Culture: Hungarian Holidays

There have been a few holidays recently, one familiar, one unfamiliar, and one that makes a mess of Eger for two weeks. We were surprised by Women's Day, celebrated on March 8. Jack and I had noticed that many men seemed to be carrying flowers and plants as they walked away from the market on Sunday. He even asked me, "Was I supposed to give you flowers or something?" But we didn't find out what was going on until the next day, when I got a call from Gabi, our wonderful secretary, telling me that "the men" wanted to invite me to the workplace Women's Day party at the library at 2:00 P.M. Two other calls came in from "men" of the library and the Institute, extending the invitation. Having experienced Zsuzsana's Name Day office party, I knew that wine, at least, would likely be involved!

At 2:00 P.M. we gathered in one of the beautiful reading rooms in the library. Since the Institute is large (about 60 people), and mostly male, the 10 or so women were well honored with speeches from Dr. Kis-Tóth, wine, champagne, cookies, presentation of flowering plants (Dr. Hauser gave me mine), and a puszi (kiss on each cheek) from each man!

International Women's Day, celebrated in several countries in Europe, is the basis for this holiday. You can read about the origins in Wikipedia (I take no responsibility for accuracy!), but from what I was told and observed, the holiday in Hungary has become more like a Valentine's Day that is extended beyond lovers to female friends and colleagues. In any case, it was fun, I was honored to be included, and my plant is actually still living on my desk. I also found out in Hungary there is a Mother's Day and a Children's Day, but no Father's or Men's Day!

Hungary celebrates March 15 (március 15) as Independence Day, the day of the outbreak of the 1848 revolution. Jack, my sister Susan, and I were to be in Budapest on that day, and my colleagues gave us cockades (ribbons with the national colors of red, green and white) to wear. They also told us that the day was traditionally a day when demonstrations take place, as well as large political gatherings, and that we would likely see police and barricades. Our cockades had the effect of causing us to be addressed in Magyar rather than English when leafleted! We did see a lot of preparation and decoration of the city, but were on our way back to Eger early enough to avoid most of the crowds. We watched the Hero's Square festivities and minor confrontations on TV, like everyone else.

The latest holiday was a puzzler. When Jack and I returned from our short trip to Prague, we walked from the train station through our neighborhood. The whole area, usually very clean and tidy, had become strewn with piles of broken furniture and toys, clothing, tree clippings, rubbish of all types. People were throwing stuff out of the first, second, and even third story windows, and watching it drift down to form even bigger piles. Spring cleaning fever on a massive scale?

The next day I went to the office and thoroughly amused the office staff by asking if there was a Spring Cleaning Holiday going on. It is, of course, a designated day for each neighborhood when bulk trash can be put out and collected at no cost. This takes place over a two week period in Eger, with days rotating from neighborhood to neighborhood. The practice brings with it groups of people (many seeming to be minority Roma families, often with children, equipped with hand carts and large bags) who go through the piles and take what could be used or sold by them. For once, I had no extra 'stuff' to throw away!