I currently have 6 trips planned or mostly planned: Pecs, Hungary; Paris, France; Transylvania, Romania; Prague, Czech Republic; Venice, Italy and Vienna, Austria; and Berlin, Germany.
However, Krakow, Poland is giving me some problems. I can get from Krakow back to Budapest by bus (www.orangeways.com), and I found a good hostel on hostelbookers.com. But I can't get to Krakow for under $250. That's out of my budget for a 2-3 day trip. This is frustrating because I really wanted to go there.
After LOTS of researching, I discovered www.wizzair.com. I wish I'd known about it sooner, because it has affordable, even cheap, flights to places that I never thought I could afford to go to, like Spain, Turkey, and Sweden, for example. Unfortunately, because it's air travel, and airplanes take a lot of time because you have to get to the airport super early for security and stuff, my 3-day weekends probably cannot handle trips to these places. I'll probably explore the website to entertain the possibility, but it looks like I'll be planning some day or weekend trips to places in Hungary instead.
There are lots of little towns accessible via the Danube, as well as some by HEV. I also think it would be cool to go down to Lake Balaton when it gets warmer. My Frommer's guidebook has lots of possible day trip itinerary options, which will be useful.
Before I start gallivanting across Europe, I have a doctor's appointment early tomorrow morning to make sure that I'm not sick, because I keep waking up feeling dizzy/feverish, which is really strange.
This weekend is the trip to Pecs! (with an accent on the "e")
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
"He just likes to look at her"
We went to Parliament today, for a tour. Dani and I got up super early to get tickets because they were sold out yesterday, and realized that our heat had shut off. She pressed a lot of buttons on the water heater and saved us. Anyway, our tour was at 2, and it was really unorganized initially, because we were with a bunch of French people and we couldn't hear what the guide was saying. After we got through security, though, we were separated into a smaller group of English speakers for the tour. There was a really cool model of Parliament made out of matches! The inside of the building was absolutely gorgeous. All of the materials (except for some marble columns that were a gift from another country) were from Hungary. Photography was actually allowed, which was awesome because in most museums here, you have to pay for a photo pass, which costs more than it's worth. We saw the Hungarian coronation jewels and the upper house. It was rather magnificent. Inside the dome where the jewels were, the guide told us about the statues that adorned the pillars. All of the statues faced the center of the room, except for one, who was looking at the only woman statue. A man asked why, and the guide explained that he's just being a typical Hungarian gentleman, meaning he likes to look at the ladies. Or something like that- her accent was thick. It was funny nonetheless.
Although our initial plan was to explore the castle district after, we were all tired and cold, so we went to our bakery instead. Caitlin met up with us there. She didn't come to Parliament because someone had set a fire in her apartment by leaving something in the oven all night, and Hungarians apparently don't have smoke detectors because she only found out when she woke up and smelled smoke. Everything ended up being okay, which is good. And it reminds me, I still haven't found the pilot light on my oven! So, no baking for me.
Yesterday, we went to the Hungarian National Museum, where we learned about Hungary from the dawn of civilization through present day. It was exhausting, but very interesting. The clothes, jewelry, and weapons were the best artifacts. There was an old printing press, old violins and a harpsichord, and lots of other old stuff that was interesting to look at. There was a really cool archaeological exhibit that had skeletal remains of prehistoric Hungarians. Something odd- holographic stuff was apparently a big deal, because in the modern part of the whole museum, there were holographic plates and a myriad of other holographic things. And, strangely enough, there was a Maryland driver's license for some Hungarian guy sitting on display. I really don't have anything intelligent to say about it, because most of the signs were in Hungarian, which is probably a big reason why the whole experience was so exhausting.We also went to Culinaris, the international food store nearby, because Julie and Caitlin hadn't been there yet, and I bought pancake mix.
Last night, we finished the Lord of the Rings! Return of the King was epic as usual.
As for this past week, a lot of trip planning happened. I found $120 round trip bus tickets to Berlin for Spring Break, $50 round tip bus tickets to Prague, and looked into some other options for hostels and stuff to do while we're there. I'm so excited!!
Next weekend, we go to Pecs, which is a town in southern Hungary.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
life without a thermometer
I woke up this morning with an awful headache after a restless night of temperature changes. I was too miserable to go to class and ended up sleeping until noon. When I woke up, I still didn't feel better. This is not the first time I've wished I had a thermometer, because that's how I judge whether I'm legitimately sick or whether I should suck it up and go to class.
And even if I did have a thermometer here, it would be in Celsius.
Staying home was the right decision today, though. I felt dizzy later, too. After lots of water, sleep, and motrin, I ended up able to catch up on work/email/blogging.
And even if I did have a thermometer here, it would be in Celsius.
Staying home was the right decision today, though. I felt dizzy later, too. After lots of water, sleep, and motrin, I ended up able to catch up on work/email/blogging.
The Value of an International Education
Studying in Budapest has thus far been amazing. I've seen things I've only ever seen in photographs. I've experienced things I've never dreamed I would.
But there's far more to studying abroad than that. I go to class and have at least 5 countries represented at once. I hear at least 4 languages spoken around me each day. I'm learning about other cultures firsthand.
Coming here was probably one of the best decisions I've made.
I feel like more of a world citizen. Back home, it was harder to follow what was going on in the world because much media coverage focused on national issues. It's not that international coverage didn't exist, but not being really close to anywhere but Canada and Mexico kind of is isolating, in a way. But here, I'm bordering more countries than I've even ever been in, and it's hard not to feel connected.
The events happening in the Middle East right now feel a lot closer than they would if I were home right now. It's really interesting, actually, to be so near what is happening, and to actually be studying with people from these countries and witnessing their reactions.
It's easy to feel safe and far away from things like what is currently happening in Libya and Egypt when I'm home, where everyone speaks English and most people I know haven't been anywhere near the Middle East or Africa or even Europe. But here I am, merely hours away from the places I'm reading about in the news, and it's hard to not pay attention to what's happening.
Living here is helping me to be a more informed and aware person. I like it.
But there's far more to studying abroad than that. I go to class and have at least 5 countries represented at once. I hear at least 4 languages spoken around me each day. I'm learning about other cultures firsthand.
Coming here was probably one of the best decisions I've made.
I feel like more of a world citizen. Back home, it was harder to follow what was going on in the world because much media coverage focused on national issues. It's not that international coverage didn't exist, but not being really close to anywhere but Canada and Mexico kind of is isolating, in a way. But here, I'm bordering more countries than I've even ever been in, and it's hard not to feel connected.
The events happening in the Middle East right now feel a lot closer than they would if I were home right now. It's really interesting, actually, to be so near what is happening, and to actually be studying with people from these countries and witnessing their reactions.
It's easy to feel safe and far away from things like what is currently happening in Libya and Egypt when I'm home, where everyone speaks English and most people I know haven't been anywhere near the Middle East or Africa or even Europe. But here I am, merely hours away from the places I'm reading about in the news, and it's hard to not pay attention to what's happening.
Living here is helping me to be a more informed and aware person. I like it.
On Margaret Island
See what I did there with the title? Blatant Neutral Milk Hotel reference, in case you didn't know. Just like the name of my blog.
