I am so happy I never had to deal with the whole fuss my father makes about going out to parties or seeing guys. Viki is in a pretty tough situation. My father doesn't really let her go out with her friends - well, there was a big exception just a bit ago when he let her go to the Balaton with a couple of people for a weekend - so we've had this plan of going out together for ages thinking that our dad would trust me enough to let her come. Of course, he gave us the usual "do not" talk, but we were on track: he agreed that Viki can spend a night in town with me.
I picked her up from the Keleti train station, did some shopping and ate gyros and I made pancakes at home. I think these were the best ones thus far. Perfect, light, thin crepes. That's what pancakes should be like.
Since Viki has never been to the Zöld Pardon (ZP), we figured we would start the night there and then move to other places. We arrived a bit after 10, just late enough for the security guards not to let her inside because she was underaged. We almost left when I had an idea. It was quite unlikely that they would ask for my ID - I trust myself to look 18 at least. So, I gave my student ID to Viki and instructed her to look confident and not to freak out when they ask for the ID. We went to the other gate and, guess what, they let her inside. The funny part in this is that she is blond with blue eyes and has a very different facial structure anyway, but the security guard didn't notice the difference between my picture and her. They didn't even ask for her mother's name (which she wouldn't have known, because my mother is not her mother...) or her living address (she wouldn't have known that either...). I went through the gates a bit after her.
I wonder whether the ZP really got worse or whether I got grew older. It was flooded by 16-year-olds. The atmosphere wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but since we had fought so hard to get in, we decided to stay and dance. I was slightly freaked out by the solitary guys in their thirties hunting for minors. Well, actually, I don't care too much as long as they do not try to get closer to my sister. She was popular that night...
They asked for my ID at the bar when I ordered a glass of wine... That's how much I can trust looking old enough. :S
We went to the Corvintető next. I haven't been there too many times but I liked it whenever I went there. The Corvintető is literally what the word means: the roof of an old/socialist era shopping center called Corvin. The entrance to the elevator is completely hidden and if you didn't know that there was something there, you probably wouldn't have noticed that it was the entrance to such a place. I like the way the Corvintető is constructed. 2 bars on 2 floors, one on the actual roof. You can see the rest of the city around. The place is a bit hectic, so you if you are not familiar with it, you can follow a yellow line drawn from the elevator to the open air area on the roof. It's a very cool idea, and in general, the whole place seemed very well done.
We ordered 2 ice coffees and by the time we drank half of it, a guy (in his thirties, again) was already chatting my sister up. In the meantime, I realized that people were talking in English nearby, and one of them was mentioning carneval... I had to join the conversation. The guy was Dutch, of course, and he was impressed by my basic Dutch and my cultural knowledge :) Then I started talking to a Scottish guy, and even though I was planning on leaving for Café Puerto at one point, my sister wasn't too keen on the idea and we stayed at the Corvintető until 4 30. The sky got gradually lighter and lighter. By the time we were back at home, it was almost light enough not to switch the lights on.
We should organize more nights like this. Maybe we could involve some of her friends and some of mines too...
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Budapest nights 1 - salsa edition
One of the things I was really looking forward to when thinking about what it would be like living in Budapest again was exploring the nightlife in Budapest. More precisely, I was wondering whether I would find the same enthusiasm for salsa here. Salsa, mi amor... What else, right? :) I am not an expert on the local salsa scene yet but by now I have a pretty good impression of the local salsa culture, I think.
The good news is that Budapest is big. Much bigger than Utrecht. I guess there is a positive correlation between the size of a city and the number of salsa parties per week. I have to say I cannot complain about not having anywhere to go to dance. My favorite location - so far - has been the terrace of Aréna Pláza, a big complex of shops and supermarkets with a huge terrace that houses a big salsa event on Wednesdays. That's a must! A lot of people, even some dancing in an L.A.-ish or New York-ish style, or in any case, leading "on a line". I have only seen one person dancing "on 2" (meaning that the most prominent step is taken on 2 and not on 1, like usually) though. I'm slowly gettig used to the Cuban rhythm, but getting used to the steps takes longer. I still realize that quite often I don't exactly do what my partners want. Most of them don't mind that too much because they realize that it's a style difference. And those who do... well, it's their loss :)
Another nice location is Café Puerto, on an island of the Danube. The other clubs around are not exactly the type of places I would appreciate, but the Puerto is a salsa place and that's more or less enough. Its salsa parties are also open air, which is great during the summer! And the night bus (or a friend) brings me straight home... Perfect for Fridays and Saturdays.
