Art of Translation

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

L’Avenir

L’avenir: it’s one of the French words that means “in the future,” not as in the future tense of a verb, but rather in terms of past, present, and the future. It doesn’t necessarily describe a specific amount of time in the future, or exactly when it will be, but it describes the future in a way that seems far removed from where one resides figuratively at the present moment. L’avenir represents a time in days or years yet to come, when one will be in a certain place, doing a certain thing. “I will be in medical school, à l’avenir. I will hopefully work in international medicine, à l’avenir.” It’s a state of mind, a state of being in your life that so quickly comes and goes, just as easily as the present turns into the past, like a passing breath in cold, winter air. That’s the sort of sense that this word evokes for me, at least whenever I use it. I used it a lot while in Paris, and it means so much now more than ever, as I look forward to future plans and life beyond Rice.  Continue reading