Wow, so after a wee bit of a rocky start and some intense jetlag I finally have the courage to tell you all what I have been up to.
Day 1: Arrival into Budapest was breezy easy! However, I did not get a stamp on my passport which was kind of disappointing. It was a beautiful sunny day, stinking hot and when I came to the bottom of the Balassi Institute stairs I was wishing I had not packed 25kgs!! The rooms are not what I expected but they are rooms never the less. And thank goodness we have our own bathroom (between three) but I am glad its not communal showers and toilets!
After a few tears of not being able to contact back home to say I had arrived and jetlag/bag spill/heat shock I found a wee computer room which has computers from the 1990s. But hey they have internet! I then found a Polish girl one of the only two other people here. She was kind enough to help me navigate around the city. She took me to the castle and most importantly (haha) to get a sim card in Pest. Which by the way they ask for your passport details and for you to sign a contract just for a prepaid sim card! I now have a number so those of you wanting to contact me - you can text but I mainly have a data plan so watsap etc are the best for me, and I have found a new app called Tango as my Viber doesn't work here strange! So download Tango people - I will post the number on facebook later. We walked around and had a beer which was so refreshing in the heat, it was lemon flavoured...interesting.. and it was only 2% alcohol so not much chance of getting draaank! I had a minor drama as when I got home I thought I had left my phone charger cord at the Vodafone shop (as im sure Phil thought when I told him bloody typical!) freaking out almost in tears again after I just got my phone to work, I rushed through to the Polish girl who so nicely offered to take me back into town to go pick it up. For a quick end to the story I found it the next morning in my suitcase ARGH!! I was in bed as soon as it got dark only to be woken up at 2am by a horrific thunder and lightning storm. I remember thinking to myself for all I know these could be bombs! It was a sticky hot night of sleep after that.
Day 2: Up at six am wide awake thunder and lightning storms still ago, but thats okay its a perfect time to jump on to the net and talk to you folks back home. Killed half my day doing that and starting to freak out no one was eve going to arrive - yes I no dramatic! However around midday I am introduced to my new flat mate.. SHE'S AMERICAN! I am so glad she speaks English and even better she has come with a friend from school and he is just a few doors down from us. He has also been to Hungary before and has spent the last few days here so he was able to get his bearings with where to go. So we set off into town where I had my first meal in Hungary... Yea I am not going to lie it was a kebab haha but a good kebab at that! We then spent the day cruising around Pest - it has been a long, long time since I have done this much walking in todays especially in the heat! We found a sweet little pub where we had a beer and chatted for awhile. Luckily they had studied Hungarian at school for a year together so they know bits and pieces and understand a lot better than me how the country works. This came in handy with paying the bill at the pub as the tipping rules are quite strict.
- Ask for the bill (they did so in Hungarian - impressive)
- Pay 10-15% extra as they had taken our beers to us, yesterday we didn't have to tip as we got our beers from the bar.
- Ask the man to come back over and hand to him. Apparently it is rude to leave the money on the table.
So as we don't tip in NZ this is all so new to me and incredibly important in Hungary. Also as I tried to "cheers" them with our drinks I was kindly informed this is simply not done in Hungary linking back to the time of the Russian occupation we think. So today has been a relief meeting more people especially those who speak english. I also met a Canadian girl who has spoken Hungarian all her life so she is a pro and has family near by - it is great to have those people who no their way around. She also said:
"WOW they have cleaned up so much, this place is so tidy compared to last time I was here, they had a cockroach problem, and it is so much nicer then the hostel I stayed at another time". Ahh this was just after I had said to the American people "what were you expecting when you came here" indicating it wasn't the cleanest of places! Lolz at that.
Just now I have meet another two lovely American girls who are from New York over the thunder and lightning storm which has again begun and turned into a whoppa in a matter of seconds. I tried to take some photos but my trigger happy fingers were not fast enough to catch any of the big fork lightning or flashes. So unfortunately the pictures do not show the justice of this weather we are having. But we sure are in for a good one tonight! We do not get storms like this in NZ!