Anyway, to get to the point, we spent Sunday exploring Margaret Island, which is like the Central Park of Budapest. It was pretty awesome. The bridge connecting the Island to Buda and Pest is currently under construction, so we had to walk across the bridge rather than taking the tram. Interestingly enough, we encountered a group of Waldos, like from "Where's Waldo?"
So we get on the island, and the first thing that catches our eye is this crazy space-pod-like statue thing.
As we continued our journey on the island, we realized how long it has been since we've seen so many trees up close. At least, so many green trees, since most of the vegetation in the city is scarce and dead, as it is still rather wintery here. It was lovely. And there were huge fields and open spaces and the air was fresh and it smelled so sweet, which is strange to say because I've heard that description of air before but never really understood it. I guess after almost a month of city air, anything fresh would smell quite different.
There were peacocks!! And ponies, and sea eagles, and herons, and an assortment of other birds in some kind of little zoo. It was awesome. We couldn't really touch any of the ponies or do much more than stare at them and take pictures from our side of the fence, but still, it was nice to see animals other than gigantic pigeons and city dogs.
The best part of Margaret Island by far were the ruins. I have a basic knowledge of what they were, but apparently the daughter of a Hungarian king lived there as a nun in the distant past. It was so much fun to explore the ruins and imagine what they were like had the actual building been intact. There were little kids using the ruins as their playground, which was cute. I recorded a lot of video, so anticipate another one coming in a week or so.
Many people on the island were exploring with cameras in hand, so for once, I didn't feel conspicuous and touristy with mine in front of my face for 60% of the time. We came across a beautiful old church, some tall structure that seemed to have been converted into a restaurant, and a beautiful natural spring.
There was a HUGE tree with a bouncy branch upon which people could sit and bounce. That was fun.
After about two hours, we still hadn't seen everything, but we were getting cold and tired, and besides, it was getting dark and we had been told by Adriana that Margaret Island after dark isn't the safest place to be.
So we left and went to the Turkish restaurant near Nyugati that Dani and I visited with Rhaelynn because Laura has been wanting to try it out. I ate couscous without even knowing that is what it was, picking out the awkward vegetables, and it was rather good and rather cheap. I wish these places were located by school. So far, I've only found bakeries and fast food restaurants.
That night, we watched the Fellowship of the Ring. There are plans to continue the rest of the series in the next couple of weeks. Fun times.
Anyway, to get to the point, we spent Sunday exploring Margaret Island, which is like the Central Park of Budapest. It was pretty awesome. The bridge connecting the Island to Buda and Pest is currently under construction, so we had to walk across the bridge rather than taking the tram. Interestingly enough, we encountered a group of Waldos, like from "Where's Waldo?"So we get on the island, and the first thing that catches our eye is this crazy space-pod-like statue thing.
As we continued our journey on the island, we realized how long it has been since we've seen so many trees up close. At least, so many green trees, since most of the vegetation in the city is scarce and dead, as it is still rather wintery here. It was lovely. And there were huge fields and open spaces and the air was fresh and it smelled so sweet, which is strange to say because I've heard that description of air before but never really understood it. I guess after almost a month of city air, anything fresh would smell quite different.
There were peacocks!! And ponies, and sea eagles, and herons, and an assortment of other birds in some kind of little zoo. It was awesome. We couldn't really touch any of the ponies or do much more than stare at them and take pictures from our side of the fence, but still, it was nice to see animals other than gigantic pigeons and city dogs. 
Many people on the island were exploring with cameras in hand, so for once, I didn't feel conspicuous and touristy with mine in front of my face for 60% of the time. We came across a beautiful old church, some tall structure that seemed to have been converted into a restaurant, and a beautiful natural spring.
There was a HUGE tree with a bouncy branch upon which people could sit and bounce. That was fun.
After about two hours, we still hadn't seen everything, but we were getting cold and tired, and besides, it was getting dark and we had been told by Adriana that Margaret Island after dark isn't the safest place to be.
So we left and went to the Turkish restaurant near Nyugati that Dani and I visited with Rhaelynn because Laura has been wanting to try it out. I ate couscous without even knowing that is what it was, picking out the awkward vegetables, and it was rather good and rather cheap. I wish these places were located by school. So far, I've only found bakeries and fast food restaurants.
That night, we watched the Fellowship of the Ring. There are plans to continue the rest of the series in the next couple of weeks. Fun times.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
So...I'm going to Paris
This week, Rhaelynn and I booked tickets to Paris, and reserved beds in Friends Hostel, which was the cheapest one available because Paris is expensive. We're leaving on March 11 and getting back on the 15. I'm rather excited.
It's looking like the weekend after might be Romania, specifically Transylvania, to see Dracula's castle! Only downside is that people may also be planning Krakow for that weekend, and both were places I was wanting to go. So hopefully they'll be scheduled separately, but if not, well, I'll have to get someone else to go with me to Krakow. Or give it up.
This morning I found a bug in my bed, freaked out, woke up Dani, made her check for more, and got her to compare it to bed bug photos online, and was relieved to see that it was not a match. However, I'm still afraid of my bed and consequently, am going to email Adriana to see what I can do to make sure there isn't anything there to worry about.
However, I can't access my email because the Internet connection here is so bad. I need to ask her about that, too. And maybe go find an internet cafe, which shouldn't be too hard because there are a lot of them, but it just comes down to which one will let me access my internet and which one is the cheapest.
Last night was a lot of fun. We went to Okay Italia, which Alfonso said was going to be expensive, but it ended up being like $15 for some really good food, and I didn't mind because we only have plans to go out for dinner once a month. All other eating out times are at tiny little local places on the side of the street, which consequently, are not very expensive. Okay Italia was worth the splurge. I tried something I wasn't sure I'd like, and ended up loving it! Can't tell you what it was, though, since it was in Italian.
After that, we went to Palace Cinema in West End Mall to see New York, I Love You. It was subtitled in Hungarian. It was a really good movie- very artistic, creative, and deep. I liked it. I also liked the previews, some of which were in Hungarian, like one for a new Winnie the Pooh movie, which I have decided I absolutely must see in Hungarian if it comes out while I am here.
After buying plane tickets and stuff, I'm even more conscious about what I'm spending, because I want to be able to afford to go to all the places I want to go.
Oh, hey, I forgot to mention that I am now an official legal resident of Hungary until May 24. I got my residence permit! It was awful because we had to get to immigration at 8:15, it takes 40 minutes to get there, and I consequently had to wake up super early. Yesterday was a long day, with much time spent on public transportation.
A plus to going to immigration is that it's right next to Tesco, so we inevitably went inside and I bought stuff I wasn't planning on, such as ingredients to make tacos, because strangely enough, I miss taco night at home. Dani will have to cook the meat for me, because I can't eat meat if I see it raw first... It was hard to find taco stuff, too. It was in the international section.
It just occurred to me that I desperately need to do laundry...
Don't know when I'll get that done, because today, around 1, we're going to explore Margaret Island, and then doing one of the walking tours in my guidebook. Should be fun. Seeing as it's currently 12:18, though, I should probably eat lunch and get ready to go.
It's looking like the weekend after might be Romania, specifically Transylvania, to see Dracula's castle! Only downside is that people may also be planning Krakow for that weekend, and both were places I was wanting to go. So hopefully they'll be scheduled separately, but if not, well, I'll have to get someone else to go with me to Krakow. Or give it up.