So, I guess these two places will be my salsa bases. I forgot to mention the no entry fee policy, which is very student friendly. Other then this and the open air thing, the story is the same: a lot of people dancing. Maybe the DJs are less likely to play bachata and merengue over here and the parties are really focused on salsa. And towards the end of the night they play more reggaeton, of course. Most people are friendly and I'm starting to make friends with some people I see all the time. Well, one or two of them, in any case; a great thing if you ask me! Social dynamics are very similar to those in Utrecht. Oversimplifying the issue, there are 3 types of people at these parties:
The good news is that Budapest is big. Much bigger than Utrecht. I guess there is a positive correlation between the size of a city and the number of salsa parties per week. I have to say I cannot complain about not having anywhere to go to dance. My favorite location - so far - has been the terrace of Aréna Pláza, a big complex of shops and supermarkets with a huge terrace that houses a big salsa event on Wednesdays. That's a must! A lot of people, even some dancing in an L.A.-ish or New York-ish style, or in any case, leading "on a line". I have only seen one person dancing "on 2" (meaning that the most prominent step is taken on 2 and not on 1, like usually) though. I'm slowly gettig used to the Cuban rhythm, but getting used to the steps takes longer. I still realize that quite often I don't exactly do what my partners want. Most of them don't mind that too much because they realize that it's a style difference. And those who do... well, it's their loss :)
Another nice location is Café Puerto, on an island of the Danube. The other clubs around are not exactly the type of places I would appreciate, but the Puerto is a salsa place and that's more or less enough. Its salsa parties are also open air, which is great during the summer! And the night bus (or a friend) brings me straight home... Perfect for Fridays and Saturdays.
So, I guess these two places will be my salsa bases. I forgot to mention the no entry fee policy, which is very student friendly. Other then this and the open air thing, the story is the same: a lot of people dancing. Maybe the DJs are less likely to play bachata and merengue over here and the parties are really focused on salsa. And towards the end of the night they play more reggaeton, of course. Most people are friendly and I'm starting to make friends with some people I see all the time. Well, one or two of them, in any case; a great thing if you ask me! Social dynamics are very similar to those in Utrecht. Oversimplifying the issue, there are 3 types of people at these parties:
- those who arrive in a group and more or less stick to the group
- those who come with their steady partner and more or less stick to him/her
- those who come alone
Sunday, 20 July 2008
Balaton Sound
I have always liked the Balaton. When I was small - during the real socialist era - we would go on holiday to the lake. Later it got associated to summer camps. Then came the gatherings organized by one of Béla bácsi's friends every August, when we would desert the grown-ups and do what we felt like doing: swimming in the lake, going out, partying. Doing the monokini thing on the inflatable mats on the lake... :) Being free and wild. There was also the night when Sali and I went to Siófok to meet up with a couple of our ex-schoolmates in a camping area. We were out all night, dancing, walking on the lakeside, listening to Sade playing somewhere, sitting in a little harbor being cold and having my scarf around us, taking the bus back to the camping early morning, listening to a very drunk German guy talking about how much in love he was. I think we were also in love.
Balaton-blue (or Balaton-green) water, the peculiar mountains on the Northern side, swans and ducks and boats and small ships, the so-called golden bridge: the reflection of the sunset on the water, and then let's not forget the silver bridge, guess what, the reflection of the moon on the water, ice cream and corncobs, delicious fish. Paddle boats and people windsurfing. Such a great place.
Before the members of BarCo have set off in various directions - the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria and Croatia - we agreed that we would meet up at the Balaton Sound festival. It was quite clear that Flipo's promise should always be taken into account with reservations (i.e. we knew he wouldn't come) and then it turned out that Bojan is at the Exit in Croatia. Paul went to Exeter - you suck, my dear :) - and Sanne... well, Sanne, what were you doing? She certainly wasn't there either... But Dávid and I were. If only for one day, we were there.
