Budapest

The glorious 5 days in Budapest with Kristen have come to an end. I flew back to Israel yesterday morning and now I have the apartment to myself until Wednesday when my roommates come back from Istanbul. As much as I miss them dearly, it feels amazing to have a place to myself.

Lets see. So Budapest. What can I say? If I did a play by play of everything this blog entry could go on for centuries. I shall highlight the main observations I had and most entertaining experiences in a top 10...

1. When Kristen and I saw each other at the airport we hugged, laughed, and cried a bit. It was as if this huge wave of relief came over me because I was seeing her and it was someone from back home. The best word to describe it would be comfort.

2. Our hotel was in the beautiful castle district on the Buda side of the city. We talked to our concierge there every day picking his brain on how to get places, and we went back to the hotel every day around 5pm to take a quick nap before we went for our late night, long dinners.

3. The bathroom in the hotel room was like luxury because it was a REAL shower. I didnt have to mop the water from the shower into the drain once I was finished (like I have to do in Israel).

4. Kristen and I both felt the people in Budapest were a  bit cold. They rarely smiled and acted as if we were bothering them a lot of the time. We asked a few locals, who were friendly, what they attributed it to (perhaps that communism only ended a few decades ago?) We received varying answers and still need to do detective work. 

5. One night we went out with the manager of a restaurant we went to and his friends. They took us to this amazing bar and we drank some local hungarian alcohol (shots of it). Kristen and I could handle the 4 shots....the guys, not so much. Perhaps hungarian men need a lessen on how to handle their alcohol? They also took us to this "dance bar" that played all 90s music which typically is a dance party for the ages, but they danced with one finger pointing in the air and mostly it just felt awkward. After we met a guy outside who moved to Budapest from Australia so we all had a hot dog from the hot dog stand and discussed our views of Budapest.

6. The city is BEAUTIFUL. We took a night boat cruise down the Danube on our last night. It was one of those moments where you know you are in an amazing place, and it is breathtaking but it is so beautiful it hurts and the pain doesn't hit you until after the moment has passed and you reflect on where you were an hour, a day, or a month earlier.

7. I didn't realize, until I was in Budapest how hard Hungary was hit during the holocaust. Kristen and I went to the Jewish District one day and to the Holocaust Museum. Going to the museum had a similar effect on me as the others I have been to: sick to my stomach, confusion, hurt, anger, shock, helplessness. However with all of the emotional drain it felt important to be there, understand what happened in Hungary, read the stories, and pay respect with my sorrowful thoughts.

8. We found a mexican restaurant and I had a bean and cheese burrito. In order to understand the importance of this I must confess I have been craving a burrito for over 2 months now. It was indulgent and amazing. Afterwards Kristen and I felt sick haha so we went to a nearby park and laid in the grass. 

9. Our days were filled with walking around and getting to know the city, and our nights were filled with late dinners with wine and dessert while we sat outside.

10. Spending the time with Kristen really made the trip what it was. No matter where I am, I know that if I have someone I love like Kristen with me everything will be meaningful, thrilling, and full of life.

Before Budapest I had to work the night before and help set up for the massive sedar they were having for the hotel guests. I had to pour pepper into shakers for over an hour, I couldn't stop sneezing, I was itchy and when I came home and took a shower the water made the pepper burn on my face. Also, when I came home I felt similar to how I did after I came home from a day of waitressing back in the day. I felt defeated. It wasn't even that I had someone upset with me, or I wasnt doing my job correctly (how can you pour pepper wrong?) but I believe it is the act of doing something where you know you arent at your full potential. Defeat.

I pep talked myself though and there are positive things about this job of course: I really like the people I work with, I get to see a vast amount of different events, I learn how the back of the house works, and I am submersed in another language. I hope that as the time goes on I can come home and feel good about the day, every day. I do believe it is all in my head though, so I just need to be positive--I just wish it wasn't so difficult to be positive sometimes.

Since I've been back in Tel Aviv I have been hanging out with my friend, Mike a lot and others on the program who didn't go away for the week. Some friends just brought me back a magnum ice cream bar as a surprise and I now feel content to go to sleep. 

Dreams of chocolate. mmm.