Pestilog

tee hee

Everyone loves a good Screen Shot of a chicken standing in for the state police.

posted by Veruka2 @ 4:53 PM 0 comments

The Szimple Life

So, a few interesting things happened this weekend. The good news is, I was cultured and educated. The bad news is, it was by one of these guys:

3 guesses which one. Say hello to my department, y'all.

So anyway, last friday, I went with Asa to Rosh Hoshanah services at the main synagogue in Budapest. This place is beyond description. It is absolutely gorgeous both inside and out, and is allegedly the largest synagogue in Europe. We didn't stay too long, as Asa was weirded out by the use of an organ and hymn-like singing. He said that he felt like he was in mass. Not that I was bothered. But anyway, off we went for more adventures.

A bunch of use went to this huge outdoor bar on Thursday called Szimpla, which is about 1 km from Jokai Ter where we live. It is on Kazinczky Utca (thats Hungarian for "road", in case you didn't put that together on your own), and they have marked the significance of this address by putting this on the back of the door to the men's room:

He he. Excellent. This place is in the courtyard of an old soviet factory block, as are most of the awesome places in this city (speaking of which, look for a posting on Tuzrakter soon, which may just be my reason to live for the next 10 months). On this night, an old documentary on animals in the Budapest zoo--they have raccoons in the zoo, y'all--and were playing some excellent house music. 1L of Dreher Bak, which is like Hungarian Guiness, is 400, HUF. Thats less than $2. You can also buy silk tank tops and a new cell phone at the bar. Hungary really is into the all-inclusive set up. I love it.




Oh yea, formal introductions. Guys, meet my flatmates. Thats Stephen, me, Wyatt, and Marko. Our house is called "The Szinpad." The name actually makes sense if you know that our frontdoor is under a huge neon sign that reads "Kolibri Szinhaz". I ain't gonna tell ya. You gotta look it up. Our door buzzer is labeled "You just lost the game." We think that we rule.

Also, this is Sanida, who went to Hockaday. She's been living in Bulgaria for the last 5 years though, and doesn't really identify as American anymore, though I often remind her that I know where her parents live. She taught me the Bulgarian way to drink Turkish coffee and read the grounds when I was done. She's pretty rad.

Labels: photos

posted by Veruka2 @ 9:55 AM 0 comments

Swagger

Though its a little late in coming, I wanted to indicate for the record that International Talk Like A Pirate day was duly observed in our house.






And How.

posted by Veruka2 @ 9:51 AM 0 comments

And Now for Something Completely Different

So, I hate to distract attentions from the very exciting uprising that has been causing tear gas containers to collect at the front door to my apartment (location location location!), but I havn't really taken the time to mention the fact that this city is absolutely gorgeous and that we have all been enjoying the hell out of our selves.

I have been meaning to blog about this past weekend for days now. SO much happened: group trips to statue park. House portraiture with busts of Lenin, erasmus parties, drunken Portugese women, and also a trip to Margarite Island on Sunday. This place is SO beautiful. The entire island is a big park. There are pools and baths and fountains and triathelons and swingsets and gelato. What more could one ask for? Except maybe some horsies? Everyone loves horsies.

We spent most of the afternoon on the island, just walking around, turning cartwheels, eating gelato, poking bugs with sticks. This is also where the famous "Croatian ice cream" incident occured. Marko got all excited that there was a cart selling Croatian brands of pop-cicles and ice-cream bars, but got all pissy when none of us bought any. Have I mentioned that he shaved off that beard yesterday? But he left the moustache, leaving himself with an uncanny resemblance to Ron Jeremy. He started walking around the house in his underwear to mark the occasion. Scary.

Dusa took a bunch of pictures while we were there. This one is definatly my favorite:

Labels: photos

posted by Veruka2 @ 12:51 PM 0 comments

The New Night Life

A few from within:



And without:



After these first incidents infront of Magyar Televisio (MTV--Hungarian State Television) Pestiside.hu has not been able to stop pointing out the frat-boy/picture-phone demeanor of many of those present at these demonstrations. They have been calling this The Tracksuit Revolution.

