Regarding groceries, going out, and assorted miscellanea

I apologize in advance for how long this is going to be. And, for how random the order of subjects may be. And how boring it may be.

So I've done all my necessary shopping and had the chance to compare with US. My conclusion is that generally the prices here are rather similar to US, with various elements being cheaper (some pubs/restaurants/movie tix). For the Europeans on the Euro, Budapest is a great value.
I got a pretty decent phone for only $45, and it'll work for me all over Europe (if you want the number, email me).
Right next to the uni is the Grand Market Hall. It was built in 1896 (it was some kind of Hungarian anniversary and many things were built that year) and is a long grand hall with tons of produce vendors and meat vendors. A big crusty awesome loaf of bread was less than a dollar. They also sell paprika and other touristy things. Downstairs there is a general grocery market.
I am still too shy to deal with the deli/meat counter b/c communication is rather difficult. And all the spices mostly come in tiny paper packages...umm, inconvenient! Plus, they don't seem to carry ground black pepper, why is that? As always, going through the grocery store was fun b/c it's interesting to see what they have but it took exceptionally long due to the large element of 'what the hell is underneath this packaging?!' I was scared I'd get a surprise when I started opening what I bought. When we first walked in I told Eniko that she better just go on ahead home since I'd take so long going through the market.
I've definitely gotten more oriented, at least around where I live. A 5-10 minute walk in various directions brings me to a tramline, a bus or a subway. By foot to the uni it takes me 20 minutes.

So all of that was on Tuesday and in the afternoon I was sitting at home considering what I should do, as I had taken care of most of the essentials, my roommates were going to Buda to visit Eniko's parents, and I figured it was time to meet some people. I remembered that there was a yahoo message board that the uni set up for us. I checked it and there was an event planned for the night by the ESN. The ESN is the Erasmus Student Network, so basically a student org that organizes entertainment and events for exchange students. They were going to meet at Domino hostel right by the university on Vaci utca at 9 so I figured I'd go.

Turns out most of the other usc students (plus all others too) were staying at that hostel while they were searching for flats. So first the Hungarian hosts took us (a lot of us!) to a pub where we had cheap Hungarian Beer (Arany Asczok) which was perfectly palatable, more so than most american beers. From there we went to Morrison's Music Bar by the Opera. This place was underground essentially, and looked like a huge cellar with various offshoots. It was an irish pub, with karaoke going on in one room, and dancing in another. The music began with some 90's nostalgia--Ace of Base, whatever is on the Night at the Roxbury soundrack, etc., and then later moved towards some current pop/rap american with some occasional bursts of trance. I'm starting to think that this progression of music is a trend in eastern europe, at least from my experience in Prague. I really don't know how I ever thought that trance was acceptable...honestly, no one can dance to it! Otherwise, it was a fantastic dance party and met a good bunch of people that night, from Brazil, France, Netherlands, Portugal, etc. None of the guys can dance, heh or maybe like one or two.

Finally around close to 4 I decided it was time to go home, haha. Europe is not like LA, folks. Places here stay open later than 2 and the party does not stop. I wanted to take the night bus, but the other sc student who i was walking with was rather loud, and kept walking off in the wrong direction so in exasperation I just lead us back to Kalvin Ter, from where he walked to the hostel and I walked home. The streets are well lit and mostly deserted. I have been doing so much walking!

Yesterday (Wed.) I woke up early because I had to get to the uni to pick up my welcome package before the office closed. I met a german guy and we went exploring the library together, and got lunch. Oh---many of the fast food places are like shawerma places in Israel or gyro joints. I suppose they do call them gyros here, and their similar but not quite like the greek or middle-eastern because they have different salads or sauces. Then the ESN was doing a bit of a tour along Vaci utca and the Danube and we saw the Elizabeth bridge and the Chain bridge, and got coffee. I talked a lot with one of the hungarian tandem buddies. Oh, every time someone asks me where is my school and I answer 'Cali' they get ridiculously excited. Finally I went home again and fell asleep. I was not going to go out again but the german student sent me a text that they were going to Szimpla Kert and I had heard about that place so obviously I could not say no (do i ever?!) and I met him and others at the place. That's generally going to be the case, me going out and meeting people at the restaurants, unless another exchange student takes the other room in our flat (it's still unclear who is going to move in). It was my first opportunity to take the 4-6 tram which runs around the larger ring (there are two rings that go around budapest...ack, just look at a map, it would be pointless for me to try and describe locations).

Szimpla has an awesome atmosphere. It's one of the 'ruin pubs' (http://blogs.tol.org/hungary/2007/06/12/ruin-pubs-will-never-die/) and it's rather alternative. They played good music but not so loud and you could actually hold conversations. Met some more people, and all in all, the conversations have been very interesting and illuminating because of all the different backgrounds and etc. I finally got to bed at 3:30 and woke up for orientation today which was mostly a repeat of information we already have. Tonight the ESN is doing another large event--some tour, then some hungarian folk dances, and then a big party in the School Club (in the basement of the university).


Assorted miscellanea:
1. the escalators at the subway run alarmingly fast.
2. foosball is incredibly popular! every pub, or cafe i've been in has it and everyone always wants to play. They call it 'csocsó.'
3. I feel like I'm speaking in a bit of an accent but I think it's because I'm trying to speak english slower so people can understand better. I'll definitely never learn to speak Hungarian (damn it's hard) but i'm picking up some words and getting better with pronunciation.
4. it's like freshmen welcome week all over---everyone meeting people with no reservations, and promptly forgetting names.
5. i need to become way better at leaving my apartment on time b/c you never know if you'll have to wait for the bus and how long exactly it'll take to get somewhere. plus i get caught up chatting with my roommates (which is great but not so great for my punctuality).
6. There is a chinese food place around the corner that is like 3 dollars for szechuan chicken dinner...what?!
7. check out www.caboodle.hu and it's sister site www.pestiside.hu. They're both blogs on budapest and pestiside is really funny. http://www.pestiside.hu/nonsense.php
If you scroll down on that link, find "Is Budapest Scarier than LA?" I particularly like one reader's comment: "there are some places in BP i don't want to walk through at night. There are places in LA I don't want to drive through in the day"
8. david, eniko's bf, is working on a film for the ministry of culture and education and his father is staying in the empty room to help. However, eniko and david are going to austria to ski this weekend so i'm going to be sharing the apartment with a grizzly older hungarian father, haha.
9. there is so much else but i want to take a nap, too little sleep these days and a long night ahead. some of you may expect an email soonish...:-)