One Month Anniversary

Friday morning Hungarian class was cancelled due to lack of a professor. A wonderful surprise because Jack and I were not eager to talk about our hastily and poorly done homework. We found instead a great Farmer's Market stationed at Hunyadi tér, next to the old academy building where the class is. Friday morning will be our fresh food shopping day from here on.

Speaking of food, the big pot of chicken noodle soup Jack made a few nights ago is finally polished off. I took the bones off the leftover chicken, combined the meat with a mushroom sauce and put it over pasta. Tasted excellent, and made two meals! I've also done a bit of home improvement recently. I found a utensil hanger lying in one of the cupboards in the kitchen recently, and took the time to screw it into the wall. My big accomplishment was completely taking apart and cleaning an old Ikea lamp that we found in the apartment when we moved in. The contacts on two connections were badly corroded, so I stripped some of the wiring and tied the new wire on and presto! Let there be light! It took me three hours, but well worth the effort. Now I can study in my room instead of the cold kitchen.

This weekend marked our one month anniversary - in Hungary! To celebrate, Jack and I and a bunch of the international group went to Szimpla kértmozi, one of the cool clubs we've recently found. It's a favorite of students at the music academy, and also of Matthew DePasquale, our friend who did the Hungary program three or four years ago. He sent me a big e-mail a few weeks ago giving advice on everything from getting around to good food and nightlife. He told us that Fußball is a popular bar sport and to bring our game faces because people are serious about it.

For our elderly readers, Fußball (fooz-ball) is a table sport, like ping-pong or pool, but it mirrors soccer (world football). There are eight metal poles going across the table, with 4 handles on each side. On the pole are little plastic kickers, and you maneuver the little kickers to hit the little plastic ball on the table and... oh, just look at the picture.

Anyway, on Saturday night we found those serious players Matt told us about. Jack and I played against this Hungarian guy named Andrew who was good like nothing I've ever seen. The little players seemed to come to life and he moved. They would fake, dribble and pass just like real players. It was unreal. The biggest shock was that, instead of randomly trying to hit the ball up the field and hope to make a goal, he keep the ball in his possession and shoot FROM HIS DEFENSE! And most of the time, we would head the solid THUNK as it shot straight into the goal!

Jack got frustrated with this after a while, and took to twirling his players wildly, in hopes of getting lucky (me: "Jack, that's kind of a cheap tactic." Jack: "Where does it say I can't do this?"). Then Andrew told him (while making another goal) that some Hungarians take the game so seriously, they'll attack people they feel are being unsportsmanlike. When they play, it isn't for fun. It's for blood or money.

After that crushing defeat we thought it best to find another part of the club. Spent the rest of the night hanging out with Catrina (Portugal), Ide (Ireland), Harmon (Belgium) and Elisa (Italy). Good times!

I've started running in the mornings again. The last month of Hungarian living has left me with a little more heft that I had. Temperatures at 6am these days hovers around 0°C, but so far it's been ok. My runs follow the Danube, currently across the Széchenyi híd, up the river and back across the Margaret híd. A run past Parliament and I'm back. A hot shower and Mom's homemade oatmeal feel so good afterwards. I can feel it helping my lungs a great deal, too. I don't play like a 6-year old like last week anymore.

Off to Solfege class. Szia!