Author Archives: thecharalife

Dean’s Holiday

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Today is a Dean’s Holiday for all the students and faculty here at the U. of Pécs! I think this is the first legitimate “break” we’ve had since beginning classes in September almost 2 months ago. We were given the day off for Medicine Days, which is an event that the University holds for alumni who graduated from the school 50 years ago – the honorees receive a new diploma from the University, and they are celebrated during the weekend of activities. Naturally, with a Friday off, I have more time than usual to sit on my couch and do something I love: sing worship songs! Today, this was my Friday jam:

This version of Salvation is Here is on Yahweh, an acoustic collection of songs sung live by Hillsong Chapel, which lately I’ve realized is my absolute favorite CD. There’s just something about this song (and the CD) that’s so uplifting and victorious.

Happy Friday!

Art of Translation

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It’s been a bit of a minute since I last posted, but I’m back (with a couple exams behind me too, to boot)!

Fall is here! I love this time of year. I’m pretty sure I can vouch for the fact that no matter where you are, fall weather is always agreeable – whether the day is quietly sunny or breezily cloudy, it’s beautiful. I’m enjoying Pécs’s fall weather so much (minus the mosquitoes… shudder); looking out my window in the early evening at this time of year brings on bouts of introspective thoughts and future-minded daydreams. I experienced one of those thoughtful days recently; a couple weeks ago, I hosted a Bible study at my place here in Pécs with the ladies from the church I attend here (I use the word “host” loosely…though I didn’t cook any food for the event, I’ve recently gotten into baking and a little cooking! I apologize in advance because I may be sharing a ton of food photos in future months…). Since my church here strives to reach out to as many Hungarians as possible, services are often held in Hungarian, and then translated into English (or vice versa). So this time, the Bible study was taught in English, and translated into Hungarian. It was a hilarious ordeal at the onset, because our Bible study leader speaks both English and Hungarian, so at certain intervals, she’d stop and look at her friend translating her words into Hungarian and say, “Aw come on! That’s not what I said! There’s a better way to say that!” We all had a good laugh at these instances, chuckling to ourselves about the translator’s use of artistic license in conveying original words and ideas to the listeners. Continue reading →

Weekend Bits & Bobs

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This past weekend, I happened to be in the city center to do a bit of grocery shopping (bread, anyone?). My friend and I were leaving the store when we happened upon a rather interesting cultural gathering in the town square. We’re still not sure what was going on, but it was still fun to photograph as much as our phones could hold! Below are some pictures from the event, and from the weekend in general.

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European Med Life

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It’s Labor Day for all my American friends and family, and usually I join in enjoying the day off with copious amounts of food, sleep, and HGTV. But today’s the first time I’ve actually put “laboring” into Labor Day, because it was the first day of classes over here at the University of Pécs Faculty of Medicine.

Yes, that’s right – I’ve officially began my journey as a European med student!

I know, I’ve been MIA from writing these past two weeks as I’ve gotten settled in (shout out to those whom I promised pictures and updates…they will come gradually). But bear with me; I’m a med student now (eek! I get to say that!).

Recently – as in, about two weeks ago – my Dad and I took all my packed bags (which was only 2 suitcases, surprisingly) and headed off on the long journey from Dallas to Pécs (rhymes with “h”), in beautiful southwestern Hungary. Med school is already a crazy ordeal; but to embark on that life change in a new country? Where I don’t speak the official language? Does that sound crazy? Yes? Well, sign me up! I’ve loved travelling since…forever. I’ve also loved medicine (and music and writing, but that’s a different story for another time) for practically my whole life, so in thinking of med schools, I wanted to go to an international school that would seamlessly blend these two passions of mine. And wow, the UP delivered. In my class group (about 15-20 of us), there are students from Jordan, Iran, Israel, Spain, Germany, Norway, Cyprus, Nepal, India, Canada, Argentina, and Nigeria. It’s the norm for students here to be multilingual; if you want motivation to learn a new language, just come here and make some friends. On my first Monday at the school, I met a 3rd year student who spoke nine languages. NINE. And he wasn’t kidding, because he broke out speaking those languages with various other students and patrons who passed by. I was, and am, in heaven just listening to the massive accomplishments of the other students in my med school class. Continue reading →

Middle-Child Day!

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Happy National Middle Child Day!

…What? You’ve never heard of it?

Neither had I (and I’m a middle child, so…), until I was scrolling along on the Internet this morning and bam! Some ads for TV shows I watch (Fresh Prince, anyone?) were wishing happy middle child days to the middle child of the fictitious TV families. Apparently, this “holiday” comes every August 12, and – not surprisingly – most people don’t know about it. Including myself. Of course, it’s a holiday made up by a blogger somewhere in Somewhere, USA, to slightly jest at what some people call “middle child syndrome”, which in finer terms, is basically the art of forgetting that one of your children (the middle one) exists. I had a really good laugh reading an article written by a middle child on the holiday last year, or as he calls it, “the day the world forgot to celebrate.”

I laugh and joke about being the middle child (and I have such a fantastic family that none of the syndrome “symptoms” apply), but the truth is that many, many people feel just as forgotten as the proverbial middle child. For example, in the Bible, David wasn’t a middle child but he was definitely forgotten, so much so that when the prophet Samuel came to David’s father Jesse’s house to anoint one of them as the new king of Israel, Jesse only presented his first seven sons to Samuel! David came up as an afterthought – Jesse didn’t even mention him until Samuel asked if he had any other sons, and even then, Jesse gave the excuse that he was out tending to the family sheep! (I Samuel 16:1 – 13 NLT) Continue reading →