The week started off fairly eventfully with BATHROOM FEUD, Episode 3? 4? 5? At the beginning of the semester, after Tasha's super messy roommates told the management that my roommates and I were leaving the bathroom messy...(!!), we (/I) made up a schedule giving each of the six of us two weeks to be responsible for the bathroom. During your week, you are supposed to buy toilet paper as well. It has generally been working smoothly, except for one of Tasha's roommates didn't clean the bathroom or buy toilet paper for either of her weeks. As it was nearing the end of the second week she didn't clean, the bathroom was getting a bit raunchy and I think most of us stopped using it in favor of the hall bathroom. (At least, this is what I did, due to lack of wiping supplies.) However, apparently the condition of the bathroom was displeasing to the princesses next door, as these beautiful notes showed up on Monday or Tuesday (I don't remember which).
Basically, Audrey and I were operating a nasty note exhibition...people kept coming in and out to see the notes. Finally, after a few cups of forralt bor, Tasha confronted Roommate 1 (the non-cleaner), who admitted to writing one of the notes and claimed she didn't clean the bathroom because she doesn't use it. (Ironically, we had had one of our regular meetings in the bathroom over tooth brushing right before that...) She did end up putting paper in the bathroom, though there is none right now, unfortunately. It's Roommate 2's week, but she's out of town, apparently!
On Tuesday, I bailed on my volunteering to have a few hours to myself. Really glad I did in preparation for Mama's visit--it was nice to have a restful Tuesday.
Wednesday brought Mama! I went to pick her up at the airport, chatted her ear off all the way back, and after a few snacks we set out to go folk dancing. That's right folks, my mother wanted to go folk dancing her first night here after an overnight flight from the states. Unfortunately, our plans were foiled and the normal táncház (literally: dance house) didn't take place. In lieu of standing around and watching music sans dancing, I took Mama home to her hostel and her new friends Gábor and Bálint.
On Thursday, Mama accompanied my Art History class to the Castle District for another scintillating field trip at the National Gallery. I then went to Hungarian and did some work while she took a siesta and we met up again to go to my lit class. Weekend, finally! That evening, while most everyone in my program went to a fancy American-style Thanksgiving dinner at the Marriott, we ate snacks/rabbit food (Mama) and a grilled cheese (me). (SIDE NOTE: Mama claimed surprise at my abilities to grill a sandwich! Has she never TASTED my tuna melts! Humphity humph.)
That evening, we ventured kinda north to go dancing at a place recommended to us by Máté--the Guzsalyas táncház. It ended up being pretty cool, and definitely gave Mama a taste of Hungarian folk dancing.
Mama in the mix!
Great feet.
I was really sleepy, though, so we didn't stay that late. It was interesting to mark the differences between this place and Gödör, which forever has my heart. I look forward to going back to Gödör next week...for the last time. :(
I had to attend yet another field trip on Friday, this time to the House of Terror. The morning was rather eventful, as I overslept my meeting time with Mama, then realized that I thought we were meeting as a class half an hour earlier than we actually were. Then, I got pooped on by a bird. All before we even got into the museum, which turned out to be quite different than I expected. It's located at the former headquarters of first the Arrow Cross Party (Hungary's Nazi Party) and then the Communist Party in Hungary. I suppose what surprised me was how artsy it was--there were a lot of rooms that were more symbolic than informative. A lot of energy was put into the aesthetics and you could tell--it was very sensually entertaining. You definitely paid for it as well. I'm so spoiled by DC...1800 forints, or about 10 dollars seems like so much to pay for a museum!
We hurried back to gather cooking materials for the BSCS Thanksgiving due to take place that evening. Chocolate bars, arborio rice, butter, good salt, home roasted chestnuts, Spar wine, etc. in arms, we headed over to Buda to cook with friends. I did mostly menial labor such as cutting mushrooms and finding endless pots...no wonder my mother is surprised I can grill a sandwich! I have no kitchen charisma.
The flourless chocolate torte and mushroom risotto turned out great, as did Sam's vegetarian stuffing and ALL the rest of the food. It was a most impressive and delicious layout, full of families of both the real and heart types. I feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful group of people to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Johna also made an absolutely beautiful slideshow for the occasion. I have a copy on DVD and I'm sure I will shamelessly watch it to cry when I get home. ALSO! Check her vlog, as usual, for very cute documentation of the activities I describe here.
Some pictures.
Mama was here with me! (Credit Kelsey--I carried my camera around a disgustingly little amount this past week, so many of these pictures are from others. Thanks guys.)
Love.
