**Diamonds**

For the seven months that we have been in Hungary, I have been admiring all of the beautiful jewelry in the jewelry shop windows downtown. Finally, we decided to step into a few shops and take an up-close look at the gorgeous gems! It was then we realized that all of the "diamonds" are fakes!! There is not one diamond in the small town of Pápa! After speaking to a sales woman, who spoke English, we learned that there is not a market for real diamonds in town. The real stones that are offered, a few natural gemstones, are under lock and key. It is amazing to see this huge difference in the jewelry market. Back home, real diamonds fill jewelry cases and shops are crowded with people making purchases. Here, if you desire a diamond, you buy a zirconia.

$$$

The prices of American products in Hungary continue to amaze me! Today, while in the drug store I checked out the makeup selection. A Loreal blush, which is normally $10.95 (according to lorealparisusa.com) costs an amazing $22 here in Hungary! This is only one example of the high prices American goods are sold for.

While some goods are extremely over priced (American brands and electronics especially) everyday necessary items are extremely inexpensive (by American standards). A loaf of fresh bread and a dozen eggs cost an average of $1 each. Flour and milk are even cheaper, at about 50 cents each!!

Bike Riding Over Europe

Bike riding over Europe...well not exactly...but we have been enjoying riding our new bikes all over Pápa! Riding bikes through town has provided us with a new perspective of the town and has lead us to different parts of town that we actually had not yet been to!

We have discovered the train station, numerous factories, and what seems to be the high school (which up to this point we thought was a different building). We had read that the high school was in the old, large, yellow college. There is an old yellow building near Vickis, which we had assumed was the high school, but after riding near the train station and seeing a different large old, yellow building, we now think we have found the high school. It is amazing that we have been here for 7 months and are still discovering new things in town.

This is an appropriate time to discuss what we have learned about the school system in Hungary. Students go to school, Mon through Fri, only for as long as it takes them to finish their work for that day. Once their daily work has been completed, they are free to go home. They are not allowed to return to school that day. Most children, from what we have heard, go home before lunch. Some children go to school for specific subjects such as English, math, etc. and are done for the day. This cleared up a lot of confusion on our part. At all times of the day, we see children walking the streets all through town. We did not understand why they were not in school, we now do.

New Years

New Years is a huge celebration in Hungary! Special decorations, horns, costumes, and wigs are for sale to help bring the new year in. There are also a number of firework stands.

New Years Eve was very loud with fireworks consistently being set off from about 4pm to well after midnight. We could hear people shouting and celebrating. Both of our neighbors had parties and we could the American music coming from inside of their homes. At midnight the sky lit up with a terrific display of fireworks, from all directions.

Traditional Hungarian New Years customs include the following:

Burning a straw man will do away with all things bad from the previous year

Do not sew or do laundry on New Years Day it's bad luck

Wash your face with cold water in the morning for health all year

Kiss your significant other at midnight

These are just a few of the traditions...Hungarians definitely know how to celebrate the New Year!