Am I European Yet??


I've been here for just over two weeks! I've probably been to the grocery store about fifty times, and I've forgotten my reusable bag about forty of those times. I have learned to talk slowly with my flatmates, and puzzle out the weird spellings and pronunciations made by my Hungarian professors. I found the printing shop, the post office and the passport photographer. I don't fumble for my metro pass on my way to school. A Hungarian mentor finally taught me how to pronounce my tram stop (Harminckettesek Tere). In a lot of ways I feel like I am starting to belong here.


And in a lot of ways I know I won't totally understand everything before I leave. Yesterday I was stuck in the grocery store trying to go out the way I came in, and it took me about an hour and a half to buy stamps. I haven't applied for residency yet but that's on the to do list for tomorrow! We need to take a bus quite a bit out of the way, and cross our fingers we grabbed all of the right paperwork. In the cafeteria I made awkward charades as I tried to figure out that a Hungarian student just wanted me to pass him a spoon.

The good news is that I have had a lot of time for sight seeing throughout the last two weeks, in between all of the trying-to-get-settled in. I have seen the Buda castle, Fisherman's Bation and St Steven's basilica. I would live to see the House of Terror next. It should give some more history about the recent communist rule in the country.

St. Steven's Basillica 

A holy relic at the church, St. Steven's actual hand!!

A statue on the palace grounds looks out into the fog

Matthias Church, across the square from the Fisherman's Bastion. 

The view of the Parliament from fisherman's bastion. 

The views around the city have been fantastic! Conversations with exchange students have been even better. I learned how to taste wine from a Frenchman, while he told me all about their upcoming presidential election.  I've also been able to notice a few habits of students as they study in class. Products of each of their education systems, albeit a little stereotypical. 

Wine tasting in Eger.


I have also just returned from a weekend trip to the Hungarian town of Eger. That's where we tasted the wine, toured the winery, baths and the quaint little city. 

This photograph was taken on top of the Eger minaret!


While in the town we climbed to the top of the Minaret, a tower that used to be a part of the mosque. The tower itself had 100 cramped steps up to a viewing platform that was barely wide enough for one person to stand on! 
The minaret.
Although I've made some concrete plans to travel, the classes are starting to pick up, and I already have plans to study on the bus back from Bratislava this weekend. I'll make sure to write a post about Slovakia, and the following weekend when I travel to Vienna, Austria! 

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