Regarding the arrival of my travel companions and last days in Budapest

This post will likely be written in a series of sittings. Just warning you.

I just finished my paper. Whoo. Absolutely, finally, definitely finished with Junior Year now.

Thursday 15th May: Steve arrived from Florida at 1 pm in Ferihegy Airport and I went to meet him, after first stopping by the Plus discount store I used to shop at near my old apartment where I picked up 8 bottles of the most drinkable wine that exists in Hungary for a grand total of 2000 forint (= $12.71). God I love this city. Though of course, it would help if Hungary had some concept of retailing, and this bottle of wine were sold in multiple stores throughout the center of the city and not just in that one lone outpost, fringing on the streets of communist apartment developments. Anyways, back to Steve's arrival--this signals the beginning of summer travels, while coinciding with my last days here in Budapest as a student. Kind of exciting and bittersweet at the same time.

Steve is a friend from high school, from when I was quite the know-it-all 13 year old brat, and this is his first time in Europe.

We got coffee at Praga Kavehaz on Baross (one of my fave cute little cafes in this city) which now has its terrace open for use, as do most of the city cafes. The time for people-watching and caffeine-addiction has officially begun, aka. summer has started. Then we proceeded to shop for groceries at the Grand Market, before Steve passed out from jet lag and I researched some of our future transportation possibilities. We met a lot of Erasmus students at Szimpla later that night (I can't NOT show a visitor Szimpla, it's absolutely a crucial spot), but it was an early evening as Steve was still tired.

Friday, 16th May: Steve and I and my friend Emilie set out to investigate what was proclaimed to be one of the largest flea markets in Central Europe--the Esceri Pac market. This requires taking a metro far out of town and then switching to a bus and going even further. Luckily it was not a Saturday, the busiest and most crowded day, because there was already a plentitude of antiques, communist memorabilia and assorted bric-a-brac to sift through.

Commie and WWII pins and medals

Later that day we went to the Museum of Applied Arts which is housed in a gorgeous building resembling a church, with an interior modeled on the Alhambra in Spain.

Interior of Museum of Applied Arts

The collection was gorgeous, as all craftwork from olden days always is remarkable, but not particularly unique from the type of stuff found in most history museums. We got another coffee on the now bustling and lively Raday Utca, absolutely peppered with terraced restaurants and hanging flags. I finally tried the 'Melange,' a choice I had seen on menus many a time but never known the meaning of. Well folks, it's basically a latte with honey, and I am glad to know that these ingredients mix so damn well together.

That night we went with everyone to Rio yet again, but given the club's proximity to Gellert Hill, I was determined to survive until 5 am and then climb the hill to see the sunrise. Which we did, and it was worth it (my only other sunrise, as in actually witnessing the neon disc cross the horizon, was at Masada in Israel) and then we passed out.

Sunrise from Gellert

Saturday 17 May: Slept/loafed around the apartment for a good while, and then found out that the National Muzeum was having a weekend event, with live music, vendors, free entry and so on. We saw a jazz/gospel performer, the weather was grand, and these adorable kids were playing at being knights. Man, the U.S. would be so much cooler if they overthrew cowboys vs. indians and played at Knights vs. evil Knights instead. We watched a movie with a lot of Dutch friends, and although Hayden Christensen is much more attractive than his prequel-Star Wars films, the movie Jumper still sucks. I was still beat from very little sleep, so we watched another movie--La Orfanata, spanish scary movie, produced by Guillermo del Toro (of Pan's Labyrinth fame), and ooooooeeeeeeee, I had to get up midway and put on more layers to stop all the chills I got.

Sunday 18 May: Since the National Muzeum had free entry, we went there, and it was nice to go through a second time. I think I more neatly comprehended what was initially a bit of an overload of chronology and history. I left a worried Steve at the museum while I went to the airport to meet Courtney (!!!!), proceeded to get utterly drenched during a flash rain, and then escorted the recent Edinburghian to my apartment. The first half of the summer traveling crew is officially assembled. Made dinner together (I am going to cherish these free moments with a kitchen as I predict our access this summer will not allow for particularly elaborate meals), then killed a few bottles of wine and discovered yet another festival in the city--a Czech beer festival with delicious dark beer (the name escapes me).

Once I used to like light beers. I still like Corona, and I like pale ales and such, but I realize that I am finding light beer more and more like p*&s-water and dark beer more and more delicious.

