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.