Midterms!

So it's almost 11pm and I have my first midterm at 8am tomorrow morning. As usual I'm cramming some more the night before and that's fine cause I think I'm overstudying for this history midterm. None the less it's stressful and I'm using midterms as an excuse to eat anything and everything to get me through. Is it ridiculous that I cooked myself a steak for breakfast? Maybe, but I did it. I also made myself some steak and mushrooms for lunch and had a grilled cheese with dried mangoes and flaming hot cheetos for dinner. Not to mention I've been eating Kinder bars in between it all. I'm almost positive that I'm just a giant optical illusion.

Other than studying for the past couple days I've pretty much been a big bum. I've watched more T.V. here than I do at home in the States. I'm fully caught up with Dexter, Weeds, and Glee. Not only that but I'm also on season 2 of Entourage and have 5 more to go which I plan to finish in the next week or two. I've also completely changed my sleeping cycle. Except for Mondays I usually sleep until 11am and go to bed around 4 or 5am. So I basically live at night. Which is fine with me.

Last night Misia and I went and explored the city since it was remembrance day of the the Hungarian revolution. We really only saw a band performing at Parliament and some stalls selling food. We probably went too late, but the views of Buda and  the Danube were pretty. Every time I look at it though in the back of my head I still think "It's not as pretty as the Chicago skyline." Many of my classmates disagree with me.  I just love Chicago too much.


I'll be in Paris this weekend and I leave on Halloween to come back to Budapest. It's kind of a bummer having to leave on Halloween, but I can't miss my Monday 8am. France is also on strike and there are riots everywhere. I'm a bit nervous about this weekend. I hope it's still a lot of fun and it's safe. I'm sure that no matter what "Paris Holds the Key" from Anastasia is still going to be stuck in my head the entire trip. I'm weird like that.

Well wish me luck on midterms and pray that I stay safe in Paris!

Being Sick Blows

Soo I've been sick for over a week now and it absolutely 100% sucks. I was getting sick before Munich and now I'm still sick before Poland. Granted I probably shouldn't have gone out for my friend Tom's birthday this past weekend, but I thought I was better. Dancing til dawn was fun and I don't regret it one bit, but boy did I screw myself over. I went from having a slight cough to a deep cough, excessive saliva, and my glands swelled up so it hurt to swallow. Wanna know how bad it was? (WARNING: THIS IS GONNA GET GROSS) It was so bad that I had to spit every couple minutes. So I couldn't sleep cause it hurt to much to swallow and spitting would keep me up. My solution? I had to hang my head off my couch (Did I forget to mention I sleep on a couch every night? It's a long story.) over a bucket and just let it overflow and drip. By far one of the most disgusting moments of my life. The next day the swelling went down and I was like "I don't need to go to the doctor." Fail. I have this thing where I think that I can take of myself all the time and as a result I didn't go to the doctor's office until today, where apparently they hand out antibiotics like candy. HURRAY! So hopefully I'll be better in a couple days and I won't be miserable in Poland this weekend.

Luckily, Misia's grandmother lives just a bus ride away from Krakow so I'll have free lodging and delicious homemade Polish food. Sadly, I hear her grandmother does not make gnocchi, my new favorite food since I've come to Budapest. I mean it's a noodle and it's potato. Two of my favorite foods combined. Not to mention it's often accompanied by a creamy cheesy based sauce. Incredibly fattening, but sooo worth it. But back to this weekend. Misia will be mostly be running around getting errands done so most of the time I'll be relaxing and I'll take a day to see Auschwitz and Krakow. Should be nice. I get to meet Misia's family and friends too. They probably won't understand me, but I hear they are very friendly.

After Poland, Misia and I would like to do Amsterdam, Brussels, then Paris on Halloween weekend. I mean if I can't be at home for my best friend's favorite holiday at least I can be in Paris. Planning is a lot more stressful than it should be. First of all we still have to think about school so our travel plans have to be based on how many classes we want to miss or who we want to travel with. Not to mention the day we want to leave for our Halloween extravaganza I have two midterms. I want to move them up, but I'm running into some issues. Then we have to work out our budgets which after some careful planning it looks like I'll be fine. Next on the list of frustrations is the fact that I bought a Eurail pass at home that I CANNOT waste. Everyone wants to take flights or buses cause they are faster and cheaper sometimes. Sure I don't have to stress about paying to get to places but it looks like some trips I'll be traveling alone. Which is not ok with my parents. Honestly, it's a little uncomfortable for me too, but I'll just have to man up and figure out how to navigate around Europe. I'm a smart girl with her mother's paranoia. I'll be cautious and I may sweat a lot from nerves, but I'll get there if it's the last thing I do. It's a $700 pass, there's no way I'm not getting my money's worth. Hopefully everything works out and if I can't do Amsterdam and Brussels at least I can do Paris. Then there's Spain and Italy to worry about. Italy is falling into place. At least I got that going for me.

