Meat, Escalators, and Pictures (finally!)

Greetings! It took a while to recover from Serbia. I had a wonderful fellow traveller who could point out both the wonders and challenges of the land. There is a lot of work to be done there. The food was delicious. On the meaty side...who would have thought to stuff meat with meat! Only a meat lover. Those on the Atkins diet would survive well in Serbia. One could consider cucumbers the only vegetable!

I finally had a chance to upload pix to the blog. They are of my temporary apartment, the view from my apartment, and pictures of buda- the more green side, and pictures of the Parliament and the Chain Brige which I cross every day. The photo of the Mammoth is the entrance to a shopping mall. The photo of the urban square is Moskva ter, which is a major transfer point for those taking public transportation. This square is perhaps the uglyist square ever to be seen, but I think that is it's charm. Its a hubbub of trams, busses, people, and commericial activity.The metro system is one of the oldest and the trains are still from Russia. i have to get used to the fast-pace and steepness of the escalators. I cant imagine a drunk person surviving the speed of these escalators let alone someon who is tipsy.

Thats a short update for now. The sun is shining and it's Friday! Off to Prague next week....

Has it only really been a week?

First three days of this week were sunny and clear. It is indeed a magical city.

International Women’s Day: A day that used to/ and still is celebrated in HU. Kids used to have it off. Coming from Berkeley, doesn’t sound unusual as we also had the day off. However, here, men give women flowers.

CEU- attended a lecture at the Central European University, across the street from work. Loads of international students speaking English…reminded me of my time in A’dam. There were even some Ethiopians!

Central Kavehaz – central coffeehouse.
One of the oldest in the city. Had real Hungarian food- palanczintat…or something like that. Essentially, a crepe that can either be sweet or savory. In my case, it had beef and sour cream and most importantly, a paprika sauce. Quite nice… |the meal was rounded off with cappuccino.

Pagocsa….a breaded pastry that can also be sweet or savory. I have had two with cheese. Very yummy. Obviously, pure carbohydrates…where is the fruit?? Well, there is a great market here. I plan to go there, but as an obvious foreigner with no language capabilities, I ve been told, I will certainly be overcharged. Might be worth it in the beginning.


Update on language…I have been learning one word a day. My colleagues have been wonderful in assisting me in this endeavor. Word of the day…alma = apple. The ‘a’ pronounced similar to an “o”.

Off to a new land next week…Serbia…

First Impressions

A beautiful city….even in crappy weather. It snowed buckets yesterday.


The first week I got to know my little neighborhood in Buda. There is a shopping center, called MOM PARK, two streets away. It has been my hangout. For shame, some of you may think, but it has been my savior. It is exhausting to take in all of these new sites and sounds. MOM PARK is apparently the site of an old socialist factory. Ironic, eh? There is a grocery store, clothing stores including PUMA and ADIDAS, and a movie theatre. That is where I spent the weekend, catching up on Oscar films. Luckily, the movies are shown in the original language.

Speaking of language….Hungarian. Hmmm…It is a language I can neither make heads or tails of. Sometimes it sounds like Swedish, at other times like Farsi. Plus it seems to be spoken very softly. So, I always have to strain to hear what folks are saying. The soft-spoken language makes everything appear quieter than what I am accustomed to. I guess I have lived in very noisy countries until now.
The other day I heard two Japanese students talking. It felt like familiar music to my ears. And as most of you know, I don’t speak Japanese at all. However, the sound of Japanese is familiar and I know some of the basics (numbers, food, questions). I know none of this in Hungarian. At the end of this first week, I finally learned how to say “thank you”. “Hello” and “goodbye’ are still unknown to me along with many of the foods. I see now why tourists are tempted to go to Burger King or McDonalds. No, I have not traveled down that path yet! But don’t be surprised…

Commute and Traffic
Bp is a city of 2 million people. The commute and congestion at rushhour is amazing. Living in Buda, I have to take a bus across the Chain Bridge to work. Theoretically, this should only take 15 minutes. However, the bus takes anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. It goes at a snail pace down the hill, through the tunnel, and across the bridge. At first I thought all of this congestion was due to the visit of Putin. Parliament is virtually at the other end of the Chain Bridge. But no…it’s a daily occurrence and happens also in non peak hours. The bus 105 may have stiff competition with the N Judah line in San Francisco!
My hope is to live in Pest, walking distance from my office, which is nicely located near the newly renovated Four Seasons Hotel. I promise to take any visitor who comes there.

Coffee or Tea
I haven’t been to a café yet, but there is no Starbucks in sight. Yeah! I am hoping to go to some of the classic cafés mentioned in the guidebooks and by folks here. The MOM PARK (shopping center) has a very good cappuccino. You also know when you are in Europe, when the first question my colleagues ask is “coffee or tea”.

For those who missed it, the Bulgarian National Holiday was March 3. I went with a few people to celebrate this little-known-holiday-outside -of –Bulgaria. The lead singer in the folk singing performance was an American. Go figure! Afterwards we ate in a Chinese Restaurant that is literally next to the McDonald’s headquarters. Irony at its finest!
That’s all for now folks. Hopefully one day Ill be able to upload pictures to this blog.