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!