This morning I found a bug in my bed, freaked out, woke up Dani, made her check for more, and got her to compare it to bed bug photos online, and was relieved to see that it was not a match. However, I'm still afraid of my bed and consequently, am going to email Adriana to see what I can do to make sure there isn't anything there to worry about.
However, I can't access my email because the Internet connection here is so bad. I need to ask her about that, too. And maybe go find an internet cafe, which shouldn't be too hard because there are a lot of them, but it just comes down to which one will let me access my internet and which one is the cheapest.
Last night was a lot of fun. We went to Okay Italia, which Alfonso said was going to be expensive, but it ended up being like $15 for some really good food, and I didn't mind because we only have plans to go out for dinner once a month. All other eating out times are at tiny little local places on the side of the street, which consequently, are not very expensive. Okay Italia was worth the splurge. I tried something I wasn't sure I'd like, and ended up loving it! Can't tell you what it was, though, since it was in Italian.
After that, we went to Palace Cinema in West End Mall to see New York, I Love You. It was subtitled in Hungarian. It was a really good movie- very artistic, creative, and deep. I liked it. I also liked the previews, some of which were in Hungarian, like one for a new Winnie the Pooh movie, which I have decided I absolutely must see in Hungarian if it comes out while I am here.
After buying plane tickets and stuff, I'm even more conscious about what I'm spending, because I want to be able to afford to go to all the places I want to go.
Oh, hey, I forgot to mention that I am now an official legal resident of Hungary until May 24. I got my residence permit! It was awful because we had to get to immigration at 8:15, it takes 40 minutes to get there, and I consequently had to wake up super early. Yesterday was a long day, with much time spent on public transportation.
A plus to going to immigration is that it's right next to Tesco, so we inevitably went inside and I bought stuff I wasn't planning on, such as ingredients to make tacos, because strangely enough, I miss taco night at home. Dani will have to cook the meat for me, because I can't eat meat if I see it raw first... It was hard to find taco stuff, too. It was in the international section.
It just occurred to me that I desperately need to do laundry...
Don't know when I'll get that done, because today, around 1, we're going to explore Margaret Island, and then doing one of the walking tours in my guidebook. Should be fun. Seeing as it's currently 12:18, though, I should probably eat lunch and get ready to go.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
"Typical American"
Non-Americans don't have the most positive view of Americans.
This is what I learned in my English class today.
It's not that I was unaware of the stereotype- we were fully briefed on the "Ugly American" stereotype in our pre-departure study abroad meetings- but I didn't fully realize that people actually thought it was true.
Here's some background on the situation: We are reading "Typical American" by Gish Jen in Multicultural Voices in American Literature. Because most of the class was unable to purchase the book, we spent much of class doing some introductory work. We were asked to come up with traits of a typical American amongst ourselves in small groups.
Everyone in my group had actually been able to do today's reading, so we understood that this exercise paralleled the Chinese protagonist's experiences as an immigrant in America, as he and his sister make fun of their landlord and then expand it to Americans in general- example: Typical American so dumb.
Not surprisingly, most of the traits we came up with were negative- ignorant, individualistic, loud, fat, rude, superficial. The only positives I can remember were friendly and optimistic.
It was hard to hear some of the international students say that they thought these things were true.
Take, for example, that Americans are superficial. Someone thought it was superficial that Americans smile all the time but don't mean it genuinely. Of course, this is true in many cases, but I don't think it is valid enough to apply to an entire diverse nation of people. Personally, I smile in so many situations and for different reasons- in greeting, acknowledgement, embarrassment, happiness, farewell, agreement, etc. In Hungary, people don't do this. It's just a cultural difference. When I see someone in my apartment building, I smile at them to acknowledge them because I can't speak Hungarian, and because that's just what I'd do anyways. It was interesting to think that people see such interactions as superficial.
I have mixed feelings about this. I know Americans have stereotypes of other cultures and it's often rooted in lack of understanding, but when we express belief in such stereotypes, it only seems to further reinforce the idea that we are ignorant. However, it is acceptable for a non-American to express belief in American stereotypes. I also think that it wouldn't have been acceptable for us to spend class time discussing stereotypes of Chinese people or Muslims or Nigerians, because it would come off as racism. Like I said, I'm unsure of how I feel about this, except that it is interesting to ponder.
This whole thing makes me feel slightly self-conscious about being an American in Europe.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Duna String Orchestra and travel plans
Okay, I don't know about you, but when I hear "Orchestra," I imagine a large group of people with string instruments. The Duna String Orchestra consisted of only 7 people, which initially surprised me. However, the acoustics in St. Ishtvan Basilika (St. Stephen's Basilica) were such that this small group's sound filled the entire HUGE Greek-cross-shaped room during tonight's concert.
It was shocking, the extent to which sound traveled in there. A person's cough would reverberate quite a while after it happened, which sometimes resulted in the orchestra pausing a bit longer before their next song, which I found amusing.It was so cold that between almost every other song, the musicians had to re-tune their instruments. By the end of the concert, Rhaelyn, Dani, Julie, Laura, and I were quite cold. My fingers were almost too numb to button up my coat as we left.
It was worth it, though, because the concert was amazing. We ended up getting a student admission rate, too, so we only paid $25 to hear over an hour of beautiful live music.
This was the program (* denoting my favorites):
Air - J. S. Bach *
Rejoice from Oratorio Messiah - G. F. Haendel (accompanied by vocal soloist)
Adagio - T. Albinoni *
Winter from The Four Seasons - A. Vivaldi
When I am Laid in Earth from Dido and Aeneas - H. Purcell
Ave Maria - Ch. Gounod
Largo from Xerces - G. F. Haendel *
Ave Maria - F. Schubert (accompanied by a vocal soloist)
Violin Concerto in G Major - A. Vivaldi
Pani Angelicus - C. Franck
Impromtu - J. Sibelius
Thais Meditation - J. Massenet *
Lacrimosa from Requiem - W. A. Mozart *
Alleluja from Exsultate, Jubilate - W. A. Mozart (accompanied by vocal soloist)
My First Year Seminar (FYS) class was Music and Words as a Quest for Meaning and Expression, and I think it definitely helped me out with this concert, because as stuff was happening, I noticed little musical things of importance, and I felt educated. It was wonderful.
Thanks to all of my sister's orchestra concerts and violin recitals, I also knew that you aren't supposed to clap in between movements. Combined with my FYS knowledge that a concerto has three movements, I was one of the only people not clapping whenever the orchestra paused between movements when they played Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in G Major. The first violinist looked a bit peeved at the audience, and from then on, he began to overly emphasize when they were done to blatantly hint when it was appropriate to clap. I thought it was funny.
On a side note, the website listed on the program informed me that in March there will be a performance of Mozart's Requiem!! I NEED TO ATTEND! It's happening, even if I have to go alone.
After the concert, Laura decided that we were going to go to McDonald's. There is a rather fancy one at Nyugati train station, which is where we got off the metro on our way home from the concert. I was really hungry and ate a cheeseburger, but I was more focused on how gorgeous the McDonald's was, which is a very strange thing to say, I must admit. Suddenly, a bunch of other McDaniel study abroad people showed up and joined us, and we chatted for a while until it was decided that we needed to get back to do homework.
