Katie Dul Crossing Borders Essay 1

I wouldn’t call it a critical incident by definition exactly, but I would call it a

critical weekend. When you think about studying abroad for four months you think

wow that’s a long time away from home. But when you finally get abroad, time is of

the essence and weekends become a treasured experience. I guess I could say that

every weekend I spent abroad was a new country, new experience but my trip to

Transylvania was a different experience all together.

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania.  What

makes it so unique is that there are many Hungarian villages in the region because

parts of Romania were once part of Hungary. My deep connection to this trip is

rooted in the fact that my father is an immigrant from Romania. He came from one

of those villages to seek refuge and a better life in the United States. He’s a big talker

when it comes to his past and bringing up the “when I was a kid…” speech. His

stories are ones I grew up with and his culture has always been one I had wanted to

explore further. Being that my mothers culture was more dominate in my childhood

than my fathers, the trip to Transylvania was one I had always looked forward to. It

was an opportunity to get an inside peek at what my dad grew up in. I could finally

have a deeper connection to the different way of life my dad led.

In Simone Weil’s reading of “The Need for Roots” he calls “rootedness” a

“real, active and natural participation in the life of a community.” On my CIEE

program trip to Transylvania we were given the opportunity to do a weekend

homestay with a Hungarian speaking family in a small village. When I say small, I’m

talking dirt roads, horse drawn wagons and chicken coop, small. It was true rural

living and it really made me grasp an understanding for what my dad lived through

on his farm as a young boy. In that sense my participation in the life of the

community brought upon a sense of rootedness in my heritage. Weil also writes

“without an understanding of the past, we have nothing to give the future.” In my

case the understanding of my past was a critical event that will stay with me forever.

When we began our trip to Transylvania we knew we’d be seeing a lot of

churches, grassland and cities but in being able to immerse ourselves in this foreign

community made our stay interesting. From the get go we were faced with

challenges. Crossing the border into Romania via bus took a solid two hours. In

having to wait that long we weren’t sure we were even going to make it. When we

eventually did make it past the border the landscape was beautiful. There was lush

Greenland, hilltops and mountains galore. The town was both breathtaking and

refreshing at the same time. Everything just seemed so authentic. We got to stop by

the chicken coops see traditional Hungarian clothing and most importantly eat

traditional home cooked Hungarian meals.

When I put into perspective the meals we eat here in the states verses the

meals they served in our host families I would say meals for them were a cultural

art. There was not a time throughout the trip I felt a need to ask for more food or

snack on the ride because we were always served a three-course meal. Whether it

started out with soup or bread and dip, it always ended in a delicious desert as well.

Throughout the trip we encountered a more consistent challenge and that

was the language barrier. Though we’d been taking Hungarian language class all

semester the amount we actually learned did not help in holding lengthy

conversations. How did we overcome it you ask? Well we always stuck to basics and

when we needed to shy away from the basics we’d call on our trusty pocket

dictionary! The family was really grateful for our eagerness in learning and speaking

with them. Though the conversation was brief they understood our gratitude and

were willing to help on any front.

The whole weekend was filled with so much to do and so little time but with

the experience of just being abroad, it taught me to make the most of the moments I

had in front of me. And I most certainly did. That moment came when we traveled

forty-five minutes away to a mountainous area of the land and I was faced with the

challenge of taking an almost six hour hike up a huge mountain. Now, when we got

the hike started I thought we were doing a hike up half the mountain and then

coming down. Little did I know that the hike would consist of a hike up one very

steep side of the mountain to the other side of the mountain. A very important detail

to point out is that it had rained the night before so the land was still quite wet but

have no fear we were to climb it anyway.

The group of students I went abroad with were all great. CIEE Budapest had

its biggest group in their history with our bunch of goons. So in that sense it was a

really special year for the program because interest in the city was so high.

Therefore, we had the great pleasure of doing the hike with our wonderful program

director, Erszebet otherwise known as Elizabeth. In all her long years of running the

program she had never made the hike and we were the lucky ones to have her do it

with us. I myself was under the impression that this hike would be a breeze.

As we began our incline up I knew I was toast. The ground was wet and man

was I out of shape. I don’t know how others were sprinting ahead but I do know I

made it my goal to maintain a steady pace. Going with a group of about 32 students

was quite comical in the end though. We endured walking through small rivers,

rocks and slippery slopes where we’d slide and take one down with us from behind.

Safe to say it was a hilarious show to watch and we were all pretty muddy by the

end of it. Till about midway through the climb I had almost lost hope. I was so tired

muddy and out of breathe. There were times I wanted to give up completely. It was

the light and comical atmosphere that kept me going because there was only one

way out of this and it was getting to the top. And not to mention the fact that my

sixty something year old director was sticking it out with us was definitely a

motivator.

I mentioned earlier that the whole weekend was a critical event for me and it

truly was. If I were to pin point a critical incident within the weekend though, it

would definitely have to be the hike and finally making it to the top because man

was it worth it! A weekend that had tied me down to my roots and given me a true

understanding of who my dad was came full circle when I stood atop a Romanian

mountain overlooking the scenery. It was

definitely one of those moments I whipped out

the quote “Life’s a climb, but the views great.”

I have greatly reflected on this weekend

trip because it was not only a bonding moment

for my group abroad but it was a bonding

moment for my family. Seeing where my dad

has come from to where he is now makes me

thankful everyday for where I am today and how my parents have played a huge

role in getting me here.