Arrival

Early Morning.

Having arrived nearly ten hours ago, I have come to write this entry as I am unable to sleep, and only accompanied by the sounds of the garbage man outside. This nine hour time change is already taking a toll on our arrival, yet it has already given me the opportunity to see the street I live on, and a portion of the city of Budapest, at an hour not many see on a regular basis. Already, we have come to appreciate our new home.

Our trip was much smoother than Maryann or myself could have imagined. Everything went off perfectly, and as of now I am typing this entry in my kitchen, and in the future for all you readers back home. With limited views of the city thus far, we were able to get quickly acquainted with our surroundings on our taxi ride back from the airport. Interestingly enough, the architecture of socialist years is on the outskirts of the city, and most buildings are the exact same and are a clear reflection of the war torn Europe that we have all known of. However, once getting in towards the city, the architecture becomes alive and the beauty of the city takes shape (the presence of these old buildings most likely has to do with Hitler's appreciation for architecture). So as of now, we have gotten to our safe haven, and have seen just how different the language is. If we had not received helped, we would have surely been stranded. . .

Laci (pronounced Lot-zi) is my mentor. He is a 20 year old law student at Pazmany (my school), and speaks fluent English. He met us in the airport and was so excited to see us that he jumped up and exclaimed "USF? Eric? USF?!" From our short encounter he has already told us a great deal about the city, and kind of what to expect. Already, we can see our cultural differences: fortunately there is a washing machine in the bathroom, but when I told him that back in the States we have driers, he could not believe that in such a short time our clothes were ready to wear. Here, they use heating racks to dry everything.

So it is nearly six a.m. and our only food is pretzels, trail mix, and cliff bars. We are sure to go to the market tomorrow to get real food to stock our kitchen with. Nick is to arrive on Thursday in the afternoon from France. Once he is here, the experience will really begin to take shape. The picture posted is one of a street lamp from our balcony on the third floor. I found it quite fitting, as it was one of the only things I could get enough light for, but also because it looks so different from ours back home. Notice the signs on the above the doors. And just our luck, Maryann lives directly across the street! I must end this post for more pretzels and reading up on our new home. Viszontlatarsra.

Thanks for reading.