So, I made my best effort to get my work done, but my Internet has been so awful lately that it took me forever to finish the bare minimum. It's rather unfortunate, especially because I need to access my email to collaborate with people for newspaper articles and to communicate with my parents and stuff. I've been typing up my blog entries on Microsoft Word and pasting them into Blogger whenever I get a stable Internet connection long enough to post something.
It just occurred to me that I did stuff today before the concert and neglected to mention it, so here it is-
Dani and I met up with Laura and Rhaelyn to go buy the concert tickets. Laura went home, and then the rest of us went to the little bakery that we live by (Rhaelyn lives a block and a half away from Dani and me). They had no Csoki Torta, which is my favorite thing I've tried there so far, so I bought a cookie that appeared to be gingerbread, but ended up tasting quite like Pfefferneuse (sorry if I spelled that incorrectly). It was amazing. We were supposed to meet up with Olga for lunch, but Olga forgot, so the three of us instead went to a Turkish "etterem." That means restaurant in Hungarian! Or so I assume. Anyways, I got some rice stuff that was basically Glar quality, but the Turkish cheese pizza thing was good. I don't know what it technically was called, but it was basically sauceless pizza with some kind of seasoning. We stayed and talked for quite a while. One of the main topics was where we want to travel while we're here. It seems like Rhaelyn and I want to go to many of the same places, so it may end up that we become travel buddies. She's up for going to Prague together, at least. Additionally, she really wants to go to Paris, and my mom wants me to go to Paris, and I'd love to go to Paris if it's affordable, so that's a possibility. I also found out that a group of people are doing a Sound of Music tour in Salzberg, so I may try to tag along for that. It'll be the first 2 days Spring Break, so it'll only actually happen if Dani goes too, because she and I are going to Berlin together for Spring Break and therefore need to stay together.
Well, I have an 8:30 class tomorrow, so I need to get going to bed soon. Tomorrow's classes are Marketing, Journalism, and Organizational Communication. After that, it is likely that Dani and I will be accompanying Rhaelyn and Caitlin to Tesco, because they have found one in Pest (which is where we live, in case you didn't know). Oh, and Tacos Locos is having a 50% off Valentine's Day special, so hopefully I can convince Dani to try it out with me tomorrow. Goodnight!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Awesome Sauce
Last night, I made the best spaghetti sauce I've ever had.
It was our week to cook dinner, and I decided to attempt to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, without a recipe. And it was awesome! The actual spaghetti part was only mediocre, because the pot couldn't handle the amount of noodles that went into it. And the garlic bread was only decent because we can't figure out how to use our oven so I cooked it in a frying pan on the stove. And the meatballs were from IKEA, so I can't take credit for those. But, I did also get experiment-y with that as well, as I cooked them in fresh tomatoes, onions, and green peppers, which ended up turning in to a sauce of it's own. I didn't eat this one because it was all chunky and I dislike chunks, but Laura said it was good, so yay, it has been proven that I am not a complete culinary failure.
So, to backtrack a bit, let me catch you up on what happened since my last post. Thursday did not go according to plan, as Olga cancelled her dinner and Alfonso got really sick. Dani and I went to his apartment because I wanted to give him a packet of emergen-C and some tea, and we ended up staying for about an hour, since there were crazy landlords and inspectors and people arguing about the moldy walls and poor state of the building. Or at least, I'm assuming that's what they were talking about, because they were shouting at each other in Hungarian. Alfonso's apartment scares me. It's falling apart. So, he had a fever of 39 Celsius, which is high. We accompanied him on his journey across the city to get to the clinic until he made it to his sister, who met us in Buda somewhere. I'm glad we went with him because he was not looking too good. Turns out he has bronchitis.
So that night was exhausting, because we didn't get home from school until 4:30 and then didn't get home from our adventures until 8:30, because after dropping him off, we went to Kaiser's for groceries. We were so hungry by then. I had hardly eaten all day, and was feeling wobbly from it, so we went to a Burger King conveniently located by Kaiser's, and it was the best Burger King I've ever had. As we left, we noticed they had a walk-thru! It was so cute. There aren't drive thru places here, so a lot of restaurants have walk up windows. I really want to use one someday.
Friday morning, Dani and I went to IKEA with Laura and Julie. It's was Julie's first time. I got a bunch of stuff I needed, like a cookie sheet and a spatula and desk organizers and a car-shaped rug for the front door. It was lovely.
After dinner that night, everyone went to a club for a Valentine's Day party that was being held. I didn't go, because the way it was advertised was as a get-together for single people to meet each other and I had no interest in that. Also, I felt weird about going to a Valentine's Day thing without my boyfriend. But no worries, I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities to experience the nightlife. I played the Sims instead. I know it sounds pathetic, but it was relaxing and I was tired from cooking for 3 hours, and it was the first time I've played in quite a while. It's not like I was gonna go out and explore the city by myself at night.
I woke up at 1:30 pm today, and after cooking a very healthy brunch that included all of the food groups (lol), Dani and I went to West End Mall to go to the stationary store. The binders here are weird because they have either 2 or 4 rings, rather than 3. I bought cool folders instead, as well as a day planner because I'm sorely in need of one.
Two things I noticed more acutely than in the past-
1) Homeless people sitting outside drinking huge plastic bottles of wine- I guess that's how they keep warm? I don't know. I did give 100 HUF (50 cents) to a homeless man in a wheelchair later in the day, though. I couldn't help but feel bad.
2) People here make out in public all the time- In IKEA there were people getting it on on one of the display couches. There was a couple frantically kissing on a bench at the mall. There was a couple with their arms around each other, standing up making out in the middle of the walkway. I don't get it. That doesn't happen in America, or at least, it's not as frequent or ignored. Nobody here seems to care when a couple snogs passionately in public.
Tonight, I attempted to make mac&cheese from scratch. It didn't work so well. I had looked up instructions online and had even bought white wine like they recommended to prevent the cheese from getting clumpy, but since I couldn't get the bottle open, that was pointless. And since I can't turn my oven on, I couldn't bake it. So I ended up just cooking noodles and pouring the cheese sauce on top, and it was alright. Not amazing, but edible and vaguely pleasing. Only thing is that there were huge gobs of clumpy cheese in it, which wasn't appetizing.
The rest of my night will be filled with cleaning and organizing, because my room is a mess, I still haven't unpacked my suitcase, and I need to put my new IKEA organizers to good use.
On a side note, I finished the Girl Who Played With Fire, and started the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and it's really good. My Kindle is being weird, though, and I need to look up troubleshooting online to fix it, since it won't save my place when I turn it off like it's supposed to. Now if only my internet would work better....
It was our week to cook dinner, and I decided to attempt to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, without a recipe. And it was awesome! The actual spaghetti part was only mediocre, because the pot couldn't handle the amount of noodles that went into it. And the garlic bread was only decent because we can't figure out how to use our oven so I cooked it in a frying pan on the stove. And the meatballs were from IKEA, so I can't take credit for those. But, I did also get experiment-y with that as well, as I cooked them in fresh tomatoes, onions, and green peppers, which ended up turning in to a sauce of it's own. I didn't eat this one because it was all chunky and I dislike chunks, but Laura said it was good, so yay, it has been proven that I am not a complete culinary failure.
