Researching the World

Thursday, the 27th…I wake up the most tired I have been so far on the trip. It was still easier than getting up the past quarter for work and cluster though, so nothing to complain about. The idea that I am here in Hungary and that an adventure is out there still gets me right up and out of bed every morning.

I head to work, and find out we still have not heard back from our client. We just research more about the biotech health industries in various countries. So pretty much, we were researching the world...lol. Although, every day I learn something new about an industry I never thought I would begin to understand. I never wanted to be involved in the health industry after having to deal with it my whole life, but this is actually interesting learning about all the new technologies that are coming out that inspire hope in my eyes for certain things. It is also interesting that the university's medical school is the top biotech institution int he world, but all the students leave to find better paying jobs abroad.

We all head out to lunch to Arkad (the mall) of course. I have already quickly become tired of being in the mall, since we normally stop in every day just to quickly browse since we pass by it on our way from work every day. I’m just not that mall type of person having watched Chapel Hill mall go down the tube (but it is back up now, thank god). I decide to get Chinese (go figure)…but everyone had been going on and on about it; so I decided to try it. I just have to say that Chinese food is Chinese food is Chinese food - wherever you go, it is always the same (except for Tong Tong). I get some dark meat chicken and fried rice with an interesting drink that I had seen at a few places since I came to Hungary – Aloe Vera.

And yes, it is actually drinkable aloe vera, with pulp. It is an iridescent green that looks like it could kill Superman. It smells like suntan lotion, but I decide to try it anyways, and it actually tastes like suntan lotion. I didn’t have anything else to drink, so I kept drinking it, and after the first taste that was kind of questionable, it quickly becomes sweet and addicting (which is probably not good). I am happy to finish it though and am just trying to decide whether I should bring a bottle back to have other people taste test. I ask a couple of the Hungarians if it was popular over here, to which they responded that they had heard of it and seen it, but have never tried it.

Even though everyone is still tired, we get back to reading more and more and more. My team meets with our advisors to discuss the project status, and they were extremely concerned that the client had still not gotten back to anyone (even though he was extremely busy at that time). We decide to meet with the other team that is working on a project linked to the same client as ours, and finally decide that we can continue with our projects and deliver quality work, while still waiting for critical information from the client. We have just been researching so many different things that we were just having a tough time trying to figure out what to research next. So after a demanding day (for other reasons concerning the project), all of our minds shut down and we decide to head home.

I instantly fall asleep at 4 and hardly wake back up at around 6:30 pm. I find out that a few of the girls decided to go up to the TV Tower after hearing about the views and restaurant…but they had actually planned out the route and took a taxi back (wimps). They had actually found some hidden spots that we will have to go back to sometime to take pictures of the city and other monuments. I just needed to get sleep though.

A few of us go to Krudy, right by our apartment, with a giant chef standing outside that kind of looked like Chef Boyardee. We wanted to try it since we got here, because it is a little alleyway that opens up to a restaurant in the back, but we would always catch it at weird hours. I get some amazing goulash with a ton of bread. I just can’t believe I forgot about now to look at the soup menu for it…I guess with the heat I just immediately skip over the soups.

We heard that it was the last night of the wine festival, so we decide to head up there to say goodbye. We had heard that the last night was the week before, that night, the next week, and that it ran for the whole summer. Well, it turned out that the wine festival was over that night, but another festival would pick up in its place the next day, so no need to worry! However, the festivals at that square would end around the beginning of July, so all goods things must come to an end.

We just relax, watch people, and listen to music. There was a violinist that I wanted to steal the violin from, but since he was playing traditional Hungarian tunes to a group of drunks who were singing away like the Irish, I decide it would probably not be wise to put myself in that position. Everyone else was tryignt og et me to play though.

We meet up with a couple of the Hungarian students. We also run into an American from California who came to Pécs (I just learned how to do the accent mark today!) about 5 years ago, fell in love with the city, and decided to stay. He creeped out a couple of us, so we decided to leave and play with some cute dogs we saw people walking around with. I get a European/Hungarian funnel cake covered in chocolate dust and head back to the apartment to relax. I end up just writing, uploading pictures, and going to sleep, since I was still tired from all the excitement still.

Opposite Views

Wow, how time flies! I can’t believe how far I have gotten behind in writing. Just so everyone knows, at the end of every day, I usually write down everything I did that day. Then I actually go through and provide the stories, whenever I have the time. I have just been so busy I have not had the time to write; so, sorry for not keeping everyone updated, but like I said before, I’m not going to sacrifice going out and doing something to stay in and write. I however, will try to cut down how much I write so I can at least catch up…It’s not like I can describe that much going on at work, confidentiality wise.

So, Wednesday (the 23rd I think)…wake up and go to work as typical. We are pretty much just researching as usual trying to understand the health industry, incubation/innovation centers, and network models/collaboration theories. For lunch, the other American in my group and I went to a café on the walking street, where the woman there spoke perfect English. We each order two different sandwiches and I finally get my milkshake, a blackberry one. Anyone who knows me well knows that I absolutely love blackberries. And ever since I came here with everything flavored with local blackberries (we even have a blackberry tree in our backyard), I have been in heaven. It was more of a really smooth, yogurt type of milkshake, but still excellent.

My teammate then points out the best gelato place in the city (she has been living over here for summers her whole life), and we stop to be greeted with about 20 different incredible flavors. I get scoops of mojito and melon and proceed on the way back to work…enjoying the incredible freshness of flavors exploding in my mouth…sooooo good…that I get completely distracted and end up on the completely wrong side of the city from where the school is.

There are 2 main main walking streets that run perpendicular to each other; the problem is that they both look identical with all the shops, restaurants, etc. So about 45 minutes later we finally get back to the school and right back to researching. We are beginning to understand a lot more about the material and our project, and begin developing a vision for what we should be accomplishing.

After working, we begin to walk back to the apartment, everyone stopping by a restaurant on the main square to watch the World Cup USA game. I instead head back to the apartments to go on a run with Laura. We decide to run the opposite way than we normally do, so we can see everything from a new view. We have always stopped on our previous runs to look around, but this time we were presented with completely new transitions of views (if that makes sense to anyone). We would be running over the hill when the cathedral would suddenly rise out in front of us, stunning in the evening sun. We would round corners into parks where the trees and sculptures would showcase a new view of nature. So, while most people go through life in schedules and paths, and things may seem to become monotonous, just begin to look at everything from a new path. IT is not so much as ‘take the road less traveled by’, but more of a ‘take both paths so you can experience the wonder of both adventures’.

