Category Archives: An Idiot Abroad

May14

Getting to Know You/Getting to Know All About You, Budapest…

Posted on by
Standard

Hi party people! Again, I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties. Now that I have my amazing new iPhone, I will be able to easily add more pics to my blog. I’m still, however, working on getting Internet at home (*throws fist angrily into the air screaming “Hungary!!!!!!!”*).

The last few weeks have had their ups and downs including a lot of late nights at work but also some fun times with new friends. We have a lot of public holidays this calendar year (ha ha. suck it, non-Euro countries) so we had a nice picnic for the May Day celebration. We all made food and met on Margaret Island, the island in the middle of the Danube. Before I moved here I had no idea there even was an island in the middle of the Danuble in Budapest. It was lovely but very hot! Summer came to Budapest seemingly overnight (but we’re back to winter conditions already).

Last Friday we celebrated the publication of the CEU 2011 Annual Report which was the result of blood, sweat and tears from many of the communications office staff (including moi). If any of you are so inclined (mom), I wrote the profiles on pages 18, 24, 44 & 36. It sucks having essentially Twitter-length character limitations within which to write people’s stories but they turned out pretty well in the end. When I say we celebrated, that equals our cool boss Sybil hosting a party at her house featuring her famous gin & tonics. Yum! She also made some yummy tacos and it was the first real taste of home I’ve had since I moved here. Thank you, El Paso seasoning packets! 🙂

I also recently got the sad news that my friend and colleague Stephen will be moving back to the U.S. along with his boyfriend Theo. 😦 They are two of my very favorite people and it will be hell saying goodbye to them. I guess I have to say I’m happy for them but I’m just mad at them. 🙂 I kid, I kid. I have made them promise to return for Thanksgiving. I plan to have a big Turkey Day party w/ my visiting cousins & local pals so it’s a great excuse to return. Speaking of Stephen and Theo, we had the most amazing day yesterday, beginning with an indulgent Mother’s Day buffet at the Budapest Marriott. We stuffed ourselves silly with champagne, bacon-wrapped pork, shrimp cocktail, omelets, fine cheeses and roast beef. After that, we went to the dessert table and just put our faces directly into the chocolate sauce. We then did some light shopping at an outdoor market where S & T talked me into buying a really beautiful necklace and bracelet made from repurposed metals.  Here’s the cool necklace I got that is made out of a vintage compact cover: 

In the evening, we went to the amazing Szechenyi Bath for some nighttime fun in the warm pools. It’s really sweet to be outside when it’s kind of chilly but soaking in the warm pool! I want to go in the dead of winter too. One of the outdoor pools has a circular area with a strong current that flings you through the ring. It is a major laugh inducer and Stephen, Theo and I laughed until our abs hurt and I broke my toe (not an official diagnosis). It’s a bit like getting a hilarious enema as you pass each strong jet…is there such a thing? 🙂  There are even cool colored lights in that pool and random bubble gushers. I plan to go back many, many times! Here are a few pics of Szechenyi from the Interwebs. We finished off the night with some Montenegrin hamburgers that Stephen has been wanting me to try. Not exactly an American burger, but damn good anyway. Overall, an A+ day!

Getting together with friends tomorrow night to plan a long weekend in Croatia this summer. YAY!

Lots of love from Hungary!

C

Apr18

May You Never Have to Deal with a Hungarian Internet Company

Posted on by
Standard

Again I have been remiss in my blogging duties and, again, I blame it on STILL not having Internet service at home. I have to have the rental agency fill out several papers in the name of my landlord in order to have Internet service connected. At this rate, I might have it up and running by Christmas. The best part of all of this is having called the Internet company 5-7 times today and pressing 3 for English only to get (EVERY TIME) a person who does not speak English and tells me in broken English that they can’t help me but they’ll have someone call me back. Rrrrrright. For me, one of the most frustrating things about living in a country where you don’t speak the language is not being able to do simple tasks on your own. That being said, I apologize to all my peeps for being so out of touch. I have no phone either so it’s tough to communicate. I think I’m getting an iPhone soon though, so that sitch will be remedied.

I have been getting the flat in order and I made another trip to hell (IKEA on a Saturday) to get some additional things. Hotel Sharkey is shaping up pretty nicely. It’s so great to have my couch back in my life; I hope we never separate again. 🙂

I’ve been having a lot of fun w/ a group of my American friends. I’ve met some other great people through them and we had a super fun night last Saturday. However, the older I get, the longer it takes me to recover from these all nighters. Sheesh. I’m in the “curl up with a good book” phase of my life but I’m glad I have young friends to still force me out sometimes. 🙂

My friend Anne’s dog Carrot is absolutely adorable and I’d like to adopt one of my own but I think it’s too much responsibility for me. I was imagining having to walk the dog in the middle of winter and crying the whole time. I guess my cat person tendencies run deep – not just the being crazy part but also the too lazy to walk a dog part. 🙂 So maybe I’ll look into the Hungarian kitty adoption options. Speaking of cats, Michael the cat turned 21 years old this week!!! WOO WOO! He was my high school graduation gift which makes me, in a word, old.

I’m off to have drinks with friends at an outdoor pub called a kertek or kert for short. It’s like a biergarten.

Jó éjt  (Good night)!

C

Mar19

Schweinsteiger, Kaiserschmarrn and Meine Muenchen Freunden

Posted on by
Standard

Hello!