I left for the South coast with Irma and Imre on Friday. Irma's family owns a small apartment in a hotel in Balatonföldvár, which is conveniently right next to Zamárdi, where the festival was held. I spent Saturday and Sunday morning with them and then took the train to Zamárdi early afternoon. Irma and Imre were great, we were like a small family, very comfortable together, went to the market in the morning, spent some time by the lake, played cards, played strip-bluff poker etc. We had the proper Balaton experience with me throwing seaweed (or is it lakeweed in this case) on Irma, doing the compulsory handstands in the water - I guess I'm not really growing up, am I? - and watching the fish swimming around from the rocks by the water. Oh, and before I forget to mention it: it was hot. 36-37 degrees.
I arrived to the Balaton Sound slightly earlier than Dávid, so I explored the area a bit. I was sweaty enough by the time I got to the festival - a long walk on a dusty road without much sign of whether I am going in the right direction apart from the increasing density of young people with wristbands - so I was looking forward to Dávid's arrival. I was a bit worried that if I went into the water I would miss his call or that my phone would be stolen and then we wouldn't be able to find each other. But we found each other, swam in the lake, dried in a couple of minutes lying in the sun, and I went to hunt for a lángos. I had a lángos with sour cream and garlic. It's nice when you can eat garlic with someone - a good friend, for example, who might complain but you wouldn't give a damn because he's not going to get that close anyway. Garlic is a sign of trust.
The evening had two highlights: the Sergent Garcia concert and the Fatboy Slim concert. I have never heard of the former before; it was a band of mostly Cuban musicians playing salsa, cumbia and reggae. The atmosphere was great at their concert. They were relaxed, the music was nice and happy, the singer was good at establishing a connection with the audience, the vocalist was moving her ass as a proper Cuban salsa girl - what else would you wish for? Then we had a bit of a trouble getting into the Anima Sound System performance, who were late anyway, so actually there was no point anyway and we headed to the main stage again to meet up with a friend of Dávid's (or a relative?) and see Fatboy Slim.
Had I not seen Chemical Brothers last summer at the Sziget, I would now say that Fatboy Slim was amazing. He was really good. But it couldn't live up to the Chemical Brothers concert somehow, I felt. Maybe only because of the smaller setting. But it was certainly worth it. The guy was energetic, the music was as good as expected and the audience was screaming for more. Standing there it felt as if the bass was beating your heart for you and the light from the huge broadsides on the top of the stage were blinding. Great physical experience.
I have to admit Dávid and I couldn't party on until late. Shame, shame, we got tired, and actually, there was no party tent that we really liked... So, we slept in the tent of the friends of a friend of his - not exactly the crowd I like but they were very nice letting us stay there. The storm that was announced for the evening did not struck until early morning. How lucky! Already in the afternoon they warned everybody of a big storm approaching, with 100 km/h wind. The lifeguards got everybody out of the lake, the organizers made announcements about possible cancelling of programs and asked everyone to firmly fix their tents on the ground. It was such a relief when the sun started shining again during the Sergent Garcia concert. But the rain did arrive in the morning - if not the storm yet - and Dávid and I waited until it got softer and left the festival at 7.20 am.
Now, it should be fairly easy to get to Budapest from Zamárdi. You need to take a train. But then... it turned out that the employees of the national railways were on strike. What a wonderfully chosen date to go on a strike. The solution was to go to Siófok first, then to take a bus to Veszprém and then another one to Budapest. The storm caught us in Siófok. In a couple of minutes, centimeters of rain has fallen and the wind was so strong that when we were standing under a 5 meter wide roof at the bus station, the rain still got everyone wet under the roof...
The trip home was long and tiring... I drifted in and out of consciousness on the buses and got home around 1 pm. And then I passed out for 5 more hours :)
And that's us. Me with the typical after-Balaton-swim hair and Dávid with his typical Dávid-smile and almost-puppy eyes before the first concert. Paul and Sanne, if you are reading this: you missed out big time!
