After many, many hours of travel, Reagan and I are safely in Hungary. We actually got in Friday afternoon, but due to jet lag I have not gotten around to writing until now. We were dropped off at O'Hare by my mom, and we ended up checking in and getting through security in record time. That left us with three hours to kill before our flight. Lucky for us we met two nice guys that shared their bottle of wine with me and entertained us with conversation. I love new friends. Thanks Matt and Zack!Our flight from Chicago to Amsterdam was a dream. We had the whole row to ourselves, so we were able to spread out and sleep. The food was fantastic, and the flight attendants were constantly attending to us. We got to Amsterdam and promptly visited the restroom, pay phones and some little shop where we bought a key chain with wooden clogs of it in honor of Holland.
Then we got in line for the currency exchange and watched a man die. Yes. A man died right in front of us. He had a heart attack, the medics came, administered CPR for two minutes and then covered him with a sheet. Ummmm..... they usually do CPR for like 45 minutes on Grey's Anatomy????? A super sweetie from Oklahoma that was in line with us reassured me that they did everything they could. He was a PA, so I guess I will believe him. But still... yikes!!!Then we got on our connecting flight to Budapest, which was very brief. I slept the whole way and Reagan amused herself. We got our luggage with no problem, and met with our reps from CETP or Central European Teaching Program. They got us set in a taxi and we came to our hostel, which will be home for the next week while we have orientation. Reagan and I then met several of the other teachers and went up to our room.
We ventured out on our own for dinner, which was amusing. English is scarce here. It is a game of charades with a lot of pointing. So far we have successfully had a dinner and a lunch on our own, as well as ice cream. The currency is so whacked. It is called a forint, so when I pulled 50,000 out of the ATM, it amounted to like 316 dollars. I have no idea what I am actually paying for anything.This morning was also hilarious because the converter I bought for the outlets apparently cannot be used alone. I damn near electrocuted myself and ended up blowing a fuse. When I went to tell the front desk about it they could not understand me, so I had to play charades, pantomining the whole incident. They were NOT impressed.
We had our reception and dinner with our group last night. Roughly two dozen of us went to dinner in downtown Budapest. It was amazing. The architecture here is gorgeous, minus the graffiti that litters every single thing you see. We had dinner on the Danube River, and a three piece musical group consisting of a bass, violin and accordian serenaded us while we ate. The food was delicious... I had tilapia with a summer salad, and Reagan had a steak. We shared apple cake with vanilla ice for dessert and it was five stars. Super good! Then it started to storm, so we had to make our way back walking through the streets, then the subway, then the tram, then up a hill and MANY steps to get back to our hostel. We were wet but very pleased with the evening. The people are great. A real mixed bag of ages and locations.
I have zero regrets in making this decision. This country has so much to teach us about humility and gratitude. Today was absolutely fantastic. Reagan and I rose early to eat breakfast downstairs in the hostel. It is a very provincial offering... everything is simple, but it meets your needs. The choices for breakfast were bread with butter and jam, thin sliced ham, sausages that looked like hot dogs, plums and cut up tomatoes/cucumbers/orange peppers. Simple, yet plenty. Reagan and I shared our meal with a gentleman named Stan from our group, he is a retired high school teacher, and Ashley, who is a brand new grad from Florida. After breakfast we met the rest of our group, there are about 24 of us total, and we went down the hill to the Collegium, where our classes for the day were. We studied Hungary's history, practical teaching skills, mannerisms and a few words. I successfully went off on my own and asked the person at the front desk where the bathroom was... in Hungarian! Unfortunately they do not supply toilet paper as this is a very, very poor country and the money is simply not there. So... note to self... always carry a roll.
For lunch we went to a local restaurant, and with a bit of help from our rep, managed to order and pay with no problems. We did get made fun of by the guys behind the counter and some homeless guy... which I could not understand until our rep told me to get away from them. Oops! Reagan has been a total dream. No complaints about food, boredom or anything. She is quickly becoming the class pet, and volunteered herself for some activities today in front of everyone. Her resilience is amazing to me.After class we went to the hostel for a bit of a break, and then joined a group of other teachers who were going out to dinner. We hopped on the tram and went to Castle Hill, which has a wonderful view of Budapest, beautiful statues, a huge church and lots of restaurants. We ate at a great cafe off the square. Reagan had cream of asparagus soup and I had a cheese and dried fruit plate. Yes, I am attempting to eat dairy again, and so far it was met with success!Then we rode the tram back to our hostel and we are calling it a night.
I will leave you with a hungarian vocabulary word, the first of many.... Szia. That means hello. It is pronounced .... see ya!
