Two Windows.

The first building you see at the bottom right is the tail end of the dorm where I live. You heard me right. It is a good thing I love dorm life, because this year marks my sixth total, and fourth consecutive year living in a student dormitory. Of course there are some drawbacks to dorm living, but I've already purchased earplugs to mitigate against that problem. I have met only a few of the students so far, my progress being hampered both by poor Hungarian and general shyness. But we have been carefully watching each other and greeting one another with a furtive "Hello" (they to me) or "Szia" (me to them.)

The second building is the Reformed church here in town. The primary indicator of the church's denominational affiliation is the star on the spire (which you can't really make out in the photo) as opposed to the cross of the Catholic church a bit down the street. The bells sound at about 7:53 every morning except Sunday, and this is my usual signal to make my way across for the daily 8:00 am service. Relative to other morning prayer services I have attended, this is heavy on preaching and light on Psalms and sacrament. This is unfortunate, because I go mostly to sing and to look at people, and manage to pick up only a few words of the service. I look mostly at women. This is not only because women outnumber men at the service, but because the sanctuary is constructed of two sets of pews facing each other: one for men and the other for women. I have been sitting at the back of the men's side, closer to the dorm building, which is sort of a younger-folks-mixed-gender section.

In front of the church is a pedestrian walkway that opens up to restaurants, shops, a small square, and an open-air market where one can acquire nearly any object that is able to be acquired in Transcarpathia. This street is bustling in the morning, but quiet by about 2 in the afternoon. Often the walkers are serenaded by a man playing an accordion. Which is nice, but I think he knows approximately two songs.

The building in the foreground is a Hungarian-speaking college, and the dorm where I live houses about fifty of its students. Like all of Transcarpathia, the college's building has undergone many transformations. One student (an English major) informed me that the building was a factory during World War II, and that the striped circle in the middle used to hold a Soviet symbol. There were some other things too, but they have since slipped my memory.

Now to the other side of the building. This photo was taken from my room window. This is one of the main streets here in town, and following it in the direction of the car pictured would take you across the border to Hungary. Here you see a bank, a few shops, and the Beregszászian equivalent of the wawa (i.e. lots of liquor to supplement the junk food.) Most of the signs are in Ukrainian. From this street I hear with equal frequency (a) car alarms and (b) horse-drawn carts. I also observe the passing of many interesting-looking cars, about which I cannot supply any information beyond that they are ancient and Russian-made (Hi Tim!).

I don't know how to end this. I can't believe I live here!