So, to backtrack a bit, let me catch you up on what happened since my last post. Thursday did not go according to plan, as Olga cancelled her dinner and Alfonso got really sick. Dani and I went to his apartment because I wanted to give him a packet of emergen-C and some tea, and we ended up staying for about an hour, since there were crazy landlords and inspectors and people arguing about the moldy walls and poor state of the building. Or at least, I'm assuming that's what they were talking about, because they were shouting at each other in Hungarian. Alfonso's apartment scares me. It's falling apart. So, he had a fever of 39 Celsius, which is high. We accompanied him on his journey across the city to get to the clinic until he made it to his sister, who met us in Buda somewhere. I'm glad we went with him because he was not looking too good. Turns out he has bronchitis.
So that night was exhausting, because we didn't get home from school until 4:30 and then didn't get home from our adventures until 8:30, because after dropping him off, we went to Kaiser's for groceries. We were so hungry by then. I had hardly eaten all day, and was feeling wobbly from it, so we went to a Burger King conveniently located by Kaiser's, and it was the best Burger King I've ever had. As we left, we noticed they had a walk-thru! It was so cute. There aren't drive thru places here, so a lot of restaurants have walk up windows. I really want to use one someday.
Friday morning, Dani and I went to IKEA with Laura and Julie. It's was Julie's first time. I got a bunch of stuff I needed, like a cookie sheet and a spatula and desk organizers and a car-shaped rug for the front door. It was lovely.
After dinner that night, everyone went to a club for a Valentine's Day party that was being held. I didn't go, because the way it was advertised was as a get-together for single people to meet each other and I had no interest in that. Also, I felt weird about going to a Valentine's Day thing without my boyfriend. But no worries, I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities to experience the nightlife. I played the Sims instead. I know it sounds pathetic, but it was relaxing and I was tired from cooking for 3 hours, and it was the first time I've played in quite a while. It's not like I was gonna go out and explore the city by myself at night.
I woke up at 1:30 pm today, and after cooking a very healthy brunch that included all of the food groups (lol), Dani and I went to West End Mall to go to the stationary store. The binders here are weird because they have either 2 or 4 rings, rather than 3. I bought cool folders instead, as well as a day planner because I'm sorely in need of one.
Two things I noticed more acutely than in the past-
1) Homeless people sitting outside drinking huge plastic bottles of wine- I guess that's how they keep warm? I don't know. I did give 100 HUF (50 cents) to a homeless man in a wheelchair later in the day, though. I couldn't help but feel bad.
2) People here make out in public all the time- In IKEA there were people getting it on on one of the display couches. There was a couple frantically kissing on a bench at the mall. There was a couple with their arms around each other, standing up making out in the middle of the walkway. I don't get it. That doesn't happen in America, or at least, it's not as frequent or ignored. Nobody here seems to care when a couple snogs passionately in public.
Tonight, I attempted to make mac&cheese from scratch. It didn't work so well. I had looked up instructions online and had even bought white wine like they recommended to prevent the cheese from getting clumpy, but since I couldn't get the bottle open, that was pointless. And since I can't turn my oven on, I couldn't bake it. So I ended up just cooking noodles and pouring the cheese sauce on top, and it was alright. Not amazing, but edible and vaguely pleasing. Only thing is that there were huge gobs of clumpy cheese in it, which wasn't appetizing.
The rest of my night will be filled with cleaning and organizing, because my room is a mess, I still haven't unpacked my suitcase, and I need to put my new IKEA organizers to good use.
On a side note, I finished the Girl Who Played With Fire, and started the Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and it's really good. My Kindle is being weird, though, and I need to look up troubleshooting online to fix it, since it won't save my place when I turn it off like it's supposed to. Now if only my internet would work better....
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Updates
I'm really tired and still have homework to do, so I'll keep this brief.
I dropped European Film Art because I didn't like it, and am now taking Multicultural Voices in American Literature instead. This is actually one of the classes I have homework for (one page on the poem, "The Middle Passage").
I met a Turkish girl named Olga, and she asked me if I could help her with her English so she could pass the TOEFL, an English test required for her to pass in order for her to go to the main campus for a semester, which is a requirement for McDaniel Budapest students. Dani and I are going to her house for dinner tomorrow night.
I went to the Messenger meeting today. The staff is very small but seems cohesive, and I liked the atmosphere. I'm excited about working with them, and it is clear that Intro to Journalism is my favorite class and I'm so glad I'm taking it here. I'm co-writing a story with a student here, and co-writing the same story with a Free Press student, so that'll be weird. I'm going to have to figure out how to balance the two.
I also bought textbooks. It's weird here how books aren't available until the second week of classes. I don't like not being able to order used books online in advance. The books ended up costing me about $250, and I'm certain that I could've gotten them for less than $100 if I'd been able to get them elsewhere or used. The thing is that they're in English, though, so it's not like I can order them from anywhere here- they'd have to come from the US and it'd be impossible to get them in time with the way the timeline is set up here. Dani thinks it's freeing, but I find it awfully stressful, especially when I didn't have my schedule solidified until the weekend before classes started.
I've made a huge grocery list of stuff I need to fully embark on my culinary adventures. It's actually not going to be that dramatic or interesting, but I don't have anything basic like flour or sugar or seasonings. A Tesco trip is planned for Friday, because Tesco is the place to go for things that are harder to find, like bay leaves and tomato paste and apparently even maple syrup and, rumor has it, even peanut butter.
Plans for this weekend:
Tomorrow- Buda Castle, dinner at Olga's
Friday- IKEA, Tesco, dinner party, club
Saturday- West End Mall
Sunday- city exploration, Duna String Orchestra concert
I dropped European Film Art because I didn't like it, and am now taking Multicultural Voices in American Literature instead. This is actually one of the classes I have homework for (one page on the poem, "The Middle Passage").
I met a Turkish girl named Olga, and she asked me if I could help her with her English so she could pass the TOEFL, an English test required for her to pass in order for her to go to the main campus for a semester, which is a requirement for McDaniel Budapest students. Dani and I are going to her house for dinner tomorrow night.
I went to the Messenger meeting today. The staff is very small but seems cohesive, and I liked the atmosphere. I'm excited about working with them, and it is clear that Intro to Journalism is my favorite class and I'm so glad I'm taking it here. I'm co-writing a story with a student here, and co-writing the same story with a Free Press student, so that'll be weird. I'm going to have to figure out how to balance the two.
I also bought textbooks. It's weird here how books aren't available until the second week of classes. I don't like not being able to order used books online in advance. The books ended up costing me about $250, and I'm certain that I could've gotten them for less than $100 if I'd been able to get them elsewhere or used. The thing is that they're in English, though, so it's not like I can order them from anywhere here- they'd have to come from the US and it'd be impossible to get them in time with the way the timeline is set up here. Dani thinks it's freeing, but I find it awfully stressful, especially when I didn't have my schedule solidified until the weekend before classes started.
I've made a huge grocery list of stuff I need to fully embark on my culinary adventures. It's actually not going to be that dramatic or interesting, but I don't have anything basic like flour or sugar or seasonings. A Tesco trip is planned for Friday, because Tesco is the place to go for things that are harder to find, like bay leaves and tomato paste and apparently even maple syrup and, rumor has it, even peanut butter.
Plans for this weekend:
Tomorrow- Buda Castle, dinner at Olga's
Friday- IKEA, Tesco, dinner party, club
Saturday- West End Mall
Sunday- city exploration, Duna String Orchestra concert
Sunday, February 6, 2011
House of Terror
We were supposed to visit the House of Terror yesterday, but Dani woke up feeling really sick so we stayed in and just relaxed. While she was recuperating, I finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which was amazing, and I also experimented with spaghetti sauce. It was an uneventful day.