On our way back to the apartments, we stop by to see if the US was winning. Apparently they won in the last two minutes right before we go there, so I guess me not watching is good luck. I buy a huge loaf of bread (seriously, the same size, if not larger than my head) from the corner bakery…and it was only about $1. I am in heaven!

We all decide to make dinner that night, just to say that we have done so. I show up late and wasn’t able to help make anything, but the girls made a lovely gnocchi and salad. However, I did bring the huge mountain of bread with me for everyone to share, so I at least contributed somewhat (since what would a meal be without bread?!?!?!). The only problem was slicing it…so it turned into a last supper kind of thing where we are all ripping it apart. The dinner turned out successfully and we headed to a rave-reviewed dinner place for dessert.

We thought it was #12 on the main square, and after walking around for a while observing the numbers stop at 10, we finally result to looking it up on a giant map. We then realize the place is located at the other square and find it finally. It is an old Swedish wine cellar they turned into a restaurant. I get the panacotta, which was absolutely to die for. IT was so light, but so flavorful; I could have honestly, eaten that every day for the rest of my life. The others get caramelized fruit with ice cream, and chocolate mousse dishes. We were just sitting in the front little room with the cellar off behind us. I thought it was just a tiny room back there, but when I went to explore (I am a product of my father and like to explore the restaurants) I found out the little room stretched allll the way back and was absolutely gorgeous. I make it known that we have to come back for dinner sometime.

We walk back to the apartments and are greeted by all the Hungarian students who came to our apartments before going out to celebrate the College of Business graduates at a local club. I met a couple more of really cool Hungarian students in the program, who were really impressed by some of my pronunciation of Hungarian…they were probably lies, but it made me feel good.

All the Americans go with them, but when we found out we had to pay a cover charge, I was not really in the mood anymore and decided to leave with Laura and April, an American exchange student that has been over here for a year and was going to be leaving in a couple weeks. We end up walking around and decide to head into a café in a courtyard, called Cooltour Café, which was awesome. It was like a relaxing patio/courtyard, where we decide to hang out and talk. We had some really great talks, and I realize how much people who can see the big picture in dealing with the world, cultures, and life.

After beginning to get eaten up by mosquitoes, we walk back; I help April find a taxi, and went to bed at like 2:30 am. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful night.

The one thing I would leave people with is the idea that no matter how big the world can seem, there are always people around that come into your life accidentally that feel like you have known them forever. It’s a small world (after all...lol), and you meet the most interesting people by accident. You just have to be open to accidents.

Innovation

Waking up to stupid rain again kind of put me in a not-so-bright mood, especially since my umbrella was completely busted. I refused to buy another one, and insisted on using the broken one. After everyone begins opening their umbrellas though, I see everyone has the same pathetic looking pieces of junk.

After getting to work, my group finishes up the project scope document and begins to feel a lot better about the project. We just needed to be able to sort out, think through, and analyze the information we got. We send it out with some questions critical to begin our research. Instead of watching Gmail all day, we begin to research the different areas of the health industry, biotechnology, histopathology, biotherapies, etc.etc.etc. I find out that every other American was having horrible headaches, which we found out was probably because of the weather fronts moving through. Apparently, the pressure changes are much more severe here, which affect human barometers like me much worse...

After meeting with our advisors to discuss details concerning the project, we realize the incredible scope of the situation. This is not a simple project that will be completed in the six weeks we are here; it is a project that will take years to complete. A 60 million USD project, financed by a 30 million USD grant from the European Union, this project will be an incredible challenge trying to create the overall business model for an institution centered around innovation and effective collaboration.

The following is just a ramble I wrote one night after working on our project...again, just my mind throwing up on paper without me looking for grammar, flow, etc. Since I cannot talk about the project directly for confidential reasons, I just decide to ramble on about the effect of the project.
Innovation, not just imagination, invention, creativeness, or design, but to visualize improvement and inspire advancement is the greatest way to progress the world. We can simply improve upon what we have, incrementally or in leaps, over time, but true innovation is what changes eras.

We are working towards innovation, influencing the health care system of not only the city or country, but also lives. Taking an industry that is in shambles and inspiring innovation in a culture will be the most challenging task ever, but we are probably the only ones who could do it. We are young and this project will affect us more than the people in charge. We are objective, viewing the system, work ethic, and culture from the outside and can identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (sorry for the SWOT reference) more easily.

While we are not trying to create a solution, we are simply creating a foundation for inspiring change. They came to us for help in laying the groundwork, to get started, and they will take over to enact the change. The single greatest accomplishment would be to know that we helped them take the first step to creating not only a world-renowned institution, but to actually help a city and country in desperate need, and helping the world by showcasing the incredible talents of Pecs and Hungary while bringing the world to them.

Simply laying the foundation, identifying the key components that will help the institution become successful in the long run, will take this full year. Probably establishing phases that will be carried out over the next few years will be the best bet at this point, and identifying just simply how to go about completing the project will help the client a lot. We are creating the business model and effective forms of collaboration for this company. This institution is our canvas, a very large canvas, and we will just be taking it one step at a time. They proposed a center to receive the grant, now we are the ones to design it.

After researching, someone recommended a great sandwich place in the mall, so we decide to head there. It turned out to be another Aranycipo like the one right by our apartments. I get a typical sandwich and an amazing chocolate and coconut covered cake block. While heading out, I decide to stop at the watch emporium type of place, pick out a cheap watch with a perfect size face that fits my tiny wrists. It was just too difficult not knowing what the time was during the day, especially since we had random schedules. I did not want to carry my cell phone around just for checking the time and needed a watch for professional events anyways.

Before heading back to the computer lab, I wander around the building right next door, because I heard there was a shop that sold sweaters, shirts, hats, pens, etc with the University of Pecs on them. After wandering around the whole building and only finding a small bookstore (that sold only books) that was closed for the summer, I head back to the computer lab and research, research, research…

Even though many people would hate it, I absolutely love researching and learning about new areas. This is probably why I want to go into consulting sometime, because it is constant learning. I fear the thought of getting into a job that I can’t expand my knowledge or experience. Now I am learning a ton about the health industry and understand more about the world. It is just difficult because we are still researching just general topics in the industry without knowing what to focus on.

I leave to go to the grocery store to buy snacks for my room, since I cannot go without snacking throughout the day. I buy a ton of snacks consisting of chocolate cereal, chocolate wafers, chocolate filled cupcakes, bars of chocolate, and bagel chips. I cause a commotion while checking out, because I did not know that you have to put the basket at the entrance to the checkout lines and the checkout lady could not explain what I was supposed to do in English. Everyone had to pass my basket back and I am for some reason saying sorry in Japanese. I also forget to buy a bag, since the stores do not supply plastic bags to carry your items in, and instead try to fit everything into my backpack. This was obviously not working and everyone was waiting for me to exit the line, so I just grab everything and walk over to the wall to fit as much in as I could. I am left carrying my water bottle and the bag of bagel chips home in the pouring rain.

