i'm sorry, i don't speak hungarian.

it's officially been a week since i arrived in budapest. in this time i have tried my darndest to learn and use only a few, basic hungarian phrases such as, "thank you" (kosonom), "excuse me" (boscanat) and the very difficult, "i'm sorry, i don't speak hungarian" (sajnos, something something magyarul...i can't remember the whole thing, let's be honest). mostly, when i don't understand someone or when i need to sneak past an old hungarian woman on the metro i just mutter to myself or pretend to be a mute american exchange student. if someone asks me a question in hungarian the answer usually comes out as, "uh, uh. i don't know. uh. sorry." i freeze up. i can't speak. my mind goes blank. they say hungarian is one of the most difficult languages in the world. don't judge.

with that said, i'll leave you with a few random photos from various adventures over the past week. the first picture was taken by lake balaton--the only large body of water in hungary. it took a group of us around 5 hours to get to this glorious lake. the lake was beautiful and refreshing and surrounded by rolling hills. we saw many men in speedos and many older women in high-cut 'kinis.

the second picture is fanta. orange, of course. it is currently my drink of choice as it also was in ghana. it brings back wonderful memories and is delicious. go get some.






peace and lots of love.
ali

oh, hi hungary.

after months of planning and time spent in anticipation, i am finally in budapest. the trip here was incredibly un-complicated. nothing but flight attendents with british accents, airplane food in the form of chicken curry and some terribly uncomfortable sleeping positions in coach. oh, international travel is such a joy.

the calvin group is situated on the buda side of budapest, approximately 20 minutes south west from the danube river. our dorm rooms are lovely and spacious, clean and homey-feeling. really, what more could you ask for? we even have a newly-renovated kitchen(ette) space just off of our rooms. a few of us have already taken a trip to the giant meijer/costco-like grocery superstore for some much-needed food items. we made speghetti with vegetables last night, it was delicious. cooking, i hope, will become a group effort once we figure out a system for purchasing groceries and cooking and everything.

along with settling into the dorms, we have been exploring the city and trying desperately not to get lost. last night a group of us went to a bar on the opposite side of the city. after leaving the dorms around 11, we finally reached the club an hour and a half later after wandering past and around and through the streets of the city, wondering just which particular tram/bus/metro was the one we needed. oh, and i can't forget the lovely cold rain/mist that accompanied our first night out on the town. it's all good, though. really. the night was fun one, even though we finally made it back to the dorms around 4 am, tired, sore and slightly frizzy.

today we explored the city in the daylight. lydia, jenna, jordan, sara (a new roomie) and i walked up and down the streets of the pest side of the city for almost 7 hours. it was nice to finally see the more metropolitan parts of the city after spending most of our times on the outskirts. we stopped by the beautiful parliament building, wandered to an ancient old church and found the perfect spot for coffee and a chocolate croissant. coffee! oh joy, oh bliss!

the city itself is beautiful and bustling, even on a sunday afternoon. it was exciting to see both zara (my old home) and H&M in various places throughout the city...i will be making my way back to those streets once it's cold enough to buy myself a new coat. exciting stuff.


this is getting much too long. in an attempt to keep these things shorter rather than longer, i'll stop here.
it is hard being away from everyone in my various homes (california and grand rapids). i miss and love you all.
with love and fondness.

ali