Sunday in Kissolymos

Going to church in Transylvania is a different experience than at home. The Transylvania Unitarians have very different beliefs than the American Unitarian Universalists, as it is still a very biblically based Christian faith in Transylvania. It is also basically a hereditary religion, with its own history of persecution endured and overcome, so that gives it a different flavor as well.

But none of that was apparent from sitting through the church service, mainly because I couldn't understand a word the minister said (it was all in Hungarian). Well, no I did recognize when he said "Americans" when he was welcoming us as guests.

The big, huge difference that really jumps out at us as guests is that men sit on one side of the church and women sit on the other. This is just how it has always been done, but to our American sensibilities it feels weird. Carbon got to sit with me because he's just a little kid, but most of the kids and teens actually sit up in the loft. So it's a very segregated church experience.

After church they had organized a community lunch in their community hall for us, and the folk dancing group that the minister has organized performed. Lunch always starts with soup there, and is the biggest meal of the day. They also pushed a lot of palinka - their signature homemade liquor - on us for lots of toasts. Isten Isten! (God God - nice and simple to remember).