Everyone that I went to the store with (and met up with accidentally in the store) decided to sneak onto the bus, but I just decide to walk back to the apartments and save the money and risk. Of course I am met with pounding rain and torrential winds that further break my umbrella, which I thought couldn’t be broken more. So finally after getting back, I just relax and try to fix Laura’s computer since she was still the only one not getting internet. I am still impressed with how much I am learning in my MIS classes, but I still could not figure out the problem.

I give up and decide to go back to my room to Skype with my friend Erin and write/upload pictures. Laura then wakes up and we decide to hit up Flekken 1 (not to be mistaken for Flekken 2 right across the street), which is the controversial restaurant right next to our apartments. It is controversial in the sense that some people absolutely hate it and some actually love it. I still don’t know what the difference between the two is though.

After realizing they were not closed, we walk in and take a seat in the very typical looking low-class type of restaurant. We are handed menus the size of novels that contain not a word of English. After sorting through everything, I come across the word bacon in one of the dish descriptions, and decide to just go with that. Laura meanwhile just picks a random number and orders that. After worrying about what we possibly could have ordered, we just sit and wait until our food is brought out.

Laura’s dish was pretty much small bits of overcooked meat on top of potatoes. My dish was two cuts of overcooked pork (which I am used to…sorry mom, had to tease you) with a ton of onions, peppers, and potatoes on top in a paprika-based sauce. Mine was all right, nothing good/nothing bad, but Laura’s was hardly the case. I eat most of mine, just because it is food. Considering it was only $4 per dish, it is not really worth complaining, but we will probably not be going back. It is important for anybody who comes here to experience, but I would recommend taking a dictionary to at least know what you are ordering…even though others have said it doesn’t help at all.

After paying the bill, we head straight over to the bakery to buy some half-priced breads and Danishes to get the greasy tastes out of our mouths. After getting back, I fall asleep as Laura is working on my computer (I can’t wait until she gets her internet figured out) around 7:00 pm. A friend wakes me up later to help plan a trip to Rome, but I refuse in my sleep to walk outside into the rain and cold. Even though I would only have to walk to the next room, apparently I was being really over dramatic and wouldn’t leave.

I wake up at 12 midnight, 4 am, 6 am, and finally to my alarm at 7:30 am. Even though I kept waking up, I always fell right back asleep and felt so much better in the morning because of it.

This was also the first day I did not take a picture, mainly because of working and sleeping all day because of the rain...sorry.

The First Day of Official Work

Surprisingly, I woke up the next morning not being sore at all. There was just a little bit of stiffness in my hips, probably from walking uphill for so long along all the rocks and such, but I was feeling marvelous.

We all get into the computer lab of the college of business, waiting to here the projects we have been placed on. Jumping right into it, our advisors start naming off teams that will have to meet with the client within the next couple hours.

I am called off to be working on a health innovation centre with one other American student and two Hungarian students. Our meeting was originally scheduled at 10:30, but got moved up to 10:00. He says that we had better leave now to go meet our client at the medical college. My group meets together and the Hungarian students tell us that the medical school is clear on the other side of the city, so we run out of the building and get on our way. We introduce ourselves on the way and begin talking about the project and coming up with a strategy as to how we were going to be asking questions, even though no one knew what the company did or anything about the project.

No one was joking when they said we were going clear cross the city. We walk directly past our apartments for about another ten minutes, and arrive at the school. We wait outside with the other team who had to interview their client at the medical school and find out they simply took the bus…oh well.

We are summoned by our advisor to head up to the conference room and that we would be meeting with the dean of the college of medicine to discuss the project. We sit and wait because he is running late, so we decide to invite the other team in since they were also meeting with the dean for a project that was related to ours. We figured that instead of splitting the time to combine and work off each other’s questions.

The dean arrives, and after introductions, begins to talk. Like most Hungarians, he speaks very softly with a strong accent, so it was extremely difficult to understand him, especially since we had no idea what the company was before going in there and a lot of medical jargon with long technical words were being thrown around. Fortunately, he had some sense of what he thought the problems were and tried to address it with the teams.

It seemed as though the other team was working on creating a business model to encourage creating relationships between the company and the outside. Our project had to deal more with creating a marketing plan for the innovation center, in how to find companies internationally that our products and services could best be utilized, how to find funding, and how to channel the local knowledge and skills. I actually felt more comfortable with the other group’s assignment, because when I was asking critical questions about the current situation, I was not getting clear answers at all. At some points a little light bulb would go off and I felt like I would understand the objectives more clearly, but then I would suddenly fall back into the shadow of having no idea what was going on at all. Unfortunately, no one else in my group understood anything of what was said either. And since we were rushed at the very end in addressing our part of the project, we were not able to get the desired amount of information before the client had to leave.

My group decides to head to lunch and discuss anything that we actually did understand about the project. We head to the mall, where I get a gyro with chili sauce and baklava. Who would know that probably the most popular fast food here are gyros...but I guess I just never realized how close Greece is from here. The other American student and I sit down, waiting for the Hungarian students who were still waiting in line; however, we think they could not find us and decided to sit elsewhere, because they never showed up. After finishing, we finally find them sitting on the other side of the food court, because they really could not find us. So we decide to meet back up at the computer lab to discuss the project in a half hour to give us time to shop and them time to finish eating. I end up buying an umbrella, as much as I hate them, because it started to rain harder.

We just have a quick meeting with our American advisor, which we find out that the health innovation centre we were actually working with is a network of companies in the health industry that are trying to create a parent managing company. We research a little bit from the minor website they had, but it helped a little bit. Now I actually understood that it was more of a consortium and not a company with definite products and services. We also find out that the main building has not even been built yet and that the company was mostly an idea at this point.

After messing with the research and stupid Hungarian keyboards, where random letters are all switched around, I started to get a headache (could also be my wisdom teeth coming in). We decide to head home, first hitting the bookstore we pass every day to look around. I love foreign bookstores because I wish I could read the books. We find a whole bunch of books on Pecs, but since a lot of construction and renovation has occurred within the last year, many of the books’ pictures seemed a little outdated. As we are getting back to the apartment, a strong gust of wind comes and completely shatters the umbrella in like five different places, of course...so now I refuse to buy any other umbrellas.

