A little bit of Sweden here in Budapest

Back to civilization finally, yes you can all breath your huge sighs of relief for me, i have moved in to my new apartment! It's a nice little one overlooking a park and some of the Jewish district very near the Danube. My home also comes with people. I have two roommates--one is an American girl named Nicole, 27, who has been living around Eastern Europe for the past 6 or 7 years doing stuff like Peace Corps and other random volunteering. She is very down to earth and laid back. But you'd probably expect that considering she hasn't exactly been living on Lexington and 5th lately. I like her alot. My other roommate is a Polish guy named Wojtek (Vooy-tek), and NOT Veriteck like i initially called him for the first hour of our friendship :) He, plain and simple, is THE SHIT, and we will get along very well. He is 23 and has a beautiful Hungarian girlfriend. He is working as a telecommunicator making random phonecalls for General Electric to people all over Italy (I miss ROME!). I have yet to find out my new friends' future dreams and goals but I will be able to unlock their secrets soon as we have all formed immediate bonds. YAY! So now I can finally start breathing again because things haven't gone to hell like I thought they would, and I think that the three of us will have an unforgettable friendship.

Yesterday between classes I took a stroll through what they call Central Pest and district 1 on the Buda side. Such beautiful scenery..the Buda side is made up of hills and tunnels that run straight through them. The hills run down to the Danube and then stop once on the Pest side. I also noticed on my stroll, that along the river there are sets and sets of iron shoes placed along the bank on the Pest side. These I later learned, signify the Jews that were shot and killed and then thrown over the bank by Facists at the end of WWII. Pretty eerie even on a gorgeous September day.

My area is also a great place for biking (my new love introduced to me recently by a good friend), and a bike being something which I have been wanting to buy. Speaking of buying, I had my first experience with IKEA yesterday. EXCITING. Have you ever been???? NO??? Well then you MUST GO!! However, it helps to know the IKEA system otherwise you'll be quite frustrated in the beginning stages as I was, but I always dive in head first without looking. It makes things more interesting. HAHA. So if you don't know, the first MILE (seriously, it was a freaking whole mile) of the store is a walkthrough of different set ups of potential house interiors and rooms, etc. I did not know this though and was getting really peeved that not only were all the instructions on how to pick out styles, etc. in Hungarian (imagine that), but I had forgotten my translation dictionary. To add to my frustration and misery, none of the displays were for sale! The true American in me was getting so desperate as to make a purchase for my new home that a strainer was suddenly looking like fine china. But as you keep on through this maze of imported goods that anitcapitalists would scream in sheer terror at, you reach a section where everything opens up, the light shines down, and suddenly YOU ARE IN THE BIGGEST BULK WAREHOUSE OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN. And it was glorious. I almost cried it was so exciting. Seriously. Thank you, thank you, thank you was all I could think...I thought I had ventured all the way out on the end of the metro red line for nothing. So I made the necessary purchases of bamboo plants and espresso pots and went on my merry little way back to my home sweet home and I was welcomed home like Odysseus to his promised land -- a hero!! WE HAVE PLATES NOW...and they're made in China!!