Missing Life in Budapest [last blog post]

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