Sunday, July 11, 2010
Szia Budapest...
For those of you who don't know, I am now back in Fort Collins. As you know, I was supposed to stay another month, but I decided that it would be best for me to return home. I think that Budapest was an interesting experience and I do not regret going, but it just was not a good fit for me. Sorry this is such a sort post with no real explanation (I am not sure there really is one) but I will post pictures as soon as I get around to putting them on my computer.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I got hit in the face by a pigeon...
...Ok, not really, but it was close. This past weekend, I was walking around, seeing some of the sites I haven't seen so far and as I approached the Basilica, these two little girls started to run around, chasing the pigeons. One of the pigeons flew right at my head and I had to duck to avoid being hit. It probably wasn't nearly as close to me as I thought, and I am sure I looked ridiculous (the large amount of stares I got after pretty much confirm this), but I truly thought it was going to hit me.
Anyway, there really hasn't been much going on recently. Like I said, this past weekend I just mainly walked around town. On Saturday, I had one of those days that wasn't bad, but really annoying because nothing went right. My original goal on Saturday was to go into the parliament. Well, little did I know you have to go on an official tour and the English tour started at 2pm...I got there at 2:15. I did not feel like waiting another two hours so I just walked around the outside. I then walked over to Margaret Island. It is basically a huge park on an island in the Danube. It is very pretty but there were a lot of mosquitoes and so I didn't stay long. I then walked over to the Basilica, where I nearly got hit by a pigeon. I was able to go inside but there was a wedding that was about to start so I only got to briefly go into the back part. I wanted to climb to the top of the dome, but decided I was too tired to climb up the 300+ stairs after walking around all day. That night, I went to meet some friends. We were supposed to meet at 8:30, so I headed to catch the 8:15 tram. Well, I got stuck at the longest red light and when I finally got to the tram station, as I went to push the button to open the door, it started to drive off. There was a second one sitting there, but they usually don't go back to back so I turned around to read the time table to see when it would be leaving and it left. I then thought that I would run over and catch a different tram that basically goes along the same route. However, there is construction going on near the station so I had to detour around it and right as I got to the tram...it left! By this point I was so fed up, I just wanted to go home, but I didn't. I called my friend to let him know I would be late because the next tram left at 8:32, he said that is fine and he would wait for me. Well, I got there about 8:40 and he wasn't even there yet! I had to wait another 10 minutes for him to show up and another 10 for another guy. After all that (once again, not quite as dramatic as I am making it seem), I only stayed an hour.
Anyway, Sunday was much better. I walked around in the afternoon with one of the interns from France, watched the England vs. Germany soccer game and hung out with my friend Anna. Anna's family owns the apartment that I live in and is an old IAESTE member. I went over to her apartment and we had dinner. Then we decided to leave because there were too many people in the apartment. She asked if there was anything that I hadn't seen yet that I would like to and so I told her about my goal to walk across all of the bridges before I leave. I had already walked across 4 of them so we decided to go and walk across two more of them. It was a good time and we were able to stop and see some of the other sites as well. I am hoping to finish my quest in the next day or two. So far, the Szabadság Híd (Liberty Bridge) is my favorite.
Anyway, there really hasn't been much going on recently. Like I said, this past weekend I just mainly walked around town. On Saturday, I had one of those days that wasn't bad, but really annoying because nothing went right. My original goal on Saturday was to go into the parliament. Well, little did I know you have to go on an official tour and the English tour started at 2pm...I got there at 2:15. I did not feel like waiting another two hours so I just walked around the outside. I then walked over to Margaret Island. It is basically a huge park on an island in the Danube. It is very pretty but there were a lot of mosquitoes and so I didn't stay long. I then walked over to the Basilica, where I nearly got hit by a pigeon. I was able to go inside but there was a wedding that was about to start so I only got to briefly go into the back part. I wanted to climb to the top of the dome, but decided I was too tired to climb up the 300+ stairs after walking around all day. That night, I went to meet some friends. We were supposed to meet at 8:30, so I headed to catch the 8:15 tram. Well, I got stuck at the longest red light and when I finally got to the tram station, as I went to push the button to open the door, it started to drive off. There was a second one sitting there, but they usually don't go back to back so I turned around to read the time table to see when it would be leaving and it left. I then thought that I would run over and catch a different tram that basically goes along the same route. However, there is construction going on near the station so I had to detour around it and right as I got to the tram...it left! By this point I was so fed up, I just wanted to go home, but I didn't. I called my friend to let him know I would be late because the next tram left at 8:32, he said that is fine and he would wait for me. Well, I got there about 8:40 and he wasn't even there yet! I had to wait another 10 minutes for him to show up and another 10 for another guy. After all that (once again, not quite as dramatic as I am making it seem), I only stayed an hour.
Anyway, Sunday was much better. I walked around in the afternoon with one of the interns from France, watched the England vs. Germany soccer game and hung out with my friend Anna. Anna's family owns the apartment that I live in and is an old IAESTE member. I went over to her apartment and we had dinner. Then we decided to leave because there were too many people in the apartment. She asked if there was anything that I hadn't seen yet that I would like to and so I told her about my goal to walk across all of the bridges before I leave. I had already walked across 4 of them so we decided to go and walk across two more of them. It was a good time and we were able to stop and see some of the other sites as well. I am hoping to finish my quest in the next day or two. So far, the Szabadság Híd (Liberty Bridge) is my favorite.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Cooking is hard...
As most of you know, IAESTE is an internship exchange program that has branches throughout the world. Every year, the individual countries and their local committees (chapters) raise jobs that they can then exchange with other countries. I don't fully understand the process, but basically for every student you host, you send one abroad. I believe that IAESTE Hungary hosts over 60 students a year, which is impressive for two reasons: 1) Hungary is about a third of the size of CO and 2) It is completely student run and mostly by volunteers who never even get to go abroad themselves. The main point that I am getting at here is there are now students from all over the world here and as I said before, we only have two from the same country (the two French girls I wrote about previously).