At the beer fest, we met a Latvian and a South-African, both expatriates in Budapest and had what I hope was the first of many impromptu and intriguing conversations with strangers.

Monday 19th May: I took my guests around the city for sightseeing, and we went to Menza on liszt ferenc, a tree-lined and mostly pedestrian street, for lunch. Menza is often touted as one of the best restaurants in the city, but like many of the other Budapest establishments, it's lunch 2-course special is incredibly cheap and it doesn't require a reservation like it usually does at night. The asparagus soup was mighty tasty.
This monday was also my last night frequenting Morrison's pub at the opera. Good times were had there, always.

So, I will finish this faithful recollection of sequenced events at this point, to give you a bit of a breather. Time to start packing.

Regarding oscars and water

Warning: for those who don't like to hear opinions before they've seen a movie, skip the next paragraph. There are no spoilers, just my thoughts.
I just watched No Country for Old Men. I love the Coen Brothers, particularly Fargo and Big Lebowski, and this was fine...but Oscar-worthy? Really? I mean, I know I didn't closely follow the contenders this past year while I was holed up in the basement of the Leventhal Accounting Library, but was the crop that small? Javier Bardem is phenomenal, absolutely evil and menacing and I am fearing nightmares (also--his hair????! oh jeez. and his voice, so creepy), but apart from his performance I can't see that anything was so particularly spectacular in this production. I am not saying that it was not good, I enjoyed it, but I just don't feel that it was THAT good to merit Best Picture. I guess the selection really was sparse this year.
Just my opinion kids. We can agree to disagree.

I finally tracked down a Budapest-club song that I know you will all be so enriched by and glad that I can share with you ;-P
Yves Larock 'Rise Up'

Ok, I just checked the Oscar website and yes, this year's choices were...dry to say the least. Even Michael Clayton and In the Valley of Elah (both of which were from Samuels Media where I first interned, so on that note....Woot! to being oscar-nominees!) seem soooo boring, although I am sure that they are excellent films. They're just too serious while lacking that certain magic.

I came across this article on U.S. drinking water the other day. Unfortunate. It also prompted me to ask my Corporate Environmental Management profs if they knew what the makeup of Budapest's water is and according to Milton, the scottish adjunct prof: "Budapest water is really good actually, as it is not 'recycled' like the water of London (7 times, I have heard :) or L.A. Bp water comes from limestone reservoirs deep under Margit Sziget and further north, so it's quite mature and naturally well filtered before its taken out and drunk by the people of Bp. It's probably much cleaner water than most people ever drink, and much better than most bottled water."
Nice to hear, but the minerals are still making my hands as dry as the crust on a fresh-baked loaf of bread!

Regarding the Budapest soundtrack, and plans for the summer

It seems that wherever we go (club, coffee-shop, H&M, grocery store) the music is always the same. I have heard the following songs way too many times for my taste:
David Guetta "Love is Gone"
Erick Morillo featuring Puff Daddy "Dance, I Said Dance"
Rihanna "Don't Stop the Music"
Natasha Bedingfield "Love Like This"
Britney Spears "Piece of Me"
Sugababes "About You Now"
Kanye West "Flashing Lights"
Fergie "Clumsy"
Timbaland "Apologize"

I am having withdrawal from rock and normal music. I mean...I even know the lyrics to the above-mentioned songs! This is painful.
Unfortunately Pandora and many other North American music sites do not work over here due to licensing restrictions. However, musicovery still does, as do most youtube videos, and someone turned me on to www.deezer.com which is a great site! It doesn't always have everything (like youtube), but it will actually play a whole stream of the same artist or the same album and that just makes my day.

I also found a used bookshop that had the tiniest assortment of english books so of course I got something. I read the first book on the train to Vienna, Lajos M., Aged 42 By Zsolt Csalog. It was actually in Hungarian and English, on opposite sides of the book, and it was about a hungarian prisoner of war in the soviet work camps following WWII. I can honestly say I have never read anything more morbid and brutal than this. I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares.
I'm looking forward to the next book that I found in the bookshop...one from the Gossip Girl series, bahahaha.
In other media news, I just watched 3:10 to Yuma. It was ok, built up to some moments, but I wasn't too impressed. Some of the dialogue was just ridiculous: "Tommy was weak. Tommy was stupid. Tommy is dead." Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is better by far. Actually, during the end credits, I realized the film was based on a short story by Elmore Leonard--wow, that man is prolific! His stories/novels have inspired Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Be Cool, Out of Sight. He is very readable, lots of captivating stories and alcoholic, brash, charismatic, rough-but-kind leading male characters. I do enjoy his work. So yea, the movie wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is better by far. Then again, I am hardly the most interested person when it comes to Cowboy's and the Wild West. On the actor front, Christian Bale still looks gaunt (from his Rescue Dawn days?) while Russell Crowe is rather portly...but nonetheless, both fine specimens of maleness.

