There is Power in Our Union!

Happy May Day, everyone! The holiday to commemorate the successful fight for the 8 hour workday, and other benefits of the labor movement.

How did we celebrate May Day, you ask, in the formerly communist country where we currently spend our days?

Well, to start with, it was the first full day of Uncle Pat's visit to us here in Budapest, as he arrived last night. We'd only recently learned that May 1st is a national holiday here, and that many things would be closed. In addition, May Day falling on a Thursday this year, most Hungarians also got Friday off (although for this privilege they had to work last Saturday!)

Luckily, Hadley told us that one of the big celebrations of May Day in Budapest is a big festival in City Park (Varosliget). Hadley, Titus, Cassius and Tadeus, Uncle Pat, Jordan, Devin and I all headed off together to City Park.

City Park is a large (302 acres) park, and the festival seemed to spread over most of it. We didn't see everything, but we did see a classic car display, tons of kiddie rides, lots of deliciously unhealthy food (sausage, fried dough slathered with sour cream and cheese, breaded fried ham, hot dogs, french fries, ice cream, cotton candy . . . ), stages with music both comtemporary and traditional, what appeared to be a children's dance competition, face painting, pony rides, sales of crafts, textiles, shoes, souvenirs, marzipan dolls, you name it), tables for unions, political organizations, and political parties. It attracted constant streams of people from morning til evening, as far as we could tell. Devin and Cash rode some rides and bounced in the Moon Walk, we all ate ice cream and had a great time.

After a rejuvenating rest, we went to celebrate Mass in honor of St. Joseph the Worker, for another perspective on International Workers' Day. Fr. Terrence Curry SJ invited us to a thoughtful moving reflection on the importance of our work as an act of co-creation with God. As Mass was celebrated in a small group around a table, Devin got the most upclose view of the Mass being celebrated of her life, and she was . . . transfixed, I think is the best word. All the while, dinner was cooking over a fire not far away. We had a traditional Hungarian stew, blackened chicken, roasted eggplant and a few other delicacies. And of course, interesting conversations with the architecture students, American residents of Hungary, and members of the Board of the Szent Josef Studio Kollegium, the architecture studio Terry directs.

Unbeknownst to me, Terry is an expert woodworker, and took Pat and us down to see his amazingly well-equipped shop. One of the architecture students showed Pat and I the village center she has designed in consultation with a village in Transylvania.