I sleep for a few hours, wake up with a headache still, and just decide to write since everyone else was sleeping. I get dinner at the Italian place right by our apartments; not realizing what I ordered was a clam dish. Since Laura like my dish better, I was happy to switch, as I hate clams. So instead, I enjoy a wonderful gnocchi dish. Since you tip the waiter/waitress personally, I keep trying to remember which person was waiting on us. This time however, I tipped the wrong person (and a lot of course), so I felt a little bad afterwards.

I just end up relaxing with everyone outside, watching the videos I recorded from our adventure to the TV Tower the day before with everyone else, and listen to Marcel (a Hungarian student) playing the guitar and sing amazingly. It made me so jealous.

"It's Just a Little Farther"

What an adventure…

After my late night of writing, I decide to sleep in till 12:00. Laura appears at my door talking about going for a nice leisurely walk. I decide to join here, get ready, and head out. We head to the main square to take pictures, when we are greeted by tons of people and music. MagyarStar, the equivalent of American Idol, had come to Pecs in buses and was holding auditions right in the main square. There was a really good singer playing a guitar that we decided to watch, then headed around to the other side of the group.

After hearing a group of people sing a part to Womanizer (I don’t know what it is with Hungarians and Kate Perry), we take a few more pictures and happen to see our advisor walk through one of our pictures. We instantly start yelling at him and talk for a few minutes. He happens to mention that we should head up to see the TV Tower at the very top of the Mecsek Mountains, that it was a “straight shot.”

We decide to just walk to the top of the hill overlooking Pecs to get some pictures. On the way I stop at a stand in the wine festival and get some of this fried bread, equivalent to a funnel cake. It is a hollow cylinder that is cooked over a grill, then covered in either coconut, chocolate, cinnamon sugar, or plain cinnamon. After being cut in line by Hungarians (who are notorious for being really pushy in line), I finally get some with everything on it in separate sections. It was soooooooooo good. I have to bring this to America…seriously. My favorite was the coconut and chocolate, which I could eat for the rest of my life and would be happy.

We come to a fork in the road and decide to take the road on the left because it was more uphill and we thought we would get better pictures. At the top, Laura convinces me to take a journey to the TV Tower, since we had already made it up the first hill and had nothing else to do that Sunday, and that it was just a little farther. I reluctantly said fine.

We walk up some really steep hills, past absolutely beautiful houses with gorgeous gardens full of roses and decks overlooking all of Pecs. We continue walking all the way to the top of the main hill, look to the right, and realize we are on the wrong mountain. The TV tower is across the giant ravine on the other mountain. I wanted to just turn back because the TV Tower was still really far away, but Laura just kept saying, “oh, it’s just a little farther…we might as well go now since we are already halfway.” We were not already halfway. We had been walking for about an hour, and I thought we still had another 2 hours to go, plus the walk back. “Oh no, it’s just a little farther.”

I give in, since we really had nothing else to do that day and I was feeling in the mood for a hike; so we continue onward. We find a road crossing the valley, coming upon a campsite. We ask if anyone spoke English and everyone shook their heads. I just decide to say, “TV Tower?” and the woman pointed down one of the paths. I was still arguing with Laura (pretty much the whole time saying it was still a long way, but whatever), but we decide to go down the trail.

The main trail loops to the right, with a tiny trail continuing on upwards toward the top of the hill. We decide to take the mini trails…At first I thought they were just dried up streams or rivers, since they were not flat, had a ton of rocks and roots, and were not clear of trees/bushes. We walk for what seemed like a mile before we came upon a road crossing our path, with the trail continuing on the other side. Fortunately it was marked with a red triangle, so we knew that it must have been at least some kind of a path, just not a good one. I hardly ever get eaten by mosquitoes, but that was the worst time of my life. Whenever you stopped for just a split second, 10 would swarm you and start biting. It was as if they had never been near a human being before and I was their last and only hope.

Every 50 meters or so, we would come to a fork in the path, and would just have to make a best guess and go uphill in a direction we think would work, even thought the little triangles would be going down a different path. After walking for another mile or so, we finally see that we are getting much closer to the TV Tower, but the trail had also gotten more uphill and dangerous to walk on. After about 2.5 hours, we come to a turn in the path, clear the trees, and find ourselves at the base of the TV Tower. We were finally there!

And it was closed…

We thought at least, since it was Sunday and the main building was deserted. But fortunately, they were still taking people with tickets up an elevator to the skydeck. The wind was ferocious as we cleared the forest, making it cold. We tried just going straight into the elevator, but the guy asked for our tickets, so we just jumped off. We bought tickets, after being cut in line as usual, and proceeded to the elevator and went up.
The museum part was closed, but the skydeck and restaurant were not. We take a step out onto the skydeck and are immediately blown away by the cold, strong wind. We suck it up and walk out onto the 360-degree decks with plain, old railings and take in the most absolutely amazing views of Hungary. The mountain was over 500 meters taller than Pecs and the TV Tower was another 127 meters on top of that. Even though it was cloudy and hazy, you could see for miles (or kilometers), possibly even Croatia. It was spectacular. The southern side was Pecs, sooooooo far away, and the rolling hills spotted with farms, vineyards, lakes, and villages. The northern side was the Mecsek Mountains.

We found out that we had gone completely around where we were supposed to go when we started our lovely hike. We thought we had traveled so far on our runs around the city, but realized how short it seemed compared to the hike we took to get up to the tower…no joke. This was when Laura realized, “yeah, that was a lot farther than I expected.” The clouds begin to roll in under us (yes under us, that is how far up we were) and we see rain beginning to fall of course. It turned into a monsoon as the wind was blowing the cold rain into the deck. Once we heard thunder, we thought we should get off the giant metal tower and decide to go check out the restaurant and see if we were going to be allowed to get in with how we were dressed.

We stand outside the 360-degree restaurant, looking in to determine if we could get in or not, and everyone starts staring at us. Everyone was wearing collared shirts and just nice clothes, and you had us in our workout clothes all sweaty and gross. We came all that way and were probably never coming back, so we run in and sit at a table by the window. Of course no one in the place speaks English, so our waitress was already frustrated when we start motioning for a menu that no one else was ordering from; everyone was just getting drinks and ice cream.

I order the vegetable risotto, which was fabulous, while taking in the incredible views of Pecs. Fortunately, after we finished eating we see the rain begin to clear up, so we decide to head back up to the skydeck to take in the last view before we left on our journey back. We plan out our route carefully from above and head down.

