Crazy Europe Stories

You would think that some crazy things would have happened to me here in Hungary so far. When you don't speak the local language seemingly harmless events can easily turn in to fiascos- for example, you go into a store asking for lip gloss and they think you want diapers. Hand signals get involved and soon everyone is rolling on the floor laughing, having long given up on the lip gloss. When I was in Bolivia there were plenty of "crazy Bolivia stories," like when another Rotary Youth Exchange student and I got on the right bus to go home... but went in the wrong direction, and ended up at the foot of the mountain in this dirt parking lot and had no clue where we were or where we needed to go to get the heeeeeeeeeeeck out of there. Or there was the time some little kids tried to rob me in the market and when I felt a little hand in my pocket I spun around, ripping the pocket nearly completely off the pants, but money, cell phone, etc. still in tact. Or the time we got Chinese food in La Paz and found fingernails and other such "specimens" in the food. I could go on and on.

Here in Hungary, however, things are surprisingly tame. It's definitely Europe- toilets and sinks are in separate rooms and because apartments are small, sometimes the refrigerator is in the hallway instead of in the kitchen- but it does not feel as foreign to me as Bolivia did. Many of my "crazy Bolivia stories" were a result of sticking out like a sore thumb, a problem luckily I don't have here in Budapest. In fact, I am mistaken ALL THE TIME for a Hungarian. People stop and ask me directions on the street, and when I am with other Americans the Hungarians have turned to me (thinking I was Hungarian) to serve as the intermediary/interpreter. It's quite funny, actually.

My host parents have hosted ten foreign students over the years and have mastered the use of hand signals and getting messages across in Hungarian to people who don't speak Hungarian. They have great senses of humor and often make jokes- for example, suggesting I pour vodka down my throat when I was sick or calling chocolates "medicine" for this illness of another. We were filling out forms today which required full names, so we were talking about our middle names. My host mom's middle name is Magdalena or something like that, which my host dad translated as MacDonald. So when I had to guess what his middle name was, I said Burger King. I thought he was going to fall out of his chair he was laughing so hard. The moment was made that much more funny when my host mom was sitting there saying, "I don't get it, I don't get it" and we had to explain it to her... and then we all laughed again when she finally got it and almost fell out of her own chair. Good times.

In other news, another Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and I have been invited to attend an all-Europe Rotaract conference next weekend in Slovenia. We will be traveling with 3 Hungarians from one of the Budapest Rotaract clubs. The conference includes tours of the local area and discussions on Europe-wide Rotaract activities and events. We are excited because approximately one hundred and twenty Rotaracters from all over Europe are expected to attend.

On Monday I am meeting with the four other Ambassadorial Scholars from the U.S. who are also attending the Central European University. We will have our first official "Ambassadorial Scholars" meeting to discuss the possibility of a joint service project. Some ideas on the table are to collaborate with the Budapest City Rotaract Club on a area clean-up day or a project to sponsor Roma (gypsy) children to attend institutes of higher education. Roughly 10-15% of the Hungarian population is Roma and they are heavily discriminated against. The Budapest City Rotaract Club has already received a sizeable grant to undertake one aspect of the project and the club will be developing proposals to seek matching grants and additional funding.

That's it from here. I've included in this post a few pictures of my host cousins from last weekend, as well as a picture of a little park by Margaret Bridge. In the background you can see the Parliment. We have having lovely indian summer-like weather and it's been clear and beautiful this whole past week.

Hope to hear from you soon!