Today, though, was awesome. We met with Julie and Laura at 1 at Oktagon, and then walked down Andrassy Blvd until we got to the House of Terror, a museum about communism in Hungary. We just happened to choose a day when students got in free, so we got to avoid the $7 admission charge (in case you haven't noticed, I've been approximately converting forints to dollars to make it clearer for you non-Hungarians reading this). The museum was set up very similarly to the Holocaust Museum in DC. We went up an elevator to the 2nd floor (technically, the 3rd), and began our visit there. Each room was dedicated to a different topic, and almost every room had an info sheet to give you some historical information. It was amazing. There was video footage, sound recordings, photos, artifacts, recreated rooms, actual furniture, interviews with people involved...unfortunately, much of this was in Hungarian, which was disappointing because I think we missed out on a lot of what the museum had to offer, but even so, it was still a great experience. There were two rooms filled with communist propaganda, a room with an antique car in it, a replica of the office of a communist leader, and a memorial at the end. The location of the museum actually was the site of a communist center at one time, where people were jailed, tortured, and/or hanged. There were example gallows and torture chambers and jail cells that we could see and sometimes even enter. There was one tiny space just big enough for one person to stand in, that presumably was some sort of isolation chamber. Photography was only allowed on one floor, but I did sneak out my camera at one point when there was no guard around to take a photo of the room about religion.
After the museum, we decided to go to Treehugger Dan's a nearby English bookstore established by an expat. As it is Sunday, it was closed, but a sign said that there was a second location near the Opera House that was open. We were hungry, so we stopped at a Burger King along the way. It was huge. There was a second floor with seating, and the decorations were cool. Europeans take their fast food seriously.
Finally making it to Treehugger Dan's, we spent about 15 minutes browsing until I finally caved and bought a Stephen King book, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, because I absolutely love that book and because it was used and therefore not expensive. As we exited, we noticed a segway tour starting up, briefly considered doing that one day, and then changing our minds upon finding out that it costs over $50 per person. That's crazy.
We then noticed a gorgeous looking building down one of the nearby streets, so we turned to see what it was. It turned out to be St. Stephen's Basilica. We went in to see when tours would be held and ended up doing some unguided exploration in the parts that weren't roped off. It is the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Truly magnificent. On the way in, I'd seen a table advertising a concert of the Duna String Orchestra to be held there tonight, so I picked up a flier and asked how much tickets were. The $30 price would have been fine if I hadn't already gone through most of my budget for the week (they do weeks Monday-Sunday here), so we all decided to come back next Sunday night for the second date. I'm really excited, and I wish Emma could be here to go with me, because they're playing stuff like Vivaldi's The Four Seasons- Winter, parts of Mozart's Requiem, and Schubert's Ave Maria. As we left the area, I dropped 100 HUF (about 50 cents) into the violin case of a street musician.
We kind of explored the area a bit more before heading back. After Dani and I parted ways with Laura and Julie, we stopped at a splendid pastry shop near our apartment that we'd been meaning to try out since we got here. It is wonderful, and not expensive. I didn't actually like the cake I got, but that was just because the icing between the layers was fruity. It's fine, I tried something new and it only cost $2. I want to go back next weekend and try something else.
Today, though, was awesome. We met with Julie and Laura at 1 at Oktagon, and then walked down Andrassy Blvd until we got to the House of Terror, a museum about communism in Hungary. We just happened to choose a day when students got in free, so we got to avoid the $7 admission charge (in case you haven't noticed, I've been approximately converting forints to dollars to make it clearer for you non-Hungarians reading this). The museum was set up very similarly to the Holocaust Museum in DC. We went up an elevator to the 2nd floor (technically, the 3rd), and began our visit there. Each room was dedicated to a different topic, and almost every room had an info sheet to give you some historical information. It was amazing. There was video footage, sound recordings, photos, artifacts, recreated rooms, actual furniture, interviews with people involved...unfortunately, much of this was in Hungarian, which was disappointing because I think we missed out on a lot of what the museum had to offer, but even so, it was still a great experience. There were two rooms filled with communist propaganda, a room with an antique car in it, a replica of the office of a communist leader, and a memorial at the end. The location of the museum actually was the site of a communist center at one time, where people were jailed, tortured, and/or hanged. There were example gallows and torture chambers and jail cells that we could see and sometimes even enter. There was one tiny space just big enough for one person to stand in, that presumably was some sort of isolation chamber. Photography was only allowed on one floor, but I did sneak out my camera at one point when there was no guard around to take a photo of the room about religion.
After the museum, we decided to go to Treehugger Dan's a nearby English bookstore established by an expat. As it is Sunday, it was closed, but a sign said that there was a second location near the Opera House that was open. We were hungry, so we stopped at a Burger King along the way. It was huge. There was a second floor with seating, and the decorations were cool. Europeans take their fast food seriously.
Finally making it to Treehugger Dan's, we spent about 15 minutes browsing until I finally caved and bought a Stephen King book, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, because I absolutely love that book and because it was used and therefore not expensive. As we exited, we noticed a segway tour starting up, briefly considered doing that one day, and then changing our minds upon finding out that it costs over $50 per person. That's crazy.
We then noticed a gorgeous looking building down one of the nearby streets, so we turned to see what it was. It turned out to be St. Stephen's Basilica. We went in to see when tours would be held and ended up doing some unguided exploration in the parts that weren't roped off. It is the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Truly magnificent. On the way in, I'd seen a table advertising a concert of the Duna String Orchestra to be held there tonight, so I picked up a flier and asked how much tickets were. The $30 price would have been fine if I hadn't already gone through most of my budget for the week (they do weeks Monday-Sunday here), so we all decided to come back next Sunday night for the second date. I'm really excited, and I wish Emma could be here to go with me, because they're playing stuff like Vivaldi's The Four Seasons- Winter, parts of Mozart's Requiem, and Schubert's Ave Maria. As we left the area, I dropped 100 HUF (about 50 cents) into the violin case of a street musician.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Observations and other new things
I really like 24 hour time. It makes so much more sense! There's no more confusion over 12 AM and 12 PM. And the days begin so optimistically at 0:00. I actually saw Dani's digital clock in the kitchen at this number about 18 minutes ago, and it was just like time was starting over fresh and it was so nice.
I got a package today!! It was a good thing I brought my handy dandy Tesco bag with me, because it proved to be quite useful for carrying it. I met a Turkish girl as I was leaving school, and it seems that we'll be meeting up for lunch or dinner sometime next week. The students are mostly really quite friendly. It's interesting how quick they are to introduce themselves. I like it. I wish it was like that in the states. Nobody does introductions before class on the first day, let alone randomly on campus. So back to the package- it was awesome because it had easy mac and slippers, as well as many other useful things (thank you mom and dad!). It was also really exciting getting mail. Checking the mail back at school in Westminster used to be a whole adventure, and this morning when I got the email from Adriana saying that I had a package waiting for me, I suddenly had Steve from Blue's Clues in my head singing, "We just got a letter..." Yeah. Sadly, this is almost normal for me, but usually instead it'll be the "Here's the mail" song.
