Hungarian Adventure #1

Siya! (hungarian salutation)
So yesterday was an exciteing day. Having had the weekend to get settled and get the new apartment in order, after having said good bye to the variouse parents who had come to help Guy and his flat mate move in, and after having gotten used to what life might be like here for the boys it was time to leave the apartment and take care of some of the other arrangements the boys had to get settled in the city. The first order of buissness was to go to the school to register. Thinking this was only going to take about a half hour or so all three of us decided to take the Villamush (i have no idea if that is right or not) the hungarian electric trolly to the school and from there we would enjoy the day exploring the city.

We got there and stood with all the other students waiting to register as well. We stood around for about 20 minutes, no one having any idea how this all works. We chit chatted about new apartments and things with the other israelis Guy had taken his premed class with back in Israel when all of a sudden a bunch of teachers came out of the building. They collected 20 kids at a time and took them inside. We figured it wouldn't be right for me to take someone's spot in the group so we decided i would sit on the bench outside and wait for Guy to be done with registration.

So i sat down and pulled out my phone and began to play solitare. I turned around and there was Guy "so aparently we start hungarian classes today" Guy gave me his keys, a 5000 forent (hungarian currency) bill (equal to less than 40$) and said ill call you when we get out.

And so this was my first adventure in hungary. On my own i had to find my way back to the apartment. We all know how great i am with trains so you can understand my concern. What i was not aware of was that there is only one train that runs through the city, and i only realised this after trying to ask several hungarians which direction i need. My kind of city don't you think?

After getting on the train i tried to pay for my 250 forent ticket and my money was too large so i got off at one of the stops where i saw a bank out the window. I went inside and again proceeded to talk to non english speaking hungarians. they were rather patient and in the end i got the money changed and got back on the train. I wasn't sure what stop to get off at so the first thing i recognized i got off. Then the rest of my walk home consisted of me saying the name of the street i was looking for with some upward inflection in hope that people would point me in the right direction. I started to feel rather confident in my self once i realised i was on the right street so i started to enjoy the sun and the beauty of the city. I took some pictures, enjoyed a tasty pastry and succeeded in buying a bottle of water and finding the tourist info center. There i got a map and some brochures of what to do in the city. and there they spoke english!

Debrecen is quite the beautiful city really. Its so old and european so its really neat to see the old meat the modern. While i was on the trolly i saw an older woman who was carring her groceries in a wooden basket. Quaint things like that are all around....the old buildigns or old churches sitting right next to the electic trolly tracks and just in site from the mall. Some of the buildings have these elegent fronts and some just look like modern office buildings. I also got to take some pictures of the school before getting back on the train. So green and tree filled. Also there, old buildings that look like something out of hogwarts out door campus next to the sicence labs building. i'll load the pictures soon.

I got home and spent the rest of the day inside. I have also had a couple of cooking adventures here too. Remember the condensed milk i was trying to buy in the store? Well i tryed to make dulce du leche by caramilizing it in the oven. It didn't exactly come out how i wanted it too, kind of runny and leaky all over the place. and the cookies didn't come out as tasty as when i made them in israel, but in the end they weren't all that bad. I also decided to make something yesterday - i still have no idea what it was or what to call it. I took some plain yogurt added sugar and a little bit of flour and egg whites. I put that on top of crushed chocolate waffer cookie crumbs and then put some fruite on top and cookied it in the oven. It came out as this kind of cream meringue pie thing. surprisingly tasty.

Today i thought i would go out and explore the sites of the city but instead stayed home and cought up on my democratic convention news. CNN is the only channel in english here. And also update the blog, of course.

The only other thing i want to mention about strange livings in strange lands is the toilet. The toilets here are quite bizzarre. There is a large bowl with a little whole where the water sits so basically your buisness sits in the bowl until the water pushes it down the whole. That my friends is the ultimate adventure. Guy and I can not get over it.