The bus would not be coming for another 1.5 hours, so we head back into the woods to trek down the mountain…and since their was a torrential rainstorm, all the trails were muddy, slippery, and even more dangerous going down than up. After sliding halfway down the mountain with some very amazing saves from falling, Laura falls very gracefully into the mud. I cannot stop because the mosquitoes have gotten even more vicious, but make sure she is ok. The only good part to the rain was that it made everything sparkle brilliantly in the forest. We continue onward and finally come to the campsite and decide to follow the main road down the mountain.

It takes us on the correct side of the mountain to Pecs, but since we knew where we were finally going, we stop to take pictures on the hill overlooking the city. After breaking into people’s yard to get better pictures, off-roading into some fields with prickly plants, and Kujo ramming a gate we were passing by trying to eat us, we head back own the mountain to the city of Pecs.

After about an hour from the TV Tower, we come to the very first fork in the road where we decided to take a left. Yes, only an hour later (it took us two to get up the mountain, and we were going even slower down the trails because of the rain), we find out that the correct path to take was on the right. Oh well, it made for a great adventure and story.

Since I was starving again, I go to the bakery at the end of the street and get some more snacks for half off (so everything was $0.10 instead of $0.20. I use a lot more Hungarian I learned, to which the woman smiled and said my Hungarian was becoming “super.” She never smiled any other time I went in, but this time she gave me a huge smile. I came back to the apartments where everyone was sleeping and uploaded pictures and waited for my parents to get back home so I could wish my dad a happy father’s day. I finally fell asleep at 11 for our first official day of work the next day when we would be placed on our projects and meet with our clients.
It was an unplanned adventure, but that is what makes it the best. I have always said the best part to any trip is to get lost, but I still would have liked to at least plan out the route we were supposed to take. I like to get lost when there are other people around, like a train station or city in Japan, but not in the mountains of Hungary. I just loved how when we would tell Hungarian students that we hiked up to the TV Tower, they immediately so, “oh my, I would never do that” and were still confused as to how we actually walked/hiked up there. Oh well, it was amazing. Everyone else in our group is jealous and wants to go up. Most want to take the bus, but there is one other that we might hike again with, but take the correct road at the fork…just remember to go right.

A Gelato Saturday

After the late night on Friday, everyone decided to sleep in. I woke up around 12:30 and waited for people to get up. I just ate a banana and got ready to go for a run with Laura. Friday, I took my iPod thinking I would need the music to pump me up and a water bottle. This time, I decided to forego the iPod since the views of the city would keep me going (and plus it is not like we are actually doing any hard running anyways), and instead took my camera that I didn’t take on Friday.

I wanted to take pictures of the things we see on our run, but didn’t realize that we would be looking disgusting in the pictures; you will see in a later post. On our way back I stop for gelato at one of the 1,438,754 gelato stands in Pecs. There is a stand about every 20 feet; every store and restaurant has one out front with about 20 flavors each…but I’m not complaining. I got the Coconut Dream one because it just felt so much like a tropical type of day, and only for like $0.50!

I will probably gain 80 pounds by the time I get back to the US because all food is soooo much cheaper over here and living right next door to two bakeries doesn't help either. An average $8-10 meal in the US costs about $4-6 here, with huge sweet bread things about $0.50 each…unless we go about an hour before they close when they start having everything 75% off and buy the place out. I have found out that I am seriously addicted to carbs. When I don’t have any in my apartment I start craving bread, granola bars, etc…and can’t stop thinking about them. I need help.

After getting back and taking showers, everyone decided to go to a famous restaurant called Tex-Mex that is closed for the month of July. The only problem was that we are a group of 20 and it is a smaller place and placing reservations would be difficult. Of course some people were starving and wanted to go right then and others wanted to wait for another hour. We decide to split up into two groups and I went right then.

Laura and I tried finding out where it was located on our jog earlier in the day but couldn’t figure it out with all the looping streets and alleyways, but we found it all right then. We get in and the guy immediately starts talking to us in fluent English, so we became much more excited/relaxed since we were already tired of getting frustrated looks when people found out we did not understand Hungarian.

They serve…you guessed it…Tex-Mex cuisine. For some reason I had a huge daiquiri/smoothie craving for the week before, and it didn’t help that one of the groups presented the idea the day before of serving smoothies since Hungarians did not know what they were. I ordered a virgin pina colada, which satisfied it perfectly (again on my tropical kick). We got really good chips and salsa and I had amazing vegetable enchiladas. Of course we come to Hungary and within the first couple days we have already eaten at places called Arizona Ranch and Tex-Mex. But both were excellent.

As we were finishing up our meal, the other group joined us (there was plenty of room), so we sat and had a good time for a while. Then we head back, hitting up the same gelato stand that I visited earlier (with the same girl still working) and I get the tiramisu.

Laura, Lauren, and I all head up to the winfestival to listen to music and people watch. Everyone said Saturday is the night everyone goes out and let me tell you, that was by far understating it. I felt like all of Pecs was at the wine festival. We go up and down the aisles looking at the arts and crafts everyone had, some gorgeous jewelry, and all the delicious smelling food. We find a spot in the square to listen to music and relax there for a while.

We decide to get a closer look at the band playing (apparently a famous local Hungarian folk band) and try taking a couple pictures of ourselves when a young couple spots us and decides to help out. They take a picture, then continue to take more, and we had no idea how to tell them to stop, so we just kind of thanked them, grabbed the camera, and bolted off. We decide to walk up to the cultural gardens to see them at night and Laura grabs a cup of coffee that was pretty much all foam. Pecs in the day is beautiful and takes on a whole new vision at night with the twinkly lights everywhere, peaceful and relaxed atmosphere, and music playing somewhere off in the distance.

We walk back to the apartments, not really feeling in the mood to go back out and spend another long night, but I end up getting a second wind and eventually end up waiting for everyone to go out. Two hours after we were supposed to leave, everyone heads back out. We find out places were charging an entrance fee and I did not feel like paying, so I just headed back and decided to write, catch up on emails, and upload pictures. Low-and-behold the sun starts rising…it is 4:30 am…and I am so wide awake and do not feel like stopping writing. I figure I needed sleep and just try to fall asleep after another spectacular day in Pecs, Hungary.

I was tired as I was writing this as it has been raining all day today, but it is funny at how each day is filled with small adventures throughout the day that turn into an incredible day at that. Exploring all the places on our run that day again helped me continue to fall in love with the city and find out more about it, and the relaxed atmosphere of the nights helped deepen the sense appreciation for getting to be here.

The End of the First Week and Beginning of the First Weekend

So I finally got adjusted to the time difference, because I woke up to my alarm at 7:30 am. I got ready to go to class/work and headed out. Some people stopped at places to get breakfast, but a couple of us that did not went on our way and ended up getting to the building right on time (so everyone else was late), and it was only the second day…We just felt like it took us a lot longer than it had the day before.