Today, we went to the market again. I think this will become a weekly event. We each bought a different kind of Hungarian chocolaty thing to try. I haven't eaten mine yet, though, because for some reason I've hardly been hungry all day. I also found out that maple syrup is freaking expensive here. A tiny bottle from Canada is about $15. Honey and mouthwash are also costly, but not to that extent. These things seem so random.
Dinner was at Laura and Julie's this week. They made mac&cheese, which was AMAZING because I've missed it so much. Still, though I wasn't that hungry. Laura also fried up some potato balls, for lack of a better term. They were good. They come frozen in a bag. I don't really know how to describe them other than that they're almost bready in consistency and someone else said they were similar to hush puppies, but I just don't know. They're good.
I learned how to make crepes! I didn't even know I liked crepes. It was fun. I was initially just helping Julie out by reading her the recipe and making sure we were halving the ingredients correctly (because a full batch supposedly would've made 20). Then when it came time to cook, I'd pour the batter and she'd flip it and spread nutella on it and serve it as I got the next one ready. So we had nutella crepes. Good stuff.
I was thusly inspired to learn to cook some other stuff, so I googled spaghetti sauce recipes and found the magic of allrecipes.com. I just wanted to check the seasonings that are used, because next Friday, Dani and I are making spaghetti and meatballs (with garlic bread and salad) for everybody. I like this rotation, and I'm super excited about cooking next week. I really like cooking now. It's just so awesome having a kitchen, even one with limited cookware. I need to go out and buy a cookie sheet or some kind of baking pan, so I can use it for pizza and croutons and french fries and other things that need to be cooked in an oven. I've come up with a whole new grocery list for other stuff I want to make while I'm here, like lasagna and tortillas and monkey bread. Dani said she'd cook the meat for me when necessary, which is awesome because I'm incapable of cooking meat and I can't eat meat if I see it raw first.
Tonight, I'm gonna read some more of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo before I go to bed. Tomorrow, we're going to the Terror Museum, which is about authoritarian dictatorships in Europe. Apparently, the bottom floor has actual jail cells, which I think is really cool, because in the US all you see are replicas of these things. Tomorrow, I'm also gonna make my first attempt at spaghetti sauce to kind of experiment before I need to actually cook for other people, because it would be a shame if I accidentally killed someone with bad food.
I got a package today!! It was a good thing I brought my handy dandy Tesco bag with me, because it proved to be quite useful for carrying it. I met a Turkish girl as I was leaving school, and it seems that we'll be meeting up for lunch or dinner sometime next week. The students are mostly really quite friendly. It's interesting how quick they are to introduce themselves. I like it. I wish it was like that in the states. Nobody does introductions before class on the first day, let alone randomly on campus. So back to the package- it was awesome because it had easy mac and slippers, as well as many other useful things (thank you mom and dad!). It was also really exciting getting mail. Checking the mail back at school in Westminster used to be a whole adventure, and this morning when I got the email from Adriana saying that I had a package waiting for me, I suddenly had Steve from Blue's Clues in my head singing, "We just got a letter..." Yeah. Sadly, this is almost normal for me, but usually instead it'll be the "Here's the mail" song.
Today, we went to the market again. I think this will become a weekly event. We each bought a different kind of Hungarian chocolaty thing to try. I haven't eaten mine yet, though, because for some reason I've hardly been hungry all day. I also found out that maple syrup is freaking expensive here. A tiny bottle from Canada is about $15. Honey and mouthwash are also costly, but not to that extent. These things seem so random.
Dinner was at Laura and Julie's this week. They made mac&cheese, which was AMAZING because I've missed it so much. Still, though I wasn't that hungry. Laura also fried up some potato balls, for lack of a better term. They were good. They come frozen in a bag. I don't really know how to describe them other than that they're almost bready in consistency and someone else said they were similar to hush puppies, but I just don't know. They're good.
I learned how to make crepes! I didn't even know I liked crepes. It was fun. I was initially just helping Julie out by reading her the recipe and making sure we were halving the ingredients correctly (because a full batch supposedly would've made 20). Then when it came time to cook, I'd pour the batter and she'd flip it and spread nutella on it and serve it as I got the next one ready. So we had nutella crepes. Good stuff.
I was thusly inspired to learn to cook some other stuff, so I googled spaghetti sauce recipes and found the magic of allrecipes.com. I just wanted to check the seasonings that are used, because next Friday, Dani and I are making spaghetti and meatballs (with garlic bread and salad) for everybody. I like this rotation, and I'm super excited about cooking next week. I really like cooking now. It's just so awesome having a kitchen, even one with limited cookware. I need to go out and buy a cookie sheet or some kind of baking pan, so I can use it for pizza and croutons and french fries and other things that need to be cooked in an oven. I've come up with a whole new grocery list for other stuff I want to make while I'm here, like lasagna and tortillas and monkey bread. Dani said she'd cook the meat for me when necessary, which is awesome because I'm incapable of cooking meat and I can't eat meat if I see it raw first.
Tonight, I'm gonna read some more of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo before I go to bed. Tomorrow, we're going to the Terror Museum, which is about authoritarian dictatorships in Europe. Apparently, the bottom floor has actual jail cells, which I think is really cool, because in the US all you see are replicas of these things. Tomorrow, I'm also gonna make my first attempt at spaghetti sauce to kind of experiment before I need to actually cook for other people, because it would be a shame if I accidentally killed someone with bad food.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Why I miss my clothes dryer
Reason One: It's just plain convenient. It takes far less time than waiting for clothes to dry on a drying rack.
Reason Two: That feeling of warm clothes that just came out of the dryer no longer exists. And it's winter. So that's a bummer.
Reason Three: Air drying my clothes leaves them stiff and hard, for the most part. I miss the magic of dryer sheets and their fabric softening skills.
Reason Four: Static electricity. Again, no dryer sheets, no static reduction. Result? I shock myself on everything I touch.
Reason Two: That feeling of warm clothes that just came out of the dryer no longer exists. And it's winter. So that's a bummer.
Reason Three: Air drying my clothes leaves them stiff and hard, for the most part. I miss the magic of dryer sheets and their fabric softening skills.
Reason Four: Static electricity. Again, no dryer sheets, no static reduction. Result? I shock myself on everything I touch.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Lost in an even sketchier area
We went to immigration today, and the time we actually spend there was so brief it almost felt pointless, like we could've mailed in the information, if they'd allow that sort of thing.
Tesco is located right next to immigration, so of course, we all went over there to buy food and stuff after. It's a huge grocery store with some walmart-like aisles as well. I found a can of macaroni and cheese. As mac&cheese is my favorite food, I decided to give it a try. It shall be interesting and I'll let you know how it goes when I muster up the courage to eat canned food. I bought a frying pan for the equivalent of $4, and it is flimsy and pathetic and can't handle high heat, but it perfectly cooked my garlic olive oil without turning the garlic unusual colors. I also finally managed to find seasonings, like basil and oregano, which was awesome.