I think they're onto something.

Another interesting note: The only channel in Hungary that was not covering the violent scene outside of the MTV building was MTV itself. While rioters were tearing down the front door and setting fire to their building, they were airing cartoons.

posted by Veruka2 @ 12:58 PM 0 comments

Magyar Vagyok Nem MSZP

I WILL BE POSTING PICTURES IN THIS ENTRY SOMETIME TODAY. GIVE ME MOMENT, MMM?

We walked down to parliament this afternoon. People are still gathering in front of the building, and Freedom Square has been held closed by the riot police since it was cleared out last night. It is pouring outside. Artyom mentioned that this is very bad weather for a revolution, but the people wespoke to all indicated that no weather would be enough to keep them from being present in the streets at this moment.

I spoke to one woman who was a secondary school teacher. She translated several of the signs and banners for us. She read the inscription "We are burying the Gyorcsani goverment! From here you will never come back!" from a large coffin that is on display in Kossuth Ter. Everyone wants the entire government to step down, not just the prime minister. She told us that Gyorcsani removed everyone in a ministry position when he was was elected last April, even though they were all of the communist persuasion. This woman said, "He brought all of his buddies into the government with him. On paper, we are ruled by communists. In reality, they are all billionaires."

A BBC reporter overheard this woman telling us about the political issues, and tried to interview her. He asked her what she thought was the thing that Hungarians are the MOST angry about. She immediately got very upset with him. "What are we angry about? This government is sucking the last drops of blood out of this country! You are from the BBC! You know exactly what is going on here." He then asked her if he could bring a camera over to conduct a proper interview. She faunched and said, "No, I am a teacher. I will lose my job tomorrow!" "Will that really happen?" asked Mr. BBC. She looked at him with a sneer and said "Don't be so ridiculous."

We were discussing all these new developments in one of my sociology classes this morning. Agi mentioned that taxes in Hungary are outrageous, and that near 50% of one's income goes straight to the government. Apparently, this prime minister made lots of promises about LOWERING taxes before he was elected to office. And he doesnt just mean "Read my lips: no new taxes." He means actually taking this massive burden off of business in Hungary. Apparently CEU has been in dire straights financially ever since they moved to Hungary, because they actually report wages and pay their faculty and staff honestly. This means that for every dollar that they actually put in the hands of their teachers as salary, there are nearly two more dollars that they must pay out in taxes and fees to the various loyal governments and regulatory bodies.

My professor is of the opinon that Gyorcsani will be forced to resign by the end of the day. I guess time will tell. And tell quickly.

posted by Veruka2 @ 3:51 PM 0 comments

The Roof Is On Fire

From Portfolio.hu:

Protesters have launched an assault on the building of Hungary's national television on Monday night, setting cars on fire and engaging in fight with the police. By 1 AM the building was reported to be on fire, presumably from a car that has been set ablaze earlier.

Catch the whole article here. As well as another excellent description of the incidents from HVG.hu, posted here.

This was a crazy thing to see on the TV last night. For starters, there were 2 different crowds in Freedom Square yesterday. The ones who were throwing stones and chunks of park benches at the worlds most ineffectual riot cops, and the ones who were standing just a few meters back, standing in awe, drinking beer and taking pictures of the whole thing on their cellphones. Teddy texted Stephen to let him know what was happening, to tell us to turn on the TV. He was sitting on his porch watching the whole thing go down. He said it was like watching a football game...Maybe Romanian football is underesteemed by its reputation. Who knows. Funny thing about the riot cops, too: the people who were most amused by their inability to even hold ground against the protesters were the students from either the Pacific NorthWest, or from Serbia. We were like, "If this crap went down in our cities, people would be on the F'ing ground!"

Either way, the big talk of the town is now these Warriors of Democracy (man, am I ahead of the curve or what!?) and their [probably empty] threats to burn the city to the ground. I think most people just find it hilarious that someone would propose such measures in order to get a point across.