We listened to a lecture on managing in an international environment and how to deal with different cultures and personalities. The professor reminded Laura and I of our cluster-marketing professor, but the Hungarian version. We took another MBTI test and of course I got the same thing as always, ENTP (Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Perception) and took a quiz on Hungarian culture while the Hungarian students took a quiz on the American culture. I learned a few things that I have been doing are considered really awkward to Hungarians. I found out that sitting on the floor (which I always do) would draw skeptical looks because “only gypsies sit on the floor”). I also found out why every time I say I want ‘one’ of something by holding up my index finger, I always get two. They count with their thumbs first, so by holding up your index finger, you are saying you want two (your thumb + your index finger). We also found out that men are never supposed to let women enter pubs first (because they used to be dangerous and men would always go in to protect them), that shopkeepers are by nature mean and rude, that chewing gum in public is considered extremely rude, that the number 56 in Hungarian culture is avoided because of the Revolution, and that you are never supposed to call anyone by their first names or have them call you by your fist name in professional environments.

After the lecture, my group members and I met up to discuss the final details on the presentation for later that day on our mini case. After just meeting really quickly, I leave to walk back to the apartment to get in a quick nap (about ten minutes), then wake back up to get lunch. After running into everyone else coming back from meeting with their groups, we all head out to lunch at the deli by our apartments, Aranycipo, where I get just a simple sandwich. Then we head out to the Cultural Gardens where our presentations would take place. Our advisor really likes us to have meetings outside the classroom, in the city, because it helps us get to see more of the city that many students (even some of the Hungarian students) have never realized the place was there.

The cultural gardens are at the top of a hill on the northern wall to the city. There are multiple levels with many tables and umbrellas and artwork everywhere from iron sculptures to a globe of plastic bottles. They had the World Cup playing, which everyone wanted to watch, but instead all sat in a different section to give our presentations. Some groups recommended 13 Kiraly be turned into a hotel, hostel, spa/roman bathhouse (Laura’s group, since I know her parents are reading this), department store, or restaurant/café. Our presentation was simple and straightforward; I talked about the upstairs portion being turned into the event space. 
All the groups did well and it was a good project to break the ice for everyone and see how we can all work together. The Americans were definitely the most pushy, but I tried to make sure that our Hungarian teammate had the most say, especially since she knew the most about the building, area, market, etc. I felt we did well because of it and did not have to work as hard on the project.

After the presentations, some people headed out to the main square to watch the Americans play in the World Cup, some headed to a Hungarian student’s place to watch it, and some headed back to the apartments. Laura and I decide to go on a run to not only get some good exercise in, but we figured that would also be the best way to explore the city.

That run has got to be the most amazing, gorgeous, interesting way to see the city, as we run up the hills surrounding the wall to the city, then through the city center and the many different alleyways. I will explain everything we typically see on our run in a separate post, because there is just too much and too many pictures. Our runs just usually consist of jogging for 2 minutes, then stopping to look at the view, checking out a building, looking at statues and artwork, looking at shops and houses, or exploring historical sites. It is hardly considered exercise; it is more of a jog from place to place to place with meandering thrown in ever few steps. It then turns into a 2-3 hour adventure; so by the time we get back and take showers, it is time for dinner.

Since some of the group ate McDonald’s at 4 after class, Laura and I head to the bakery right by our place, then to the Elephant Café by the main square and are on our own the first time we try to eat at a restaurant. We did not know whether we should sit ourselves or wait to be seated, so we wait but see no one around. We decide to sit ourselves at a table overlooking the square, and a waiter comes out and begins the usual Hungarian babble. We order drinks, then explore the menu and decide to order pizzas. I was craving a Margherita pizza which was huge and fantastic. I thought since we were so close to Italy, the pizza would be perfect…and it was. We then fall into the usual trap most foreigners find themselves in when in Hungary. We want the bill, but the waiter is never bringing it to us and I forgot how to ask for it. We wait for a little bit, then I finally get his attention to ask. We then cannot figure out if he picks up the money for us, or if we have to go inside to pay for it. Again, we wait for him to come out, pay, and then leave to go back to the apartments.

Laura and I then Skype with Emily and her kitty to find out how everything is going back home and get ready for a night out in Pecs. We had a few Hungarian students over (and other American students visiting Hungary) and then head out to some dance clubs. We went to Soho Dance Club, Edge Café, and Cyrano, where we met some really nice Canadians. Everywhere was fun but got too packed as the night went on, so we came back, helped a friend find a taxi, and fell asleep at 4/4:30.

Every day just keeps getting better and better. I wish I wrote this on the day of so I could show my excitement even more from that day, but it just gets outdone by the next day every time…I just cannot believe how perfect this city is. Every time you turn a corner or walk a few more steps, something new reveals itself, a view changes slightly, a new sign of the brightness and beauty of the world reveals itself, and you open your eyes just a little more each time. I just can’t help but pause at times and just breathe in knowing this has got to be the best time ever, which is usually trumped by the next hour. Rain could only fall and make everything glisten, noise could only help you hear new things going on, and confusion simply helps you learn more about life. Nothing has been disheartening (yet), but I would find it hard to be the focus of for long, because new wonders of this city appear with only the slight tilt of the head.

Introductions and Everlasting Friendships

I cannot believe the amount of things I have already done in these first few days! I will try to recount as much as possible, but will just give brief recaps…
Thursday was our first day of classes/work. Since it is about a two-mile walk to the business school at the University of Pecs, we all had to leave at about 8:30 to make it there by 9. As with every other destination in Pecs, it pretty much a straight shot, as all streets wind around and eventually meet up at the same places. We walk along the southern circle of the city to suddenly come upon the massive green building of their college of business. Everyone is standing outside and we are then directed downstairs to one of the classrooms.

At about 60 students total, we listen to opening remarks and introductions from the advisors of the program, their expectations in us (one of which is simply to ‘be nice’ which is often overlooked in today’s world), and an overview of the schedule for the next six weeks.

The first week (Thursday and Friday) will primarily consist of lectures, team building activities, and introductory projects.  

