Reluctant teaching, happy travels

These are some quick shots from Bratislava, Slovakia, where Mike, Bijal and I ventured on Sunday. We only took a quick day trip, but that was enough, as we saw the sights we wanted to see within 3 hours - including lunch. The old town area is very cute, with lots of nice terraced cafes, colorful buildings and impressive churches. There is also a large castle and fortress, which seemed barren, but gave great looks out to the other side of Bratislava, which hosts communist block housing clusters. A Slovakian woman told us that it holds the highest concentration of people in Europe - perhaps I should fact check that one? At the very least, I can say that I've seen where my great grandparents are from. Also, this trip made me realize that Mike and I usually take pictures of the pretty areas of the cities we visit, which are the minority, so perhaps we should start taking pictures of the seedy areas to give folks at home a more accurate picture of what we see. For instance, I took a nice picture of the performing art hall in the downtown, but neglected to photograph the multitude of homeless beggars in the train station, all the graffiti, and the drunk men who tactlessly yelled things at Bijal and I - which makes me thankful sometimes when I can't understand the language.

But, besides Bratislava, a lot has happened recently. Here are some links to my life. First, are links to some of the first stories I had published at Where Budapest Mag:
http://wherebudapest.hu/2007_08/book_of_the_month.html
http://wherebudapest.hu/2007_08/cool_pools.html

And here is a link to all of Michael and I's pictures from our trip to Germany with Mr. Klein two weekends ago (and, if it looks like we spent the whole trip with a beer in hand, that is a fairly accurate depiction - it is Germany after all.)
http://colorado.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=35920999&l=e7a24&id=10215414

The trip to Germany was wonderful. I wish we could have stayed longer. My German roots became very evident while I was there, as I marveled at the cleanliness, order and efficiency of the country. After Hungary, it was quite comforting to be in a more organized society. Michael of course hates rules, so he teases me all the time about how I should be living in Germany, because I am terrible at even crossing the street when I'm not supposed to. But, anyway, Mark (Mike's dad) was there on business, so we met up with him in Frankfurt for a weekend. We stayed in Mainz, an adorable, lively college town just outside Frankfurt. Mark and Mike showed me all their favorite spots, like a brewery/restaurant that is in a cave where the city used to store their ice and used the cave as the village refrigerator. We also went on a boat tour on the Rhein River, where we were inundated with castle views. The next day we saw Heidelburg, which I also loved. It had a very impressive castle that we tromped around, and enjoyed their downtown area too. I wish we had stayed longer, but I'm very happy I got to Germany. Perhaps, I'll write more details about it later, rather than the overview, but that's enough to understand the pictures.

I am in the midst of Berlitz teacher training, where I've been spending my days in a classroom with other Americans (almost all New Yorkers), Hungarians, British, a Peruvian and one Aussie, learning the "Berlitz method" of teaching foreign language. It sounds like a war strategy to me, but I go with it. I have met some great people, and will actually be making a steady income soon enough, which I am very thankful for. But, just to complicate things, a job I want in Colorado as an entertainment reporter just opened, so now I have to figure out if I'm ready to leave Europe to take the job if it's offered . . . stay tuned.

Bombs, Bands and Bards

This week has produced some good stories. So, I'll try not to be too long winded, but here they are:

Last Friday I came home to find my block and the entrance to my apartment surrounded by the police. I walked up to the cops at my apartment to see if I could go inside, and they said "nem," which I recognize as no, and then they started speaking quickly about, "THE BOMBA." Despite my limited Hungarian, I am savvy enough to recognize the word bomb in a foreign language, especially when the policeman makes exploding guesstures with his hands as he repeats, "Bomba." It was at this time that I notice my neighbors sitting around the nearby sidewalks, somberly gathered like a block party that just ran out of beer. Naturally I am a little concerned, because no one wants to hear the words bomb and be denied access to their flat. So, I called Mike and he brought Balazs, our official translator, to the scene to investigate. It turns out that in the huge construction site behind our house (see the pictures in my previous blog), the workers found a 40 kg (I weigh 54 kgs to put that into perspective) shrapnel grenade from WWII that had not been detonated. So, I couldn't get into my flat until the bomb squad moved it. Yikes. I'm thankful that I wasn't home when they evacuated our flat, but at the same time, it would have been an amusing site to see the 50 macho construction workers fleeing the scene. As my sister, said, "It's just another day in Eastern Europe."