Burning BP down to the ground? Never. People wouldn't stand for it. I mean, there are really good doner bufe's here! But its apparently open season on foreign cars, especially when they are parked in front of the castles of the media, and the man is inside, broadcasting while the front door of the building gets ripped down by an angry mob.

Now, it is also looking like the opposition party is set to boycott parliament in protest of the current government's "truthiness." This just keeps getting better and better.

posted by Veruka2 @ 9:28 AM 0 comments

Retractions, Ice Cream, and Other Matters of House Politics. And Don't Forget the Rioting.

This is Marko--
This is the dude I caught wearing the Yo La Tengo shirt on the first day of class. He wants me to let the world know that he is Croatian, not a hipster from Jersey. He also won't let us come and visit him in Zagreb cause we were all hating on Croatian ice cream.

By the way, there is rioting in front of parliament right at this very moment. Shit is on fire. Folks are throwing bits of wood at riot cops. Word on the street is that the government lies. A whole lot. When I know what's going on, y'all will be the first to know.

Labels: photos

posted by Veruka2 @ 12:15 AM 0 comments

Is this anything like being a Christian Soldier?

From Pestiside.hu
Follow this post's link to go to the main article.


September 15, 2006

Hungarian Voters Open New Dialogue with Government

In other somewhat serious news, Hungary's newsmedia are buzzing with reports of increasing political tensions between the government and certain segments of the population. The juicer of the reports involves a taped message sent by something calling itself the Warriors of Democracy Organization (we haven't yet found a website, but it is apparently based somewhere in the suburbs of BP) vowing to turn the Hungarian capital into a smoking hole unless the government steps down:

"We shall no longer tolerate the lying, and unless the cabinet resigns, the Warriors of Democracy organization will set fire to Budapest."

So let's not hear any more of this griping about the apathy of the Hungarian electorate! Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is getting his big white cotton undies all balled up over what he thinks is dangerous rabble-rousing by opposition leader Viktor Orbán. "Anyone who says that the government is illegitimate is also saying that any act against the government is legitimate," Gyurcsány said.

Unfortunately, Gyurcsány's insistence that Orbán's suggestions that the government is illegitimate are illegitimate has only served to stoke the rage of the government's opponents, who now plan no fewer than seven large public demonstrations in Budapest over the next six weeks - assuming that Budapest is still standing.

posted by Veruka2 @ 10:35 AM 0 comments

Hello, House.

Labels: photos

posted by Veruka2 @ 2:35 AM 1 comments

Phat Flat, &tc.

Look! I live here! There was totally a picture of my building on the internet. crazy. We're in that top window on the left. For serious. Come throw stones in the middle of the night. Play me Peter Gabriel from the ground. It would be totally hot.

Monday, I get to move into my new flat. I am splitting the place with three guys from my program. Two of thema re also Americans, but that is more by coincidence than anything: Wyatt from Lincoln, Stephen from Ohio, and Marko from Zagreb, Croatia. Of course, now that I said that, I have guaranteed that he will read this and tell me that I spelled it wrong. oi.

Anyway, the place is fantastic. It is right off of Jókai Tér, in the 6th district, Terézváros neighborhood. And I mean RIGHT off the square. Our front door opens up to this:


Yea, right? Totally awesome. It really is in the prime spot of the whole city. The flat is really big, with a huge kitchen and big big big bright living room that just begs to be filled with people. The three guys took the bigger bedrooms, and I will be crashing in a small half room/office, which is fine, becuse that means I pay less rent.

Today was also a totally eventful day in many other ways.

• I saw another flat this morning that had a climbing wall inside of it. For real, the main bedroom had 10 foot ceilings, and the person before had installed a full bouldring area and a climbing rope on two walls of the bedroom. Amazing.
  
• I signed up to play soccer with some Europeans who will probably kick my ass.
  
• I ended up at a party at a flat belonging to Kristina and Ciprian from Romania. There were dozens of people there, and he managed to gather the whole crowd in the lobby of hte university and drag all of us by train across the city to his flat at 4 in the afternoon for wine. LOTS of wine.
  