We have started to do country themed dinners, where we take turns cooking some sort of typical dish. Well, last night was my night to cook. My first challenge was to come up with some sort of typical "American" food...not an easy task. After many Google searches, most of which returned the well known fact that we don't really have a typical or traditional dish, I decided on fried chicken (sort of), potatoes and apple pie.
None of the recipes I found seemed too difficult so I thought that it wouldn't be that hard to make this. Well, I was wrong. The entire process was slightly frustrating. First, I could not find the proper ingredients. Everything was going well until I attempted to find vegetable shortening for making the pie crust. I looked up the word before I went and thought I was good to go. I have gotten much better at navigating the grocery store and in general can find things without too much trouble as long as I know the name of them. Well, I could not find shortening anywhere. I finally called my roommate to see if she knew where it was. After a five minute debate on what it was, she told me a different word than I had looked up and told me to just go and ask someone who worked there. Well, I did that, but the problem is she didn't speak English. However, as she was explaining to me where to find it (in Hungarian, of course), I nodded politely and deduced from her hand gestures the general area in which I could find it. Well, I found what she was telling me about, but it was lard, as in pig fat, and there was no way I was putting pig fat into my pie. Of course my dictionary did not have any of the words that were on the package so I attempted to ask a lady if it was the same thing. She then called her son over to speak in English with me, which he only said maybe two words, but then she proceeded to direct me back to the butter isle. I knew she was wrong and trying to explain to someone the difference between margarine and shortening when you don't speak the language is difficult. She kept insisting that is where I needed to go, so finally I just said thank you until she stopped talking and went back to the butter isle, where I had looked about five times. I ended up settling on attempting to make it with butter. I then could not find any pie tins in which to make the pies so I ended up having to use those instead. In the end, the pies were very ugly and were probably the worst pies I have ever made (they still tasted fine, I just know they could have been so much better).
For the main course, I made sort of a chicken nugget/fried chicken combo. I found a recipe for making fried chicken in the oven. The recipe said it would take 10 minutes to prepare and I of course believed it. However, it took me nearly 45 minutes. Then the ovens here are tiny and ours is very old and basically has no temperature control so I could barely fit all of the chicken in and one of the pans of chicken sort of burned. All of the breading fell off so all of the time I spent doing it was basically a big waste. In the end I covered it in a bbq sauce and honey mixture so it tasted pretty good.
I also made garlic and basil potato wedges, but since I needed to fit a lot of them in the pan and I was already about an hour behind at this point, they did not get crispy like they were supposed to. However, they still tasted good and I suppose that is all that matters.
We had about 17 or 18 people show up, which was fun but a little cramped. I have no idea how we all fit into the apartment. Our apartment is smaller than my apartment that I had last summer...where I lived alone. Although I was very stressed about it and not super pleased with the results of my cooking, the evening was really a lot of fun. It did make me miss my house in Fort Collins, which is great for hosting dinners, my bbq grill and US grocery stores. I have also come to the conclusion that I think I'll just go back to living off of corn flakes.
We have started to do country themed dinners, where we take turns cooking some sort of typical dish. Well, last night was my night to cook. My first challenge was to come up with some sort of typical "American" food...not an easy task. After many Google searches, most of which returned the well known fact that we don't really have a typical or traditional dish, I decided on fried chicken (sort of), potatoes and apple pie.
None of the recipes I found seemed too difficult so I thought that it wouldn't be that hard to make this. Well, I was wrong. The entire process was slightly frustrating. First, I could not find the proper ingredients. Everything was going well until I attempted to find vegetable shortening for making the pie crust. I looked up the word before I went and thought I was good to go. I have gotten much better at navigating the grocery store and in general can find things without too much trouble as long as I know the name of them. Well, I could not find shortening anywhere. I finally called my roommate to see if she knew where it was. After a five minute debate on what it was, she told me a different word than I had looked up and told me to just go and ask someone who worked there. Well, I did that, but the problem is she didn't speak English. However, as she was explaining to me where to find it (in Hungarian, of course), I nodded politely and deduced from her hand gestures the general area in which I could find it. Well, I found what she was telling me about, but it was lard, as in pig fat, and there was no way I was putting pig fat into my pie. Of course my dictionary did not have any of the words that were on the package so I attempted to ask a lady if it was the same thing. She then called her son over to speak in English with me, which he only said maybe two words, but then she proceeded to direct me back to the butter isle. I knew she was wrong and trying to explain to someone the difference between margarine and shortening when you don't speak the language is difficult. She kept insisting that is where I needed to go, so finally I just said thank you until she stopped talking and went back to the butter isle, where I had looked about five times. I ended up settling on attempting to make it with butter. I then could not find any pie tins in which to make the pies so I ended up having to use those instead. In the end, the pies were very ugly and were probably the worst pies I have ever made (they still tasted fine, I just know they could have been so much better).
For the main course, I made sort of a chicken nugget/fried chicken combo. I found a recipe for making fried chicken in the oven. The recipe said it would take 10 minutes to prepare and I of course believed it. However, it took me nearly 45 minutes. Then the ovens here are tiny and ours is very old and basically has no temperature control so I could barely fit all of the chicken in and one of the pans of chicken sort of burned. All of the breading fell off so all of the time I spent doing it was basically a big waste. In the end I covered it in a bbq sauce and honey mixture so it tasted pretty good.
I also made garlic and basil potato wedges, but since I needed to fit a lot of them in the pan and I was already about an hour behind at this point, they did not get crispy like they were supposed to. However, they still tasted good and I suppose that is all that matters.
We had about 17 or 18 people show up, which was fun but a little cramped. I have no idea how we all fit into the apartment. Our apartment is smaller than my apartment that I had last summer...where I lived alone. Although I was very stressed about it and not super pleased with the results of my cooking, the evening was really a lot of fun. It did make me miss my house in Fort Collins, which is great for hosting dinners, my bbq grill and US grocery stores. I have also come to the conclusion that I think I'll just go back to living off of corn flakes.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Croatia
This past weekend, I traveled to Zagreb, Croatia with another intern from Brazil. We caught the train bright and early Friday morning and began our six and a half our journey. The train was nice and quiet and we, along with everyone else on the train, had a nice nap...that is until the LOUD group of British tourist got on. The train was only two cars long, one for 1st class and the other for 2nd, and was fairly empty. This large group of tourists, clearly oblivious to the fact that there were others on the train, got on and proceded to spread out throughout the entire car, sitting with only one or two people per area. Them spreading out was not what made me annoyed, I was annoyed by them spreading out then shouting to each other from one end of the car to the other, insulting and complaining about everything and they woke everyone up who had been sleeping peacefully (including me and Vitor...I was not happy). This affirms my hatred of tourist, but that is a different story (I know, I am a tourist myself, but I like to think I am not a super obnoxious, obviously touristy, tourist).
