Ashleigh and I tried to make the best of it today. It was not ‘too’ cold but the recent snow in combination with the rain of the day made for a VERY icy trip to the hills.

It’s hard to believe, but this is actually the same place as in the picture below. The difference is amazing, isn’t it?? Please ignore me with my eyes closed.

It actually was not miserable though. We did make the best of it. We even invented our own sport: the human luge.

We were pretty ice-soaked through so we eventually made it to a really nice little etterem and there we got some warmth and a very nice mushroom soup. Yum. Ahhhh winter.

For those of you who are not familiar with Flat Stanley, here is the scoop: one day, I received a letter in the mail. Inside the envelop, there was a note:

Dear Jessie,
I am in the second grade at Delaware Trail Elementary School. This week we read a story called Flat Stanley. This story is about a little boy who becomes flat because he is smashed by a bulletin board. His parents are able to mail him in an envelope to visit his friend in California because he is flat. He also discovers many things he can now do because he is flat. Everyone in my class is sending their own Flat Stanley to someone and I chose you. I would really appreciate it, if you would mail my Flat Stanley back to school using the address on the back of the page. if you would like you can include a note and or pictures of what Stanley did when he was with you. My class will love hearing about his adventures. My class and I are ging to use a map to locate where each Stanley went and figure out how far each one traveled. We hope they all make it back to our classroom safely.

Thanks for your help,
Marcus

Stanley is such a cool travel buddy I thought that I would take him with me to my trip to Poland last weekend! We left Hungary on a Thursday afternoon and flew into Krakow, Poland.

Poland and Hungary are both former communist countries so I was expecting them to be similar. To my surpise, they were actually quite different! Both are very beautiful cities but in much different ways. Krakow is more of a pedestrian city and just more people in the streets. Check out these beautiful buildings that Stanley got to check out!

We didn’t spend all of our time in the big city. We also got to visit the country side. Stanley’s favorites were all the animals he got to see. Wool is one of the textiles that Poland is famous for. Stanley got to see some of the sheep that produce this wool!

Even though we were on top of a mountain checking out the sheep, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere - would you guess it: THEY HAVE INTERNET!! haha - we can’t get away from the wonderful, world wide web!

We finished out trip back in the ski resort village of Zakopane. What a beautiful place! I think Stanley enjoyed the fresh air of the mountains.

Thanks for the visit, Stanley!! I know it hurt a bit… but I really think this ‘getting smashed by a bullentin board’ was a good thing for you!

See you…. next time!

Here is what my schedule looks like for the next few months:

Istanbul, Turkey: Oct 5-7
Krakow, Poland: Oct 11-15
Dublin, Ireland: Oct 19-24
London, England: Oct 24-28

Curitiba, Brazil: Nov 3-10

Curitiba, Brazil: Dec 3-15
Indiana, USA: Dec ? - Jan 5

Fairfax, VA, USA: Jan ? - Jan ? (two weeks)

And now you have all the knowledge that I do on where I am going to be up to February. Funny thing is… that is really all I know. I could be moving back to the States in February. Or, I could be here in BP. Or… I could be sent somewhere else in the world. I have no idea at this moment. At least I won’t have much time to ponder it in the next few months.

So, I wanted to take a moment and introduce you to the newest round of friends so that when I talk about them you know who in the world I am talking about.

Carol - my current flatmate! I’ve known Carol the longest… we met last year while Hungarian dancing. She is from Allentown (whoop, whoop) PA and is a English teacher here.

Zoli - I met Zoli through Ana who you’ll meet later. Zoli has a Hungarian father and a Mexican mother. But he was born and raised in Canada. Go figure that one out. Zoli’s a cool dude - he is here starting up a Project Management training company (is that right, Zoli?). He maintains the group think concept within the group at the moment…. “We feel…. ”

Sarah - ohhh Canada, oh Canada!! Sarah is the hippest chic I know and my partner in working out. She’s the best workout buddy…. ALWAYS up for a run, a swim or some yoga. Love the energy in this girl. Love her socks too.

Ana - when you grow up in Spain (Spanish father, American mother) and attend university at ASU, you’re likely to be a little cookey. Ana is one smart chica who’s been a big encouragement to me in my adventures in swimming. Also an excellent partner in crime to lots of fun events like Sziget Festival, Bratislava and soon Istanbul and Crack-cow. Crack-cow is in Poland for those of you who don’t know. Please keep in mind I can’t spell. heehee

Wagaye - yep, rhymes with ‘papaya’. This chic is from San Fran area but is WAY cooler than you’d think someone from San Fran would be. She’s a work-a-holic just like someone else we all know (hmmmm….) and also always up for, well, whatever. Like this one AND she should have a little more longevity than some of the others.

