Wednesday in Hungary

First Day in Hungary, fall 2009 sometime.

Good afternoon. I am taking refuge in a McDonald's. It's a sell-out in a way I admit, but it has the most reliable wi-fi connection. I've borrowed Dotty's laptop, and am having a cappucino (the same in any language , or at least Italian) and a chocolate croissant (I pointed at it, in the glass case). Nothing here is spelled like you expect - push, pull, open, closed, exit, entrance - none of them begin with p,o,c or e respectively. So you can't really guess at words successfully. I do have a phrase book, but my hands are full with the street map - it was all I could manage to find the McD's - Dotty had pointed it out to me a couple of times along with other local landmarks, and after I walked her to her bus stop (she is teaching) I bumbled my way back to the apartment (barely), and then had to ask directions to get here. The young woman I stopped with an "excuse me" - you could tell by the look on her face she spoke no English and expected to be no help - when I said "McDonald's" she got a look of relief on her face and pointed me in the right direction - incidentally, the opposite way I was heading.

Later I will go to a local place, order a snack (unabashedly referring to the phrase book), and also will take photos. For the time being, it was all I could do to get here.

Pecs, for being a prominent city in Hungary (which is approx the size of the state of Indiana) seems very small town-ish. It's a very old city - destroyed repeatedly over the centuries by the Romans, the Turks, the Nazi's, etc - and rebuilt. The streets are haphazard and cobblestone, and except for the town square being under construction, very picturesque and quaint. Unfortunately, no streets continue all the way through this part of town, and I will do much walking when I'm on my own - I have only made two jaunts on my own - once to the apartment, once here - and got completely turned around both times. I'm sure I will finally get oriented about the time we are leaving - for Budapest for three nights (Sunday-Tuesday). Whether we will venture to Zagreb, Croatia for a few days, which Dotty mentioned as a possibility, we shall see.

I can say thanks "kozi" and even thank you "kozionome". I have to cheat and peek at the phrase book to say Hello or please. You can see why the familiarity of McDonald's would be comforting. And the woman behind the counter understood when I said 'glass of water' - my third try and first success.

We had dinner last night - I ordered a cucumber salad (and catfish stew with egg noodles and cottage cheese - all better than it sounds) - and was delivered a plate of several enormous pickles. Unadorned, sliced in half, and arranged in a star pattern. We laughed, wished we had a camera, and decided that, although they were once cucumbers, perhaps we wouldn't order that again. The jury is still out as to whether Hungarian cuisine is a good thing. Heavy on the meat and carbs. Not big on salads - certainly no tofu - seafood, hmm, don't think so. Every place allows smoking, also.

I slept a lot on route, and had a good night's sleep - I feel normal, as far as jet lag is concerned.

Cost of living is cheap here - I got the cappucino and croissant for less than $4 American.

Dinner at Dotty's boss's house - Laszlo - was postponed till Thursday night. Incidentally, he has a girlfriend living with him who is an undergrad student - he is my age - interesting. It's universal, I guess, the professor/coed tryst.

In the Munich airport there was a handsome German family, a couple speaking Italian, and a young woman with a Polish passport, all sitting in my little area. I offered the German woman next to me on the overnight flight a piece of gum, and she said Thanks in English, although she was reading a newspaper in German. ON the flight from Munich to Hungary I sat between a British businessman (Notting Hill-ish accent) and a thin and very fashionable Asian woman with blonde hair.

My limo from Budapest to Pecs - 3 hour drive as it turned out - was shared with a Hungarian couple who made no attempt to communicate with me. THe driver was speeding and passing people like crazy, on small narrow rural roads - meanwhile it was raining, which then turned to snow - I think he had watched too many chase scenes and fancied himself a Hungarian Steve McQueen - I imagined more than once that he would not make a turn, and that the unsociable Hungarian couple would point my body out to the police and describe me simply as "the American". But we made it quickly and efficiently to Pecs, without incident.

Dotty's place is interesting - at one time a elegant home I think - very high ceilings, carved woodwork - now an apartment. The bathroom door doesn't close, so my first, um, lengthy toilet stop was kind of humbling - no music and certainly no TV for Dotty, so no noise cover - luckily she's a parent and has, well, heard it all. Tiny little sinks, toilet flushes from a pull chain since the tank is near the ceiling, beautiful old wood floor, shuttered huge windows.

I did manage to do it all with carry-on, although I noticed my enormous backpack (thank you, Jon) grew heavier and heavier with each layover. A set of wheels would have been appreciated. And I'm glad I work out regularly, as I was able to hoist it with little effort over my head into the compartments - no small feat, particularly as the trip progressed and the imagined weight of the pack increased. By the time I got to Pecs I think it weighed hundreds of pounds.

It's colder here than I expected - I am layered up and am glad I decided at the last minute to bring gloves. I hope it's a fluke - the weather forecast said 50, give or take. Mid-30s is more like it. Already, chapped lips and sniffly nose. Dotty's apartment is cozy, though, and has great hot water, even if the shower head hits me about shoulder-blade height.

Well, that's it, I think. I was homesick last night but am trying to ignore it - I want to be good company for Dotty. I'm excited to be here. I think I will invent a challenge - go buy a sausage or something - Hungarians are big on sausage (no Hayden I will not really buy a sausage). I still have almost 2 hours till I meet Dotty after her class, and we'll go have lunch. It will likely take me that long to find her apartment to put the laptop away. She warned me about gypsies - not to leave the laptop unattended. EIther they fit in or are very stealthy - not sure I've seen any. Hungarians are a fairly handsome people - tend to be fair, strong facial features -well-dressed for the most part, fairly tall. No blacks or hispanics to be seen anywhere - the rare Asian. Except for my curly hair and the constant referencing of the street map, I fit in. TIll I get lost again, at least.

TIll tomorrow - not sure how often I can write, certainly not this much - DOtty teaches tomorrow but after that I will have to steal away. I will try an internet cafe tomorrow - tackle a PC with a Hungarian keyboard. Today I caved - Mac computer, English-speaking counter girl, McD familiarity.

Love you all - xos/mom