Other than travel plan frustrations, there's a lot of drama out here. Somebody is annoyed with somebody or someone is trying to get on someone. It's all very frustrating. It's nothing unexpected. I mean we all knew what we were getting into going to a brand new school with brand new people. We're all adapting and while we're all try to figure out the puzzle that is life here in Budapest we're finding out that sometimes things just don't fit. There are days we don't feel like going to class, we've spent too much money, or people we thought we knew who aren't they seem to be. Just like life back at home, but when you're away from the comforts of friends and family it just hits you harder.

So whether it's physically being sick or being sick at heart it all kind of blows...for now. Hell, at least it keeps life interesting. If we were happy all the time, the little things wouldn't count. Like finding scarves for less than $5 or a surprise package in the mail. Both those things made me smile and cause I can smile at the little things I'll keep on truckin. I'll keep on keepin on with 5 liters of water, vitamin c tablets, Emergen-C, and antibiotics. If that doesn't do the trick I don't know what will.

Prague AND Munich!

Prague was gorgeous and by far the prettiest city I have ever seen. The streets were all cobblestone and the architecture was breathtaking. It reminded me a lot of Beauty and the Beast for some reason. Maybe because a lot of the churches and palaces were a more gothic style. Luckily we toured the palace gardens on a sunny day because the rest of the time we were there it rained. Still, Misia and I saw the Loreta, St. Vitus Cathedral, Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Charles Bridge, the Old Town Bridge Tower, parts of the Jewish quarter, and Wenceslas Square.

Roomie love in the Prague Castle Gardens

View from the Watch Tower

We also went into a museum that I forgot the name of, but we saw books from the 14th century, a library being restored, and a "hall of wonders." And at night we hit up the clubs. We went to Karlovy Lazne, one of the biggest night clubs in Eastern Europe. It was five floors and each floor was a different genre. It also included a very politically incorrect floor called the "black music" floor. Yet, they were playing Lady Gaga. I don't know if the Czech know what "black music" is. The next night we went on a club crawl and met travelers from all over the world. It was interesting to hang out with such an international crowd.

Prague Team at Karlovy Lazne

                                                                             Overall it was a fantastic trip and right now Prague is my favorite city. Interestingly, after I told my sister about my trip it turns out that 7 years ago she too was in the same clubs and attractions that I was. We are one in the same.

After a pretty uneventful week in Budapest. Class. Dinner. Resting. Class. More resting. This past weekend we went to Munich for Oktoberfest. I knew it was going to be crazy, but it was also delightfully pleasant. I didn't know that Oktoberfest is an actual festival. There is plenty of food carts, games, and even carnival rides. But of course the main attractions were the beer tents. When one thinks of a tent you might think of a white tent or maybe even a large circus tent. These tents were like houses, gigantic houses with elaborate decoration to match each beer company. Even though it was raining outside the inside 

One of the Beer Tents

was made to look like a sunny day in a town square. We learned lots of German drinking songs and got to see everyone in traditional lederhosen and dirndls. We looked very touristy in our regular clothing. I was getting sick before we even went to Munich and on the second day there I almost stayed in the hotel, but I thought to myself "This is probably the only time I will ever be here in my youth." So I sucked it up and I went. I'm paying for it now. I now have a sore throat, runny nose, cough, and I won't be surprised if I have a fever by nightfall. That being said I also figured that if I got up to go to Oktoberfest I can get up for my classes. O well I'm only young once and who knows when I'll be back in Europe. Since we did only have time for the festival our group plans on going back to Germany to do some serious sightseeing. I did however get to see the world's biggest cuckoo clock, which I thought was pretty exciting.

Next stop is Poland. I would be going this weekend, but residency permits are a pain in the butt and I have to go back to the Hungarian Immigration office for the third time. Here's hoping all goes well and I'll be able to travel again soon without the fear of deportation! 

P.S. I know I don't blog that frequently, but I just hate to bore everyone with the mundane everyday. I'll try lead a more exciting life and blog more often.