More to come tomorrow..... and before I forget, here is our address and telephone number. If any of you have Skype let me know and I will provide you with my Skype number.
Altalanos Kettannyelvu Iskola
c/o Laura Lawrence
3900 Szerencs, Rakoczi Zs. ter 1..
Phone number: 011361305198378
Szerlem (love),
Laura
Then we got in line for the currency exchange and watched a man die. Yes. A man died right in front of us. He had a heart attack, the medics came, administered CPR for two minutes and then covered him with a sheet. Ummmm..... they usually do CPR for like 45 minutes on Grey's Anatomy????? A super sweetie from Oklahoma that was in line with us reassured me that they did everything they could. He was a PA, so I guess I will believe him. But still... yikes!!!Then we got on our connecting flight to Budapest, which was very brief. I slept the whole way and Reagan amused herself. We got our luggage with no problem, and met with our reps from CETP or Central European Teaching Program. They got us set in a taxi and we came to our hostel, which will be home for the next week while we have orientation. Reagan and I then met several of the other teachers and went up to our room.
We ventured out on our own for dinner, which was amusing. English is scarce here. It is a game of charades with a lot of pointing. So far we have successfully had a dinner and a lunch on our own, as well as ice cream. The currency is so whacked. It is called a forint, so when I pulled 50,000 out of the ATM, it amounted to like 316 dollars. I have no idea what I am actually paying for anything.This morning was also hilarious because the converter I bought for the outlets apparently cannot be used alone. I damn near electrocuted myself and ended up blowing a fuse. When I went to tell the front desk about it they could not understand me, so I had to play charades, pantomining the whole incident. They were NOT impressed.
We had our reception and dinner with our group last night. Roughly two dozen of us went to dinner in downtown Budapest. It was amazing. The architecture here is gorgeous, minus the graffiti that litters every single thing you see. We had dinner on the Danube River, and a three piece musical group consisting of a bass, violin and accordian serenaded us while we ate. The food was delicious... I had tilapia with a summer salad, and Reagan had a steak. We shared apple cake with vanilla ice for dessert and it was five stars. Super good! Then it started to storm, so we had to make our way back walking through the streets, then the subway, then the tram, then up a hill and MANY steps to get back to our hostel. We were wet but very pleased with the evening. The people are great. A real mixed bag of ages and locations.
I have zero regrets in making this decision. This country has so much to teach us about humility and gratitude. Today was absolutely fantastic. Reagan and I rose early to eat breakfast downstairs in the hostel. It is a very provincial offering... everything is simple, but it meets your needs. The choices for breakfast were bread with butter and jam, thin sliced ham, sausages that looked like hot dogs, plums and cut up tomatoes/cucumbers/orange peppers. Simple, yet plenty. Reagan and I shared our meal with a gentleman named Stan from our group, he is a retired high school teacher, and Ashley, who is a brand new grad from Florida. After breakfast we met the rest of our group, there are about 24 of us total, and we went down the hill to the Collegium, where our classes for the day were. We studied Hungary's history, practical teaching skills, mannerisms and a few words. I successfully went off on my own and asked the person at the front desk where the bathroom was... in Hungarian! Unfortunately they do not supply toilet paper as this is a very, very poor country and the money is simply not there. So... note to self... always carry a roll.
For lunch we went to a local restaurant, and with a bit of help from our rep, managed to order and pay with no problems. We did get made fun of by the guys behind the counter and some homeless guy... which I could not understand until our rep told me to get away from them. Oops! Reagan has been a total dream. No complaints about food, boredom or anything. She is quickly becoming the class pet, and volunteered herself for some activities today in front of everyone. Her resilience is amazing to me.After class we went to the hostel for a bit of a break, and then joined a group of other teachers who were going out to dinner. We hopped on the tram and went to Castle Hill, which has a wonderful view of Budapest, beautiful statues, a huge church and lots of restaurants. We ate at a great cafe off the square. Reagan had cream of asparagus soup and I had a cheese and dried fruit plate. Yes, I am attempting to eat dairy again, and so far it was met with success!Then we rode the tram back to our hostel and we are calling it a night.
I will leave you with a hungarian vocabulary word, the first of many.... Szia. That means hello. It is pronounced .... see ya!
More to come tomorrow..... and before I forget, here is our address and telephone number. If any of you have Skype let me know and I will provide you with my Skype number.
Altalanos Kettannyelvu Iskola
c/o Laura Lawrence
3900 Szerencs, Rakoczi Zs. ter 1..
Phone number: 011361305198378
Szerlem (love),
Laura
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