Once in Zagreb, we made our way to our hostel...Funk Hostel. I was a little skeptical at first based on the name (ok, that was slightly hypocritical of me because I wanted to stay in the Hobo Bear soley because I thought the name was funny), but we had read good reviews and decided to try it. It was the best hostel I have stayed in. It was nice and clean, had a large drawer with a lock to keep our stuff, a large kitchen, free laundry, wifi and a large lounge type area in the basement with cable. The staff was friendly and helpful and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to visit Zagreb.
When we first got to the hostel, there was a guy sleeping in the same dorm room that we were going to be staying in. Once he woke up, we started talking and he turned out to be a Croatian student from Zagar, who was just in Zagreb for the weekend. Dario was very nice and offered to show us around the city. So we took a long walking tour of the main highlights of the city. Zagreb is a smaller city and we were able to see the majority of the city in one afternoon. Since we were able to see the majority of the city on Friday, we decided to go to the beach on Saturday. However, Saturday morning it was raining and it was supposed to be raining all day at the beach and decided to skip the three hour trip (each way!!!) and just hung around Zagreb. We went out to a park, which I loved because I finally was able to feel as if I wasn't trapped in a city for a few hours, Vitor was not so into it but was nice enough not to complain about me dragging him there. We were going to go to the zoo, but we were both hungry and decided to go eat instead. We went to a grill that one of the guys at the hostel recommended and it was fantastic. It was kind of funny because both of use have been missing eating salad and we completely devoured it before even touching the meat. The meat, a combination of lamb, pork and beef, was fantastic. I don't know what they put in it, but it was great.
Saturday night, we decided to go to this fireworks show. Dario went with us, but we ended up getting on the wrong tram going in the wrong direction. So once he realized it, we got off and waited for the correct tram to come by. However, it turned out that they were working on the tram lines and the one we needed wasn't running. By this time it was late (close to midnight) and we decided that we didn't want to deal with catching a different tram, a bus and then walking about fifteen minutes. Therefore, we just went back to the hostel.
Since we felt we had seen pretty much everything we wanted to see in Zagreb, we decided to head back to Budapest Sunday morning so we could watch the Brazilian soccer game (Vitor, the guy I traveled with, is from Brazil). The train ride seemed forever long, stopped a million times and was very crowded by the end, but it was not bad. In the beginning, Vitor and I had a little cabin to ourselves and we watched a movie on his laptop and played cards. The cabin had bench style seats and we decided to take a nap after being on the train for about four hours already. Of course, about ten minutes later we got to Lake Balaton (the biggest lake in Hungary that I mentioned in my last post) and the train got crowded, ending our nap rather quickly.
Overall, the trip was really good, no crazy stories or anything, just a couple of annoying British tourist and some slightly unfriendly Australian girls (they also shared the dorm room with us in the hostel but aren't really worth mentioning more than this). Since Croatia is not part of the EU, I was able to get some more stamps, aiding me in my quest to completely fill my passport before it expires (sort of, they stamped pages that already have a bunch of stamps on them...not quite so helpful in filling blank pages).
Once in Zagreb, we made our way to our hostel...Funk Hostel. I was a little skeptical at first based on the name (ok, that was slightly hypocritical of me because I wanted to stay in the Hobo Bear soley because I thought the name was funny), but we had read good reviews and decided to try it. It was the best hostel I have stayed in. It was nice and clean, had a large drawer with a lock to keep our stuff, a large kitchen, free laundry, wifi and a large lounge type area in the basement with cable. The staff was friendly and helpful and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to visit Zagreb.
When we first got to the hostel, there was a guy sleeping in the same dorm room that we were going to be staying in. Once he woke up, we started talking and he turned out to be a Croatian student from Zagar, who was just in Zagreb for the weekend. Dario was very nice and offered to show us around the city. So we took a long walking tour of the main highlights of the city. Zagreb is a smaller city and we were able to see the majority of the city in one afternoon. Since we were able to see the majority of the city on Friday, we decided to go to the beach on Saturday. However, Saturday morning it was raining and it was supposed to be raining all day at the beach and decided to skip the three hour trip (each way!!!) and just hung around Zagreb. We went out to a park, which I loved because I finally was able to feel as if I wasn't trapped in a city for a few hours, Vitor was not so into it but was nice enough not to complain about me dragging him there. We were going to go to the zoo, but we were both hungry and decided to go eat instead. We went to a grill that one of the guys at the hostel recommended and it was fantastic. It was kind of funny because both of use have been missing eating salad and we completely devoured it before even touching the meat. The meat, a combination of lamb, pork and beef, was fantastic. I don't know what they put in it, but it was great.
Saturday night, we decided to go to this fireworks show. Dario went with us, but we ended up getting on the wrong tram going in the wrong direction. So once he realized it, we got off and waited for the correct tram to come by. However, it turned out that they were working on the tram lines and the one we needed wasn't running. By this time it was late (close to midnight) and we decided that we didn't want to deal with catching a different tram, a bus and then walking about fifteen minutes. Therefore, we just went back to the hostel.
Since we felt we had seen pretty much everything we wanted to see in Zagreb, we decided to head back to Budapest Sunday morning so we could watch the Brazilian soccer game (Vitor, the guy I traveled with, is from Brazil). The train ride seemed forever long, stopped a million times and was very crowded by the end, but it was not bad. In the beginning, Vitor and I had a little cabin to ourselves and we watched a movie on his laptop and played cards. The cabin had bench style seats and we decided to take a nap after being on the train for about four hours already. Of course, about ten minutes later we got to Lake Balaton (the biggest lake in Hungary that I mentioned in my last post) and the train got crowded, ending our nap rather quickly.