So, laden with groceries, Dani, Laura, Julie, Caitlin, and I got on the bus to go back to the tram stop to go back to our apartments. We got off the bus at a tram stop, but it wasn't the right one. In retrospect we should've waited, but last time, we missed the stop and had to walk almost two blocks through some weird apartment complex. The tram we got on was a 4, which should've been correct because a 4 goes right past where each of us lives. However, it was mislabeled. Turned out to be a 28 or something, I don't know, but suddenly we were the only ones on the tram (except for the driver), and we're turning off the road onto this deserted track next to an absolutely huge cemetery on one side and a trash-filled wasteland on the other. We pressed the button to signify that we wanted to get off at the next stop, because we were headed off the map of Budapest that Caitlin was looking at, and the tram subsequently stopped. We hurriedly got off, and looked around. There was graffiti on the walls. Dani commented that this was "the place where trash and people come to die." Someone had painted "Welcome to the monkey house" on a wall. Naturally, I pull out my FlipVideo camera and start documenting what's going down, because it'd be useful in court if someone tried to attack us and because it'd be funny to look back on later and because I figure I can use the footage for one of my videos for Admissions. After escaping the creepy non-street, we turn a corner, see a tram stop, wait there indefinitely, and eventually a tram comes. Not the right number. We wait again. It's frigid. We're all freezing and shivering and creeped out by the area we're in (and honestly, I don't even know if it was bad, but it didn't look good- it looked like we were in a European ghetto). Finally a tram with a number that goes to a stop we recognize appeared, and we got on. It was super crowded, which only made carrying bags of groceries only more awkward. At the end of the tram line, we ended up somewhere recognizeable, hopped on the correct tram, and made it home safely. Thank goodness.
This debacle resulted in me missing not only my journalism class (sadness), but the Messenger meeting.
I promptly took a nap upon reaching the apartment, because I was exhausted. I have accomplished nothing since.
Tesco is located right next to immigration, so of course, we all went over there to buy food and stuff after. It's a huge grocery store with some walmart-like aisles as well. I found a can of macaroni and cheese. As mac&cheese is my favorite food, I decided to give it a try. It shall be interesting and I'll let you know how it goes when I muster up the courage to eat canned food. I bought a frying pan for the equivalent of $4, and it is flimsy and pathetic and can't handle high heat, but it perfectly cooked my garlic olive oil without turning the garlic unusual colors. I also finally managed to find seasonings, like basil and oregano, which was awesome.
So, laden with groceries, Dani, Laura, Julie, Caitlin, and I got on the bus to go back to the tram stop to go back to our apartments. We got off the bus at a tram stop, but it wasn't the right one. In retrospect we should've waited, but last time, we missed the stop and had to walk almost two blocks through some weird apartment complex. The tram we got on was a 4, which should've been correct because a 4 goes right past where each of us lives. However, it was mislabeled. Turned out to be a 28 or something, I don't know, but suddenly we were the only ones on the tram (except for the driver), and we're turning off the road onto this deserted track next to an absolutely huge cemetery on one side and a trash-filled wasteland on the other. We pressed the button to signify that we wanted to get off at the next stop, because we were headed off the map of Budapest that Caitlin was looking at, and the tram subsequently stopped. We hurriedly got off, and looked around. There was graffiti on the walls. Dani commented that this was "the place where trash and people come to die." Someone had painted "Welcome to the monkey house" on a wall. Naturally, I pull out my FlipVideo camera and start documenting what's going down, because it'd be useful in court if someone tried to attack us and because it'd be funny to look back on later and because I figure I can use the footage for one of my videos for Admissions. After escaping the creepy non-street, we turn a corner, see a tram stop, wait there indefinitely, and eventually a tram comes. Not the right number. We wait again. It's frigid. We're all freezing and shivering and creeped out by the area we're in (and honestly, I don't even know if it was bad, but it didn't look good- it looked like we were in a European ghetto). Finally a tram with a number that goes to a stop we recognize appeared, and we got on. It was super crowded, which only made carrying bags of groceries only more awkward. At the end of the tram line, we ended up somewhere recognizeable, hopped on the correct tram, and made it home safely. Thank goodness.
This debacle resulted in me missing not only my journalism class (sadness), but the Messenger meeting.
I promptly took a nap upon reaching the apartment, because I was exhausted. I have accomplished nothing since.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Trolley bus accident and Indian food.
This morning, while on the way to school, a car hit the bus I was on with two other McDaniel students. Everyone was ok, and it was the fault of the driver of the car, but it was surprising. People here are crazy drivers, and I was honestly surprised I hadn't yet witnessed a traffic accident, but I didn't expect to be in one. We got off and walked to the next bus stop, where a different 76 bus came and got us. We still made it to school on time despite the delay. And this is why I always leave super early!
My only class of the day was European Film Art, which I'm taking because it will fill a requirement for my communication minor. I don't like it all that much. Hopefully it'll get better when we start watching movies next week, because sitting there for 3 hours was not so fun today.
When I finally got back, Dani and I went to a clothing store we'd briefly visited yesterday on our tour of the neighborhood. I bought two sweaters, because it's cold here and I was in need of some more warm clothes, and they were on sale so my total was less than $20. We then stopped at a bakery so I could buy bread. I got a whole amazing loaf for 180 HUF, which is less than a dollar.
I was sooo hungry by then because all I'd eaten that day was half an orange - somehow, I never am that hungry when I wake up, and then I end up super hungry in the evening. I made spaghetti and garlic bread, munching on carrots as I cooked, and yet again, I turned my garlic unnatural colors. It looks so disgusting. It's getting to the point where I can't eat the actual garlic, but I add extra olive oil so it becomes garlic flavored and that goes on the pasta instead. I think I need to learn to cook something else.
Tonight, Dani and I met up with Alfonso. After hanging out at Morrison's, we went to an Indian restaurant. I tried new food! Some vegetarian thing. I don't know what it was. I didn't like it. But hey, I tried, at least.
I'm really tired now, and tomorrow, I've gotta wake up between 5:30 and 6 in order to leave the apartment at 7 to meet up with people at 7:45 to go to immigration to fix something that got screwed up the first time we went. It's possible I'll miss my journalism class tomorrow, which would be unfortunate because it's my favorite class.
My only class of the day was European Film Art, which I'm taking because it will fill a requirement for my communication minor. I don't like it all that much. Hopefully it'll get better when we start watching movies next week, because sitting there for 3 hours was not so fun today.
When I finally got back, Dani and I went to a clothing store we'd briefly visited yesterday on our tour of the neighborhood. I bought two sweaters, because it's cold here and I was in need of some more warm clothes, and they were on sale so my total was less than $20. We then stopped at a bakery so I could buy bread. I got a whole amazing loaf for 180 HUF, which is less than a dollar.
I was sooo hungry by then because all I'd eaten that day was half an orange - somehow, I never am that hungry when I wake up, and then I end up super hungry in the evening. I made spaghetti and garlic bread, munching on carrots as I cooked, and yet again, I turned my garlic unnatural colors. It looks so disgusting. It's getting to the point where I can't eat the actual garlic, but I add extra olive oil so it becomes garlic flavored and that goes on the pasta instead. I think I need to learn to cook something else.
Tonight, Dani and I met up with Alfonso. After hanging out at Morrison's, we went to an Indian restaurant. I tried new food! Some vegetarian thing. I don't know what it was. I didn't like it. But hey, I tried, at least.
I'm really tired now, and tomorrow, I've gotta wake up between 5:30 and 6 in order to leave the apartment at 7 to meet up with people at 7:45 to go to immigration to fix something that got screwed up the first time we went. It's possible I'll miss my journalism class tomorrow, which would be unfortunate because it's my favorite class.
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