Cico the cat gave me a far earlier wakeup call than desired.
I finally fell asleep at 5AM Friday morning, as my Thursday seemed to go on endlessly, watching the Orioles and Redskins game, knowing inevitably I wouldn't be able to sleep on my first night adjusting to a +9 hour time difference from home. Unfortunately, cats aren't sensitive to your weary traveler status. Cico, Cini's adorable cat, woke me up at 8AM that day to feed her. I fed her a can of cat food and then I think I lasted about two seconds before conking out again. As expected, this first day was mostly slept through. At 2PM that day, I woke up officially for the first time in Budapest, with many more days waking up under its skies to come. The rest of this day wasn't very noteworthy, as I was still rather groggy and not really motivated to do much of anything after a full day of travel that wound up taking up two calendar days. Cini went to work early in the morning and come around 6PM, I realized I hadn't eaten anything and was still in my pajamas, so I threw on some clothes, rinsed off, and explored the area around Cini's house. There was a nice bakery by her house that sold Hungarian pastries (Which can rival French pastries in their tastiness) so I grabbed what I guess you could call a midday meal from them and came across a park along the villamos line that I chose to take a walk into.
It was a large, somewhat expansive park that had something for everyone. Benches to sit on, a basketball court, a play area for toddlers, and tennis courts all in this little area. I was just there to get some fresh air and stretch my legs after two days on being cooped up, but I came across a group of Hungarian kids a bit younger than me (Late teens ish I think). I sat off to the side from them and just listened to their conversation. I simply wanted to get accustomed to hearing Hungarian around me so I could better speak it in the future, since my mind was still fully in English mode.
One of the teens then lit a cigarette and I took off the other direction when the girl in the group called to me "Hey! Gyere Vissza!" Surprised to be addressed, and obviously understanding what it meant, I turn around. The other group then starts laughing because I guess they were curious to see if I actually understood Hungarian (who the hell knows?) They then start questioning me in Hungarian, and I explain in extremely broken Hungarian that I can understand some of what they're saying, but I can't reply because I haven't practiced in a long time. I explain that I only left because someone lit a cigarette and I hit smoking. They ask me what I do, I say I'm a student, and they say they meant for fun. They asked if I did crack, to which I obviously said no. They then ask me what kind of music I like and I tell them honestly I like Lady Gaga and the like. They then make some snide remarks and assume I can't understand what they're saying. then the girl who told me to stay there's boyfriend shows up and says to him clearly "He doesn't understand what we're saying", and they were calling me a faggot and other names. Like...bitch, I got what you were saying. Then they kept asking me not to leave. I still don't understand why this entire exchange ever occurred. It was hurtful and needless.
The first night ended as Cini took me out to Raday Utca and the Szimpla ruin bar, which were both close to where I'd be living. Puder, in fact, was on the same street I'd be living (Raday Utca), and we grabbed a nice dinner there and talked over our days. It was a nice end to a boring and then bad day.
The first of many hearty bowls of goulash with bread I had there.
Although this day was a 'dead day' and marred by the shitty exchange I had in the park, it was and will always be the first full day in Budapest, and it was one of many evenings spent with Cini who I miss dearly. I miss everything about this place, truth be told. Writing this reflective "One Year Ago Today" series helps quell that feeling of missing it a little bit. Looking back on this day, I wouldn't change what happened on this day because it made me realize right away I would have to thicken my skin if I was going to truly enjoy my experience in Hungary. If I didn't have that exchange, who knows if I would have figured that out? So, in the end, it worked out in the end. Everything always does, for better or for worse.
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