Overall, the trip was really good, no crazy stories or anything, just a couple of annoying British tourist and some slightly unfriendly Australian girls (they also shared the dorm room with us in the hostel but aren't really worth mentioning more than this). Since Croatia is not part of the EU, I was able to get some more stamps, aiding me in my quest to completely fill my passport before it expires (sort of, they stamped pages that already have a bunch of stamps on them...not quite so helpful in filling blank pages).
Thursday, June 17, 2010
A Little Bit of Everything
Sorry it has been so long since I have written anything. A lot has happened since I last wrote and here are some of the highlights:
1) LAKE VALENCE
Last weekend, I went to Lake Velence with a large group of local IAESTE members and the other interns that are here. We took a train, which conveniently left from the train station which I work next to, and it was pretty awful. I guess it is kind of luck of the draw when it comes to taking the train within the country. Our train was the old kind...the really old kind. Because it was the first weekend with really nice weather, everyone wanted to head to Lake Balaton (the largest and nicest lake in Hungary) and Lake Velence is on the way. A group of about 15 of us crowded onto the train with everyone else and most of us ended up standing next to the door in the portion between two cars with absolutely no airflow. It only took about an hour so it really wasn't too bad.
IAESTE Hungary was having its annual General Assembly, so members from all over the country came to talk about what their chapter did all year and for the national board elections. Luckily, the interns did not have to participate in this (and couldn't...it was all in Hungarian) and so we just hung out at the lake for the majority of the time. It was a good time and I got to meet some new interns and I got to know some of the others much better.
2) WORK
Work has been going well. I am very happy how things turned out and am actually doing more or less exactly what I expected. It is nice having a routine and feeling a lot more comfortable and less like I am in the way. Like I said previously, I have been doing a lot of Excel work (which I like). They installed this program that lets you switch your Office programs between English and Hungarian. So I am able to work on something in English, then we can open it in Hungarian and all of the formulas, code, etc. are translated into the Hungarian equivalent...it is pretty cool. Although I haven't done much with it recently, thanks to Dr. Fontane, I am pretty good in Excel and I am able to help them create and improve their spreadsheets. I think they are happy about it because they just know the basics.
I went down in the tunnel for the first time yesterday and it was awesome! From my understanding (thank you Discovery Channel;), with the tunnel boring machine they are able to not only dig the tunnel, but place the concrete wall as well. It is crazy how big and long it is. I got to walk most of the tunnel on the Buda side and it was quite a walk. Besides the dust and slightly creepy sounds in there, it was fairly pleasant to walk in...not rainy, not hot and definitely not crowded. The purpose of us walking through it was actually because we needed to take some concrete strength tests. The test itself was not very exciting to watch because it was watching a lab tech push a device against the concrete and reading a number off. The device had a small hammer inside which hit the concrete with a certain force and then measured the rebound distance. From that they are able to approximate the strength. In general, it was a great experience and I hope they take me down again once they are placing the concrete (I would really love to see the tunnel boring machine, but that is not my company who is working on that part).
3) PEOPLE AND OTHER EXPERIENCES
This week, I finally cooked something other than pasta. I made a simple stir-fry, I think my big accomplishment with it was to get the chicken. I was going to get pre-packaged chicken, but they only had huge portions and it looked kind of gross. So after staring at it for fifteen minutes (for those of you who have gone shopping with me...you know how long it takes me to decide anything), I decided to get brave and go up to the butcher station. Of course, I realized I had no idea how to say what I wanted so I just mumbled something as close as I could to "one chicken" which of course I did not want nor did they have an entire chicken so he gave me a weird look. I then pointed to the chicken breasts and he asked me "one kilogram", which was much more than I wanted as well. So I said no and he started asking me something I did not understand at all and finally he picked up a piece that still had the two chicken breasts attached, but I did not want to stand there looking like an idiot any longer and said yes, and took my chicken that was about three times the amount I wanted. I then went home and started to cook. I think my roommates must think that I am completely inept when it comes to cooking because one of my semi-roommates (he doesn't actually live there, he just stays a lot) started telling me how to do it and asking me if I knew how to cut up chicken. Anyway, it turned out good but was a little too much effort so I do not think I will be attempting it for a while again.
I have begun to hang out more and more with the other interns. At first, I did not feel as if I was really part of the group because six of the ten of us in Budapest live in the same apartment and out of everyone, I am the only one who lives on the Buda side of the Danube (Budapest is split into two sides, Buda and Pest, by the Danube...the Buda side is definitely my favorite). Although, I like the fact that I live separately, at least for now (we will all move in to a hostel in July once more people get here), because I get to experience living with Hungarians and I am able to do what I want more easily.
The other interns and I really started to get to know each other at the Lake and we have hung out several times this week. While not super popular in Hungary, it has been nice to watch the World Cup with other people who are actually interested in it. Last night, they, along with a couple of our Hungarian friends, invited me over for dinner for some goulash, a typical Hungarian food. It was basically a vegetable soup with a lot of paprika and pork. It was good and we had a great night. They only had five bowls and four spoons and there were nine of us. So some of us ended up eating out of pots and with forks. Luckily I got a spoon, but I did end up eating out of a pot. Something that really amazes me is that everyone is able to joke around in English. Most of them are really funny and I can't imagine how funny they are when speaking their own language. I think joking around in your second language is one of the hardest things to do and shows that you know the language fairly well to be able to do it.
