home sweet home.

After a 23 long hours of commuting back to home sweet home, my life once again is turning upside dawn.  It always fascinates me who we meet along the way or who we bump into after years of separation. For the longest flight back from Budapest I sat next to a Hungarian man who studied English for the duration of the transatlantic flight before running into a childhood playmate in the JFK airport.  I’m continuously challenged and astonished by the people I meet along the way.  Although I may not have the facts to back up this next statement, I really believe that people are ultimately good.  Most people intend well as they figure out this game of life.  Speaking of this game of life, my life will probably not be keeping up the same excitement level to keep you engaged in reading my blog.  However, I have a little feeling that an entirely different type of excitement will be coming my way: real life adulthood.

grocery stores.

There is something about the smell of the fresh fruits and vegetables, the variety of pastries, and even the incomprehensible labels that make foreign grocery stores truly special. Throughout my travels I have made a point to walk into a grocery store in each location, even if nothing is purchased.  Labels that are beyond my comprehension allows me to explore the imagination, improvise if a wrong ingredient is purchased, and most importantly, it gives new perspective to the routine foods that we normally consume and purchase by stretching my taste buds. Grocery stores are truly a statement of culture.

As a side note to end on, if you ever have a chance to try a Kinder product called ‘Bueno,’ I highly recommend it. It’s found all over Europe and is by far my favorite!

party in the park.

“Fush!” “Run!” exclaimed Hungarians and Americans in unison.  Tonight, I helped to organize a “Party in the Park” for Hungarians.  It was a day filled with preparing, baking, and organizing for the event.  For 4 hours in Varosliget Park, cultures united together and language barriers were traversed to have an enjoyable evening learning new games such as Ninja tag and American Football. It was a great night for everyone involved!  Football concluded with smiling faces and a line up of handshakes all exclaiming “Szeb Zvolt,” or “Good Job.”  Several of the Hungarians stayed after the event to help clean up and even ended up taking the same bus home.  Just before getting off at my stop, I said “Hallo,” which is in fact rather confusing because it really means “Goodbye”, when one of the Hungarian girls surprised me with a traditional Hungarian goodbye of cheek kisses, called “Puszi” in Hungarian.

jó napot.

After a series of trips, it was nice to finally arrive in this beautiful city full of rich history where I will finally remain in one place, at least for three weeks.  For the past few months, I have been preparing for a service-learning internship in Budapest, Hungary and the first few days into it, I can tell it will be a stretching and rewarding experience.  Staying with an American family in the Pest side of the city is allowing for enriched lessons about the oppressed history that correlates to the current Hungarian culture.  In order to best be able to serve and apply public relations skills, we have taken the first few days to sightsee around the city to really grasp the city and fully absorb it’s richness and culture.

St. Mathias Church on Capital Hill

A view of the parliament building from across the Danube River

“Szikla Kórház” (Hospital in the Rock) is the former top-secret air raid proof hospital and nuclear shelter under the Buda Castle. It was intended to hold 200 patients but held more than 600 patients during WWII.

We had a somber visit to the Dohány Street Synagogue. It’s the second largest Synagogue in the world, the first is in New York.

This is behind the synagogue, it’s called the Raoul Wallenberg Memory Park. It’s the Memorial of the Hungarian Jewish Martyrs — at least 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered by the Nazis.  These metal leaves form a weeping willow tree that bear inscriptions with the names of victims.

This graveyard is the result of tragic historical events during World War II. In 1944, the Dohány Street Synagogue was part of the Jewish Ghetto for the city Jews and served as shelter for a lot of people. Over two thousand of those who died in the ghetto from hunger and cold during the winter 1944-1945 are buried in the courtyard of the synagogue.

Passing the historic and beautiful Hotel Astoria - Eichmann, who was in charge of the final solution of the jews, stayed here for two weeks.

sláinte.

After some quality time with good friends my mom and I had a few extra days to partake on some adventures of our own. We took a bus (maybe a few too many) down to Cork, Ireland where we spent time in the boutique town of Kinsale. In addition, we visited Cobh (formerly Queenstown), which was the last port of call for the Titanic and also visited the Blarney Castle where I supposedly gained the gift of eloquence after kissing the Blarney Stone :). Meeting many personable Irish people along the way, we were wished ‘Slainte,’ which is a Gaelic expression of Celtic bonhomie, a greeting variously meaning good health or welcome.  

This is a statue of Anne Moore who was the first immigrant to the United States to be processed at Ellis Island on January 1st, 1892.

The Lusitania Statue

I can’t get over the Irish doors! Love them!

Blarney Castle

Pure happiness after kissing the Blarney Stone

A view from the top of the Blarney Castle

Now, off to Budapest!