I’m wicked tired but I wanted to just write about 2 things quickly. This morning as I walked to the crosswalk just outside the dorm where I’m staying, I met up w/ an older Hungarian woman who said something to me in Hungarian. Of course I didn’t understand her and I wasn’t even awake enough to say “I don’t speak Hungarian” but I think she got the picture. She then put her arm out as if I should take it and help her across the street. Fine, I thought, no problem. But clearly this daredevil granny was NOT willing to wait for some ridiculous crosswalk green light to tell her when she could go. She yanked me into the street in front of oncoming traffic (from both directions) which mercifully stopped, as did my heart. When we made it to the other side and my heart started up again she looked at me wryly as if to say, “that’s the way it’s done, sister!” Go granny, go granny, go granny go (but don’t take me with you). Our Hungarian admin. assis. confirmed for me later that this is common practice among the elderly female set. They are the Sophia Petrillos of Hungary and I hope I get to see some of them beating people w/ their handbags too!  🙂

I interviewed a PhD student today whose focus is socio-economic/human rights in Kenya, his home country. I was really moved by our conversation and by his commitment to social justice. He has been an activist for years and has worked as a program coordinator at Kituo Cha Sheria – Kenya (The Centre for Legal Empowerment) which is, as he explained it, a lot like Legal Aid in the U.S. Thanks to his and his colleagues’ hard work, the new (2010) Kenyan constitution has set up the framework to eliminate many archaic colonial laws that discriminate against Africans. There are so many people at CEU doing amazing work like this. It is really inspiring.

In lighter news, I did more sightseeing yesterday and I’ll post pics when I can keep my eyelids open sans toothpicks.

Goodnight from enchanting Budapest!

C

I decided to go to a yoga class at the CEU fitness center which is just classrooms and the gym at the elementary school across the street from our campus. Super low-tech but no big whoop. The class is 1.5 hours and, Mother of Pearl, am I going to be sore tomorrow. This was not really a traditional yoga class but more of a “let’s see if we can make Colleen scream and writhe around in pain” class. Seriously though, we didn’t do any typical yoga poses (sun salutations, etc.) but we did do a Ryan Gosling-worthy amount of ab work. I’ve done plenty of yoga in my day but tonight I was discovering muscles under which I had previously only stored up Funyuns and Cheetos for the winter. My main complaint – other than the ab torture – was that the teacher did mini-relaxation periods in the middle of class. Um, no, save that for the end or I will think (PRAY) that it’s the end of class. The best part of class was the teacher’s heavy use and very proper pronunciation of the word “buttocks.” My buttocks just got out of a hot bath and now they’re going to bed.

Lotsa love from central Europe!

C

Hey Y’all,

Just a brief post tonite as I am exhausted.

First and foremost – this will be esp. important to those who visit me here – szia (see-yuh) is how you greet people here and hello means goodbye. Ya got that? It’s the opposite of our way. I am having the hardest time getting that right and cracking up when I hear my colleagues ending a call with “hello.” 🙂

I had orientation today at work and met a fellow Buckeye (from Dayton)! Woo Woo! We’re having lunch Friday and I look forward to hearing her impressions of the city. She is fairly new here too, having arrived only last October. I also tried a traditional Hungarian spread at lunch which is something like cottage cheese w/ onion (YES, I ate onions!) and paprika. It was pretty good and my Hungarian colleagues seemed impressed that I was willing to try it.

After work I hung out with a Hungarian friend I met when we were both living in Munich. It was nice to see a familiar face and catch up.

Ok, boring post but I’m falling asleep on the keyboard….

C

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

So those who know me well would know that, included in my list of great qualities in a human being are rabid cussing and generous consumption of alcohol. My first day at CEU culminated with my giddy boss entering my office with a co-worker carrying a bottle of gin and announcing that they’re hosting a pizza and gin & tonic party to welcome me next week! These are clearly my kind of people. Reminds me of the beginning of another wonderful part of my career when, on my first official day at JPL, I attended a going-away lunch which was mainly frosty, fruity and liquid. Muchas gracias, Doña Maria.

Early in the day our wonderful admin. assistant Melinda took me around to meet more staff members. When we walked into the recruitment and admissions area, I swear, I instantly knew what it was like to be Lady GaGa, or Justin Bieber, ok, let’s not get carried away, maybe LaToya Jackson. Anyway, 4 women approached me all at once and one of them whose name is Edit, stared at me and – I swear – w/ a dreamy look in her eye said, “I’ve been waiting for you.” I looked behind me thinking perhaps the son of God might’ve made his encore but, nope, no, she was talking to me. Apparently a big project she’s been working on has been put on hold pending my help writing the copy. Wow. I seriously don’t think I’ve ever had a warmer reception at a new job.

Had lunch w/ another American colleague who truly is a fetus. I know I call everyone younger than me a fetus but, seriously, this guy is maybe 24. Yikes. I plan on ending every sentence to him with, “and remember, I’m old enough and slutty enough to be your mother.” 🙂 He is super nice and gave me lots of good advice/tips on hunting for apartments and local travel.

I got home tonight almost without incident. I only missed my stop on the bus and had to walk about half a mile back to the dorm. No fairy tales tonight but, overall, a pretty dreamy start to this leg of life.

C

Hey Y’all,

So here I am in Budapest and, after about 24 hours here, my first impressions are really wonderful. It is, of course, the dead of winter so I’m not seeing the city in all of its glory but it’s still quite impressive. Today  Malinda, the admin. assistant in our dept. at CEU, took me for a walking tour and I saw some amazing building and The Danube (or Duna, in Hungarian) where huge chunks of ice are floating buy rapidly. Of course this part of Europe and Russia & Ukraine are under a deadly deep freeze these days. Today was not so bad and I found that I didn’t even really need my long underwear. 🙂 We entered a square nearby the university and I spotted a life-size bronze statue. As we got closer, I recognized old Ronnie Reagan’s face. I asked Malinda about it and she said it’s a recent addition by the current conservative gov. of Hungary. Grrrreat. I promise that I won’t participate in any anti-gov. demonstrations. Ha Ha.

The university is literally in the center of the city which makes me very happy as my job in Germany had me in suburban Munich w/ little daytime access to the city. I will be looking at flats very soon and I hope to move within a few weeks. For now this temporary apartment is just fine and all I need.

Tomorrow I will venture out on my own as I have a free day before officially starting work on Thursday. My new Russian friend Lyubov (pronounced LOO-bah) has been so helpful to me and suggested a walking route tomorrow that more or less dead ends into one of the thermal baths which she highly recommends. I hope to have time for some relaxation before starting work but I will most likely get lost.

Szia! (Goodbye)

C