It is really a unique experience when we all get together because, besides two French girls, we are all from different countries. So far, there is an intern from Brazil, Austria, Germany, France, Thailand, Belarus, Ecuador, Sweden, Finland, India, USA (me, of course;) and one of the French girls lives in Scotland. A guy from Australia is coming today or tomorrow and I am excited because he is going to be working with me. We get to experience a little bit of everyone's culture and the more I think about it, it is really a cool thing. We have also decided to do dinners from the different countries, tonight we are having Spanish Tortilla (I don't know why the guy from Ecuador chose that...but I love it so I am fine with it) and something from France. However, I have to come up with something to cook eventually and I have no idea what a good "American" dish is. Everyone says pancakes but I have no idea how to make pancakes from scratch and really don't like them that much. So if you have any good ideas, please let me know!!! (They also say hamburgers and hotdogs but beef here is really expensive and everyone has had hamburgers and I am not making hotdogs)
A few days ago, I also went over to a friend's house to learn a different Hungarian dish. It consisted of potato, onion, boiled egg, sausage, sour cream and of course, paprika. It was tasted pretty good, but, like most Hungarian foods, it was really heavy. I had a good time and ate with her family. It is interesting because they are very internationally minded and travel so much that having me there and speaking English was just like any other night for them. I know this sounds very self-centered, but typically people ask me, and I would ask anyone else in the same situation, where I am from and some things about being abroad or about back home, but I think they asked me which state I am from and that was it. They were very nice and it was good to see another aspect of the culture.
Well, even though I probably could continue on and on, I will spare you and stop here. I hope you all are having a great summer and have a good weekend.
1) LAKE VALENCE
Last weekend, I went to Lake Velence with a large group of local IAESTE members and the other interns that are here. We took a train, which conveniently left from the train station which I work next to, and it was pretty awful. I guess it is kind of luck of the draw when it comes to taking the train within the country. Our train was the old kind...the really old kind. Because it was the first weekend with really nice weather, everyone wanted to head to Lake Balaton (the largest and nicest lake in Hungary) and Lake Velence is on the way. A group of about 15 of us crowded onto the train with everyone else and most of us ended up standing next to the door in the portion between two cars with absolutely no airflow. It only took about an hour so it really wasn't too bad.
IAESTE Hungary was having its annual General Assembly, so members from all over the country came to talk about what their chapter did all year and for the national board elections. Luckily, the interns did not have to participate in this (and couldn't...it was all in Hungarian) and so we just hung out at the lake for the majority of the time. It was a good time and I got to meet some new interns and I got to know some of the others much better.
2) WORK
Work has been going well. I am very happy how things turned out and am actually doing more or less exactly what I expected. It is nice having a routine and feeling a lot more comfortable and less like I am in the way. Like I said previously, I have been doing a lot of Excel work (which I like). They installed this program that lets you switch your Office programs between English and Hungarian. So I am able to work on something in English, then we can open it in Hungarian and all of the formulas, code, etc. are translated into the Hungarian equivalent...it is pretty cool. Although I haven't done much with it recently, thanks to Dr. Fontane, I am pretty good in Excel and I am able to help them create and improve their spreadsheets. I think they are happy about it because they just know the basics.
I went down in the tunnel for the first time yesterday and it was awesome! From my understanding (thank you Discovery Channel;), with the tunnel boring machine they are able to not only dig the tunnel, but place the concrete wall as well. It is crazy how big and long it is. I got to walk most of the tunnel on the Buda side and it was quite a walk. Besides the dust and slightly creepy sounds in there, it was fairly pleasant to walk in...not rainy, not hot and definitely not crowded. The purpose of us walking through it was actually because we needed to take some concrete strength tests. The test itself was not very exciting to watch because it was watching a lab tech push a device against the concrete and reading a number off. The device had a small hammer inside which hit the concrete with a certain force and then measured the rebound distance. From that they are able to approximate the strength. In general, it was a great experience and I hope they take me down again once they are placing the concrete (I would really love to see the tunnel boring machine, but that is not my company who is working on that part).
3) PEOPLE AND OTHER EXPERIENCES
This week, I finally cooked something other than pasta. I made a simple stir-fry, I think my big accomplishment with it was to get the chicken. I was going to get pre-packaged chicken, but they only had huge portions and it looked kind of gross. So after staring at it for fifteen minutes (for those of you who have gone shopping with me...you know how long it takes me to decide anything), I decided to get brave and go up to the butcher station. Of course, I realized I had no idea how to say what I wanted so I just mumbled something as close as I could to "one chicken" which of course I did not want nor did they have an entire chicken so he gave me a weird look. I then pointed to the chicken breasts and he asked me "one kilogram", which was much more than I wanted as well. So I said no and he started asking me something I did not understand at all and finally he picked up a piece that still had the two chicken breasts attached, but I did not want to stand there looking like an idiot any longer and said yes, and took my chicken that was about three times the amount I wanted. I then went home and started to cook. I think my roommates must think that I am completely inept when it comes to cooking because one of my semi-roommates (he doesn't actually live there, he just stays a lot) started telling me how to do it and asking me if I knew how to cut up chicken. Anyway, it turned out good but was a little too much effort so I do not think I will be attempting it for a while again.
I have begun to hang out more and more with the other interns. At first, I did not feel as if I was really part of the group because six of the ten of us in Budapest live in the same apartment and out of everyone, I am the only one who lives on the Buda side of the Danube (Budapest is split into two sides, Buda and Pest, by the Danube...the Buda side is definitely my favorite). Although, I like the fact that I live separately, at least for now (we will all move in to a hostel in July once more people get here), because I get to experience living with Hungarians and I am able to do what I want more easily.
The other interns and I really started to get to know each other at the Lake and we have hung out several times this week. While not super popular in Hungary, it has been nice to watch the World Cup with other people who are actually interested in it. Last night, they, along with a couple of our Hungarian friends, invited me over for dinner for some goulash, a typical Hungarian food. It was basically a vegetable soup with a lot of paprika and pork. It was good and we had a great night. They only had five bowls and four spoons and there were nine of us. So some of us ended up eating out of pots and with forks. Luckily I got a spoon, but I did end up eating out of a pot. Something that really amazes me is that everyone is able to joke around in English. Most of them are really funny and I can't imagine how funny they are when speaking their own language. I think joking around in your second language is one of the hardest things to do and shows that you know the language fairly well to be able to do it.