• I made best friends with a Russian named Alex when we discovered that we both know all the words to Gogol Bordello songs.
  
• I met a girl named Nina, also from Russia, who asked me how it is that George Bush is president, yet she has not been able to meet a single american who doesn't hate him. She also told me that there was an american clothing company that was very popular in France. This company had both french and english on their tags, and in English, it always stated the brand and the brand's slogan, but after the Bush-Gore elections, the French part changed from a simple translation of the English part to: "We're sorry that our president is a jerk. We didn't vote for him."
• Marko has talked our entire house into starting an online magazine, whos only defining characteristics are that it is both "underground" and "subversive." So far, the working title is Disantidisestablishmentarianism. I think we might be serious about this project.
• Stephen is totally sold on Urban Golf. We are going to start playing as soon as we can get golf clubs. Dimir from Bulgaria, Jeff from California, and Teddy from I-forget-which-eastern-block-country are totally in on this plan.
  
• I saw Teddy's new flat, and discovered that he has a baby-grand piano is his bedroom. A BABY GRAND PIANO IN HIS BEDROOM! I told him that I am inviting myself over all the time. He seemed pretty ok with this.
  
• I learned that Jeff from California and Michel and David from Georgia (not Atlanta) are living across the square from us. Jeff and I want to get walkie talkies.
  
• I met Sinadi, who went to Hockaday school in Dallas. This was the rival school of my highschool in Dallas. Even though she has been living in Bulgaria the past few years, her parents live on Coit and LBJ, around the corner from where I was staying just a few weeks ago. She also claims to be good friends with Riqui's little sister. Small world.
  
• I received 2 text messages from CEU students telling me that they had just lost the game. (mwa ha ha ha ha ha!)
• I took the train back to the hotel and had a 3 hour dinner (prolonged by excellent conversation) with Asa, the most progressive Israeli I have ever met. He is a liberal, vegan sociologist who has done time in an Israelu military prison for refusing to fulfill his compulsory military service in an occupied territory. This guy may just be my new favorite person ever. We only got a little bit lost coming back from Cip's apartment.
  
• I tried Hungarian vodka. Screw that noise.
• I tried Hungarian wine. Screw that noise.
• I tried Hungarian falafel. Yum.
  
• I almost fell asleep in the lobby of the hotel writing this blog.

I really meant to go out and meet the guys. Teddy and Stephen were on my case to go to an party thrown by the Germans (ze Germans can party, apparently), but I ended up talking with Asa from Jerusalem and Laura from New York until the restaurant shut down and the trains stopped running. Ah well. I'm totally exhausted anyway. I have felt pretty fine all day. No, I have actually felt fucking fantastic all day, but I keep catching glimpses of myself in windows or whatever and getting totally startled, saying "Man, I look exhausted!" I have been bouncing off the walls all day, but I can't remember the last time I had circles under my eyes like this.

Bed for me.

posted by Veruka2 @ 3:46 PM 2 comments

Below the Belt

So here's a funny thing. I know that Europe is supposed to be this very fashion forward place, with lots of trendy things going on and being worn all the time. Most of the homeless guys in Deák Ferenc Tér have nicer sneakers than I do, for example, and have them in daring colors, like neon yellow.

I am also seeing a lot of fanny packs around Budapest, which I could not be more thrilled about. I have always thought that fanny packs were a highly under-utilized and under-represented accessory in the fashion world. And these Hungarians can totally rock the 1980's acid washed black denim prints like nobody's business.

But there is definatly some straying from the fold among the younger kids. They are picking up the pack, but have totally lost the sense of anatomical prescriptiveness in its name. I fully saw some guys wearing these things BELOW their butts on the train today. That's just not appropriate. Nor is it represent full acceptance of the laws of physics. Your butt is what keeps that thing from falling down. I just don't approve of this at all.

posted by Veruka2 @ 7:05 PM 0 comments

Yo La Tengo and the Genious of Toilets

It's absolutely beautiful here. I love it. I am never coming home.

