International Birthday Wishes

Besides missing holidays, a downside to living this far away from home is missing celebrations for my friends and family. In particular, my oldest, dearest friend Jennifer (whom I've known since I was just a little over one year old) turned 25 today. I can't remember missing any of her previous birthday parties, so I was sad to miss this one and wanted to do something special for her, so I decided to make a video. A group of my international friends banded together to create this video for her, and I hope she loves it.

Bardroom Pics

Here are some photos from my reading at the Budapest Bardroom last week (see previous post). There was a great singer from the UK at the event, and her boyfriend took these shots at Treehugger Dan's bookstore in Budapest. The picture above is of the hosts Steve and Kalman.


I performed my opening piece with Rachel, the musician.



Rachel performing.


My friend Aubrey reading from his book.

Budapest Bardroom

Since 2001, the Budapest Bardroom - which hosts performance nights for the city's English-speaking literati - has hosted many writers and musicians from across the world. Last week, I was honored by being the featured poet at this winter's reading, where I performed a selection of my writing. Another American expat friend of mine, Aubrey Ramage-Lay, read his fiction, while an English/South African woman sang and played guitar. The whole combination was great, and I loved reading my work again. When I was in college, I co-hosted a weekly open-mic at a Boulder cafe, and I hadn't realized how much I missed participating in literary readings! I hope I can participate in more open-mics in the future. A large group of my friends here came out to watch, and I felt really lucky to have so much support.

I'm featured on the Bardoom website now too:

My profile on their website.

Dentistry Denied

Today, I was sent home from a Budapest dental office because my teeth were "too clean." Yes, this is a true story.

Usually, dentists and dental hygienists are a tough crowd to please. Even if I flossed daily, brushed multiple times a day with the softest bristles possible and never let sugar touch my lips, there is always room for improvement (like last year, when I was chastised for over brushing). However, my experience today has made me rethink my dentistry assumptions.

After months of procrastination, I finally found a reputable English-speaking dentist to visit in Hungary. Since this region is known for dental tourism and attracts Western Europeans to their experienced and relatively inexpensive facilities, I had no qualms about skipping out on my life-long Colorado dentist. Everything was fine when I arrived at the modern clinic, and a friendly English translator welcomed me back into the exam room. Before she explained the treatment, the clinic's hygienist did a precursory exam of my teeth so she could recommend a specific cleaning. After the brief look-see, she told the translator that there was no need for plaque removal, and a regular cleaning was not necessary. Since I am used to six-month treatments and it's been awhile, I couldn't believe the diagnosis. Even after I protested, they told me to come back in a few months and sent me on my way without paying a forint.

Now, I don't think this would ever happen in a Western clinic. Even if my teeth were as clean as they say (which I guarantee they are not, despite my golden flossing habits), who would turn away a paying customer? But, I will relish the dental compliment, because it will probably never happen again. When I return to my US-dentist, I am sure he will scold me for waiting so long between dental cleanings and tell me I'm under brushing this time.

**Editors note - After retelling this story to my American editor, he said the same thing has happened to him. Apparently, you have to be very firm with dentists here and demand that your teeth be cleaned.