, although they were in another parish than ours. In the weeks to come, while back in Drohobych, we would see a lot of them.] They said they hadn’t heard the announcement, but when we got back to the place (it was about 7 minute walk from where the bus was parked), there were people from our group just sitting inside eating, but they couldn’t see us waiting, and the ticket takers wouldn’t let us back in to get them. Even when they came out, they were very inconsiderate and unremorseful. It reminded me of the people that scream at each other in the parking lot after church lets out, considering where we had left the day before. We got home with no more difficulties. We were there early in the morning, said goodbye to all, or ‘maybe we’ll see you later’, though we didn’t see anyone else that day, and went home to nap a few hours. Michelle stayed for two more days, Gino for a month (to be explained), and right when Michelle left is when the Ukrainian holidays really got rolling.

A few Random Thoughts from Croatia:
-They drink tea in the evening and early morning, but only during the day if they are sick (which is very different from Ukrainians) and it is red, and very good!
-The host family had an ingenious magnetic soap holder! It had an arm mounted to the wall with a magnet at the end and a little disk of metal that you push into the top of the soap. Never any slimy soap goop!
-Croatia has many different crests; the major ones (although the flag has six, I think) are Croatian, Slovonian, and Dalmatian. I think they are all descendents of Ruthenians, and tend to see the others as brothers. The war was rather removed from here. It seemed to have more to do with the Serbs and Bosnians, who were not part of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire, unlike the Croats.
-People smoke inside their homes. At least our host family did and thought it was odd not to. Most Ukrainians don’t smoke inside, in my experience. They will smoke on the balcony.
-At the conference there are so many different sects of Christians but they all live peacefully together not even discussing protestant and catholic distinctions. Predominantly Catholic countries are definitely better represented and there are very few Orthodox. You really can’t tell what people believe (they don’t wear it on their sleeve) until you talk with them, although some are normally rather conflicting views. They all come together here. It is beautiful.
-Taize really tries to capture a mood at the prayers, so as you walk in there are volunteers managing traffic and holding big signs that say ‘silence’ or show a red slashed camera. It is pretty interesting.

And now, let’s review for anyone thinking of going next year. Here are the conference pluses: you get to know a host family; you participate in a local church community; you have small discussion groups with many different nations; it is a great way to see a new city; it is very well organized; the conferences are dependable and consistent but always new too; it is a great way to spread peace and understanding; and it really is hard to stick with their program because it is so jam packed with great things to do and there are even more alternatives in the city. Can I sign you up?

Labels: Taize

posted by jjs @ 6:01 AM