That being said, it's really shocking to me how many Americans are at this school. There's even a dude from Salt Lake--who isn't Dave. Go figger. Also, I always knew that this was the case, but it is still heartwrenching for me how painfully easy it is to spot the Americans in the crowd. We are usually pegged on one of a few characteristics:

• No matter what volume you are speaking at, it is ALWAYS louder than is appropriate (This is a particularly pronounced characteristic if you are from California, I have found)
• You are wearing white socks with pants that arent quite long enough.
• You are wearing a Yo La Tengo t-shirt. (dead give-away)

I think that if you can manage to avoid these things and get yourself a trendy pair of shoes, you stand more than a snowball's chance in hell of blending.

Also, I still have as hard a time as I ever have with accents. Its not that I can't understand them. Rather, I can't help but pick them up. Anyone else remember me speaking with a Romanian accent when I was drinking with Cosmina? Lord, I do. The girl I am currently rooming with, Eva, speaks English brilliantly, and has this soft, jovial tone and a very distinctively british accent when she speaks. We have been hanging out for most of the afternoon, and now, I find myself using words like 'brilliantly' and 'proper', which I never use when left to my own devices. Even my inner monologue sounds a bit like Emma Thompson. I am hopeless.

I have to say a few things about the bathrooms as well. Toilet paper in Hungary is not designed for the faint of heart. It's not too unlike strips of paper grocery bags wrapped around a dowel. Oh, Hungarian toilet paper, hou you have offended my delicate...um...sensibilities! Also, the flushing mechanism is way different than in America, and it makes much more sense. Its like the metric system to our uber-crappy imperial system. You hit a button to flush, like normal, and the flow of water is really strong, but the you hit another button to shut off the flush. You can flush for 5 seconds, you can flush for half a second. Its like a toilet with automatic transmission. Tired of using a full tank when all you needed to do was return your goldfish to the earth? Does flushing multiple times after using too much paper fill you with malaise? Then these toilets were made for you, my friend. Look no further. All you deepest bathroom desires will be fulfilled here in Budapest.

Finally, I am starting my apartment hunt today. It seems that everything in my price range on the Pest side is at least 6km from my school (I would like to be a little closer) and everything on the Buda side with in my price range is up a big hill (problem for the bike). I'm starting to write e-mails today, so, well see how it goes. This is going to be just like the job bank at Reed. 500 kids all trying to get the same flat on the same day. $5 says this turns out to be a nightmare. Or 1.097, HUF. Either way.

posted by Veruka2 @ 2:16 PM 1 comments

Now, I will never get that milkshake. Daaang.

I missed the entire flight to Frankfurt. I was on it, but no where close to conscious for a moment of it. The guy next to me was talking very enthusiastically about how wonderful all the ambien he had chowed down before getting on the plane was (which would explain some of the absolutely ridiculous conversations he tried to have with several of the stewards, which he seems not to remember). I, however, have found the best way to ensure that you sleep for 10 hours straight on an airplane--stay up all through the night before.

After casually packing in the morning, I was so beyond destroyed and cranky. I fully fell asleep in the waiting area of the airport, only waking up as they began bording. This really pissed me off, as I had very real inentions of subjecting myself to a rocky road milkshake from the Ben and Jerry's that was just a ways down from my gate. Andrew Riedmueller called just after I went through security. The milkshake was his idea. He is a little bit of a genious. But, thanks to some British crackers who made practical use of highschool chem, I cant take my edible goods of medium to low viscocity on the plane with me, so that option was totally out. I still really want a danged milkshake. I am not a happy camper.

Instead, I returned Kasia's call and mumbled incoherently into the phone at her and Ligaya while poking myself in the eye to try to stay awake long enough to make it to the tarmak. It worked. Kinda.

