Week 1

Hello many followers and admirers!

I have never been much of a blogger. However, I am going to make an effort to update this blog once a week, on Mondays. I am trying to journal for myself, and am keeping in satisfactory contact with most people; thus, blogging seems a little repetitive, so please bear with me.

I have officially been in Budapest for over a week now. I arrived last Monday afternoon, after an overnight flight with a very short layover in London. The flights were mostly uneventful. Some excitement at Heathrow, where security found a pair of scissors in my bag that both Dulles security and I had missed. As a result, I spent most of my layover waiting while they put my bags through the scanner several times. I was met at the airport by Kata, the assistant to the Resident Director of Budapest CIEE, Elizabeth. There were three other CIEE people on my plane, but I didn't meet any of them until arrival (though I did try and guess which slightly nervous college-age individuals on the plane were with my program.)

I'm living in a triple with a Hungarian roommate and an American in the program, both very nice girls. It's a little strange to be living with so little personal space, but it is working out fine. We share a bathroom with another triple, and there's a big kitchen on every floor. Everyone from our program lives in the dorm.

The week consisted mostly of recovering from jet lag and orientation events. It was reaffirmed that I don't really care for orientations--I'm quite happy that this week is over now. However, it was good to move around the city awhile...I feel quite comfortable with my immediate area and getting to places a little further away using the (excellent) public transportation. I use trams 2, 4, 6, 47, and 49 a lot, and can get lots of other interesting places via the Metro.

On Friday, we took a little city tour that showed me how to get to a few more places, as well as my first real excursion into Buda (I live in Pest.) We saw a lot of major places and buildings, but unfortunately, it was a very overcast day, so my pictures don't really reflect the true beauty of these places. On Saturday, we got to practice navigating with a scavenger hunt. Saturday brought perfect sunny weather and the exploration of many other key places in the city, but, wouldn't you know, my camera battery was dead. On Sunday (yesterday), we left the city to visit the Danube Bend, in Visegrád, a very beautiful place, and finally a chance to take some scenic pictures (including many pictures of Hungarian children.)*

In other news, I got to meet up with friends Meghan and Johna, Meghan from Quaker camp and Johna from Middlebury, who are here in the city with another program. Meeting all their friends was spectacular and I look forward to seeing a lot of them. Even though they live and go to school in Buda, it is actually very close to me, as we both just live on either side very close to the river.

Classes started today, but I only have one class on Monday. In addition, it's the class that I already started during orientation, Hungarian, and the only one of my classes to meet three times a week. I also don't have class on Friday. Oh my god, scorrre! My other classes are history, art history, anthropology, and lit, all focusing on Central and Eastern Europe. We met the professors during orientation, and I am looking forward to learning again, especially about such a cool part of the world. The lit class in particular seems like it will be interesting.

I am loving learning Hungarian. There is nothing like immersion for making me want to learn a language. I am soaking up vocabulary right now, and gradually accumulating the courage to use it. I had my first retail experience entirely in Hungarian last night. It was nothing fancy, just "Good evening," then "Thank you" afterward, but it was a step for me. Usually it's easier just to speak basic English, because most of them know a little, and those who don't, know how to deal with people who don't speak Hungarian. So, it was nice to not have to say "Sorry, English." I look forward to more such encounters, as I learn how to say and understand more important things.

Another non-language-related step was that I was asked directions by someone today. Negative: he could tell I was American/spoke English even though I was just walking along minding my own business. Positive: it was clear that I knew my way around! And, I could help him! I always know in which direction the water is. :)

Well, I think that about covers most of this week. Thanks for reading and for keeping in touch! Miss you all back home; I think of you often.

Viszonlátásra,
Avery



*Please see Facebook.