I've been in Budapest! I've been here for the past three days. They have been some hectic days! I don't have a ton of time to go on and on right now, but I"ll summarize as best as I can. The airplane was very uneventful, but I can say that when we arrived in Budapest, it was extremely exciting! We were met by a group of smiling people holding signs that said "BSM". We took a huge van to our apartment, because both of my roommates arrived at almost the same time as me. Our apartment is GREAT! Definitely the best in the program. We have a piano and 20 foot ceilings. One of the rooms has two smalls beds, but it has a loft in it, the other bedroom (which is mine) has a wall sized window and a huge bed. It's so nice! I live with two girls named Anne and Kristen, and they are both amazing! We have a lot of fun exploring the city together.
Today was the first day of our language course. Before today, we were completely on our own. We struggled through the city and definitely became stronger people in the process. There is no English on the streets here. Not in the signs, or the labels of goods, and all the currency is Forints. Most people speak English, but usually not very well. I'm already picking up a strong vocabulary of Hungarian just by immersion. The language course was really helpful today. We learned that different sounds in Hungarian are either "light" or "dark", and that designates the ending of words and numbers. I love that terminology. I often think of sounds as such, and for it to be explicitly named light and dark is really cool.
The people here are SO FUN! We've been hanging out a lot, and everyone is really nice and open. We go out to meals all the time because none of us feel up to bartering at the markets quite yet. The food here is phenomenal and rich, but it's countered with the amount of walking you must do. The public transit is nice, but we're right in the middle of the city, so we don't really need to use it.
I'm in an internet cafe right now (which is an amazing place) but I promised my friend he could use my computer, and I've definitely been hogging it for about half an hour while he has been patiently waiting, so I'm going to bring this to a close. I'll write more later, and stay in touch! I'm sorry about typos, I"ll correct them later. Lots of love!
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2 comments:
Hi Betsy. Glad to get your Blog and your Mom forwarded your l o n g
E-mail with all, the interesting data and graphic description of the food. I could almost smell and taste it. It sounds like you're making yourself "at home" there already and doubt that the language will much of a barrier for you very long. All is well here. Guess you know we have about 4-5 inches of snow. It's great that you have congenial housemates. Love, GRANDMA xo
Now, what about the spa's????
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