The second week everyone will be assigned to projects for the 30-some businesses we will be consulting for this summer. With briefings in the morning, teams will work together from 10-4 with a lunch break in the middle. The first week all teams will be having client meetings to figure out the problem and expectations. We will be working closely with the advisors and other professionals to help increase the value and quality of the projects. At the end of the second week, the GCP students will be arriving (another 20 Ohio University students) and on Saturday, everyone will be participating in a city tour and team building activities. The following Sunday, there will be the big opening banquet and anniversary celebration for everyone, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the OU-Pecs relationship and the official 5th anniversary of the Simonyi Center. Tons of really high uppity people are going to be there, such as important government officials (ambassadors, governors, past presidents, etc.), deans of different universities, CEOs of huge companies, and Charles Simonyi himself, along with a whole bunch of other honored guests. It should be good food and interesting stories…just too bad the GCP kids are going to be there, detracting away from our attention :/ 

The third week will be more work, meetings, lectures, etc. The GCP kids will be placed onto separate projects, with some of us leading them. On Wednesday, everyone will be heading to one of the top wine regions in the world, the Villany region about 15 minutes away from Pecs, for dinner and wine tasting. On Saturday, we will also be going to Lake Orfu for the day. 

The fourth week will be more work. On Tuesday everyone will head up to the Mecsextreme Park at the top of the hills for some extreme sports…which should be incredible and hopefully result in no broken bones. At the end of the week, the GCP kids will give their final presentations and have a closing banquet. The following weekend will be a three-day vacation that everyone is planning on going somewhere, possible London, Spain, Venice, Vienna, or Prague. It all depends on whether I have enough money to go, but fortunately, flights in Europe are inexpensive and I might be able to squeak in a trip.  

The fifth week will just be work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with another three-day weekend following. This is when everyone is planning to go to the beaches of Croatia (the top in the world), but again, it all depends on money for me.  

The sixth week is our last week of classes and work, with presentations at the end. There will be a final closing banquet and many tears, as we will all be leaving on Saturday, July 24. Some people are traveling for two weeks afterwards all around Europe, but I will be going back to Athens to take summer classes.

I said how I would so do cluster again in a heartbeat, and this is my second chance. Except this time, it is for actual businesses in an international environment, and grades do not matter. The quality of our work does matter though, which means I will be working extremely hard these next couple weeks, but will be so worth it.

After reviewing the schedule, all the students introduce themselves. The class consists of an incredible mix of students from different countries, not just US and Hungary, but South Africa, China, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, etc.

The American group consists of 18 students from Ohio University and 1 from Xavier who has family in Hungary. Everyone is majoring from business to history, journalism, and communications and are going to be juniors, seniors, and some who have already graduated. Some have participated on the program before, some have traveled abroad, and others have never been on a plane before. However, everyone has the same type of personality – driven, entrepreneurial, and analytical. Four other students are actually from about 1-2 miles down the road from where I live in Stow, so I wonder if geography has anything to do with determining our ambitions…something must be in our water.

After introductions, we break for lunch. All the US students head to the mall food court. I get a type of chicken paprikas with spaetzles which was typical mall food – good, but not great. After eating, we find out the joy of the Hungarian public restrooms, that you have to pay about $0.25 to use. There are barely any public restrooms, only in restaurants, and when you do find one, you have to pay…oh well. I wander around the mall with a friend looking for makeup, which proved to be more challenging than we first thought. The huge supermarket chain (Interspar) that is like a super Walmart, does not carry makeup…you have to go to a drugstore or specialty stores…I just thought it was interesting.

We head back to the college of business and listen to a lecture on the Hungarian economy. This is when my jet lag set in…horribly. The speaker had a really strong accent and soft voice, I was sitting in the back of the room where all the windows were open, and he was going on and on about numbers. I could follow everything going on but felt like I was going to die. I could not stay awake no matter how hard I tried. Everyone around me probably thought I was going crazy because I kept moving around and stabbing myself in the arm with my pen trying to keep myself awake. The 1.5 hours of sleep I got in the past 54 hours was setting in and I was just about to give up. I remembered I packed a whole bunch of Starburst in my backpack and started eating them, welcoming the sugar rush. Surprisingly, Hungary does not have Starburst, but no one was wanting too try them…I did not know if it was considered extremely rude to eat in the classroom in Hungary, but it was either that or blacking out, so I just ate them secretly in the back.

Everyone was then split into teams of 3-5 to be given an entrepreneurial mini case that we would have to present the following day. I was put into a group of one other American student and a Hungarian student who was extremely smart, well spoken, and very fun. Everyone had to find an abandoned building across from the National Theatre in the center of the main walking street, and provide recommendations as to what could be done with it. They needed to be unique to the area, use the location as a strategic advantage, and be sustainable.

The building was beautiful and large. After analyzing it a little bit, the Hungarian student who knew the area the best thought an antique shop would be the best idea. There are no other antique shops, and with the history of the city and demand for artistic artifacts, the business would be unique and successful. We would also turn the second floor into an event space to be used for auctions, shows not offered by the National Theater across the street, fashion shows, etc. We were not really worried that much about the project, because it was simply meant as an icebreaker to get everyone to meet each other, get our minds beginning to work, and get us to explore/know the city.

We decide to take a break and I head back to my apartment to take a nap. Of course I can’t fall asleep, right when I am about to Laura breaks in and jumps on my back, and finally when I do my alarm goes off two minutes later. So while I was able to at least rest, I was still tired when I had to wake back up and head to a dinner for the Simonyi group at a local restaurant. We all head to a place called Arizona Ranch (I know, I fly 5,000 miles to Arizona), right in the heart of the main walking street, reserved for our group.

We are served pickled salad, fried chicken, baked chicken, and potatoes, everything really delicious. Then we all change seats and are served a lemon cranberry bread dessert that was excellent. After meeting new friends and sharing stories and backgrounds, we head to the wine festival with the Hungarian students. It was a lot of fun as we spent the whole night relaxing on the steps of the Cathedral and listen to a big band made up of police officers playing. We all decide to head back to our places to get ready and meet up later at a café that pretty much turned into a disco later. It was really weird and unexpected, but everyone had a great and unusual time. We all head back home and pass out around 3 am to wake back up the next morning for class again.

The second day was incredible; I met incredible people and made everlasting friendships. It was absolutely spectacular and just kept getting better and better.

I hope your day is also spectacular! It is 3:30 am now…I will go to bed and write about the next days tomorrow.

Welcome to Hungary!

Oh my god, where to begin...Considering I am extremely jet lagged, bare with me and my writing, because I am sure it will not make much sense.

I started off this adventure waking up at 7 am on Tuesday to be ready to leave by 10. I wanted to get to the Columbus airport early for our 4 pm flight because I was scared of lines and security. Of course there were no lines to check in or for security at all, so we ended up being at the gate by 1. I did get to try out the new metal detector/scanner things that scan your whole body…I don’t know if I looked like a troublemaker, or if they just wanted to test it out on me and figured I wouldn’t care.