Balaton-blue (or Balaton-green) water, the peculiar mountains on the Northern side, swans and ducks and boats and small ships, the so-called golden bridge: the reflection of the sunset on the water, and then let's not forget the silver bridge, guess what, the reflection of the moon on the water, ice cream and corncobs, delicious fish. Paddle boats and people windsurfing. Such a great place.
Before the members of BarCo have set off in various directions - the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria and Croatia - we agreed that we would meet up at the Balaton Sound festival. It was quite clear that Flipo's promise should always be taken into account with reservations (i.e. we knew he wouldn't come) and then it turned out that Bojan is at the Exit in Croatia. Paul went to Exeter - you suck, my dear :) - and Sanne... well, Sanne, what were you doing? She certainly wasn't there either... But Dávid and I were. If only for one day, we were there.
I left for the South coast with Irma and Imre on Friday. Irma's family owns a small apartment in a hotel in Balatonföldvár, which is conveniently right next to Zamárdi, where the festival was held. I spent Saturday and Sunday morning with them and then took the train to Zamárdi early afternoon. Irma and Imre were great, we were like a small family, very comfortable together, went to the market in the morning, spent some time by the lake, played cards, played strip-bluff poker etc. We had the proper Balaton experience with me throwing seaweed (or is it lakeweed in this case) on Irma, doing the compulsory handstands in the water - I guess I'm not really growing up, am I? - and watching the fish swimming around from the rocks by the water. Oh, and before I forget to mention it: it was hot. 36-37 degrees.
I arrived to the Balaton Sound slightly earlier than Dávid, so I explored the area a bit. I was sweaty enough by the time I got to the festival - a long walk on a dusty road without much sign of whether I am going in the right direction apart from the increasing density of young people with wristbands - so I was looking forward to Dávid's arrival. I was a bit worried that if I went into the water I would miss his call or that my phone would be stolen and then we wouldn't be able to find each other. But we found each other, swam in the lake, dried in a couple of minutes lying in the sun, and I went to hunt for a lángos. I had a lángos with sour cream and garlic. It's nice when you can eat garlic with someone - a good friend, for example, who might complain but you wouldn't give a damn because he's not going to get that close anyway. Garlic is a sign of trust.
The evening had two highlights: the Sergent Garcia concert and the Fatboy Slim concert. I have never heard of the former before; it was a band of mostly Cuban musicians playing salsa, cumbia and reggae. The atmosphere was great at their concert. They were relaxed, the music was nice and happy, the singer was good at establishing a connection with the audience, the vocalist was moving her ass as a proper Cuban salsa girl - what else would you wish for? Then we had a bit of a trouble getting into the Anima Sound System performance, who were late anyway, so actually there was no point anyway and we headed to the main stage again to meet up with a friend of Dávid's (or a relative?) and see Fatboy Slim.
Had I not seen Chemical Brothers last summer at the Sziget, I would now say that Fatboy Slim was amazing. He was really good. But it couldn't live up to the Chemical Brothers concert somehow, I felt. Maybe only because of the smaller setting. But it was certainly worth it. The guy was energetic, the music was as good as expected and the audience was screaming for more. Standing there it felt as if the bass was beating your heart for you and the light from the huge broadsides on the top of the stage were blinding. Great physical experience.
I have to admit Dávid and I couldn't party on until late. Shame, shame, we got tired, and actually, there was no party tent that we really liked... So, we slept in the tent of the friends of a friend of his - not exactly the crowd I like but they were very nice letting us stay there. The storm that was announced for the evening did not struck until early morning. How lucky! Already in the afternoon they warned everybody of a big storm approaching, with 100 km/h wind. The lifeguards got everybody out of the lake, the organizers made announcements about possible cancelling of programs and asked everyone to firmly fix their tents on the ground. It was such a relief when the sun started shining again during the Sergent Garcia concert. But the rain did arrive in the morning - if not the storm yet - and Dávid and I waited until it got softer and left the festival at 7.20 am.