On that note, we went to club called Moulin Rouge the other night, and got in for free as it was a private business-sponsored party (and we were three young pretty faces, :-P )...so it was definitely an older crowd. Despite the saying that men age better...oooeee, not by the looks of this place! I guess it's the whole alcohol-is-a-big-problem in the East thing, and they grow the bellies while losing the hair. Not pretty. Then again, these guys at least have jobs, whereas most of the drunks I encounter in the bus or I smell on the street likely don't.
The club did have the nicest interior I've seen. It's actually an old theater, so the upstairs have theater boxes and it is very ornate. This picture is more of the theater 'lobby' area.
What a weird reversal...this week we went out every night M-Th, so for the weekend I was like...ummm, hell no! I so enjoyed creating study notes, doing laundry, and watching movies, you have no idea.
On Friday my friend did beg me to go to a rock&roll night with her, and as I was so fed up with the club music, I agreed. This was hilarious! Apparently Gaby takes salsa lessons, and whatever school teaches it was
having a boogie-boogie night in some dorm. I felt like it was a junior high dance, and they were missing the pink and blue streamers! But it was cute, the music was definitely better, and I beat the hell out of there as soon as Gaby's class partner showed up.
The crowd at the dance night did remind me of my earlier tirade against men with long hair. I don't know if I clarified this correctly, but my issue is not so much with the cute, mildly hippie, say-no-to-the-man, beach bum of the USA. The guys with long hair here look like they play Dungeons and Dragons, read books about trolls and warlocks, and go out to clubs that are really converted meat warehouses (Blade?! anyone?!). Ok, that's actually a bad reference as the Blade people looked kind of cool.

On the travel updates: Ryanair had a huge special earlier this week so Courtney and I were frantically trying to put together our plans. So far, Steve and Courtney come to Budapest mid-may, we check it out here and do some day trips, then head toPoland. From Poland we take an awesomely low-cost Ryanair flight to Germany, where we go all over and Kate will meet us there. Then, Kate and Courtney do their thing, while Steve and I fly to Estonia (also nice price--this one from EasyJet, much more user-friendly website!), and hopefully make our way down through Lith and Lat. But this is where we are stuck (near the end of June). Somehow we need to make our way to Kate in Croatia around July 4th, but first we need to get out of the Baltics and go somewhere else. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Eastern Europe is on the whole cheaper than the west, it does not have the transportation infrastructure to make traveling it particularly convenient. As in, most flights seem to go to the West, and trains take incredibly long and I don't think I can keep my eyes open while gripping my passport tight for two whole days, passing through mafia-run land.
On the plus side, we already have sketched-out plans and some flight tickets for half the summer (although still have to sort out the trains/buses, accommodations) and apart from the Baltics, I have friends in every country we are going to.

Regarding skype evenings & Moroccan Hound abroad

It was so warm yesterday, I was only wearing a t-shirt while sitting outside at a cafe. I am in love with this city and it's only going to turn into a mad passion when it truly becomes spring.

However...my hands get SO dry here! I dread each time I come into contact with water and I have literally woken up at an unholy early hour just to reapply hand cream. Unfortunately, this has become my ever-present pain.

So, Wednesday Courtney and I got to talking about then completely finalizing spring break plans. By the way, europe's budget airlines are a. not that cheap as always advertised and b. effin' frustrating!. In any case, I am excited to inform you that I am going to Scotland (woot) to visit Courtney and Elizabeth. Yay for actual plans!