Rita - Rita, Rita, Rita!! This is my first (and only really) Hungarian friend!! We had quite a unique meeting - we got stuck in Milan because we were on a flight back to Budapest when a HORRIBLE airline called Alitalia cancelled our flight. The experience ended up as NOT horrible only because I had the chance to meet Rita. She is really a dear friend and it’s just funny how God cross’s paths sometimes. You just never do know!!

Carmelita - Now, Carmelita thinks this is a horrible picture but I think she’s got horrible vision so I’m posting it anyway. Carmelita used to be my friend Cori’s (you all remember Cori) flatmmate. Carmelita has stepped into Cori’s place a bit in being a ear to lend and just an all around interesting lady. Love her!! All this, not-to-mention that she is from the UK and has allowed my appreciaton for the Brittish language… my British immitation has improved ten fold!!! heehee

Paulo - this is really a horrible picture of Paulo. It looks like we should call him Igor instead. Or Frankenstein? Would that be appropriate? He does NOT look like this in real life! Paulo works with me at XOM and just arrived here 2 months ago. He is Brazilian but has some Hungarian roots. Paulo has taught me that the Brazilian stereotype of them being a bit slow is TRUE. This guy walks slower than any human being I know. My niece Emma is probably faster than he is.

Ashleigh - Ashleigh is my new partner in crime and adventure. She arrived also 2 months ago and is working for XOM in a similar position to mine. It’s been awesome to have another youngster on the team and it has been great, personally to have her around. She lives right across the street from me and is NOT normally cross-eyed. I think.

Sabrina - this is some weirdo we picked up on the street. Yep, little strange. haha No, no, actually Sabrina works for XOM as well but is just here for 5 weeks. This girl likes to travel though and has played a big role in encouraging the nutz-o schedule I have coming up. Really nice girl. I hope to see her around again….

That’s all I’ve got for now. Hopefully that gives you some idea of who in the world these people are that I am always talking about!!

***The sur names have been left off for security purposes and to protect the identify of the innocent***

***Info: all pictures come curtiousy of Sushi with Jessie except for those who took a horrible shot that I felt no need for public posting. ***

My Sushi Birthday

Here is an except from the article:

“Today is the one year anniversary of the leaking of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány’s not-so-secret lies speech, also known as the elkúrtuk speech, which is really the speech that launched a thousand nutters. A protest march is planned for this evening, which will culminate where else but at Kossuth tér. After scaring away the handballers, the protesters have permission to stay until 11 at night, at which point if they don’t, something interesting might happen. Otherwise, it’ll be the usual chants of “Gyurcsány you suck!” followed by the prime minister announcing “the fascists are coming, the fascists are coming!” If something does actually happen, we’ll keep you posted. Otherwise, well, yeah…”

So I live two blocks from Kossuth tér, and I can validate that nothing too interesting happened last night. Just lots of people flags, and of course, the beer cart. I just still don’t get why they are selling beer at a protest. Seems like the authorities should have some problem with that. This is the thing about cultural differences: I’ll never understand some things. I just take note, and move on….

More to come soon!!

We rented a car and hit the road. This is exceptionally fun for me because it is an opportunity to drive a stick (if you’ll remember I just learned to do this last summer on Christie and my European road trip). I can now officially that I am capable. Of course, you can ask Carol for her opinion but please keep in mind that I am not a ‘good’ driver in the base case.

Back to the trip: so on Friday morning, we got in the car and DROVE! I’m not sure why I always have my mouth open in pictures… I think it has something to do with my cheerleading days….

We stopped for a quick lunch at a petrol station (gas stations for you Americans) in Slovenia. The beauty to come was already apparent.

I had a not so healthy lunch.

The sandwich was a prosciutto sandwich which is an Italian favorite and many people really like prosciutto. But honestly, it’s just flat meat with lots of fat. I don’t get it. I keep trying it but you know, I just do not like it. I ended up spitting out lots of little balls of fat because I just can’t swallow that. Who knows how long it will take to digest in there!!

So by my internet directions our drive was supposed to take 6 hours. It took us 9. I can’t honestly tell you why it took us so much longer. Ok, we didn’t follow the directions exactly and Slovenia does not have really what we would call Interstate Highways so that maybe slowed us down. Anyway it was a lovely drive and when we arrived at dusk the lake at Bled was just BEAUTIFUL….

First thing we did was sit down on the edge and put our toes in.

