Nadlac - that's the name of the my new site.

Well ... last Saturday we all (70 of us) headed out to visit what
will be our homes for the next couple of years. I think that
everyone seems satisfied with what they have received.

As I have written, the name of my site is called Nadlac which
is an Hungarian name, if I understood correctly. I have to say
that this will definitely be a different Peace Corps experience from
my previous ones. This place is actually beautiful and if I walk
about the length of a football field (American Football that is)
I can see Hungary. We have border stations and the main road
of the little city (population 8,000) is an international highway.
Despite that, this place is just pretty, it is an almost 50/50 mix
of Romanian and Slovakian peoples. There are also some Serbs
and Hungarians and also Roma (Gypsies). 

There are Slovakian dance troupes and the greatest thing of
it all is that there is a 200 year old Evangelical Church that
has this unique custom. Everyday for 200 years there has
been a trumpeter sounding the times of the day. From about
5 in the morning till dark there has been men and their sons
walking out on the walkway of the steeple of this church and
in all four directions and playing their trumpets. Seven beats
for 7 in the morning or evening ... etc.

Needless to say again this is as different as different can be
for me. My Peace Corps experiences have been in villages of
350 and 300 people respectively. I am sure that there are
problems as equal in intensity in a little city of 8,000 as
there is in a village of 300, probably more, but a of different
flavor, obviously. They will be topics for future postings,
hopefully.

I am not too sure about the work yet but in two weeks when
I return we'll start figuring that out.

Other than that I guess I will be going to a lot of cultural festivals
right outside the door of my house.