It is really a unique experience when we all get together because, besides two French girls, we are all from different countries. So far, there is an intern from Brazil, Austria, Germany, France, Thailand, Belarus, Ecuador, Sweden, Finland, India, USA (me, of course;) and one of the French girls lives in Scotland. A guy from Australia is coming today or tomorrow and I am excited because he is going to be working with me. We get to experience a little bit of everyone's culture and the more I think about it, it is really a cool thing. We have also decided to do dinners from the different countries, tonight we are having Spanish Tortilla (I don't know why the guy from Ecuador chose that...but I love it so I am fine with it) and something from France. However, I have to come up with something to cook eventually and I have no idea what a good "American" dish is. Everyone says pancakes but I have no idea how to make pancakes from scratch and really don't like them that much. So if you have any good ideas, please let me know!!! (They also say hamburgers and hotdogs but beef here is really expensive and everyone has had hamburgers and I am not making hotdogs)
A few days ago, I also went over to a friend's house to learn a different Hungarian dish. It consisted of potato, onion, boiled egg, sausage, sour cream and of course, paprika. It was tasted pretty good, but, like most Hungarian foods, it was really heavy. I had a good time and ate with her family. It is interesting because they are very internationally minded and travel so much that having me there and speaking English was just like any other night for them. I know this sounds very self-centered, but typically people ask me, and I would ask anyone else in the same situation, where I am from and some things about being abroad or about back home, but I think they asked me which state I am from and that was it. They were very nice and it was good to see another aspect of the culture.
Well, even though I probably could continue on and on, I will spare you and stop here. I hope you all are having a great summer and have a good weekend.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Public Transportation
So during my two weeks here so far, I think there has been maybe one day that I have not taken any form of public transportation. However, usually I take anywhere from 2 to 10 busses, trams, or metros per day. At first I was afraid to take it on my own. I did not know where to get on, I did not know the routes and I did not know how to tell when to get off. However, I now know all three, or at least how to figure it out and I find taking public transportation to be somewhat of a fascinating experience.
I think the thing that I have yet to figure out about taking public transportation is the proper selection of where to sit and or stand. It seems that the locals treat it as an art form, carefully selecting which door they want to use and once they are on the bus choosing where to stand. Personally, I would find the least crowded section and maybe the one with a couple of emptz seats, but that is not how it is done.
Last week, when I had to go to the doctor's office, one of the local IAESTE members went with me. I am glad he did because we had to take a bus, a tram, the metro and then another bus to get there (and walk a few blocks...I know I would have been lost on my own). However, he always seemed to have a specific spot he wanted to be on the bus. We caught the first bus from the bus station and therefore it was fairly empty. I went to sit down and he said "oh no, not there," walked a few rows back and sat down. I did not see the difference but trusted his expertise. He then chose to stand on the metro versus sitting on the empty benches.
I have noticed that this is not just my friends that do it, everyone does. As soon as the tram pulls up, everyone crowds towards their favorite door. I go to the one with the least amount of people and find it to be just fine. It is also interesting watching people get off because they don't always head for the closest door. Sometimes they will walk twice as far to go out a specific door.
What really confuses me is the older people who take the bus. It has become almost a daily occurance that I will see senior citizens playing their own form of musical chairs. They will often times get up, out of a seat that is close to the door that someone just gave them, and move to a much more inconvinient place, forcing someone else to give up their seat to let them sit down. Then, a few minutes later, a different senior citizen will come and want the seat that the other just left. Yesterday, while taking the tram home, an older man, who looked as if he struggled to walk in the first place, decided to get up while the tram was moving to move to an entirely different car. I felt kind of bad for him as I watched him struggle to walk the thirty or so feet to his new seat, but I was mostly confused. Maybe sometime I will ask my roommates what is their theory behind picking where they sit on public transportation, but for now, I will just enjoy the fact that their pickiness leaves me with a fairly uncrowded place to stand when taking the bus.
I think the thing that I have yet to figure out about taking public transportation is the proper selection of where to sit and or stand. It seems that the locals treat it as an art form, carefully selecting which door they want to use and once they are on the bus choosing where to stand. Personally, I would find the least crowded section and maybe the one with a couple of emptz seats, but that is not how it is done.
Last week, when I had to go to the doctor's office, one of the local IAESTE members went with me. I am glad he did because we had to take a bus, a tram, the metro and then another bus to get there (and walk a few blocks...I know I would have been lost on my own). However, he always seemed to have a specific spot he wanted to be on the bus. We caught the first bus from the bus station and therefore it was fairly empty. I went to sit down and he said "oh no, not there," walked a few rows back and sat down. I did not see the difference but trusted his expertise. He then chose to stand on the metro versus sitting on the empty benches.
I have noticed that this is not just my friends that do it, everyone does. As soon as the tram pulls up, everyone crowds towards their favorite door. I go to the one with the least amount of people and find it to be just fine. It is also interesting watching people get off because they don't always head for the closest door. Sometimes they will walk twice as far to go out a specific door.
What really confuses me is the older people who take the bus. It has become almost a daily occurance that I will see senior citizens playing their own form of musical chairs. They will often times get up, out of a seat that is close to the door that someone just gave them, and move to a much more inconvinient place, forcing someone else to give up their seat to let them sit down. Then, a few minutes later, a different senior citizen will come and want the seat that the other just left. Yesterday, while taking the tram home, an older man, who looked as if he struggled to walk in the first place, decided to get up while the tram was moving to move to an entirely different car. I felt kind of bad for him as I watched him struggle to walk the thirty or so feet to his new seat, but I was mostly confused. Maybe sometime I will ask my roommates what is their theory behind picking where they sit on public transportation, but for now, I will just enjoy the fact that their pickiness leaves me with a fairly uncrowded place to stand when taking the bus.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Pattagatott Kukorica
So I just finished my first week of work and I think it went fairly well. As I wrote on Monday, at first I was really not sure of what I would be doing and if I was going to like it. When I heard that I would need boots and a jumpsuit (I don't know why the guy from IAESTE said I would need one) and that I would be working in the tunnel, I was not thrilled because I started imagining all of the things that I might be doing and none of them were really what I had imagined. However, it turns out that the company I am working for has set up a temporary office for the project (which will last years, so in a way it is not so temporary) at the construction site. The project I am working on is the long awaited fourth metro line. I guess it has been in the works since sometime in the 1990s and they are finally building it. Right now I am working with the concrete quality management team. There are five of us working on it. The team leader (I don't actually know his name), Eva, Bori, another woman who only works a few hours a week and me. Eva speaks English very well and is the one who gives me tasks. Bori is a Hungarian student intern who comes in a few days a week and also speaks English. Eva and Bori are both really nice and I have enjoyed working with them. Right now I have been doing a lot of Excel work because there has been a delay in the concrete work. This year they have gotten a record amount of rain and therefore are had the unexpected need to pump out the tunnel. So that took a while to come up with a solution and implement it and they think that in about a month or so they will be able to go back to pouring concrete and then we will be back in the field. I think next week Eva is going to take me into the tunnel and hopefully I will get some good pictures!
