I don’t think that days can be better than this, or more bittersweet. I’m sitting in a café, listening to Southern jazz as I drink an iced tea icee and thinking back on my wonderful morning.
Running late for work, as I always seem to do on Thursday mornings, I literally ran to school in the 95 degree heat, hoping to make it to my 10A class on time – at least for the last day. Alas, I still arrived a few minutes late, dripping with the dew of the sweltering morning.
I walked in the classroom and for the first time in almost twenty-three years, I was thrown a surprise party. Two of my girls, Fanni and Eszter, presented me with a creative scrapbook page with our class photograph which everyone had signed. Fanni, quite the artist, had also painted me a watercolor card with her own best-wishes. Eszter armed me with luck, bringing me her handcrafted good-luck turtle. When the girls shifted, I glimpsed the whole class behind them, gathered around a table filled with homemade muffins, cake, and pogácsa, a typical Hungarian biscuit drizzled with cheese.
We ate the scrumptious treats and commenced a spelling bee, boys versus girls, which the boys promptly won, and so the card games began. When the last bell rang, the room was filled with goodbyes and hugs and a million special memories.
No sooner did I arrive at my second class than did the paparazzi flash go off – 9A was gathered around the teacher’s table where a lovely (and incredibly delicious) two layer chocolate cake sat, sparkling with the phrase “We’ll miss you!” The class was playing a goodbye song on the computer, and almost teary-eyed, I scanned their smiling faces and saw a “We’ll miss you Anna!” mural on the blackboard and a bright orange poster board with three of our class photos, signed by the students and decorated with different phrases and memories from our time together.
After everyone got a slice of cake, we took a long walk throughout the city, snapping photos together and chatting. The sun shone brightly as we strolled, enjoying our last moments together.
My third and last Teleki lesson was with my piquant 10C class. We spent the lesson basking in the sun, playing soccer, and chatting about the year to come. Zita, Rebecca, and Eszter surprised me with an incredible torte – the first bite made me think of sunny days lounging with the Cavenders, nibbling on Aunt Lisa, Aunt Annette, and Aunt Carolyn’s goodies. I can’t wait to share the recipe with them!
The day wrapped itself up and as I came in the teacher’s lounge to grab my goodies and return home, the English teachers gathered together for a final goodbye party. They shared memories with me and gifted me with a Hungarian novel, translated into English, along with some chocolates and an Italian novel to read on my way to Italy.
Now, as I sit here in one of my favorite Fehervar haunts, filled to the brim with sweets, I am saddened with the prospect of leaving my students and colleagues, but excited about the adventures yet to come – Spain, Italy, Croatia, Chicago, Birmingham, Nashville ….and then Vienna awaits me! What a hard life, huh? J My memories of Hungary, her hospitality and people, will travel with me always, for as Fanni Hatvani says:
“Beginnings are usually scary and ending are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts. You have to remember this when you find yourself at the beginning.”
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