The flight from Columbus to JFK was on the cheapest plane I have ever been on; I felt like it was being held together by scotch tape. I finally got to see NYC for the first time, off in the distance, but it still looked as magnificent as I always thought it to be. After getting off the toy plane we had to walk forrrrever through the terminal to get on our international plane, and we only had about an hour to do it.

The plane ride was all right…long (9 hours), but not as long as my flight to Japan. However, this time I could not fall asleep at all. Everyone had TylenolPM or Benedryl to knock them out, but I could just not get comfortable. Everyone was excited and just ready to be there, so we were relieved once we finally landed in Budapest around 10:40 am CEST (4:40 am ET).

We cleared customs just fine, and then we had to begin the last leg of our journey-the 2.5-3 hour bus ride to Pecs. We all packed our luggage into a trailer (ps, I packed the least with just a backpack and a carryon size bag) and all packed into the van/bus. Everyone was still tired and tried sleeping, but our driver was crazy and would always speed into oncoming traffic to pass other cars/trucks/semis in our lane. We had a couple close calls, a few angry horns and swerving, but we survived and so did our luggage in the back trailer.

We left the airport driving through notsopretty areas of Budapest, mainly the outskirts with huge, abandoned apartment buildings from the Soviet era. But once we got out of the city, we hit the plains of central Hungary. It was raining in Cleveland when we left, sunny in NY, and raining when we got into Budapest, but finally cleared to be sunny once we hit this point in our travel. The plains grew into gradual hills and mountains of vineyards and towns. Everything kept getting prettier and prettier as we traveled on, and everyone was getting more and more excited. We finally come around a mountain and see Pecs and instantly fall in love.

I can’t even begin to explain how everything looked as we were driving in, because there aren’t words that would do justice. It is exactly how I pictured a European city, with Mediterranean looking houses, gardens, brightly colored buildings, narrow alleyways that are just pure gorgeous, and people walking all around. We finally pull up in front of our apartment complex/flat and finally unload the cramped van.

The apartment complex is gorgeous. It consists of a door/gate at the front off the street, with two small buildings facing each other opening up into a central courtyard. The Simonyi students are the only ones staying here. We have a backyard/greenspace with my favorite, a blackberry tree in the back in full bloom…I just don’t know if I am allowed to eat any of the blackberries.

I was assigned the only single apartment that was just added on all the way at the end. It is perfect! Clean, hardwood floors, kitchenette, bed, nice bathroom, just enough to live an enjoyable 6 weeks. After checking in and helping everyone sign on to the wireless, we left to go explore the city.

With the students who participated on the program before leading us, we walked just about two blocks to the main square, Szechenyi ter, along gorgeous streets lined with shops and cafes. Everyone was just admiring the architecture and people, just trying to take it all in. We did learn though that you would be fined $100 for jaywalking/crossing against the signal and are already finding it hard not to coming from Athens, where we walk where we want to, when we want to. We suddenly come into the corner of the main square and are caught by the beauty. As Pecs was named the Capital of Culture for Europe for 2010, Pecs had undergone a massive renovation and everything was in prestine condition. The square is just like the rest of Pecs with the incredible sculptures and artwork surrounding buildings with incredible history. There are gorgeous fountains that seem to appear out of the ground and gardens that grow out of the walkways. There are also buildings that have gone under many different uses through history, such as the Great Mosque that was later turned into a Christian church.

We then continue to walk down Kiraly Street for a few blocks, with its many shops, restaurants, open air cafes, and stands. I could easily go broke just shopping and trying food, but will try to keep calm. After everyone exchanged money at the Western Union in front of the National Theatre of Pecs (which will be showing the opera Carmina Burana sometime in the future that I will definitely try to go see), we decide to split up into groups. Some wanted to go eat and we wanted to go to the Wine Festival at the Promenade.

Again, we walk a few blocks down gorgeous walking streets, turning corners and coming upon beautiful parks, buildings, and squares, and arrive at the Dom ter and Barbakan ter. This is where the giant Bishop’s Palace and St. Peter and Paul Basilica are, with gorgeous parks, museums, artwork, and festivals. Just like any wine festival in the US, there are stands all around with fresh made food and drinks. I ask the Hungarian student living with us what she recommended as my first meal in Hungary, and she explains that the pork sausage is really good. As I was too nervous to order it myself (mainly because I couldn’t pronounce it in Hungarian), she took care of it and explained to me how to do it for myself (like what to say, what they might ask, etc.). I get some wine, because I am at a wine festival in Pecs (which is in one of the main wine-making regions in Europe) and because I can, sit down with my meal at a table in the park with everyone else, and dig in. The sausage was really good, kinda spicy (probably from the paprika), but was excellent.

A couple other Hungarian students that participated in the program before met up with us and we had a good time relaxing, getting to know each other, hearing stories. We decide to head back to the apartments before going out again, because some people wanted to take showers, naps, etc.

Laura, Vicki (the Hungarian student living with us), and I decide to head back out to walk around/explore because we were getting tired sitting around talking and wanted to move around. We walk down more walking streets to Kossuth ter were the giant Synagogue is and a giant big screen TV showing the World Cup (we are only a one hour time difference with South Africa apparently) to a ton of people. We make our way into the Pecs mall looking for ice cream, but everything is pretty much closed down at 5/6:00 pm, so we just go to the supermarket on the ground floor and buy some candy and fruit for our breakfast in the mornings. Most stores close around 5/6, but the restaurants, cafes, and bars are buzzing all hours of the night and everyone is walking around.

We make our way back to the apartments, passing by ruins of ancient Turkish baths, more gorgeous churches, and beautiful alleyways. We get back, check a couple things on the internet, then pass out. We ran into everyone going back up to the wine festival, but we just did not feel like going out since we had not slept and were supposed to begin work the next morning at 9 am.

I of course fell asleep around 11 pm, wake up at midnight as everyone else came back, and have not been able to fall asleep since then. I am tired and might take a nap later, but decided to write this as the sun is rising at 4:30 am (yes, that early over here) and I see a couple other Simonyi students walking around outside my window who also can’t sleep.

Today, we are going to the University to get a tour, learn our schedules, meet everyone, etc. at 9 am, then we have our opening ceremony at 5:30 which will be wonderful.

Overall, I LOVE PECS!!! The city reminds me of a European version of Charlotte, with gorgeous artwork perfectly integrated into the structure of the city, the cleanliness, safety, and overall outdoor atmosphere. There is incredible history here and the people at first impression are just as friendly and personable as ever, even though they automatically start speaking to us in Hungarian and then look disappointed to have to speak in English. I will just have to try to learn as much Hungarian as possible, which is the most gorgeous language I have ever heard, hands down.

Ok, off to get ready and experience a second day!