Besides work, I have been keeping busy this week. I had the doctor's appointment, which had the potential to be unbelievably awkward because the doctor did not speak English and the only person available to go with me to translate was a guy I barely know. Luckily the whole thing was more of a formality for insurance or something and they did not really ask anything very personal. I have also been meeting the other interns as they arrive. As my roommate Laci put it, "the trainee (intern)invasion has begun." When I got here, there were only 2 other interns but I think that six more have arrived since Sunday.
Yesterday, I met a guy who is part of the International IAESTE council from Vienna. He was very nice and Laci took us to this place called the Sugar Shop. It was amazing! They had all of these fancy and delicious desserts and drinks (Kate you'd love it!!!). I told them I was going to have to be a tourist next time and bring mz camera. Then I went to a welcome home party for the "old me" as Laci put it (Rebecca lived in the apartment that I live in now and will move back in in September for school...she was in Spain for 3 months working). It was really interesting and fun to hang out with all of their friends. I think I definitely got lucky with where I live because I am getting to experience life in Hungary in a more authentic way then most of the other trainees who live in an apartment together. However, sometimes it is difficult because I don't speak Hungarian so I just sit there confused and have no idea of what is going on.
Anyway, everything is going really well now and I think it will turn out to be a great summer. I love hearing from you guys so please send me emails!
Besides work, I have been keeping busy this week. I had the doctor's appointment, which had the potential to be unbelievably awkward because the doctor did not speak English and the only person available to go with me to translate was a guy I barely know. Luckily the whole thing was more of a formality for insurance or something and they did not really ask anything very personal. I have also been meeting the other interns as they arrive. As my roommate Laci put it, "the trainee (intern)invasion has begun." When I got here, there were only 2 other interns but I think that six more have arrived since Sunday.
Yesterday, I met a guy who is part of the International IAESTE council from Vienna. He was very nice and Laci took us to this place called the Sugar Shop. It was amazing! They had all of these fancy and delicious desserts and drinks (Kate you'd love it!!!). I told them I was going to have to be a tourist next time and bring mz camera. Then I went to a welcome home party for the "old me" as Laci put it (Rebecca lived in the apartment that I live in now and will move back in in September for school...she was in Spain for 3 months working). It was really interesting and fun to hang out with all of their friends. I think I definitely got lucky with where I live because I am getting to experience life in Hungary in a more authentic way then most of the other trainees who live in an apartment together. However, sometimes it is difficult because I don't speak Hungarian so I just sit there confused and have no idea of what is going on.
Anyway, everything is going really well now and I think it will turn out to be a great summer. I love hearing from you guys so please send me emails!
Monday, May 31, 2010
First Week
I have now been in Budapest for one week. Part of me feels like I just got here yesterday and part of me feels as if I have been here for a long time now. For the most part, everything has gone well, I haven't gotten lost and everyone I have met has been very friendly. I have met a lot of local IAESTE members and they have been taking turns helping me get what I need and where I need to go. I have started to explore a little on my own, but only within walking distance.
I started working today. Bence, a local IAESTE member, went with me to help me find the office. After taking a bus, the tram and the metro we finally arrived to an area he had never been to. It took us a while to even figure out how to cross the street because we came out of the wrong side. Then we decided to walk instead of taking another bus and had to figure out how to cross another street but this time without a light (a much harder task than one might think, drivers here are crazy and pedestrians definitely do not have the right-of-way). We found the right street and started walking. Little did we know we were going the wrong direction. After wondering around for a while I finally made him stop and ask for directions. We eventually found the place and I was slightly confused because there was a concrete mixing plant where I would have expected a parking lot.
I met the owner of the company and he started explaining to me what his company works on and what I will be working on. I honestly didn't understand exactly what he was saying and I think he thinks I am an idiot. I don't really know what I will be doing except that I will be working at the construction site for the fourth metro line they are putting in. He told me I will need boots and a doctors approval before I can start working. They then took me over to the site where I will be working, gave me a hard hat, a safety vest and got me some boots. Bence left and another intern, Andrew, helped me order my lunch for the week (they are providing lunch for me, which is one less thing I have to worry about). However, Andrew had to leave shortly after and there wasn't really anyone else around who spoke English and they had nothing for me to do so they put me on the bus and sent me home.
To be honest, at this point I am not really sure how I feel about my job. I figure I need to give it a little time before I decide, but I really wasn't expecting to work on a construction project and be in the field. I felt absolutely rediculous showing up today in a nice dress and flats. I was told multiple times to wear jeans and close toed shoes in the future. I think I might have to get a some kind of jumpsuit for when I have to work down in the tunnel (what I will be doing in there, I have no idea).
I will do my best to post pictures later, but for now I do not have access to a computer.
I started working today. Bence, a local IAESTE member, went with me to help me find the office. After taking a bus, the tram and the metro we finally arrived to an area he had never been to. It took us a while to even figure out how to cross the street because we came out of the wrong side. Then we decided to walk instead of taking another bus and had to figure out how to cross another street but this time without a light (a much harder task than one might think, drivers here are crazy and pedestrians definitely do not have the right-of-way). We found the right street and started walking. Little did we know we were going the wrong direction. After wondering around for a while I finally made him stop and ask for directions. We eventually found the place and I was slightly confused because there was a concrete mixing plant where I would have expected a parking lot.