Now, it should be fairly easy to get to Budapest from Zamárdi. You need to take a train. But then... it turned out that the employees of the national railways were on strike. What a wonderfully chosen date to go on a strike. The solution was to go to Siófok first, then to take a bus to Veszprém and then another one to Budapest. The storm caught us in Siófok. In a couple of minutes, centimeters of rain has fallen and the wind was so strong that when we were standing under a 5 meter wide roof at the bus station, the rain still got everyone wet under the roof...
The trip home was long and tiring... I drifted in and out of consciousness on the buses and got home around 1 pm. And then I passed out for 5 more hours :)
And that's us. Me with the typical after-Balaton-swim hair and Dávid with his typical Dávid-smile and almost-puppy eyes before the first concert. Paul and Sanne, if you are reading this: you missed out big time!
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
A day in the life of...
I love the voice of Ella Fitzgerald. I love my new speakers :) It's almost midnight and I had a very nice day.
I decided that I would go to the APEH (tax) office early in the morning so that I wouldn't have to wait too much. 6.55: alarm goes off. Snooze. 7.00: alarm goes off again. Snooze. 7.05: alarm goes off again. I had some kinky sexual dream - why does my alarm have to interrupt such things? I set my alarm to 7.30. 7.30: alarm goes off, but the kinky dream didn't come back. Oh well, whatever, I'm sleepy. Snoozing until 7.55. Okay, I will certainly not make it to the APEH by 8.15, which is when the office opens.
I was smart enough to put a book into my bag - just in case I had to wait there. Well, I had to wait. Not as much as I thought, actually, I was done within 1.5 hours. I had to arrange my insurance. Now I'll have to pay 4350 Ft per month because I'm not a student and I'm not working. At least now I can be sure that my medical expenses, if any, will be covered by the state. You never know.
I dropped by my parents' place to say hi, but apart from my fantastic dog, Csoki, no one was at home. Csoki didn't even bother to stand up, but I went there just to tickle his belly a bit. I think he might have known that I would go up to him anyway. Lazy, lovely bitch. He would be the perfect dog equivalent of Garfield: sleep, eat, sleep, eat, nothing can disturb him. I made myself a great cappuccino with proper milk froth and honey, eat some sour cherry soup and did the dishes to make up for it.
Afternoon nap. Long, long afternoon nap. The sun was shining in the window, the room was bright, which is how I would prefer to fall asleep every day, if I could. Snoozing pattern repeated.
I had an appointment with Mihály Racsmány at BME (Budapest University of Technology) at 3 and I was there exactly at 3. He's a researcher there and if everything works out the way it should, I will be working with him from September onward. From what I've seen from him so far, he's a cool guy. I think he really is making an effort to inform me on what they are up to and to involve me. Unfortunately, he will only know in August whether he can pay me and give me a proper position. I'm hoping for the best. Everything else depends on this. No, not everything. But money issues certainly do. So, the amount of money I need to make with another (still to be found) job does too, which influences what kind of job I can take, or to be more realistic, what kind of job can take me.
Immediately after leaving Mihály's office, I dropped by A38, my ever favorite place in town. It's an old Soviet ship on the Danube, with a bar, a restaurant, a café and - most importantly - a concert hall inside. They stripped the ship from all the engine related stuff, and that's how they could build a proper hall inside (I think), they have the best jazzy concerts and whenever everybody is moving to the same rhythm, you can feel the ship moving up and down. It's absolutely supercool. I went up to the bar and asked the girl behind the bar how she got the job. She introduced me to the Financial Manager who introduced me to the HR person who gave me his e-mail address and told me to send him an e-mail. Better than nothing - I thought and left for my next appointment.
I met András (or Szekér, based on his last name) at the Puskin café where we had a nice chat and I listened to his ideas about the events at the Gay Pride. According to him, it's not the worst thing that there are a handful of radicalists who do what they do, but the way the media depicts the whole thing. They draw a parallel between provocation (simply by the act of marching) on behalf of gay people and the aggressive acts of the radicalists, which can hardly be put on the same agenda. Then, some opinionated article said that since homosexuals cannot be legally discriminated against, there is now no reason to march. Szekér's answer was that this is as if you said that since the points of the March 15 revolution are now all fulfilled, there is no reason to celebrate a memorial day on March 15. I like this analogy. It's smart.