So, the overseas flight was a blur. I had all of 30 minutes to get from one gate to the other in Germany. No water, no toilet, still no chocolate milkshake. I fell asleep again on the flight to Budapest, but fortunately, this totally proper fellow from Frankfurt hung onto a sandwhich for me, and I woke up to a clear sky below us with the beautiful Hungarian patchworked landscape spread out beneath, to a cheese sandwhich and a hot cup of coffee, and to the distinct feeling that this morning was going to be a pleasant one.

And now a bit about Hungarian radio. Or music at least. While we were waiting to be towed to the gate in Budapest, "The Boy From Impanema" was playing on the overhead. On the MiniBus to the dormatory, the radio played Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. Right now, the restaurant in the hotel is playing a CD of Tom Jones covers, including "Time Goes By." I have not yet decided is this is an mark of the most horrible or most completely awesome state of affairs. It's absolutely intriguing at the very least.

I am staying at the Hotel Seni Studium in Budapest for the next 2 weeks. This is sort of what it looks like. This picture is taken from a funny angle. I am splitting quarters with a girl named Eva from Slovenia. The room is so so so tiny. We were both really surprised when we walked in. Its smaller than the average single dorm room--maybe 8x10--with two single beds squished in there and barely a foot and a half between them. There is also a bathroom. There is a shower, but the entire bathroom is a shower. There is a drain in the floor, and a shower head over the sink. So, you just shut the door, avoid the sink, and go for it.

I was hoping that there would be some sort of organization or welcoming activities for the students, as I totally knew that I would get here and not know what to do with myself. As it is, there is nothing planned until 10am tomorrow morning, my roommate Eva has run off with her Slovenian boyfriend, and I have no idea what to do with myself. I think I may go on a mission for a local store, as I have nothing in the way of soap or towels, nor does the hotel seem much prepared to provide them, and I need a shower like I cant remember needing one in a long time.

Oh, and I do mean to register for those Jedi classes. International woman of mystery and Jedi mind powers. I love it. I need new business cards.

I just lost the game.

posted by Veruka2 @ 1:15 PM 0 comments

Adventure! Excitement! Magyar!

Is anyone actually looking through that Pestiside.hu blog? Cause you really should be.

"Jedi Courses Offered in a Hungarian-speaking Galaxy Near You"

posted by Veruka2 @ 6:17 PM 0 comments

Xavier is still not dead. For serious.

Points of note:

• Xavi is still alive. And Teaching the 7th grade. Strange.
• Katie Banks totally just found me on myspace.
• Stella is playing at Emo's on Friday and I cant go cause I have to be at the DFW airport early the next morning. I am so upset with this, I can't even tell you.
• The 1st National Bank of Mom and Dad have phenomenal interest rates and loan packages.
• Justin Ripkin is so rad. He will let me drag him just about anywhere. And how.
• Sleep? What is that, I forgot.
• My bike is complete. I am thrilled. As soon as I get a functioning camera (stupid beerfest. stupid glass of porter. stuped me) I will be posting pictures on the bike blog, which, sadly, I havn't touched in months. Need to fix that.
• I get to have lunch with my neices at their elementary school tomorrow. I get to be the most important person in the whole universe for like 45 minutes. It's gonna be so grand.
• I seem to have made a new best friend in, like, the last 4 days. She totally tolerates Justin and I beating the crap out of each other in her living room and geeks out about bike frames and breaking systems as much as I do. Neat girl.
• I spent the weekend on Padre Island. My skin is ALMOST the right color again. I am starting to look like the old me, who is very, very brown.
• Carolyn took me to Studio One Ten last week, and I got the most expensive haircut I have ever had in my life. It looks rad.
• I still have to pack. Shit.

posted by Veruka2 @ 5:05 AM 0 comments

Prologue to the Pestilog

Right now, I am in Dallas TX with my family. This Saturday, I am leaving for Budapest, where I will be for the next 10 months earning my masters at Central European University. I will be updating this blog so that I can do a better job of keeping up with folks in the US than I usually do.

Hooray for new blog.
Yay for all the self-involved indulgences of the internets.

posted by Veruka2 @ 1:00 AM 1 comments