Mama pointing out the pálinka bottle! (Credit to Kelsey.)
Meghan and Mama dancing.
Lauren: Could your mom do that all night? Cause maybe someone should warn Meghan...
On Saturday, Mama and I were going to go visit Esztergom. However, due to reasons Mama made fun of me for, wanted to follow our friends to Lake Tata to try and catch a geese migration. Luckily, we ran into Sam and snatched her up for our adventure in the train. It ended up being VERY WET in Tata, and we had trouble meeting up with the group. So, we strolled for a while, had some delicious snacks, and tried to stay dry. Finally, we miraculously met up with the group (Lauren: We're AT THE CASTLE!). They had been wandering for a while and were pretty damp, so we decided to head into a cafeteria for lunch. This ended up to be a wonderful idea, not only because the food was delicious, but because it cleared up while we were inside. It was absolutely beautiful heading over to the lake.
All of these pics are Kelsey's or Lauren's.
Tree climbing!!
The actual event turned out to be amazing...thousands of geese came and landed on the lake in front of a gorgeous sunset. Everyone was fairly in awe, as well as fairly cuddly, making for an enjoyable and highly photogenic experience.
There they are!
After training back to Budapest, Mama, Sam and I went to a Belgian Beer Bar in honor of Sam's birthday eve. No pictures of that, but it was fun and delicious! When we got back, Sam and I chatted with Kelly for a little bit (worlds colliding!) then started to watch a sode but we got SO sleepy! Great night's sleep.
Sunday was Miss Sam's 22nd birthday, so we celebrated accordingly, with a PASTRY CRAWL. Brilliant idea. Sam, me, Mama, and a conglomerate from CIEE and BSCS programs set out on a beautiful day intending to consume PASTIES. We ended up only visiting two places (pastries are SO RICH), but they were both delicious stops. A bunch of us ended at the Christmas market, where we enjoyed forralt bor, huge and greasy onion-y potato pancakes, and live music.
Forralt bor! (These are all Kelsey, again...)
Conquered by grease.
After putting Mama to bed (and a failed attempt to watch Love Actually), I ended up going to hang out in Buda for a while. Highlights: too much slinky fun, being yelled at by a person with a megaphone in the apartments across the street to shut up (illlgh, oops), baby face camera setting, and some really great ugly face photos.
Monday morning, Mama and I went to Széchenyi Baths. My first time at the baths, despite being a complete water baby! For some reason, purchasing tickets and doing the baths is really stressful for me, and so I've just never really gone through with it. We did this time, though, and it was really nice. I didn't eat anything before we went, though, and I wasn't adequately hydrated, so I wasn't really able to fully partake in things like the sauna (which felt great but left me a little light-headed.)
We traveled back in time to get gyros for lunch (YUM), shower, and make it to Hungarian class. Mama got to see the things that have been bothering me in Hungarian. Having her here was gratifying in terms of validating the struggles I have been having with the overall attitude of the generic CIEE participant. She was able to confirm that it's not just me--the apathy is nearly tangible.
Post-Hungarian, I finally activated my debit and credit card, with a few free 1-800 calls through Skype. It took longer than I would have liked, but less long than it could have taken, so I'll be thankful for that. This also meant I was able to clear all my debts on Monday, which was SO GREAT.
Around four-thirty, we left to meet friends to go to an Invisible Exhibition in Southern Budapest. This museum (we colloquially called it the blind museum) is made to give you the experience of a blind person. Though it was a little stressful to find the place and collect the money to pay for the tour, it ended up being really cool. Every tour is led by a blind guide, who takes you through a series of rooms in complete darkness, encouraging you to use your other senses to identify objects and surroundings. At some points, it was a little claustrophobic/challenging for me, but in a really good way. I'm glad we ended up doing it.
A picture of the exhibit.
Geez, I am just too funny.
After, Mama, Sam and I went to Siesta, a Hungarian restaurant. Delicious, but I'm still a little salty that he charged us for the rice he offered us! On the way back, we stopped in at Cafe Creme for some delicious hot chocolates. YUM. Mama also had a shot of Pálinka, that saucy minx. After our nightcap, I said goodbye to Mama and went on home. I ended up only sleeping two and a half hours that night...BUT that is for next week's blog!
A quick flash-back: Two pictures that I love from two weeks ago--recently posted by Rachel on Facebook, so I thought I'd include them.
Warming poor cold Lauren up.
Communist arm shapes are always so similar!
In general, I'm feeling full and happy of big love all the time these days. What a great place this world is, and so full of people to love and be friends with!
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