I
miss a lot of things. This post is really just a ramble of all the things I
desperately wish I had back. From the smallest things like not having to scope
out the English writing on menus and signs, to being able to take a bus or
train for a few hours and be in another country… for cheap.
I
also miss…
Not
being able to buy alcohol without showing my ID [the US is so strict on its
drinking policy and it drives me nuts now], not being able to walk everywhere
and have the option of a metro or train – in Roswell and LA we drive
everywhere, pressing a code to open the gate to my apartment complex
[7key1209!], not being able to find a happy hour deal quite like Pointers one
liter beer deal, and having to tug a rope to obnoxiously lift a metal blind
that covered my windows – instead, I just have to pull my curtain shut.
Additionally,
when I’m hungry late at night the only food option is my kitchen. There are no
kebab, falafel or 24 hour shops right down the street. When it’s a nice day
outside, I can’t easily whatsapp my friends and say we’re going to the island.
When I go out with friends, we won’t be staying up until sunrise even though
its completely normal to still be drinking at 7 in the morning in Budapest.
I’m
going to miss the delicious scent of bread in every metro station, watching the
sunrise from the Chain bridge and on the roof of Corvinteto, being shushed be
employees dressed up in weird costumes in the waiting line to Doboz, not being
able to read all the ingredients in the food I buy [this was so annoying at the
time and I’d spend a ridiculous amount of time in the market because of it, but
I would do anything to have that back], being able to whatsapp Sarah Clayton to
do anything and have her be down because she’s just like me and loves to
explore, and not being able to understand every conversation going on around me
– it cleared my head.
I
would do anything to have my two hour class breaks on Thursday to make lemon,
ginger, honey and eucalyptus tea when we were sick, to climb Gellert hill and
share oranges, or to play at a park with one of my best friends I made in
Budapest and having our fun breaks always end in “Shoot! We’re going to be
late!” and sprinting to class to make it there almost always ten minutes late.
My dear friend, Anthony, always knew how to entertain me during those two hours
and always convinced me to hang out with him even if I tried to make excuses. I
thank him now for his convincing ways.
I’ll
miss Ben and his fine 70s rock choice of music and his record collection – also
his goofy ways and his just as awesome Dutch friends that came to visit in
Budapest. I’ll miss Henrik and his German ability to chug beer, sing karaoke
like a true rockstar, and maintain a positive outlook on life no matter the
situation. Henrik taught me how to smile in the worst of moments. I’ll miss Ana’s
skype conversations that I could clearly hear right outside my door and all the
music she would play – my room seems so quiet now. I’ll miss Freddie and her
choice of music and her lovely singing voice. I’ll miss Miguel’s way of always
making me laugh even though every time I saw him he was more than likely just
making fun of me. I’ll miss Marie’s love for food. Show her food, talk about
food, make her food – she’s always down for food and knew the best restaurants
in Budapest. I’ll miss Dianne and her crazy party self – she was always down
for a good party and I could always count on her to be wherever we went out. I
will miss Valentine and how funny she is – this girl made me laugh so hard. I’ll
miss Sarah Pitzen and her clumsy self. Iris and her Miss ESN award for being
all around beautiful and an incredible person – and I’ll also miss traveling
with her and leaving the farewell dinner to grab a bottle of wine at a 24hr
place. I’ll miss exploring Budapest with Sarah Clayton, traveling with her, and
hanging out with her always. Her humor is so original and I wish I recorded
everything she said for a day – the words that come out of her mouth are
ridiculous but she’s hilarious. I’ll miss Kay and his video taking skills and
the way he says “literally,” which was the only word I could say with a British
accent. I’ll miss Dany and the way he would just laugh and shake his head
whenever Ben and Anthony made stupid comments which was all the time. I’ll also
miss his crazy dance moves in Corvinteto. I’ll miss Cecile’s bounciness and
love for life – always a happy person! I’ll miss going to Astoria fitness class
with Nienke, and laughing so hard at the instructor that had to come over and
help me out because I couldn’t do the dance moves. I’ll miss Tobias and his crazy
comments during class – this kid made comments out of this world and every time
he talked in class we all just laughed and shook our heads. Like this kid had
crazy ideas running through his head non-stop, but he always knew how to have a
good time! I’ll miss Lucas and his convincing ways to make me and Anthony
almost skip class to go to Margaret Island and then later find out class was
canceled so we could’ve just gone earlier to the island with Lucas. I’ll miss
Neils, Rafa, and Laurent even though I didn’t see them much after the first few
weeks in Budapest – we had some good times in Marco Polo and I was always
really happy to see them on the few occasions during the semester. I’ll miss
Seyda and how fun and loving she is! Even though I hated when she did this, I’ll
miss seeing her mix red wine with pepsi and accidentally trying it one time. I’ll
miss rowing with Marlies and Nina. I’ll miss Helen and Lukas being the cutest
couple in Budapest. I’ll miss Istvan and how awesome he was to hang out with us
all the time even when it wasn’t for ESN ‘points.’ Istvan always set up hiking
trips for us every Sunday just because he knew all of us wanted to hike. I’ll
also miss him going all out for the Cardboard Hat party – he taxi’d over to my
flat with about ten huge and heavy pieces of cardboard. And my other ESN
friends, Reka and Vera – such sweet, caring, beautiful and funny girls! I’ll
miss swimming with Vera on Tuesdays and I’ll miss Reka running up to me my
first night in Budapest saying that my mother is looking for me! I’ll also miss
how sweet she is and how she cared so much about all of us international kids.
