Safe At Home

NOTE:  This is an update of the fire that rolled through Colorado Springs, the town where my parents live.  Read my first two parts about it here: Colorado Springs Is Burning and Fire Update.

Taken from the ridge above my house. The fire is still burning nearby, but we'll probably be alright. (click to see larger)Saturday afternoon, my family and I returned to our house.  The evacuation was lifted Friday night, but it was too late for us to want to return to a house that was most likely full of smoke.

It turns out that everything was fine.  Tuesday evening (when we were forced to evacuate) was a very stressful time, but my dad and I were focused enough to firmly close all the windows and doors.  This must have made some difference because I know that some of our close neighbors came home to the foul smell of smoke inside.

The fire came eerily close to our home, but it didn't get it.  It completely destroyed houses that were maybe a mile away, so we were very lucky.  Our house is in a small valley, and the ridge in the backyard has a big, close view of some of the burned areas.

From the ridge above my house. The fire burned many houses, but a lot were saved by the firefighters - even if it was a little to close for comfort. (click to see larger)Another concern we had was of burglars.  There were some horrible people who were taking advantage of this situation by breaking into peoples houses and stealing stuff.  They knew no one would be home, and they somehow snuck past the police who were guarding the neighborhoods to rob and destroy.  Fortunately, we didn't have this either.

The fire isn't out yet.  It is still burning in the mountains, and it's still alive on one of the big peaks overlooking the city.  That has us worried a little, because there's a slight chance it could get out of control and head our way again.

Overall, it looks like this story has a happy ending for my family.  We will, however, keep some of those boxes packed in case flames head our way in the immediate future.  Thanks for all of your concern throughout this!

If there's one thing you should take away from all of this, it's that you should always appreciate your home.  Hopefully nothing will ever happen to it, but remember that it's possible.  There's no place like home.

 From the ridge above my house. Even though a lot burned, they saved a lot of buildings. The one in the middle is my old doctor's office. (click to see larger)

Fire Update

NOTE:  All of my photos here are from Saturday (June 23rd), the first day of the fire, when it was quite far away.

The hill behind my house (that hopefully protected it) gave us a good view of the progress - day 1. (click to see larger)My last article was left more suspenseful than it should have been, I suppose.  Tuesday was a very scary day because everything changed so quickly.  We had been living, literally, in the shadow of this fire since Saturday, and everyone had relaxed and started to believe it wouldn't get to us.

Things changed quickly, as I said before.  During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the wind shifted and the fire flew out of control.  It crossed the two lines that were supposed to hold it, hopped over a ridge, and started hurtling down the side of the mountain towards a highly populated area.

A different angle of the original smoke plume - day 1. (click to see larger)They evacuated everyone as quickly as possible, and the firefighters went in to do battle with the flames.  Many homes were lost, but the majority were saved.  Now, it seems to have been pushed back from immediately endangering the town (I say immediately because it's still taunting us from the sides of the mountains).  Unfortunately, it seems to be making it's way towards smaller towns.

Average people and news crews all flocked to hills and ridges to get a view - day 1. (click to see larger)Here are some current statistics about what is going on:

• 18,500 acres have burned or are burning
• 346 homes have been lost (at least)
• 32,000 people have been evacuated
• 0 people have died
• 10% of the fire is contained

There still isn't any direct news about our house.  Reports I've heard (mostly through word-of-mouth and Facebook) say that many areas very close have survived.  Also, a photographer went up in a plane yesterday and took pictures of the destruction.  My parents and I closely examined these (while comparing them to satellite images from map webistes) and saw they are not in our neighborhood - but not far.

As sad as I am to know that people's houses have burned, I'm happy to know that it's likely ours is still there (but still quite worried because of being unsure).

Now we are staying with friends north east of where we were before.  I just had to shut the window because I started smelling smoke.  The flames are moving north, and the wind is carrying the smell east (where we are at a safe distance).

I know these are very different than my normal light hearted posts about my travels, but it's something I want to let people know about.  I love to travel, but I never stop thinking about home.  Now, I traveled to my home, and it's at risk of disappearing.

The smoke is so thick that it blocks the sun (this was directly pointed at the sun) - day 1. In later days, the light coming through the smoke turned everything orange. (click to see larger)Thank you for all of the nice messages I've been recieving.  I'll do my best to keep you posted  on what's happening.

NEW UPDATE:  They just announced a meeting for tonight to break the news to people who have lost their homes.  They're only allowing people to attend who live on certain streets (presumably damaged areas).  Our street was not on the list, nor was any street that is immediately nearby.

