Week 2

Jó estét mindenki!

I wanted to open with a picture of my dorm, the Földes Ferenc Kollégium.






Today marks the official start of my third week in Budapest. I have yet to hit the first low point predicted by study abroad literature to start between weeks 3 and 4--hopefully I will stay happy through that time. I am feeling more comfortable than ever in the city, and am enjoying all of the time I have. I have already started thinking about how short the rest of my time here (13 weeks) seems.



One thing I have adjusted to...the incredibly LONG and fast escalators to the Metro. So fun.






Some highlights of this week:

-I've declared Tuesday exploration day. I feel confident enough in my own navigation skills (thank you, geographer father) be able to find my way back home after "getting myself lost" in the city (my preferred method of exploring. This week, I found a delightful little park that had the best sandbox/area EVER and a lovely flower-surrounded fountain in the middle. And TONS of children. I sat and read my book for a while. I am nearly done with my first book for pleasure, which is probably more than I read all of last semester. I look forward to lots of time reading in parks.


-On Wednesday, I think, I went to a Robert Capa exhibit at the Ludwig Kortárs Művészeti Múzeum (Museum of Contemporary Art.) The Hungarian roommate of someone in my program and her boyfriend (also, conveniently, the roommate of someone in my program) took a few of us along. I was a little skeptical of war photography in general at first, but found myself much more swept up by it than I had expected. This was a nearby building all lit up, when we came out.




-On Thursday night, I went out with my Eötvös friends. We had lovely Indian food first, then most of us went to Gödör club for some folk dancing. DEFINITELY the highlight of the week, and I think also of Budapest so far. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but it was the coolest thing. When we got there, we walked in on a big circle dance, but it ended pretty soon. We watched some couples dancing in another room for a while, then decided to check back in the circle dance room. Luckily, they were just starting up, so we jumped in (some of us more quickly than others.) The dances were clearly known by most everyone, but they were simple and repetitive enough that you could fake it for the first few repetitions while you watched the feet of someone who knew what they were doing, then be able to pick it up, or at least get the rhythm enough to follow along. It was exhausting...I left at about midnight completely dehydrated and physically very tired. I was to wired to go to sleep and ended up staying up for a few hours. I definitely plan on going again, and I might even start folk dancing lessons with a friend. I look forward to getting better.


-I attended a lovely potluck with the Buda friends. They only live three stops away on the #2 tram, so it's only a 20 minute trip, including walking--excellent, considering a large river separates us. I brought (this is embarrassing)...hot dogs. See, last week when I did my shopping, I couldn't pass up the great deal of 24 hot dogs for about 350 forint (less than $2.) I had been eating hot dogs all week and decided to pawn some off on the group, which worked beautifully. (In addition, it was quite amusing seeing people struggle with the Hungarian version of hot dogs, which are wrapped in plastic, and of hot dog buns, which have no opening in which to insert the dog.) It was a great feast, well-attended with delicious food. I look forward to spending much more time in Buda with them.


-I watched a beautiful sunset along the Danube (a Duna, in Hungarian) last night. I brought my book but ended up spending more of my time taking pictures and trying to avoid staring at the PDA couple who sat down on the next bench over. I am so lucky that the Danube is only about 2 blocks away from where I live--it is quite the source of beauty.






-I went for a run today for the first time since arriving in Budapest. It was high time and my body just ate up the exercise. According to my rough Google Maps figurings, I think I ran about ten kilometers, or over six miles. I also discovered that the Buda path along the Danube is endlessly better for running along than the one in Pest, which is discontinuous and has COBBLESTONES in places. I got some funny looks--it's less normal to go running along paths here than in DC or elsewhere. People run, but it seems that most take public transportation to City Park or Margaret Island and then run there. Nice, but a little labor intensive for me. However, at least no one chased me: my friend in Athens claims that one cannot run on the streets there because people will not understand and chase you. Thank goodness I don't have to deal with that, though I highly enjoy picturing it.


-It was a beautiful day on Ráday utca--I captured a few pictures for your enjoyment. I am so lucky to live on such a cute street!







I think that's it. You can always find many more pictures on Facebook, though, sadly, not many from this week. I will do better next week.

Later!