Minnesooootah

I have never been so self conscious of the way I speak. I get asked to say words like "bag" because apparently I have a Minnesotan accent. Since there are kids from all over the country it's interesting to hear linguistic differences. However, the Minnesotan accent is easy to mimick. It's all good though; I've been told it's cute.

Yesterday I went shopping with Anne. It was really nice! The shops here are, as always, amazing! However, the only downside was the metro experience. The entire city transportation system is based on the honor system. However, occasionally there will be ticket checkers to validate that you bought a pass. For once we had actually purchased passes, but what we didn't know was that we had to use another ticket when we switched lines. The mall we went to required a switch from the blue line to the orange line, and of course, when we ascended the escalator, there were ticket checkers. We handed them our validated passes, but then they started chattering in Hungarian and pushing us to the side. When they finally figured out we were not Hungarian they switched to English and informed us of the rules. It really wasn't a big deal, though. They just make you buy a 3 day pass for the Metro. It's pretty inexpensive, and as long as we have the pass, we're taking advantage of the metro. I've ridden the metro before without tickets and never been checked, but go figure, the one time that we actually get tickets, we still get fined. Boooo.

I tried the Hungarian National Drink the other day. It's a form of brandy distilled from Apricots. It's served as half shots because it's so very strong. However, it's really really good. One just needs to be careful.

I've only really spoken of the merits of this country. However, the one thing I'm not so fond of is the smoke. Non-Smoking Sections don't really exist, and almost all Hungarians chain smoke. It's not so overwhelming if you're out for a nice dinner, but in a bar situation it is painful. Health issues aside, you come out of bars smelling simply awful; your hair and clothes smell of it, and while it's not a huge deal to wash one's hair, clothes dryers are not generally available in Hungary so everything must drip dry.

Regardless, I still absolutely adore this country. I love my roommates, I love the food (of course), I love the people, and I love the styles of the clothes. I bought some new clothes that are really nice, but my favorite thing I bought are my fingerless gloves. In America there would be no way I could pull off that type of look. In Europe you stick out like a sore thumb in hooded sweatshirts and jeans; everyone dresses up all the time! The phrase "Eurotrash" has new meaning, although I've taken to calling it "Euroclass" because it's so much classier than American clothes.

I'm drinking a chocolate flavored black tea right now. It's GOOD!

The girls and I made spaghetti the other day. It was our first cooking experience in Hungary. While spaghetti isn't really difficult, I can see where making more complicated meals would be hard because the directions are not in anything resembling English.

One of my favorite things about the people of this country are their greetings. They say, "Halló" for Hello, and "Sia" for Goodbye. They are pronounced as "hello" and "see ya". However, these greetings are interchangeable in the manner of aloha. Often I'll walk into a shop and be met with "Sia!" or I'll leave and they'll shout after me, "Halló!". It's really cute.

My Hungarian is getting better. I negotiated the open market this afternoon with almost no English necessary. I know the number system and foods, as well as the bare necessities like, "excuse me/ sorry" and "Thank you." All together, bartering for fruit and veggies without English made me feel fantastic.

Happy Wednesday!