András said they are having an EVIME (the Hungarian UWC national committee) board meeting about the storkcamp (the introduction camp for the newbies) at another place, so I could drop by. So, I did. Igor, my Hungarian co-year from AC was also there, and after the meeting I invited him over for tea to catch up. So, he came and we had a nice conversation about guys, AC and the job market.
Ah, I love Frank Sinatra's voice too. And my new speakers :)
I decided that I would go to the APEH (tax) office early in the morning so that I wouldn't have to wait too much. 6.55: alarm goes off. Snooze. 7.00: alarm goes off again. Snooze. 7.05: alarm goes off again. I had some kinky sexual dream - why does my alarm have to interrupt such things? I set my alarm to 7.30. 7.30: alarm goes off, but the kinky dream didn't come back. Oh well, whatever, I'm sleepy. Snoozing until 7.55. Okay, I will certainly not make it to the APEH by 8.15, which is when the office opens.
I was smart enough to put a book into my bag - just in case I had to wait there. Well, I had to wait. Not as much as I thought, actually, I was done within 1.5 hours. I had to arrange my insurance. Now I'll have to pay 4350 Ft per month because I'm not a student and I'm not working. At least now I can be sure that my medical expenses, if any, will be covered by the state. You never know.
I dropped by my parents' place to say hi, but apart from my fantastic dog, Csoki, no one was at home. Csoki didn't even bother to stand up, but I went there just to tickle his belly a bit. I think he might have known that I would go up to him anyway. Lazy, lovely bitch. He would be the perfect dog equivalent of Garfield: sleep, eat, sleep, eat, nothing can disturb him. I made myself a great cappuccino with proper milk froth and honey, eat some sour cherry soup and did the dishes to make up for it.
Afternoon nap. Long, long afternoon nap. The sun was shining in the window, the room was bright, which is how I would prefer to fall asleep every day, if I could. Snoozing pattern repeated.
I had an appointment with Mihály Racsmány at BME (Budapest University of Technology) at 3 and I was there exactly at 3. He's a researcher there and if everything works out the way it should, I will be working with him from September onward. From what I've seen from him so far, he's a cool guy. I think he really is making an effort to inform me on what they are up to and to involve me. Unfortunately, he will only know in August whether he can pay me and give me a proper position. I'm hoping for the best. Everything else depends on this. No, not everything. But money issues certainly do. So, the amount of money I need to make with another (still to be found) job does too, which influences what kind of job I can take, or to be more realistic, what kind of job can take me.
Immediately after leaving Mihály's office, I dropped by A38, my ever favorite place in town. It's an old Soviet ship on the Danube, with a bar, a restaurant, a café and - most importantly - a concert hall inside. They stripped the ship from all the engine related stuff, and that's how they could build a proper hall inside (I think), they have the best jazzy concerts and whenever everybody is moving to the same rhythm, you can feel the ship moving up and down. It's absolutely supercool. I went up to the bar and asked the girl behind the bar how she got the job. She introduced me to the Financial Manager who introduced me to the HR person who gave me his e-mail address and told me to send him an e-mail. Better than nothing - I thought and left for my next appointment.
I met András (or Szekér, based on his last name) at the Puskin café where we had a nice chat and I listened to his ideas about the events at the Gay Pride. According to him, it's not the worst thing that there are a handful of radicalists who do what they do, but the way the media depicts the whole thing. They draw a parallel between provocation (simply by the act of marching) on behalf of gay people and the aggressive acts of the radicalists, which can hardly be put on the same agenda. Then, some opinionated article said that since homosexuals cannot be legally discriminated against, there is now no reason to march. Szekér's answer was that this is as if you said that since the points of the March 15 revolution are now all fulfilled, there is no reason to celebrate a memorial day on March 15. I like this analogy. It's smart.
András said they are having an EVIME (the Hungarian UWC national committee) board meeting about the storkcamp (the introduction camp for the newbies) at another place, so I could drop by. So, I did. Igor, my Hungarian co-year from AC was also there, and after the meeting I invited him over for tea to catch up. So, he came and we had a nice conversation about guys, AC and the job market.
