Free Day!

Why is it that I always end up typing this at the last second? I suppose that's a good sign that I'm super busy and thoroughly enjoying my days here, but it's kind of a bummer that I never feel like I have enough time to say everything I want to. I'm trying to keep every posted, but you are barely getting the tip of the iceberg. However, once again, I am dying to get some sleep, so I'll give you the highlights and then roll over and shut my eyes. So let me start by telling you what was SUPPOSED to happen today. 1000 breakfast 1015-1240 central market with LB, Mo, David, and Michaela 1245 michaela and I wander back to the hostel instead of going to parliament 1300-1500 laundry time and downtime 1500- exploration and random stuff with the group Instead, we first decided to go to the craft fair/festival before they went on the Parliament trip. I can't even begin to describe how perfect of an idea that turned out to be. It was SO much fun! I have a ton of pictures, of course. I was mildly reminiscent of the Duluth Fall Festival with aLOT more homemade wares and vendors. It was on the steps of the National Museum and in the surrounding park, and the vendors completely encircled the outside of the building. There were traditional dances and artifacts. It was almost entirely Hungarian, so I definitely felt like a little bit of an outsider when watching the children putting on plays and the people milling around to different areas, but everything was so beautiful! I got my fabric finally! That's been a major goal of mine since this whole trip since I'm enlisting the help of the talented Megan Trussell to make me a Budapest quilt! I'm not describing the other fantastic things I found so that I don't spoil surprises for everyone back home,but I'll be posting pictures when I get back home. But back to the story! So we went back to the hostel to drop off our goodies and relax for a little while before Mo, LB, Bilal, and David went to Parliament. I felt like I hadn't spent enough time at the craft fair, so I wanted to go peruse some stalls with the professors and pick up a few knick nacks before starting my laundry. We made it halfway down the main road to the museum and Ildi came rushing down the street to tell us that the Parliament trip had been canceled, so that entire plan for the day got thrown upside down at the last second. I took off to get to the hostel before the musketeers started towards the building. I didn't want them to find out after they traveled all the way there, and I caught them literally right as they exited the hostel. New plan was to go pick up a few more goodies from the craft fair and then head to the House of Terror, which is a holocaust museum in Pest. The House of Terrors was a little rough for me. I have a hard time watching those videos from the concentration camps and hearing the survivors tell their stories. It breaks my heart that the holocaust ever even happened, and I hate that it's still happening in some countries around the world. The first couple rooms were hard to deal with, and I almost had to leave because I felt so sick in the pit of my stomach, but the museum started to focus on an aspect of the Second World War that I had never heard about. Hungary was positioned between the German and Russian regimes, so Hungary was thrown between the two for decades, and the Hungarian citizens were punished for the1940's, 50's, and 60's, They were technically still a communist state until 1991, I believe. So, as the history geek that I am, I actually loved learning those facts about the country whose perspective I had never heard. If you've never gotten to focus on the history of Budapest from 1943-1976, it's worth a read. After that we headed to Hero Square and the city park. It was so beautiful and so expansive that we didn't even come close to exploring even the front of the park. We did, however, find a woman who HAND EMBROIDERED these stunning tablecloths and sold them for only 6,000 fts (about $30, so super cheap for the quality)! She spoke such little english, but she tried so hard to communicate with us and tell us all about these cloths. We nearly bought her out because they were so beautiful. Right inside the castle gates, (Is this real life? Did I really just say that so casually?), there was a man spray painting on paper. The finished paintings he had off to the side, and it was so obvious that he was incredibly talented! With only spray paint and newspaper, he created oceans, planets, and ships with intricate details. I watched him with my jaw on the ground, and, as soon as he finished his painting, requested to purchase it. I took pictures of the whole process, but I can't even describe how wonderful it was to watch hime paint those mindblowing scenes. He has such amazing talent, and I would like to go back and see if he is there again tomorrow. That's the current plan, anyway. I'll keep you posted on what happens tomorrow, but it may actually turn into a rainy day where I end up working on homework.
 Ciya! Jes

 "Well I don't want to go to the latin service because I wouldnt know what they were saying!" "... If it's not in latin, it would be in Hungarian.." "Oh... they wouldnt be in english?"' - Laura and Bilal Nicknames: Laura- LB, loop loop, peanut butter Morgan- Mo, Momo, Twin David- Dave, Dah-veed Bilal- Buster, Joey (friends reference)