before i backtrack through prague, amsterdam and london i just want to say that my first day in budapest i spulunked the largest cave in the world. pictures will come.

im going to skip to london because it should be known that this blog is mostly for danielle shaw. she worked hard for it and you have her to thank. london was fucking awesome.

with my class i went to tower hamlet and had inspirational speakers talk about their education projects that are actually working and effectively making change. then we ate curry on brick lane. then we went to this ancient house that had been a boarding house for immigrants and then became a synogogue etc. etc. etc. but it was actually really exciting. the best part was the guide who was a fucking nut case. i can't really describe her without hand gestures. i toured the house and read some information on the walls. i asked her if quakers had occupied it at any time before it became a synogogue because it was owned by "friends" something or other and she shushed me harshly and said "not everyone knows it is a synogogue yet." but i swear, it was written all over the museum. anyway, it didn't stop there but now that this story is here i will remember to elaborate on it later.

as much as being abroad is better than not being abroad, sometimes you just want to be in a place that is not stimulating. i got in touch with danielle and we walked from piccadilly circus to kensington, saw hyde park and laughed at the british but the best part was definitly watching british television and vegging out on her couch. not because british television may be the funniest fucking thing ever, but because we were doing nothing. and it was everything i wanted it to be.

ps. piccadilly circus is fucking crazy at night. loooooved it.

i shared a room with baskhar. i will never do it again because that kid's feet smell worse than my lands end slip-ons. good GOD. that and since i don't ever have my itinerary, i need a more responsible roommate. i think he may have shown up to one speaker. one morning my tube ticket got messed up and i went back to the hotel where i found him passed out. we spent the morning watching this british television show about sending these naughty boys and girls to a school that is run like school systems in the 1950s. the show said things like "now a days school systems focus more on analytical skills and the ability to communicate. in the 1950s it was all grammar and dictation," as though that is how it should be. baskhar was like, "dude, it is called progress." in his indian accent. so sometimes his ability to crack me up redeams his smelly feet and lack of an itinerary.



anyway, i can't wait for my next trip to london.

inspired

some points to why i was so inspired i had to start this blog:

budapest
yesterday i saw not only one but three weird animal scenes. first, i was on my way to the metro when a really ugly fluffy dog started bolting down the street. an uglier human being ran after it screaming, picked it up by its ear, and started hitting it. i just wanted to say, "thank you" to budapest for ruining my ability to say i would do the right thing in a hypothetical situation having to do with public abuse. i just walked faster. after making it up to the gorgeous castle hill, walking around and taking in the afternoon sun and foliage i was stopped dead in my tracks by a gigantic falcon. the bird may have been taller than me. if that wasn't uncomfortable enough to be around, its owner was wearing a mideval get up. it made me think of nina's cousin, a story i will gladly share with you now. nina's cousin is a well established hairdresser who is quite attractive but might not be a real big thinker. she was dating this rich guy who was a "birder," if you will. apparently you have to have a lot of money to be into the "sport" so the point is...this guy was rich. not wanting to risk her life, she dumped him when the bird flew epidemic hit. but now that i have seen what those guys wear, i kind of think she dumped him for a different reason. my third weird animal story is what really inspired me because it kind of pushed me over the edge. again, i was just walking around, minding my own business and i run into this girl with a rabbit in her arms, wrapped up in a blanket. i don't really know what to say about this. just understand how weird it was. please.

i must explain that all of these encounters just make me love budpest even more. if brazil falls through, hungary it is.

they have clubs in the metro here. which leads me to my next story.

i am staying in this hostel that functions around a yoga theme. incense is always burning and everyone who works here has dreads. so, basically, im never in a rush to leave. luckily, jen, my traveling companion is good about getting me out. but this particular day we split and she went to the baths and i abused my priviledges as a customer in every sports shop in pest with lex (another friend from my program). when we met again at the hostel she told me she had made some friends at the baths who wanted to go out. i did the usual, "i kind of just wanted to watch a movie" routine but jen saw through it and convinced me to go. i didn't like the girl immidiately when i met her. she had done the peace core so i was hoping she would have something interesting to share but, no, she didn't. but whatever, we were just going out to a club......or so i thought. so we get to this club in the metro and it is hopping. i'm in my party shirt and i'm drunk. i dance a little but i saw this guy at the bar that peaked my interest so i went over to talk to him. he didn't speak any english and i didn't speak any hungarian but we were still communicating through hand gestures and stuff. he asked me to dance which came out like "you, ummmm, dance?" and pointed to the dance floor. so we be bopped around and then he invited me up to smoke and yadda yadda yadda. we figured out we both speak a little french so we were saying things like "petite" "bien" and "tres bien." i learned he was a professor at the university or something and, maybe it was the alcohol, but i was really enjoying this fellow. we went back down to the club and jen was there with that girl and she was like "we are going." but i had lost my hungarian friend in the process and i had his sweatshirt on so i had to go find him and, honestly, i didn't want to go. so i said i was staying. the girl yells that she wants to go and throws her glass on the ground, shattering it everywhere.

i know.

i know.

c-r-a-z-y.

so i was like, fuuuuuck no. and walked away. there is more on this story but that is the most interesting part. the moral is that i shouldn't let jen make friends on her own because they turn out to be psycho.


skip ahead to the end of the night and we were stalked by some high schoolers who wanted to get to know us. weird.

after the animal experiences on palace hill i went to margaret's park in the middle of the danube. they have this fountain there that reacts to the classical music being played. i sat against a tree with the afternoon sun warming my face as the gigantic orange maple leaves blew by, listening to classical music and watching the fountain. it made me feel so good about life i actually saw little children as a positive thing. i may have even wanted them for a second.

obviously these events need to be documented.


last night i met this guy alex who is staying at our hostel and we bought some unicum, an alcohol native to budapest. it is like jagermiester and fishermans (a danish drink that tastes like cough syrup). it is nasty. but we had to try it. we went to a club and no one was dancing. so we started dancing and the place came to life. it was awesome. and it made me think of my friends starting that dance party at f and m. only this was in a club, in a metro, in budapest. kyla, you are going to love it here.

a note for liz still: a girl arrived at the hostel this morning. she looks exactly like keira nightly. and she is australian. so im going to work that. i miss you.


i will write about my prague, amsterdam, london adventures as there own posts so this post doesnt get any longer.