Blurry, but this hopefully shows how hard it has been to sleep knowing the flames are always out there - night 1. (click to see larger)

Colorado Springs Is Burning

I have traveled from Hungary to Colorado to be with my family for the summer, but it's not the vacation I expected.  A forest fire began in the mountains west of the city on Saturday, and it has been causing worry ever since.

Today, everything changed.  Colorado Springs is in flames.  We had to evacuate our house as smoke and fire poured in to the area.  I don't know the condition of the house - it may be perfectly fine, it may be completely gone - but the last views I had of that area of town were dense clouds of smoke and bursts of flames.

The important thing is that my parents, my three dogs, and myself are all safe and out of harm's way - at least for now.  We are fortunate enough to have friends who are letting us stay with them.  Hopefully we will find out more news tomorrow.EVACUATE! It was just like a Hollywood movie about an epic natural disaster - plus, very hot and smoky in my jeep. (click to see larger)

From this distance (pretty far east from the mountains) you can usually see a beautiful view of mountains and houses. Not today. (click to see larger)

I know houses have burned, all we can do is hope that ours isn't one of them. (click to see larger)

The Other Side Of The Desk

The Central European Teaching Program was my ticket into Hungary.It was nearly two years ago when I left the comfort and familiarity of my home and headed to eastern Hungary.  I was seeking excitement and adventure, and I thought I had a better chance of finding it halfway around the world.

I did.

My means of living there was teaching my native language.  This resulted in confused responses from my friends because I had never wanted to teach, never studied grammar (aside from the minimum amount that everyone must in the United States), and never particularly liked school.  But, none of that stopped me.

The Central European Teaching Program helped me find my way in to Békéscsaba, a town that I probably never would have discovered on my own.  I went in thinking that the teaching would be the boring necessity that would fund my adventures, and I thought it would be the worst part.  Ironically I really enjoyed the challenges of it, and I actually looked forward to going to work on Monday mornings.

Budapest is beautiful, especially at night.My initial plan had been to stay only for one year, but I had decided to leave my options open.  I thought either I would hate teaching and have to move somewhere else for a different job, or not mind teaching but want to explore a new country.  It became confusing because I never expected to like the work so much.

The issue became the size of the town.  I liked the job, I liked the school, I liked the people, but the town wasn't as big as I wanted.  Having a population of about 70,000 it wasn't microscopic, but there weren't many English speakers and very few people my age.  It seemed like it was time for a change in location.

I liked Hungary, though, so I decided to focus on the capital city of Budapest.  Working there would allow me to remain in the country I was enjoying, but give me all the opportunities of living in a large, cosmpolitan European capital.  It was slightly difficult (mostly because of some miscommunication), but I managed to find a new high school to teach at.

Unfortunately, the second year was sort of the opposite of the first.  I really liked the city I lived in, but I no longer enjoyed the job in the same way.  It wasn't as fun and new, it just felt like going to work.  Plus, the first year I did mostly speaking and coversation activities which seemed logical.  The second year I worked through textbooks and was forced to teach many concepts that are never used in actual English.

Frustration grew daily as I started to wonder why I was tasked with playing a CD of a person speaking English when I could better demonstrate the language by talking myself.  However, the school seemed to be set in its ways, so I simply did as I was told.

I like being around a lot of people - kind of like this.My contract was for a year, but I knew I wanted out.  The new problem was what to do next.  With the worldwide economy still in bad shape, there weren't many job openings.  Many of my friends back home were returning to school to get higher degrees, even people who had never planned to.  I started to wonder if that should be my strategy.

At first I wasn't thrilled with the thought of going to get more education, but eventually the idea grew on me.  I had studied business for my undergraduate degree, and I had very much strayed away from that path.  There was always a plan in the back of my mind to get an MBA degree if it looked like it would benefit me, and the positive reasons started to become more and more obvious.

Since my interest is in international business, I decided to stay in Europe for my degree.  This led to a search for programs in English, which are fortunately pretty common.

The new place where I will spend my days.Although I searched all over Europe, I ended up choosing something close to "home."  Corvinus University in Budapest has a great program that I applied and was accepted to.  So, starting in September I'll be spending two years on the other side of the teacher's desk.

I'm really looking forward to getting back into something that truly interests me, but I can't say that I'm too excited about tests and homework...

Hungarian word of the day:

Egyetem

This is pronounced "Eh-dj-eh-tehm," and it means "University."  Not only am I excited about the courses I'll taking, but the building itself is beautiful.  It's exactly the sort of environment I want to study in.

Missing Person Report

Don't be alarmed, I'm safe!  I know I disappeared for a while, but nothing bad happend to me.  I was just busy (and a little bit lazy).

Things have been eventful, and there are some big changes coming in my life.

I won't give away my surprises yet, but know that very soon I will share some recent stories and fill you in on whats coming next!

My adventure isn't over yet, so stay tuned...