Panni Vagyok

Breathing... Kind of an important part of surviving. Shallow, labored breaths are all I can manage right now.  I feel terrible for my roommate Jihye, I don't know if she's had a complete nights sleep since I've gotten sick due to my constant coughing.  I will perish here... Some rare strain of Hungarian flu has settled in my lungs and sinuses and my immune system can't handle it.  Okay... maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic, but I don't think I can avoid the doctor's office anymore.  I've officially been sick for over a week and nothing has changed. 

Whatever, sickness is just a minor detail in what has happened in the past week...

Hungarian: one of the most complex and challenging languages to learn, and I'm obsessed.  My Hungarian class has quickly become my favorite class.  I've always wanted to learn a second language (and I don't think I can count my stunted vocabulary of Spanish as a second language anymore) so why not Hungarian? I know I have no real hope of coming anywhere near fluent in only four months, but I'm hoping that I can learn a few important things: "Hello, my name is Anna" "Where is the bathroom?" "One beer please" etc.  Lately I find myself walking down the street and trying to pronounce the words on the signs.  Although I try to say it in my head, it probably looks like I'm talking to myself because I get frustrated and repeat it again until I get it right (thanks Dad because I inherited this quirky trait from you).  

Along with the language, I find myself wanting to learn about the culture and the history.  One night last week, my friend Loes and I found ourselves in need of something to do, so we decided to learn a traditional Greek dance with our Hungarian friend Luca.  As it so happens, the class wasn't being offered that night, so we went to a cafe instead with Luca and two of her friends.  Hours passed and we barely had time to notice.  We talked about almost everything and I loved hearing stories and facts about the country.  My favorite part of the night was when I learned that in Hungarian I have a nickname.  Is it weird that I always wanted one?  Apparently girls named Anna can have the nickname "Panni," (pronounced Pon-ee) and if they're young it's "Pannika." Needless to say, when I found out that I had a nickname I got really excited, maybe even a bit too excited over something that really isn't that big of a deal.

Anyway, the next day Loes, Dora, Melia, and I set off for Budapest.  As we made our way through the city it was hard to pay attention to where we were walking.  When we found our hostel I was a bit concerned.  It was down the street from a strip club and the building was really dark when we first walked in.  Dora pretty much summed up my feelings when she said, "We will die here..."

Thumbs Up Hostel

Inside the bedroom

It was actually a really nice hostel.  The manager Gabe was really nice and recommended things for us to do and told us about places we could eat.  The beds were kind of uncomfortable, and the pillows were ridiculously small, but everything else was really great.  We shared a room with three American students from Boston and a Canadian who was on his way to India.  

Loes' cousin Mieke is studying in Budapest this semester so she showed us around the city:

This was the Jewish synagogue that was really close to our hostel

Chain Bridge with Buda Castle in the background

We also went to a restaurant called, in English, The Blue Rose where we had traditional Hungarian foods like goulash soup (which was absolutely delicious).  After dinner we went back to the hostel and got ready for our night out.  While getting ready I had a chance to talk to the Canadian, his name was Tanner, and discovered that he had already actually been traveling for the past six months and was now planning on staying in India for at least four months.  It sounded like he was having an "Eat, Pray, Love" adventure.  Nonetheless, he enraptured me with his countless stories about where he's gone and what he's been doing, and he made me cringe when he was talking about his trip to the Amazon and the size of spiders you can find there.... ugh... Regardless, I'm unbelievably jealous of everything he's been able to do in the past year and couldn't seem to stop asking him questions.

Later that night we went out to a popular bar called "Szimpla," which looked like a combination of a basement and a drug house.  After getting over the initial shock of thinking "where the hell am I" and "what are my chances of leaving here alive," I sat down, looked around, and actually decided that I really liked the eccentric atmosphere.  If this had been a bar in America, however, a girl would walk in, decide that she would be safer in a New York City alleyway at 2 a.m., and promptly leave.  But this is Europe, not America, so I enjoyed myself.  

Us in Szimpla where we found Max, another Erasmus student from Pecs visiting his girlfriend for the weekend... Small world

The next day we set off with Tanner to see some of the other things that Budapest had to offer:

The Terror House, a museum that was once the party headquarters for the Hungarian Nazis. 

Many people were tortured, imprisoned and killed here.  It was a sobering tour, but really interesting and I'm glad we went.  I realized that I, an American grandchild of a WWII veteran, cannot, and will not ever fully comprehend the tragedy of this war.  I was not alive during it, I did not lose a family member to it, and the war wasn't fought on American soil.  I was shocked at how I was just realizing this now.  I just never realized how removed I am from this war, and I know that I'll never be able to fully comprehend the loss and tragedy that the people here had to endure.  Needless to say, I was beyond humbled.  

Okay, onto a lighter topic.  After the museum, we made our way over to Buda:

The Parliament building and I... it's postcard worthy

This castle-esque structure is called the Fisherman's Bastion

I honestly don't know what else to say.  Budapest was beautiful.  Did we do much while we were there? No, we came to simply see things, and really that's all we needed from this trip.  Are we going back? Of course, we barely even scratched the surface of everything Budapest has to offer, and I cannot wait to discover what else we'll find here.