Last Thursday marked the biggest national Hungarian holiday – the celebration of the revolution that won the nation freedom from Habsburg rule in 1848. And, to celebrate, I took off. 🙂 We had a 4-day weekend so I went back to my first European home, Deutschland. The train ride is ~7.5 hours (nearly the time it takes to fly from Cincinnati to Paris) but it’s mostly a nice ride. Believe me when I tell you that it makes a difference which train you take and ALWAYS take a German train if you have a choice. The Krauts (I can say that b/c I am at least 1/4 Kraut) know what they’re doing when it comes to transportation. German trains = BMWs and all other trains = Yugos. Or so I’ve been told (and so I saw w/ my own 2 eyes at the train station). I think I’ve only been on German trains so Lawd help me the day I board another, inferior train. 😉

Munich was lovely as always and the weather was outstanding. It was so wonderful to catch up w/ my pals there! A definite highlight of the trip was eating brunch at Kaisergarten where German football great Bastian Schweinsteiger (or, “pig mounter,” as his surname translates) was dining too with his model girlfriend. To explain how I reacted, I guess I have to revert back to the 2010 World Cup, during which I became what some might call obsessed with football. I was like an obnoxious super fan who rarely missed a match and, since I definitely inherited my dad’s loud voice and sports enthusiasm, my reactions were, um, memorable. Praise God that I didn’t own a vuvuzela. So, when I learned that Schweinsteiger was right next to us at the restaurant, I went a little nuts. At least I left him in peace, despite my minor fit at our table.

For our brunch dessert we had my FAVORITE German dessert, Kaiserschmarrn. It is a gift from the gods. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, it’s kind of like American pancakes, only approximately 8,000 times better. You can get it at fairs and festivals in Munich but the Kaisergarten in trendy Schwabing (Schweinsteiger’s neighborhood!) is probably the best I’ve ever had. It takes 45 minutes to prepare but it’s well worth the wait. Our group shared two orders and it somehow turned into a hypothetical world war for the last bite with representatives from Italy, Germany, Cameroon, India, Pakistan, Iran and the U.S. Of course the U.S. faction was the loudest and most obnoxious but we conceded the last piece despite our clear military superiority. 🙂 You’re welcome, other countries.

After stuffing ourselves it was off to the Englischer Garten, Munich’s gorgeous and gigantisch (gigantic) public park. It was the perfect day to sit in the sun and watch my friends play frisbee. And at least we burned off some of the Kaiserschmarrn biking around town. Sunday morning I was back on the train heading to Budapest. It was such a beautiful day and the scenic views between Munich and Salzburg are truly stunning. And, yes, I was listening to and singing (in my head) the entire Sound of Music soundtrack all the way to Salzburg. As always, I wanted to get the whole train in on an improvised version of the movie (starring myself as Maria von Trapp, of course) but the rational part of my brain sent the fanciful part to its room. Boo to sanity!

Can’t wait to see my Munich friends again!

C

Feb16

Thank God for Little Red Riding Hood!

Posted on by
Standard

So I had a free day today before starting work officially tomorrow. My friend Lyubov thought I should go into the city, do some shopping and then end my day relaxing in a glorious thermal bath. Great idea! Instead, I slept until almost 4 p.m. Nice. My body is not adjusting well to my new time zone.

Anywho, I decided at about 5 that I needed to venture out to the grocery as my cupboards are literally bare. I dutifully boarded one of the buses that Lyubov told me to and made it to the shopping center without incident. I roamed the grocery store trying to determine what certain mysterious canned goods were and attempting to learn some Hungarian words. Groceries bought and paid for, it was time to get back to my flat to have some dinner. And here’s where it all goes downhill. Again, I dutifully boarded the 44 bus for the CEU conf. center. Lyubov made sure to emphasize that I MUST take the 44 or 45 to return to our dorm-like building. A-ok, my Russian friend; I got this. After all, I am a woman of the world – a cosmopolitan wunderkind. No one else was on the bus. The driver approached me and started speaking to me in Hungarian. I immediately invoked the international “I don’t know what the fuck you’re saying” gesture by shrugging my shoulders and holding both hands palms up. Mr. Hungarian Bus Driver, mistaking me for a worldly person, asked me if I spoke German. Like an asshole, I make the international sign for “sort of.” Yeah, no I don’t. He proceeded to speak to me in German; I understood about every 20th word. Giving in to my utter uselessness, I showed him the address of the dorm and he shook his head yes. I felt relieved and sat down w/ my groceries.

As we tooled along in the dark, cold night I recognized nothing. The longer the ride went, the more clear it became that I was no longer anywhere near where I needed to be. At the final stop, Mr. Hungarian Bus Driver called me to the front of the bus w/ the international “get up here, idiot” sign. He spoke to me again in German. I showed him the address again and he shook his head no and seemed to feel badly for me. He proceeded to give me directions in German – again, I got about 3 words. After exiting the bus w/ my big grocery bags (America, Fuck Yeah!), I wandered about looking for taxis. Nothing. Nada. Not a one in sight. Then, finally, I saw what would be my salvation. Gleaming, colorful lights led me straight to my savior, Tesco! The British retailer could get me home, I just knew it! Inside the Tesco, I immediately approached a young woman at the cell phone kiosk thinking that young Hungarians, like young Germans, were more likely to know English. When I asked her if she spoke English, she returned the question with the most horrified look I have ever seen. Immediately realizing that she was a hater of capitalist pigs, I slowly backed away, keeping my eyes fixated on her to prevent her from making any sudden movements.

I backed myself right into a flower shop where I saw 3 youngish women working. I smelled the sweet scent of roses and heard a chorus of angels as I was approached by none other than Piroska (PEE-ROSH-KUH) or, Little Red Riding Hood as her name translates to in English. LRRH took pity on this stupid American and proceeded to tell me she had a friend in Salt Lake City (Book of Mormon fans will get a chuckle out of that). Not only did she call a taxi for me but she gave me her cell number so I could call her for any help I might need in the future. She waited with me until the cab arrived and then told the driver exactly where to go. Thank you for the fairy-tale save, LRRH! I got your back when the Big Bad Wolf shows up.

C