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.