Mike and I made it to Sziget, the biggest music festival in Europe on Friday night and Saturday. Here, approximately 400,000 visitors take over an island on the Danube, where there are multiple stages, food, games, booths - just about everything you could think of. Wherever there wasn't a palinka stand or a stage, there seemed to be wall-to-wall tents for the campers. The event was fun, but crowded. The big name show that we caught was Nine Inch Nails, and they were awful, but I've never liked them. We lasted about four songs at that stage, and then moved to a drag show instead, which was much more amusing, mostly because they weren't attractive drag queens, but were overweight, middle-aged Hungarian and Austrian men (sans one attractive Parisian). As it was Mike's first drag show, I think he's scarred. We also went into this cool structure called a Luminarium. It is a like a blow-up house for adults on drugs, but it was fun sober too. There are multiple rooms, plastic forests, with ambient music playing and people reclining onto walls that felt like Twister boards. That is what the pictures are of at the beginning of this post.

Last night, I went to the first Bardroom event since I arrived. This is a network of ex-patriat literati, who host events, readings and open-mics. The event had two very talented featured writers, and then an open-mic portion where I read some poetry even though I hadn't planned on it. The whole thing was great, except at the end it started getting overwhelming. It seems that a representative from every organization I have ever emailed from Hungary, such as art schools, non-profits, or publications, was at this event. So, I was approached by multiple people, including editors that I had blown off because they wouldn't pay me for my work, after the reading who knew me. It was like this unexpected networking gala. Everyone knows my editors at the mags I'm working for and the school I'll be teaching at, and seems to have started at the same spots. It's this intricate social web. So, I came home with invitations to join international writers groups, business cards and the standard business cards of most poets - a scrap of paper from their journal with their email address scribbled on it.

And some other things:

• We are going to Frankfurt this weekend to see Mike's dad who will be there on business.

• I got my first Hungarian hair-cut today, and I didn't get a mullet - phew.

• At the grocery store today, I was attacked by 20 packages of salami as they fell from the shelf directly onto my head. I received many a stare, but no offer to pick up salami packages that littered the isle. So, I can't use the term I've been hit by a ton of bricks, but now I can say I know what it's like to be hit by a ton of salami.

• I am minutes away from finishing Atlas Shrugged, the longest book I've ever read at 1080 pages, with hardly any dialouge and tiny print. I'm proud of this feat - I think it's resume worthy. And on another literary note, I've been listening to one of David Sedaris' books on my Ipod as I travel around the city, which of course, is hilarious. So, I've been chuckling to myself and making people think I am probably crazy - this may explain why no one helped me during the salami incident.

Two months

This is me outside a beautiful palace I visited yesterday. It's only 45 minutes outside the city, and I was quite happy that it was easy to find and not swarming with tourists. I definitely want to go back and marvel at the ornate wall paper, church and Queen Elizabeth's dressing rooms.

As of two days ago, I have officially been in Hungary for two months. August was my tentative date to return to the US, but now I am not positive when it'll be. Perhaps around Thanksgiving, if not sooner. I've been looking for jobs in the states, as well as around Budapest, so I don't know what will happen. I did get hired at an English school called Berlitz, but I don't start training for another two weeks. Teaching has never been something I've felt called to do, but maybe I'll like it once I start. It'll be a good way to supplement my time with freelance writing.

Budapest is filled with turtles (my label for backpackers) this weekend, because it’s the largest musical festival in Europe, called Sziget, which means island. The concert takes over an entire island on the Danube, where there’s non-stop music, camping and parties. It lasts for a week, and we hope to go at least one day this weekend.

I've realized that I haven't shown any pictures of my neighborhood, so here's kind of a day in the life photo spread.:

Our apartment building:

The construction in our backyard. Apparently, there's Roman ruins under there.

Our friends Peter and Balazs:
The living room with antiquated furniture:

Our kitchen, which I strongly dislike:

Mike's office:

Hero's Square, one of my favorite spots: