Me in the Budapest Parliament building...In an ill-selected scarf for the occasion.
It amazes me even now that I've been home since the 28th of December. The entire experience of Budapest feels like it was just yesterday, yet simultaneously feels like it was eons ago. I can recount almost every moment of my experience in Budapest with 100% clarity. Truly, there was never a dull moment.
Three months later, I finally, and I really do mean finally, get around to writing my final reflections on the experience of a lifetime, which I truly cannot truly do justice with this blog. When I returned, I intended to do it around New Year's, but I got caught back up in real life, and tomorrow came and went, and before I knew it it was March and I was in the middle of midterms and on Spring Break. However, I left this blog open ended not only for myself but for those of you who were with me along on this magical journey, and well, being the OCD person that I am, that's been driving me crazy since the day I came home!
The last month was wrought with adventures and exams and very bittersweet moments, as the doors began to close on all of our truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. Never will I forget the events that transpired in my four months across the Atlantic in a city split by the pristine Danube River, and I wager neither will the other Americans who I had the pleasure of crossing paths with along the way.
Upon returning from Helsinki, I had a realization, and that was that I had only five weeks left in Hungary, and I had not yet seen the Hungarian National Museum, Parliament Building, Opera House, or the lovely town of Szentendre a short HEV ride away from Budapest. So my focus turned, in my last month, away from seeing more of Europe and truly getting to enjoy Budapest for the finite amount of days I had remaining in the beautiful old city.
Immediately upon my return from my little vacation in Helsinki, it was Thanksgiving week, and even in Hungary, us Americans would not be denied our turkey day. After our classes on that Thursday, we had a giant potluck turkey dinner in the Corvinus University dorms. We had a little bit of everything there, turkey, pies, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and vegetarian casseroles as well for Rachael and Eva. Unfortunately, I did miss out on one of the true special moments at this experience, because I had set up an opportunity to Skype my family at around 9 PM Budapest time. However, they were not able to do it, and so I waited in my dorm room to no avail, and as I did this, the other Americans upstairs went around and talked about all they were thankful for this Thanksgiving. That was one of the few things out there I regret...That I did not get to take part in this because I attempted to Skype my family back in the States. If I could do this over, I wouldn't have waited as long as I did and taken part in that. But regardless, I can say it here to put it on record, all these months later: I am immeasurably thankful for the unbelievable experience I had over here in Budapest, from meeting new friends from all over the world, to becoming extremely close to my family in Hungary. Those are things you can never put a price tag on. But more importantly, I am thankful for the experience as a whole. No matter how the rest of my life goes from this day on, I will never lose this experience. NO matter how high or low it gets, I will always have the unbelievable memories and growth of this experience. No one and nothing can ever take it from me.
The following weekend, I took a day trip to the lovely little quaint town of Szentendre, where there is a small church on a hill and lots of quirky little museums, including a micromuseum, where some artist from Ukraine painted the pyramids and three camels into the eye of a needle, and made a depiction of the Milky Way Galaxy on the head of a pin. And no, none of that is a misprint. Unfortunately taking pictures were prohibited, otherwise I would've taken a plethora of them and taken up the entire blog post with them. Very seldom does art completely blow my mind, but in this case, it did. I suck at drawing and any types of coordination-requiring activity like art, so the fact the this sculptor could make art on objects so small that if he even blinked too fast, it would be ruined, suffice it to say I was rather awestruck. Most importantly, though, Szentendre makes really, really, really good Langos. And really, what else matters?
Old buildings like this one line Szentendre, as do cobblestone streets and small mom-and-pop shops.
My getup on my day trip to Szentendre. I loved my scarves!
The week after that, our Political Science professor set us up for a day with the leader of the Right-Wing extremist party in Parliament, the Jobbik. Now, in spite of having serious dislike for the Jobbik party, I was very interested to hear what they had to say on their policies, and how they viewed themselves. We got to sit in the parliament building's national assembly room, and ask him questions regarding his plans for foreign policy. We later got to go to the Ministry of Defense as well and really learn what our professor does. (HE works for the Fidesz party).
After this, it became all business. Finals were approaching, our days were truly numbered. Time was running out. The time of our lives was ending, and we were powerless to stop it. However, once finals ended...we all cut loose one last time. We went to the best nightclub in Hungary, Hello Baby, and just let loose after finals, enjoying one another's company, taking pictures galore, and soaking in the last, glorious moments of the time of our lives. We were all drunk, and out till rather late... I took numerous pictures, here are just a few, with Americans and non-Americans!
Fiona (left, from Scotland), Madeline (center, from Australia) and I at Hello Baby on the final night.
Sasha (left), Marissa (right) and I.
Hello Baby was a bittersweet night of fun and also many sad goodbyes. It felt surreal while it was happening, as if it was all a dream it was ending. But all good things must come to an end, as is the nature of life. Even three full months later, I find my thoughts drifting back to my time in Europe and remembering them all fondly.
The next night we all decided to go to the Szimpla for one final hurrah...after the last hurrah. The afterparty of the afterparty, so to speak. I want to stop here and just shout out to one person, who I will post a picture of here...
Kristin and I at Szimpla. Everyone else who hadn't gone home yet was there, too!
As I write this, I can safely say there is no one I bonded with while in Budapest outside of my family than Kristin. It was very hard for me to say goodbye to her as she is just about one of the best people you will ever meet. Everyone was asking for pictures with her, but I made sure to get one before the night got out. It had to be around 12:30 or 1 AM by the time I got this picture. That was a fun night, but Kristin was my first friend in this group, going all the way back to the Online Pre-Departure Orientation in June. She even met my cousins, and well, she's just awesome. Saying goodbye to her was definitely the hardest thing to do for me
After that night, everyone began packing and cleaning their rooms, preparing the long journeys back to the United States. I wound up being one of the last to clear out, moving out on December the 22nd, only Rachael, Andrew and Kristin (Both of whom were staying till May) remained in the dorm by the time I cleared out. The day after everyone few home, the dorm felt deserted, almost like it was a ghost town. Especially in my case. My roommates and our friends next door were all gone by Saturday morning. It was eerily quiet in my dorm.
With time literally running out, I took a trip to the Budapest Opera House and the National Museum. I do have pictures, but they turned out so bad that I'm not going to post them here.
I will say, though, for the Budapest Opera House, having been to the one in Vienna, Vienna's is bigger, but Budapest's is far more grand and pristine. It is luxurious and just screams of wealth. It is truly fit for nobility, and the opera house is just lined with beauty and tradition. I would absolutely put this as the first or second place to visit if you find yourself in Budapest!
The National Museum was a lot of fun, too, although I'm not sure i was able to enjoy it to its fullest extent, on accounts that my entire body had ached by the time I got to it due to the crazy schedule of the week. By the time I got to the Nemzeti Muzeum I had taken five final exams, slept only about 9 hours in 2 days due to saying goodbye to everyone, and still had an entire dorm room to clean and pack up on my mind. However, I will say it, and the torture museum at Andrassy 60 are both must-sees, if you are to truly understand the storied history of Hungary.
After the Museum, I went out with Andrew, Rachael, and Kristin one final time. We went to this place called Hachapuri, which is a Georgian specialty. It was a really interesting and delicious dish, and I was really glad to get to try it and add it to the highlights of an absolutely chaotic, draining, emotionally difficult, but also amazing final full week in Budapest.
After that, I packed up my dorm, packed my bag, and waited for cousin Cini to pick me up. I said my goodbyes to Rachael, Kristin, and Andrew and headed for CIni's flat, preparing to just relax now that the week was so hectic, and make final preparations to return back to the United States.
On my final days there, I got to spend them with my wonderful cousins Cini, Zsuzsi, and Annina and her husband Tamas. I miss them all dearly. I spent Christmas Eve with Cini and Zsuzsi's family, as we had a giant dinner at her father's flat. Sadly, I was ill and could not cook the pie I was planning to cook for them all, but they asked me lots of questions and thought I couldn't speak Hungarian. I found that funny, since my Hungarian had improved a lot since I came down in August. Although, I'm still a but gun-shy to use it with adults, I can understand it far better than I could when I arrived. I got wonderful gifts from Cini and Zsuzsi, and got to show Cini the hilarious movie "Plans, Trains, and Automobiles" before heading home.
Christmas night I had a final dinner with Annina, Tamas, and their two adorable kids. To Cini, Zsuzsi, Annina, Tamas, and Miklos and Annamarie Domby (Even if neither of you can read this blog), thank you for looking out for me on my adventure here, and making sure I wasn't lonely, or struggling, or falling behind, or bored, or upset. I truly miss you all, and had amazing final memories with all of you that will last a lifetime. I miss all of you dearly and cannot wait until the day comes when I can return home to Budapest.
Annina (Left), son David (In her arms), Patrik (behind Annina and Tamas), Tamas (right), and I on my final night in Hungary.
Boxing Day came. It was time to go to the airport and say goodbye to the city I had called home since the 29th of August. It was a perfect, cool, cloudy day in Budapest as I prepared to fly back across the ocean and prepare for a 2-day layover in Toronto. But before I went, I got to say one last goodbye to Zsuzsi and Cini!
Zsuzsi (Left), Cini (Right), and I as Cini prepares to take me to the airport, and I prepare to fly back to North America.
After nearly a day of transit, I touched down at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 7:30 PM EST (1:30 AM Budapest time), fought my way through Customs, since the Canadian Customs officer who I encountered literally tried to extract my life story out of me and ask me why I was only staying in Canada for 2 days, then dug deeper when I explained I originally intended to stay a week, but broke up with who was then my girlfriend, so I had to change my plans. This wasn't enough for him and he took it upon himself to rearrange my suitcase. Thanks, bro...
I woke up the next morning at 3:30 AM, because jet lag was, well, killing me. I had a breakfast and had Canadian Bacon, which I hadn't seen in literally four months, and took off into Toronto for the Hockey Hall of Fame! It was as cool as advertised, I got to take a picture with the Stanley Cup, and I even saw the Hungarian National Team's jersey on display... Now if only my Capitals could get that Stanley Cup one of these days.... Sigh.
Sergei Fedorov's jersey...one of the NHL's greatest.
The Hungarian National Hockey team's jersey.
Me with Lord Stanley's Cup...I got to touch it. Squeee!!!
It was one last mini-adventure before heading home. Oh, and I saw this thing called snow. Being from Arizona, some times it's hard for me to believe that's not a mythological phenomenon.
And then I flew home, back to my ordinary life in the desert here in Arizona. Back to my room with all my sports memorabilia and Powerpuff Girls dolls, preparing for life after time abroad. But what a time it was. I feel so humbled and blessed to have gotten to do such an experience, and I will treasure all the memories from my time there till the day I leave this great world. I flew home to my family, and had a third Christmas with them.
It was good to be home, after so long...
And so, the door closes on my experience of a lifetime, many months after the experience ended.
I want to stop and thank everyone who took the time out of their day to follow me on this journey, support me on it, and be there for me on it through the thick and thin of it. I hope you enjoyed following me on this journey, and for those of you who I met along the way, you've all left a mark on me, so thank you all for that. Truly, if ever I can say I had a time of my life, this semester was it.
I leave you with one final set of photos from my wonderful CIEE group.
One of the few photos with all of us...Ironically taken on the Slovakian side of the Danube Bend.
Life is a journey, don't blink, or you might miss it.
