Tag Archives: weather

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 →

Commencement

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I’ve been home almost a week now, and I still haven’t written about graduation. But that’s because it’s difficult to write about a place and people that you love, and yet won’t be seeing for awhile. That’s kind of what this blog started out as: a way to reminisce about Paris, a place I love and enjoy so much. But even though I spent a lot of time in Paris and grew to love it even more than before, Rice is different in that I’ve cultivated so many friendships there, I’ve learned so much about the world and myself, and even though Houston isn’t my favorite place, it can be because of the people there.

Graduation took place this past Saturday, on May 11th. For months, my roommates, friends, and I had been talking about the weather, hoping that it wouldn’t be rainy or humid or hot. If anyone knows Houston, the weather can be four different things before 5 PM. And, since Rice holds their graduation outside, there are bound to be times when things just don’t work out. A few days before, the weather said it would be raining the whole morning of graduation, and then stop right after at noon. I thought to myself, “Really? Really?!” I didn’t want my family to be separated (each graduate gets two “Inclement Weather” tickets if the graduation has to be held inside, because there’s not enough space for everyone’s family and friends to fit in Tudor Fieldhouse, which is why it’s held outside on the quad) on a day that was meant to be spent together with one’s closest family and friends.

So I prayed that it wouldn’t rain. My parents prayed…everyone I knew was praying that the rain would hold off until after the ceremony! And what happened? On Saturday, not only did it not rain during the ceremony, but I didn’t see a drop of rain all day long. It made my graduation day such a blessing, and allowed me to focus on my last day at Rice.

It was a whirlwind of beautiful, hot weather, family, friends, smiles, and tears, and one that I wouldn’t change for anything. Congratulations to Rice’s 100th graduating class, the amazing Class of 2013!