Electric Fences and Sensation Time

Now I will tell a funny joke.

There once was this girl who was going to spend 8 weeks in three different countries, 15 different cities, traveling by bus, tram, and plane. And she said she would update her blog everyday.

BAHAHAHAHAHA. Too funny. Really, I split my own sides.

So, how about a quick summary of life after the point that I left you last time, which was just moments before a dinner boat cruise on the Danube River. Let's do it in a list too, because that is just how they do it here in Hungary (do not try to add this fact to the Hungary Wikipedia page. I may have made it up) Also, don't expect these to necessarily be in chronological order...this place/trip has sapped me of my ability to keep track of time in any sort of normal manner...

          1) Dinner boat cruise on the Danube: Eating traditional Hungarian food with our home stay hosts and seeing the lights of both sides of Budapest (Buda and Pest) at night made for a really incredible experience. I ate goulash (real goulash, not the kind that kids make of all of the leftover food at the lunch table in the cafeteria) and these little noodly things made from smashing dough through a strainer, which I think even had some spinach in it, so naturally I wanted to eat all of it to get my daily 123456 servings of green stuff. There were not that many servings for me to eat. So instead I talked to my home stay, Orsy, and learned that getting to know someone when there is a significant language barrier is difficult, but very rewarding and worth the effort. 

               2) The actual home stay: Orsy is 20 years old and a student on the Buda side of Budapest. I was slightly nervous when she told me that for the evening we would be going to a "hooge party and having sensation time." I am not a partier myself and I wasn't sure what sensation time was (sensational), but I got to stay with her and her grandmother for the night and it was stellar. I was the first American that her grandma had ever met, so let's talk about some pressure with the weight of an entire nation on your shoulders. It was fine though, more than fine actually....right before bed, I was saying a rosary and Orsy asked me to teach her the prayers in English and she taught me (well, I repeated after her) in Hungarian. It was really cool that even though we had known each other for only a few hours altogether, our religion was able to bond us, language barrier or not. It really was rather sensational.

3) Partying in a Budapest club: This is not recommended. Of our entire group at the club, my friend Olivia and I were the only ones yelled at by the bouncer. He bounced us back IN when we tried to sit outside to avoid the smoke and general yuck that comes with a bar. Who gets bounced back into a club? Dumb.

4) Eating at a buffet: In the United States, I despise buffets. In Hungary, buffets have unlimited amounts of spinach and other vegetables. In Hungary, I love buffets.

5) Snetberger Center: Yesterday, we left Budapest and drove two hours to the Snetberber Center in Feloors. Budapest is wonderful and the architecture is beautiful etc etc, but I am so excited to be sitting in the middle of a forest in the mountains at a music school for young Roma musicians rather than in the city. I was starting to feel a little sapped, but after multiple hikes and wildlife time, I feel recharged. Last night, I led my travel companions on a nighttime hike up a mountain and through a tick infested field. For a group of smart kids, this seemed sort of dumb of them to follow me but they did AND there was only one tick issue. On a side note, I have somehow managed to adopt more mountain woman tendencies than I was back at home. I have used my teeth to open a coke bottle and rip a plastic bottle in half so I could catch a frog. Then I caught a frog. Maybe I will give into my mountain woman tendencies and come live here with the ticks and the frogs and the utility jackets (my windbreaker with sewn in straps and lights and caribeners and more dorkiness than you can possibly imagine) and the teeth of steel. Watch out wilderness.

6) Looking at cows in Holloko: Apparently, it is a good idea to question whether a fence surrounding cows might have electricity coursing through it. Otherwise, leaning on one might lead to a shocking experience (bahahaha)  

7) Some last musings on food: Yesterday, I was served mushroom soup that had a mushroom perogie at the bottom. I am Polish. I died of excitement and proceeded to yell at everyone who wasn't finishing their soup. (bahaha, they didn't realize that that hike was revenge for their wasting good Polish food heeheehee) Oh. And three words that actually made me scream in a grocery store: toothpaste tube mustard. See below and feel my happiness radiate from the picture. 

And as always, some pictures to finish off:

Welcome to Budapest!

So I may have taken this particular picture from a castle. That is sort of cool.
The lovely 2011s. And for my mother's sake.... from the top: Amy, Shannan, Eric, sort of Katherine if you look closely, Paul, Patrick, Lily, Cody, Gabi, Jacquelyn, Nick, Dylan with his hand on the wall, Lee, Shantanu, Jasmine, Donovan, Julia, Olivia, Cary, Aman. Whew.

Again, taking pictures from a castle is just one of the perks of European travel.  

 We went to a museum. They gave us fancy booties. We looked so cool.

We had a find lunch on your own afternoon. This particular lunch made my day.  Yes, that is mustard in a toothpaste tube.

I also caught a frog. This wouldn't be as cool as taking pictures from a castle if I hadn't made this little cup with my water bottle...using my teeth to rip it in half. Not only is it cool then, it is pretty Macgyver/badassery.

                             We got out of the city and into the woods. I couldn't be happier.

For the honor and glory.