Irish nostalgia

I have safely arrived in Budapest after 26 hours of traveling. I went from Denver to Chicago, to Dublin, to Budapest, but I managed to arrive here on time, with my luggage in tow, which amazed me. On the flight to Dublin, I sat next to this girl from Chicago who was going to Ireland to study abroad and had never flown before. It is great to experience flying again with fresh eyes. She asked me a bunch of questions about things I take for granted, such as how much drinks cost, how to use the lavatories, or why there is no leg room (that one I didn't really have an answer). She was gripping the arm rests ferociously, during take off and landing, but hopefully I helped calm her nerves a bit.

In Dublin, I had a seven hour layover, so I hopped a bus into the City Center. There is some sort of thrill associated with having no one know of your whereabouts and being able to navigate easily through a foreign country. So, I meandered around the city, visiting my old haunts. I went to my favorite coffee place, called Butlers, and drank coffee at St. Stephens Green, this beautiful park where my host family took me on my very first day in Dublin. Later, I went into my favorite bar - Messers McQuire. It was actually rather lonely, to be in this typically loud pub without my study abroad friends, being the loud Americans. But this time, I drank in silence, in a nearly empty pub, with only the bartenders around. At least I had the opportunity to see Dublin again, but even with three hours in the City Center, I was sick of the crowds and shopaholics.

But, being in Budapest now is wonderful. Being with Mike is fantastic. One would think that after spending over two months apart, it might take some acclimation to get adjusted to being with one another, but that's never the case for us. Besides not knowing the language, not having my own phone, little knowledge of how to get around, or the sensibility to light his gas stove without burning myself, it feels like I could have been here for much longer than three days.

I have spent a little time resting, but not much. Yesterday I went hiking with Mike and the other interns - and with his boss in the Buda Hills. The absolutely serendipitous thing happened. I told his boss that I was looking into finding freelance work, or some kind of writing while I was over here. At lunch, and on our drive home Les ran into two of his acquaintances who are prominent English speaking journalists, who have both agreed to meet with me in the next week or so to try and line up some work for me. I am SO excited. I hope something works out with these contacts. Fate was on my side that day.

Last night, we went out with his work friends until the wee early hours of the morning. As we were walking home, the sun was rising over the Danube, and it colored the sky pink. A crescent moon still shone over the river and the Parliament Building. It was absolutely breathtaking. Just one of the perks of staying up all night.