The weather has been glorious for the past few days. The usual morning overcast has been remarkably light, leading to a sunny midday and afternoon. The sun sets early in Pest because Buda gets in the way, which makes the later hours of the day even more precious. Good weather this weekend is especially important, for March 15th is a national holiday. On this day for the past few years, Hungarians have celebrated the 1848 revolution against the Hapsburg empire. This explains the people I found one morning shouting at Parliament, when the Austrians were in town. It is also a catalyst for those who have current revolutionary spirit. Jack and I have both had warnings to stay away from crowds and to get out and experience it. We have a concert to sing at the Palace of the Arts that night, anyway, so I guess we'll be experiencing it.

I felt very energetic after my last Friday class ended, probably due to the great weather. I took my trombone to Vörösmarty tér to go busking for the first time here. I felt at first the same fear I experience when I started busking in Boston, but soon I got into it and enjoyed myself. Something that helped my confidence was reminding myself that the Rochut etudes were songs I have been playing for years. I couldn't have played anything else better than those.

People did the general walk-by, some glancing and some not. A few people tossed money - I think I made about 400 forint, though it wasn't a big reason I was out there. I've been trying to remind myself why I spend hours and hours locked up in dark rooms practicing. The main goal is to connect with people, and help them connect to themselves and others. Jack reminded me last night that, as a student, this time is an investment to future possibilities, so I shouldn't get frustrated or feel like I'm wasting my time. But it's wonderful to get outside and play, just so people can hear.


My jogging routeToday was also well spent. I've found a usual jogging route, full of great views and fairly straightforward. It goes south along the left (east) bank of the Danube, crosses the Széchenyi bridge, goes up along the river and crosses again the Margarit bridge, and back home (via Parliament). Did that at 9, and then after breakfast (corn flakes with milk and cherries from the piac at Hunyadi tér on Fridays) went shopping for baking ingredients.

Our food for the past two months (anniversary tomorrow!) has mostly consisted of boiled or fried foods, and I've been aching for a change. We're out of bread again, so I had thoughts of making some ala Mamma. For dinner, I tried a chicken casserole recipe I found online. I had a lot of fun writing out a timeline for preparation and generally throwing it all together. The last part was best - mixing pasta, tomato sauce, cheese, chicken and broccoli up with my bare hands. There was so much food, I had to improvise with a second baking dish.

And needless to say, it tasted amazing. Jack came into the room with "it smells like an Italian kitchen" and "good job" and (upon seeing the dish) "I'm not worthy." Heeeehe. Makes one feel good. I like this cooking thing. We have two more big chicken breasts in the fridge, and we need to use them fast before they go bad. Any ideas?

Oh, I'm forgetting the best part of the day! After Jack and I got back from shopping, we took my frisbee to Szábadsag tér to toss around. After a few minutes, we were joined by a Central European University student from Malaysia, and then by two little kids, who had a great time chasing us big people around. One was from Israel and the other from Mongolia, I'm guessing diplomat kids, and both spoke better Hungarian than I. We kept score that way. Cute as buttons.

Going to see the student orchestra play at the academy. Byyyye.