My first week in Budapest!

God is so good, this has been an incredible experience so far! It's funny because I've only been here a week and I already feel like I've been here for a long time but I've enjoyed it so much! I really would encourage everyone to try and take an oppurtunity to travel somewhere like this, it's so awesome and it's hard to understand until you experience it for yourself ...
Well let's see I'll try and start from the beginning...


The flight here was my first time being on an airplane, and I really enjoyed it a lot...The flight attendants were very sweet, and I got a window seat on both planes : ) I watched the Little Mermaid, haha, and tried to sleep but ended up no sleeping at all! By Monday night I was so exhausted but somehow still running on adrenaline...

Here's me and my long lost roommate, it was so good to finally see her after a summer apart!The sunrise on the flight to Amsterdam was amazing, I definitely stared out the window a lot of the time : )
Once we got to the airport in Amsterdam we walked around for a while because we had a few extra hours, it was a pretty small airport but they had some neat things, lots of those little dutch clogs and lots of chocolate and candy!
There were these funny statues so we decided to pose with them

I definitely learned that European bathrooms are kind of funny, they are called toilets and the toilet paper is kind of similar to sand paper in some places, the flushers are funny too, in our hotel there was two buttons a big one and a little one and we just laughed as we thought about why it was like that...On the flight to Budapest I had my first Hungarian brand of food, this chocolate wafer bar called "Balaton", it was a pretty good first experience : )

Once I arrived in Budapest I got some Hungarian forints out of the ATM and I was ready to go… we took a bus to our hotel which ended up being really nice!

This is our hotel lobby

Even though I hadn’t slept I wanted to explore the city so Libby, Corey, and I went on an adventure. We walked and stopped at a market where we bought some snacks. We tried these funny chips that kind of have the same consistency as Styrofoam but actually tasted very good, I’m still not sure what flavor they were though…The cashier was not very happy with me because I tried to buy an apple and I didn’t know that you have to put it in a bag and weigh it on this machine that prints out the price before you check out…well she took my apple from me and threw my money at me and then mumbled that I was stupid, let’s just say someone had woke up on the wrong side of the bed! I didn’t let this get me down, I actually thought it was kind of funny, then we kept walking and just seeing central Pest was so amazing that we didn’t really keep track of where we were going. We also didn’t have a map or really anything at all except some money and snacks…so we eventually found a man who was very friendly but he only spoke Hungarian…He went out of his way to find someone who knew how to get back to our hotel, He found another friendly couple and the whole situation was just very funny actually…being lost in a foreign country isn’t so bad after all! Libby used the little German she knows and Corey used the little Hungarian he knows while I threw in my past knowledge of French and we made it back! I have to add though that the streets of Pest are extremely confusing, I’m finally getting the hang of it but it’s tricky because a lot of the roads curve all over the place and change names randomly.

Later at the hotel the director, Dr. Mandy ordered pizza for the whole group and we were all so hungry we didn’t care that it was kind of weird. They were some of the biggest pizzas I’ve ever seen, some had corn and ham on them, some had mushroom and ham, and some had bacon and paprika, I had 3 pieces but I think I still prefer cheese pizza over these.

Even though I hadn’t slept the pizza gave me my second wind and a group of us decided to walk around Pest afterwards, and we didn’t get lost this time! On Tuesday we had breakfast at the hotel which was an interesting experience but delicious nonetheless. I had this muesli(like granola) cereal with chunks of chocolate in it and cocoa powder sprinkled on top! They also had lots of bread, and jelly and honey along with sausages and cheese and instead of fruit they had the popular combo of tomatoes and cucumbers…which I have begun to obsess over too. Their tomatoes and cucumbers are so much better than any I’ve ever had before, it’s pretty funny!

Next the whole group visited our college where we registered for classes and got our ids and everything and we had lunch there, where we had more tomatoes and cucumbers and green onion with sandwiches : ) We also got to try the only soda that originated in Hungary, it was kind of like gingerale but unfortunately not as good…In Budapest things are very different when it comes to drinks. The bottles are shaped funny and they mostly drink juice and alcohol, water is pretty expensive and always mineral water…it also is usually carbonated which I don’t like, but I’ve been drinking the tap water which is safe and really good!

That night we took the oldest European underground train/metro and went out to dinner with everyone at this Hungarian buffet restaurant called The Trofea Grill. I don’t really know half of what I ate but I was stuffed afterwards. They had all kinds of soup from goulash to raspberry soup : ) and they had a raw bar where you picked meat and they’d cook it for you, I avoided the liver, baby squid and little quail eggs, haha, but I did try just about every dessert they had and I think the ice cream was my favorite! The buffet came with juice and wine but we had to pay extra for water, so weird! After dinner a group of us went exploring again and ended up seeing the Danu (Danube) River, which separates Buda and Pest, it was especially beautiful at night with all the lights reflecting on it : )

We realized the public transportation stopped and we weren’t sure where to walk back but another friendly man and his wife guided us back to our hotel and we ended up having a lot of fun walking! The next day we moved into our flats/apartments and I just felt so blessed because our landlords were very friendly and we had a nice place with a balcony and lots of space! I wasn’t sure what to expect but I am just very thankful for what we ended up with : )

We went to the market a little later and ended up a little confused and overwhelmed because of the language barrier but we’ve been back since and are definitely figuring everything out and getting used to it. I’m still a little sad though that none of the markets seem to sell peanut butter, but I’m sure I’ll live… After our first experience though we were pretty tired so we decided to go out for dinner. We found this nice Turkish restaurant or “etterem” close by and I tried some Turkish pizza and this salad with tomato, cucumber and oil and seasonings, it was delicious and the pizza had egg and cheese on it! Later hat night we went out, and were definitely becoming better map readers in the process, we ended up going o Margaret Island which is in between Buda and Pest and really close to our place, the drinking age is 18 here so Didi, Libby, and I tried some palinkaliquor(honey and peach) and of course we were very responsible with it, we wanted some gelato afterwards, which is really popular here, but we couldn’t find one that was still open so I must confess we went to McDonalds and got soft serve ice cream cones(“waffles”) and it only cost us like 40 cents! The McDonalds was a lot nicer than any American one I’d been to but I still don’t plan on going back while I’m here, haha…and the ice cream cones are a lot better here too! I think every day since then I’ve found some gelato, my favorite so far was the nutella kind, it had nuts and chocolate in it, yum!