The water was so clean and clear. So peaceful. No motor boats are allowed on the lake and the atmosphere is so serene and peaceful. We knew that were in for a great weekend!

So in the mornin’ we woke up and headed out to that little church on the island.

On our way out to the boat… that darn Carol had to peek her head into every shot!!

The stairs up to the church…

As the story goes… something about some princess who was trying to get a bell to the bell tower for her love who was lost in a battle. There was a storm as the princess tried to get it there and she died in the storm and the bell never made it. Some king then, in honour of this women finally got a bell into the tower. If you ring the bell and make a wish, supposedly…. it will come true. Let’s ask Carol if this worked out for her….

Did I mention that it was beautiful there? The view from the front of the church.

The water was really so clean and clear.

This is the gondola guy that took us out to the church. He has big muscles.

And one more time…. just beautiful!!

So later in the morning, we went on a hike in a gorge. I think perhaps the word ‘gorge’ is some dirivative of ‘gorgeous’? I think you’ll agree….

The place we stayed in was a guesthouse. This means cheap, clean and free breakfast. Was a really great place. They even dried our towels out on the line!

I can’t believe I’m posting this picture on the internet because it is soooo bad, but it is the only picture of us in our dorky wet suits. We went canyoning in the afternoon and you have to wear these retarded, but totally necessary get-ups. Cayoning is like jumping off cliffs into little pools of water, sliding down rock slides and repelling off of cliffs to rock pools below. Ohhhhh yeah… fun stuff!!

We wanted to do paragliding as well on Sunday, but unfortunately, the wind conditions were not right. So instead, we went up to the castle. More beautiful views….

The drive home was slightly better at just 7 hours. But we did get in another pleasant petrol stop!

And back home in Booty….

Cool, huh?

It had other cool stuff… fountains….

… Pointy steeples….

… cool statues of some famous children’s author….

…. some BEAUTIFUL old buildings …

… gorgeous views from the castle …

… and up to the castle…

…. some statues with… is that? …. no….

Luckily, we managed to find our way around the city. Sarah kept her head in the guidebook and Ana was the commander and chief.

Look at what this dynamic duo even found!

Do you realize what a rare find this is? I don’t honestly remember seeing even a McDonalds there in Slovakia, so I can’t imagine that it is so popular that this McD’s knock off would actually entice MORE people to come to it…. or maybe that is why it works here….

One thing we could not be guided correctly to unfortunately…. the train. We got to the train at the right time, unfortunately, it was not the right train.

So we got to spend another few hours in the lovely city of Bratislava with a dark, Slovakian beer. Was not so bad!

My favorite part of the conversation was when David said, “I no Skinhead. Not.” This sentence, to my knowledge, was absolutely out of the middle of nowhere. I have no idea why he said it or why they both acted like this was a completely normal thing to say! This kid had a really nice, full head of hair and did not seem in any way sort of a terrorist. So did he think that I thought he was a skinhead for some reason? Did he think I was a skinhead? haha - Not sure sure about that one.

And also during the course of the conversation, he asked me where I came from. I said Texas. And I’m sorry all you Hoosiers, but in this type of context this made sense for me to say. I’ll explain. The country of Hungary is the same size as the state of Indiana. If I took a poll and asked 50 Americans if they knew where Hungary was, I bet you that 15 or less would get it right. It’s not that American’s are stupid… because if that is true then Hungarians would also be stupid for not knowing where the state of Indiana is. The fact of the matter is, these two places are not big, and their International presence is just not that widespread. So such was in this converstaion. I said that I was from Texas and we pursued to talk about the film, Texas Chainsaw Masacre. Oh Texas, aren’t ya glad you are Internationally known for that one!? ha Then David asked me where my family was. I thought, “Uh-oh, here we go.” I repeated ‘Indiana’ 5 times until I realized he’d simply never heard of it. Then I tried with ‘Chicago.’ Nope. Never heard that one either. I tried to explain that Chicago was one of the biggest cities in the USA and then lead into a conversation of the translation of city, town and country. I couldn’t get David to understand the difference between any of them because he was not familiar with the term ‘State.’ So I just moved my family to Texas after 20 minutes. Sorry Ma!

So this turned out to be quite a good pedicure…. and I must say, some very stimulating conversation! I think I’ll go back!

It was then that she made the profound statement:

You see, though we’ve taken some Hungarian lessons, we simply cannot fully understand the babblings of the many homeless people in Budapest. It is a fine line that these homeless people balance between dangerous and harmless. We will likely (hopefully) never know. But, this means that we must choose. And you know, we choose harmless… ‘cause walking around think everyone’s dangerous is just no way to live.