First Day - Left to Wander

I was hoping I could wish my cold away, so I didn’t take any NyQuil last night and woke myself up in a coughing fit. It feels like bad luck, but I suppose I’ll just keep taking NyQuil and DayQuil until I run out. It’ll be like last fall all over again. The good news is I am feeling better. When I woke up I thought I’d be a little surprised by my new environment, but this flat already feels like home. My flatmate is really sweet, the place is really clean (complete opposite of the dirty frat house I lived in this summer), and I can already get around a bit of my neighborhood without getting lost or anything. It helps that I’m right in the center of the city, so I don’t need to wander too far to find groceries, cosmetics, or even a pharmacy. Greg said there was food all around us because we’re just a block or two away from the ruin pubs where everyone goes to party, so they wander back over here to eat. 

We were told that the place around the corner had really good breakfast food, so we went there to eat this morning. Of course I’m clueless so we had to ask if we should order up front or grab a table. Luckily they had English and Hungarian menus, so we didn’t have to decipher much of what we were ordering. Our waitress was a little impatient with us, but I ended up getting a very good Americano, and scrambled eggs with mushrooms and spinach. I also had a bottle of water. Water’s listed as a soft drink on most menus, and they don’t automatically give it to you. This fact probably doesn’t surprise anyone who’s been to Europe, but I think I’m going to be perpetually dehydrated around here. Luckily the tap water is safe to drink and I packed a nalgene ;) 

After breakfast we went grocery shopping. The grocery store is right across the street and around the corner from home which is awesome. It’s also a really cute place. I bought food like produce that I recognized (mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, etc), some stuff that I hope (I’m pretty sure) is butter, and some Hungarian cheese. I couldn’t help myself and bought a small baguette and a bottle of wine too. I bought groceries kind of at random, but it should be enough to last me a few days and then I will need to start planning what I’d like to eat. I’m thinking this will be a semester of pasta, bread, cheese and wine. But since I don’t want to get fat I ought to be careful. I’m super stoked to have a clean, functional kitchen and hope to cook all the time. I can tell I won’t be able to make Quesadillas or have much of anything that resembles Mexican food (although, I have heard that there’s a good burrito place somewhere in this city), but grilled cheese will probably cut it. The most surprising thing to me at the grocery store was that they don’t bag anything for you. And, you have to purchase any bags you use. I was actually pretty impressed because that has to cut down on a lot of waste. However, I frustrated the woman who checked me out when I asked for bags at least 4 times before I realized she heard me the first time and had put them in the bottom of my basket (under all the groceries). So, I fished them out, bagged everything up, and headed off to the bank with my flatmate and her sister (who’s visiting for a couple days). 

Naturally we got lost looking for the bank, but found a place to get shampoo instead. After we got our cosmetics, we remembered where the bank was and went there. My flatmate just used her ATM card to get out some Hungarian Forint, but I came with a lot of American cash and wanted to exchange that. Turns out when you want to talk to a teller in Budapest you need a number slip. You get those from a screen at the front of the bank. There’s a list of options for why you’re there and you choose one to get your number. It was in Hungarian. So, I saw something with the word “Simple” in it and pressed that. Turns out that meant I wanted to sign up for a credit card… I learned that by asking a friendly Hungarian woman in the bank. So, when they called my number I explained I was confused and asked if they would retract my number for currency exchange. The guy said sure, so I sat back down. Then all these other people who came in later than me were called long before me, so I decided to decipher the options on the screen and get a new number. I pressed something that translates to “HUF out” or withdrawal Forint. Then, my first number was called. So, I walked up, half smiled at the woman (probably looked like a grimace to be honest), and then asked if she spoke any English. She responded, “very little.” (In my head I was thinking she must hate me, and felt so guilty for not learning any Hungarian). Her English was plenty good to help me exchange my money, and then we finally left. She thanked me in English and I thanked her in Hungarian (hoping she would hate me less). 

Almost every person I interacted with this morning seemed a little annoyed by me, and I felt very guilty for it. But, I was warned yesterday that all the service people are just always rude to everyone. I think it’ll take some getting used to. I will work on convincing myself that no one wants to hurt me. I sometimes wish I was from someplace less friendly so maybe the sting of curt people would hurt less. I guess I should’ve spent more time in New York City this summer. I did hang out with Amanda, a New Yorker, all summer; however, she’s not rude (maybe a little crazy though ;) ) so it didn’t really prepare me. 

This afternoon I just hung out in my apartment. I was still pretty worn out, still have a slight cold, and was happy to just cook food in my new kitchen. I watched a ton of netflix, made dinner, and then met up with some people to go play frisbee. There’s quite a contingent of people playing from my abroad program with the team here in Budapest. Most are from Amherst and some from Carelton. Then there’s me and Megan from Wellesley. It was a little weird to hear people speaking so much Hungarian around me, but everyone was really nice and they did most of the practice in English since the majority of us didn’t speak Hungarian. I can already tell this team will be a lot of fun for the fall. Of course they aren’t the Whiptails, but I guess I’ll settle. 

After Frisbee it was pretty late, so I just headed home. I learned how to take the bus today thanks to my new frisbee friends, and saw a view of the city over the Danube as we rode back from the Buda side (where practice was) to the Pest side (where I live). For those of you who do not know, Budapest is two cities glued together by the Danube river and a bunch of bridges. It’s a lot like Cambridge and Boston in that way. I think both pieces of the city are too prominent to be compared to Cambridge, but it’s an ok analogy for most. The funny thing about Budapest is that the Buda half of the city is all hills while the Pest half is very flat. I’ll show that in pictures soon I hope. I didn’t take too many tonight, but will wander around the city soon and be a tourist. 

I’m beating my cold and doing pretty well. I hope that soon I’ll be pretty comfortable with the city and it will feel a bit like home. And maybe I’ll have some time to get to all the places from my friends’ guides they’ve shared from their stays here. Today was my free day before orientation starts over the weekend and classes start on Monday, so I will probably start writing a bit less once I have homework to do. I will do my best to update every few days though. If for no one else than for my mother who I know is already my avid follower.