On Thursday we were on our own to get to our college from our place and it took us an hour to get there because we still weren’t sure about how to use all the public transportation, it really is so confusing! We went on a neat tour and got to see some of Buda…we stopped in the huge central market there where there is tons of meat and fresh fruit and vegetables all over the place along with lots of clothes and all kinds of neat souvenir type things…we got to try some sausage that was like salami…my favorite thing was this cherry strudel pastry I got and they have little bakeries all over the place too, it was really neat to walk around there. We got to see some of the history of Buda, lots of statues and old buildings with really neat architecture. The Castle District was amazing and the view from the Fishermen’s bastion was so beautiful even despite the rainy day. I felt like I was in a dream as I walked down all the cobblestone streets.

In Budapest gyros are very popular and they are all over the place so we decided to go out and try them for dinner, and it’s funny because they have the beef and chicken hanging vertically on this metal rod and they shave off the meat from it, it ended up being very delicious especially with spicy paprika added to it! On Friday we went to a market near us and had a lot more fun shopping this time because we know what we’re doing now : ) Grocery shopping is definitely pretty cheap here for the most part…there are also tons of shoe stores! The clothes here though are either nice and expensive or cheap and poor quality, so it’s hard to find a nice bargain place like Target or Kohls, but it’s fun to look around anyway. Libby and I decided to try getting to school the right way this time and we had no trouble, but the way back was a different story, hopefully someone will be able to help me figure that one out after my first class! Well since it was such nice day we went to the City Park and explored that area. It’s so beautiful, it was easy to forget you were in the city at all,, except when we saw this Hungarian band practicing and getting recorded, it was pretty neat! The landscaping is very nice though, and so many people have dogs here, especially little ones! They’re all so adorable and most of them just tag alongside their owner, on their best behavior, without even wearing a leash or anything! The lake at the park had little docks where people can sit and relax, and you can go boating too! There are also a lot of neat museums around the park that I'd like to visit eventually like the agricultural musem : ) We saw all kinds of statues but one in particular stuck out to us that we didn't expect to see...it is of George Washington and it's recognizing all Hungarian Americans, it was nice to see a familiar face!

Something funny about Budapest is there are hardly any public restrooms and when you find one you have to pay to use it! In most restaurants they have bathrooms but even if you are eating there you sometimes have to pay, it's pretty crazy! I must say though I do kind of miss those warm summer nights in Md, it gets very cold here at night even now, I have started bringing gloves along with me! I've also learned that I need to be quick getting on and off any of the metros or trams, haha, I actually missed getting shut in one by like a second, but I haven't had any problems since that night!

On Saturday we went back to the Center Market and got some paprika peppers and I got this funny green thing that kind of looks like a cucumber but I’m not sure what it is, I guess I’ll find out! We walked around Vaci utca, where there are tons of shops and cafes and restaurants but they’re all pretty expensive because it’s a pretty touristy area

A group of us decided to order pizza for dinner and we tried to get it delivered but when we called they didn’t speak English so we walked to the place and then took the humongous pizza with us on the tram back to Corey’s flat where we enjoyed it with a glass of wine, People were actually laughing at us when we were walking around with this pizza, I guess we did look a little ridiculous, this time the pizza was pretty normal, it was called pizza margherit(like margherita pizza) and we all decided we’d have to try something more exotic next time, maybe not so funky as liver though…which is very popular, yuc! It was nice to relax for a little while and watch a movie, and then later we ventured out to Hero square which was beautiful at night!

Right around the square they had all these stalls set up selling giant pretzels, strudels, candy and dried fruit, it was pretty funny!

Sunday Didi, Amanda, and I attempted to find a church that is supposed to be in an old movie theater but we followed the directions and couldn’t find it! I was pretty disappointed but we have another one we’re going to try next week and I think this one is a lot easier to find : ) Libby and Stacy had gone to a church in Buda so we met them there and walked around for a while… It's so neat to see the view of the river and Pest from Buda! This time we walked around the streets of Buda a little more and found a neat park, parks are very common all over Budapest, they're nice places to study or relax.

Later when I got back, Libby , Didi, and I attempted to find Tesco, which is a huge store kind of like Wal-Mart, and it originated in Britain, but we ended up not being able to figure out how to get there, I'm sure we'll figure it out soon though, but on the way back we saw the beautiful sunset so that was nice : ) Even though I'm living in the city, I still have seen God's beautiful handy work all over the place, it's refreshing...

Today, I had my first class, Medieval Art History...it was from 8:30 to 10 so I had to get up pretty early but I don't mind, I was glad I made it to school on time and didn't get lost anywhere! The class was very small, it's only 4 girls! It seems like it will be a good class, it's a little challenging to understand my professor because of his French accent but I feel like just in that hour and a half I made progress! I am very happy to be starting classes so I can get into a routine and everything : ) This afternoon I have the opening convocation at my school and then everyones going on a boat for a cruise on the Danu, I can't wait!

~I have tons more pictures that I've been putting on my facebook so I hope you get a chance to look at them : )