Hello Der (as my Grandpa Marty Cox, FBI used to say)! I woke up this morning (around 5 a.m.) thinking about a funny Hungarian saying that our admin. assis. taught me the other day and, of course, I couldn’t repeat it in Hungarian if you gave me a million forints (which is really not that much so let’s go w/ dollars or Euros). Anyway, I was telling her how I like to call young people fetuses and she told me there is a Hungarian saying that basically translates to “you are so young, you still have eggshell on your butt!” HA HA HA! I love it! Although the eggshell on my butt fell off long ago, living in a new city can make you feel young again or more like an infant w/ no language or cognitive skills. 🙂

Yesterday (Sat.) was sunny and beautiful and guess what I did? Yep, sleep! The jet lag this time is insane! Today, however, I woke up and felt semi-normal for the first time since I’ve been here. It wasn’t sunny today but the temp. wasn’t bad (just under 40 F) so I hopped on the bus to the Metro Red Line and these boots – that were, indeed, made for walkin’ – got to steppin’.

I wanted to check out Districts V & VI as they are in the heart of town and close to where I work. We’re talking the Pest side. Buda is across the Duna (as they call the Danube). Anyway, I want to be able to walk to work, so I thought checking out the neighborhoods would be a good idea. Now, having lived in Munich, Germany and knowing that Hungary is also a pretty Catholic country (over half the population are Catholics according to Wikipedia and Wikipedia is never wrong), I was expecting all shops to be closed on Sunday, in the name of Our Lord, Amen. Well, HOT DAMN if Hungary isn’t light years ahead of ol’ Deutschland in terms of retail needs. Not all the shops are open but many of them are, including the ever-important drug store and grocery store. Now, I am not a shopper by nature but I am an American and what do Americans like (besides fattening foods and violent sports)? Convenience! Ahhh, to shop on a Sunday (after church, of course), when one can leisurely stroll around looking for this and that or buy necessities like, say, toilet paper instead of being mocked by piles of it behind the thin glass of a closed grocery store! I’m talking to you, Germany! God might want me to go to church on Sundays, but s/he also wants me to have proper hygiene!

After some light window shopping I headed over to St. Stephen’s Basilica where I lit candles for my grandparents (as I do in every Catholic church I visit) and had a look around. Being a (lapsed) Catholic, I know there’s always the chance to see some crazy relics at big basilicas, so I was DELIGHTED to see the sign for St. Jacob’s Chapel or, the Chapel of the Right Hand complete w/ a picture of said severed hand under glass. YES!!!  Um, no, turns out no hand! Where is it??? I want my (donation) money back!

Anyway, it was on to the Opera House which sits on what I guess is Budapest’s most famous street: Andrassy (Ahn-drah-shee). The tour was nice and our Hungarian tour guide was lovely. I was very excited to learn that tickets in the upper balcony can be had for as little as €2!!! I hope to attend many operas while I’m here.

The day ended with me making a successful trip to the mall for groceries and some other necessities. At 6 p.m. on a Sunday! I felt like such a sinner. Oh well, I’ll go to confession next week…

C

P.S. I spotted not one but two TGI Friday’s in town! So, if things don’t work out at CEU, I can wait tables at Friday’s, assuming I can accumulate enough flair!

Pics from today’s adventure are here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3327580348583.162365.1240673044&type=3&l=b36a4a250e