I
miss walking down to Leves on Mondays with Jason, Jan, and Maurizio to get
cheap soup in a cup, and knowing that later that night everyone will be at
Morrisons 2 before 11pm because that was the thing to do on Monday nights. I’ll
miss singing my heart out for karaoke at Morrisons and I’ll miss playing
quarters with Europeans using actual quarters.
The
small things…
I’ll
miss looking around at such beautiful architecture, having to answer to my
non-native English speaking friends what certain words are and often times
either saying “We don’t have a word for that…” or “Crap, umm… you caught me off
guard…” then 5 minutes later being able to think of the word, being able to
look around for an hour and explore ruin pubs because in America there’s
nothing ruin about the clubs, greeting and saying goodbye to friends with a
kiss to each cheek, being able to drink beer on the street – totally legal and
totally acceptable here [I’ll miss buying 200-300ft half liter beers at Mana24
and sitting in a park during the middle of the day for a study break with
friends], getting made fun of for saying y’all like a true southern girl but
got some friends to start saying it even though it was definitely in a joking
manner, taking palinka shots outside of school when exams were over, having
half liter cans of beer be the standard size, walking outside and not seeing
those annoying tour guide people convincing me to get on the ‘hop on hop off’
tourist buses, having to tell time on military time, being able to walk 25
minutes to class – it was my time to think and wake up for the day, and of
course the delicious pogachas [Hungarian version of biscuits] that I was so
tempted by every time I saw them.
But
life goes on and I’m more than thankful for the life I have now. New
opportunities arise and I pray one day I’ll have the chance to meet with a few
of these people again. Budapest will never be the same city without all of us
there. I’m so thankful, blessed, and honored to have experienced such an
incredible opportunity and to be so loved and accepted by so many different
people. I never thought in a million years I could say I have met people from
all over the world. Now I can. I love the friends I’ve made in Budapest more
than words can explain. They touched my heart forever. We trusted each other,
relied on each other, were so open with each other, and truly loved each other
for who each of us is. True, genuine friends that I’ve met here and I’ll
cherish these friendships forever. I am absolutely overwhelmed by the accepting
nature of the friends I’ve met – couldn’t have asked for a better group of
people. I said this from the first week I was in Budapest – it was the best
four months with the greatest people I’ll ever meet in my entire life. Hands
down. And I wouldn’t change a single thing. Budapest, you taught me more than I
could’ve hoped for and showed me a whole new culture with such amazing
opportunities. I kept my heart open, my mind clear and welcomed new things
every day. Doing this, I feel like I completely immersed myself in the
Hungarian culture and got out exactly what I wanted. I can now say I have made
great friends from Turkey, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Greece,
Canada, the Netherlands, etc. And whenever I want to travel, I know exactly who
to call.
Humbled
and completely blessed. I had the time of my life.
Thanks
for reading along. If it weren’t for y’all I wouldn’t have had these blog posts
to look back on. Cheers to a great semester! Headed off to camp for the summer…
another crazy adventure.
xx