Thursday was a day of struggling with my finance homework, until Eniko told me she knew where I could download the textbook in english online...thank you for russian websites unconcerned with copyrights! That evening, Amandine, a french girl, threw a flat party for a french boy and german boy who both had birthdays. This flat was ....grandiose! Some of the apartments here, seriously, you just have to see these places! You could fit my entire flat about four times into some of these...makes me wish sometimes that I had just showed up to the Domino Hostel and found me some crazy cool place with lots of internationals. But no matter, I am actually very content with my flat and my cozy little room...but there will be no entertaining going on here, haha. I got home early and had an epic instant-messaging night, catching up with everyone all over the place...because when it's 2 am here, EVERYONE in LA is online, haha. Including ex-ex boyfriends with surprising confessions. I really wish I could consolidate the chat windows from gmail, skype and aim all in one place...Steve, I expect you have some solution? j/k :-P

Friday was some more struggles with the finance hw, even with the aid of the book...tough class, y'all. And then a little warm-up at Sarah's (german) even-larger flat before heading to the Living Room for the Mega-Exchange Party, haha, where all of Budapest's exchange students are invited but somehow i get the feeling that they don't all come. This reminds me---if you're drinking, try and not go past your limit to the point that you can't stand and people have to bodily force you to go home...it's no fun for all the rest of us who do the taking care of you. Gah, really bugs me when people don't know their limits or simply don't care.

Saturday I watched Across the Universe with Gaby (slovakian)...this movie...was interesting. The lead is definitely attractive, and the film definitely reinforces my knowledge that the Beatles are genius, but I just want to go home and listen to the ORIGINAL Beatles! There were also very many unnecessary and too-symbolic 'performance' art segments that the editor should have left on the cutting room floor. I also helped with her homework, so for all of you who think I am living a wastrel life abroad...I am doing some good by spreading my english skills, and they are actually in some demand here. Oh...if I could actually be an editor, wow that would rock! (Yes, I realize that my grammar is not always top-notch on this blog, no rebukes please!). At night, while doing extreme renovations on old travel photos via picasa, Sonya, Alaina and I had an epic 1.5 hour skype and wow I hope no censors ever read our ridiculous hyena-laughter-inducing conversation/chat.

Sunday (yesterday) was the amazingly warm day. Sarah and I wandered all over Raday and along Vaci utca, finally stopping at a cafe and enjoying the whiff of spring to come. We also explored various grocery stores/little markets that were amazingly still open, because that night she was having a potluck---my first in Hungary!! Knowing the challenge that lay ahead of me with groceries, I prepared a list of ingredients for approximately 4 or 5 recipes so that I would for sure be able to at least make one. I actually had some surprising success although the list of items I still absolutely cannot find has grown to: risotto, artichoke hearts, fresh basil, buttermilk.

The following may be more appropriate for Moroccan Hound but I'm on a roll here so...the menu was as follows:
Lena (german) with pasta salad, and this spinach pizza-like tart with some goat cheese or bryndza. Basically, the stores here sell these small prepared 'pizza' crusts and she just spread some frozen spinach over it and sprinkled the cheese over and baked...very simple and pretty tasty. Might do it for dinner some time.
Sarah made bruschetta, rosemary potatoes, and bacon-wrapped dates. This last was phenomenally delicious! I don't even like dates, but the salty with the sweet...I don't know, it was a fabulous and simple pairing.
I made tomato/mozzarella couscous, and spinach-mushroom dip with pita chips (again, couldn't find artichokes or fresh basil, haha). The dip was good, but creamier than I like so next time I think less of the cheese/sour cream, more of the spinach.
The actual eating was pretty amusing, because five of us girls (me + all the rest were german) all ate first around 8:30. Sarah and Alexa's roommate, Guillame, had five friends visiting from France, and anyways, all the boys only showed up around 8:30 and proceeded to cook potato latkes (which they insisted were something french, the german girls insisted were something german, and you and I both know are actually totally Jewish! haha) and so they ate on the second round. There was so much food! And although back home I could totally pack away a respectable amount...I still feel full this morning.

I am so glad that the spirit of Moroccan Hound can be found the world over.

Regarding the last week

Hello all,
so as Courtney has informed me, I have not posted in a long time. Given my proclivity for checking your blogs, I guess she is correct. But not altogether much has happened.