I met the owner of the company and he started explaining to me what his company works on and what I will be working on. I honestly didn't understand exactly what he was saying and I think he thinks I am an idiot. I don't really know what I will be doing except that I will be working at the construction site for the fourth metro line they are putting in. He told me I will need boots and a doctors approval before I can start working. They then took me over to the site where I will be working, gave me a hard hat, a safety vest and got me some boots. Bence left and another intern, Andrew, helped me order my lunch for the week (they are providing lunch for me, which is one less thing I have to worry about). However, Andrew had to leave shortly after and there wasn't really anyone else around who spoke English and they had nothing for me to do so they put me on the bus and sent me home.
To be honest, at this point I am not really sure how I feel about my job. I figure I need to give it a little time before I decide, but I really wasn't expecting to work on a construction project and be in the field. I felt absolutely rediculous showing up today in a nice dress and flats. I was told multiple times to wear jeans and close toed shoes in the future. I think I might have to get a some kind of jumpsuit for when I have to work down in the tunnel (what I will be doing in there, I have no idea).
I will do my best to post pictures later, but for now I do not have access to a computer.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I'm Here!
I arrived in Budapest yesterday afternoon. It was a long trip, but I had no major issues. I think my main issue was that I started out very tired. I thought that my packing skills had improved, but turns out they haven't. I packed, unpacked and re-packed six times! I was being stubborn and didn't wantto give up any of my stuff but, it was too much to fit into my backpack but when I put it in my suitcase it weighed too much because my suitcase is really heavy. I finally got it down to the right weight a got a few hours of sleep. My flights went well and I mostly slept and watched movies to pass the time.
I was very excited to see two guys waiting outside the airport holding a sign with my name on it. As some of you know, I had tried to get in contact with IAESTE Hungary about my reception and housing info and never heard back from them. I am living with three Hungarian students on the Buda side of the river. They all seem really nice and I think we will get along well. Two of them are some of the main student leaders of IAESTE here, which is also an advantage. They both speak English very well and the third is too shy/embarrased to talk to me and I do not speak Hungarian so I can't really talk to her. They are still taking final exams for the next week or two so we probably won't be hanging out a lot until then. The apartment is very cute and cozy. I share a room with the two girls, Christina and Niki. Lazi has his own room. We all share one bathroom. I definitely think this will be a challenge for me, as you all know I really like having my own space and not being surrounded by people all of the time, but it will be good.
Sorry there is nothing too exciting to talk about right now. Everything has gone well and I haven't done a lot yet. I start working next week and will probably have more stories then. Also, I will most likely be writing shorter posts because I did not bring my laptop (the final casualty of the unpacking/re-packing process). I do have wireless at my apartment so I am able to use my phone.
I was very excited to see two guys waiting outside the airport holding a sign with my name on it. As some of you know, I had tried to get in contact with IAESTE Hungary about my reception and housing info and never heard back from them. I am living with three Hungarian students on the Buda side of the river. They all seem really nice and I think we will get along well. Two of them are some of the main student leaders of IAESTE here, which is also an advantage. They both speak English very well and the third is too shy/embarrased to talk to me and I do not speak Hungarian so I can't really talk to her. They are still taking final exams for the next week or two so we probably won't be hanging out a lot until then. The apartment is very cute and cozy. I share a room with the two girls, Christina and Niki. Lazi has his own room. We all share one bathroom. I definitely think this will be a challenge for me, as you all know I really like having my own space and not being surrounded by people all of the time, but it will be good.
Sorry there is nothing too exciting to talk about right now. Everything has gone well and I haven't done a lot yet. I start working next week and will probably have more stories then. Also, I will most likely be writing shorter posts because I did not bring my laptop (the final casualty of the unpacking/re-packing process). I do have wireless at my apartment so I am able to use my phone.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Pre-departure madness (or lack there of)
I am currently in the process of preparing for my trip to Budapest. Over the years, as most of you know, I have done a decent amount of traveling. I have been looking back on past trips and I laugh at some of the things I did when preparing/packing for those trips. The first time I ever left the country was to travel to South Africa with FVS for ten days. Before we left, we had several meetings to prepare for the trip and at one of those meetings they told us that it was a common misconception that South Africa was always hot but we should know that it does snow there. When I started packing I thought of this and thought to myself, "I better take some warm clothes if it is going to be cold." Well, what I didn't think to do was check the weather for the time I was going. I showed up with a bunch of long-sleeved shirts and jeans and only a couple of T-shirts. Well, it was hot! I had an un-necessarily large amount of clothes and barely any that I could actually wear.
The first time I traveled to Costa Rica, also with FVS, I brought a ton of clothes and other things I really didn't need and/or use. I think my bag was by far the biggest of the group, the guys could barely lift it to the top of the van (I could barely lift it at all).
I have improved since then, and now strictly follow the rule that you should only bring what you can carry. However, right now I am in the process of going through the huge pile of clothes I have sitting in the middle of my room to try and cut out items I don't need. Part of the problem I am having is that I have no idea what is acceptable work attire in Hungary. I have read that it is hot and humid there, which provides a challenge in itself considering Colorado is not really either of those.
Anyway, I fly out on May 23 and will be in Budapest by the evening of the 24th (time changes and long flights make for a long travel day!) I am still waiting to hear about my housing and other details, but I am sure it will all work out...or provide for a little adventure in itself.
The first time I traveled to Costa Rica, also with FVS, I brought a ton of clothes and other things I really didn't need and/or use. I think my bag was by far the biggest of the group, the guys could barely lift it to the top of the van (I could barely lift it at all).
I have improved since then, and now strictly follow the rule that you should only bring what you can carry. However, right now I am in the process of going through the huge pile of clothes I have sitting in the middle of my room to try and cut out items I don't need. Part of the problem I am having is that I have no idea what is acceptable work attire in Hungary. I have read that it is hot and humid there, which provides a challenge in itself considering Colorado is not really either of those.
Anyway, I fly out on May 23 and will be in Budapest by the evening of the 24th (time changes and long flights make for a long travel day!) I am still waiting to hear about my housing and other details, but I am sure it will all work out...or provide for a little adventure in itself.
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