Ah, I love Frank Sinatra's voice too. And my new speakers :)
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Gay Pride Budapest
There are some reasons why I cannot imagine living in this country for long. One of them is the intolerance and stupidity of its people. This is how the gay pride march ended yesterday:
(Photos are from Népszabadság and Magyar Nemzet)
(Photos are from Népszabadság and Magyar Nemzet)
Friday, 4 July 2008
Budapest so far
Security guard: "I'm sorry, I can't help, but hey, you are pretty."
At the greengrocer's, while picking out the corns I liked:
"So, are they delicious?"
"Oh yes... Just as delicious as the first kiss."
Bureacracy: it took 3 days to get a stamp in my student ID because on the first day they did not accept my documents (it stated that I'm a student until August 2008 but it was from December, while they wanted one from January at least - as if it mattered really) and on the second day they were unexpectedly closed.
Theft: my bike is gone... it was such a nice one. I was really sad. I loved going around in the city by bike, even though there aren't too many bikepaths around. I guess I'll try to get another one from the Hungarian equivalent of marktplaats.
Foam party: with Irma and her boyfriend, Imre; a great nigth out! We left Budapest around 6 pm, Irma drove us to Szeged, then we had dinner at a restaurant, then we moved to a very nice retro chill-out place to have a couple of drinks, then we went to the party and danced until around 2 am (I have to say I'm very happy that Imre is not very jealous when Irma and I dance together), got in bed around 3, were up by 6/6.30 and drove back.
Salsa: everybody is dancing Cuban style here, which is a bit annoying for someone who dances LA. It must be like when you speak languages that are very similar and you can eventually understand each other but it is quite troublesome. So far I danced with two guys who danced LA, and with one who was very willing and able to switch once in a while. I've been to 4 parties in one week - not bad :) Someone suggested that I should go to a party where all the fans of the competitive dances go. I think I'll check it out.
Food and groceries: so much cheaper than in Utrecht :) I bought a kg of peaches for 1 euro yesterday. I love the central market, it's a beautiful place and I can find everything I need.
Pet: I have a snail :) Yes, a water snail. Not named it yet, but it's yellow and it's slowly going around in a big glass IKEA vase and it likes the plant that I put in the water. Soon I'll get a couple of fish too.
At the greengrocer's, while picking out the corns I liked:
"So, are they delicious?"
"Oh yes... Just as delicious as the first kiss."
Bureacracy: it took 3 days to get a stamp in my student ID because on the first day they did not accept my documents (it stated that I'm a student until August 2008 but it was from December, while they wanted one from January at least - as if it mattered really) and on the second day they were unexpectedly closed.
Theft: my bike is gone... it was such a nice one. I was really sad. I loved going around in the city by bike, even though there aren't too many bikepaths around. I guess I'll try to get another one from the Hungarian equivalent of marktplaats.
Foam party: with Irma and her boyfriend, Imre; a great nigth out! We left Budapest around 6 pm, Irma drove us to Szeged, then we had dinner at a restaurant, then we moved to a very nice retro chill-out place to have a couple of drinks, then we went to the party and danced until around 2 am (I have to say I'm very happy that Imre is not very jealous when Irma and I dance together), got in bed around 3, were up by 6/6.30 and drove back.
Salsa: everybody is dancing Cuban style here, which is a bit annoying for someone who dances LA. It must be like when you speak languages that are very similar and you can eventually understand each other but it is quite troublesome. So far I danced with two guys who danced LA, and with one who was very willing and able to switch once in a while. I've been to 4 parties in one week - not bad :) Someone suggested that I should go to a party where all the fans of the competitive dances go. I think I'll check it out.
Food and groceries: so much cheaper than in Utrecht :) I bought a kg of peaches for 1 euro yesterday. I love the central market, it's a beautiful place and I can find everything I need.
Pet: I have a snail :) Yes, a water snail. Not named it yet, but it's yellow and it's slowly going around in a big glass IKEA vase and it likes the plant that I put in the water. Soon I'll get a couple of fish too.
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