Monday I had my finance class for the first time. This class is no joke (so all of you ardent students back home...hope this makes you feel better). The professor is truly intimidating---long unbrushed hair in a ponytail, a mustache, a mole with a hair growing out of it...oh, and did I mention it's a 'she?' Plus, she's rattling off financial equations to type into excel as we miserably search the unfamiliar hungarian keyboards for the ^ or the * or the shift button. Rather a trying experience, but ultimately I hope it will prove useful. That night the ESN organized a hungarian dinner, which was at a restaurant called Paprika. It had the fake-cabin look to it, not a style of decor particularly to my taste. There were, however, various dead animals hanging about the room--I suppose in a further attempt at authenticity. I had the goulash, it was ok. For some reason, for most of my life, I was under the impression that goulash was a stew and it is in fact a soup. I prefer my version of misunderstanding.
Then it was to Morrison's (again) for the monday before 11pm 3 beer special. Rather unmemorable and I am swearing off drinking beer here. The wine is cheaper and tastier (and more effective). Course, if my new french friends were to hear me say that, they would look at me with all the snobbishness one can imagine and proclaim it blasphemy.
Tuesday, more class, yada yada. Wednesday, more class, and then at night there was a Carnival party at some disco that the ESN rented out just for the Erasmus students. Course, carnival ended over a week ago so... a bit late. I had no costume, but as I am a halloween-baby, I never back down from such an opportunity. In prior years, when potential guests told me they didn't want to come to my halloween party because they had no costume (and I would always promise penalties if they were not in costume) then i would suggest they simply take their bedsheet and create a toga. Well, to all of those who I said that to, I apologize---it is harder than it looks.
However, the internet does provide many suggestions, and I was particularly amused by a british-narrated tutorial on youtube. In the end, I enlisted the aid of my flatmate and together we fashioned something passable (using a number of safety pins in the process). However, might I suggest that if you are wearing something held together by safety pins, don't run helter-skelter after the bus because that is the reason you will have some unexplained bloody scratches down your leg the next morning.

Yesterday (Thursday), my environmental management class was screening El Dorado, a documentary on the proposed plan for the largest gold mine project in the EU to be built in Romania, at Rosia Montana. Only four of us showed up (I must admit, I was merely tempted by the prospect of viewing something on a screen larger than my mini-labtop). Anyways, it was interesting and had interviews with locals both in support and utterly against the project. I was particularly amused by the comment by Gold Corp's rep, when he said that the project would ultimately be of greater benefit to the environment. And of a swedish rep to evaluate the environmental impact of the project, who said something along the lines of 'of course, after the project, Gold Corp should leave the environment as it was previously, or something very close to.' Hah, as though after leveling an entire mountain and creating a quarry 9 km in circumference, the environment will be better off of remotely similar to how it was.


Immediately afterwards I had an invitation to a movie night at another californian's, J-. She found a video store with english-language dvd's near andrassy so a number of us showed up and watched Reign Over Me. Adam Sandler's latest definitely reminds me of Jim Carrey's attempts to go serious, and I approve. Course the film elicited some serious waterworks on my part. It was fantastic watching a movie with popcorn and people, and although I am sooooo grateful to Courtney for introducing me to VideoLemon (where i can find The Office), I am looking forward to more real movie nights. And then it was back to School Club b/c A-'s friends wanted to go there. Seriously, we need to start exploring new places with better music.

Today some of us went to Terror Haza, the former headquarters of the Arrow Cross and
subsequently the Soviet police org's with whatever particular acronym they were using at the time. It was a very sleek exhibit and very high-tech. All the exhibitions were designed nicely with striking music and lighting. You wind up with practically a book in explanations of the history by the time you're done but more explanations for the actual items on display would have been useful. Also, despite the fact that I liked the museum and recommend going there, I don't know that it really carries across the real shocking impact of the atrocities that went on in there. I feel like too many people didn't pick up and read the explanations and simply don't understand or care to understand. There was, however, a really uncomfortable and painful video of a meeting between former female inmates with their former female guard (filmed sometime in the 1990's). They are all old women now, but they were expressing their hurt, and their fear and resentment towards the guard, as she merely shrugged them off and feigned ignorance of her misdeeds. I don't know why but it left an impression.

And we have dinner plans tonight with the french and i guess the italians too (so guess where we're going...to italian! in all my experience, the italian's like their food SO much that they never eat anything else, haha.) Course, the reservation is for 9:30 which means my stomach was caving in on me and I cheated with a bit of food. But, like on Courtney's recent post, I don't know what's up, but the pants just don't fit no more. I need to get a belt. (Woot. no complaints, hah)

Alrighty, much love to you all and I will endeavor to lead a more interesting life, haha.