**This is a post I created a week after I arrived. I thought I had posted it but I had not***
Hello Everyone,
This is my first attempt at blogging so now the entire world can see just how verbose and detailed I can be. :) Dare you enter?
I moved to Hungary one week ago, after the usual airline hassle. I was supposed to fly out on a Friday, through Dulles from RDU, and arrive in Budapest, via Vienna, at 10:30 Saturday morning. I don't speak a lick of Hungarian, and fortunately,my friend who has lived here many years and who speaks the language had arranged to pick me up at the airport. Thomas if you are reading this, a thousand thank yous wouldn't suffice for all your help that day.
You can imagine how intimidated I was about the prospect of having to take a taxi with all the overpacking I did (still didn't manage to fit the cowboy boots in), having to meet a landlord I thought spoke Hungarian (turns out his English is great and he is a native Spanish speaker, being from Uruguay). I was relieved to have at least the taxi out of the picture. ;)
We boarded the plane, and immediately, in true North Carolina fashion, the sweltering heat changed into thunder and lightning storms. The pilot kept telling us we'd be leaving in 10 minutes, then it was 10 more minutes, then it was 10 more. Finally he told us we had to disembark. I had seen it coming. Apparently storms were raging up and down the East Coast, National was closed, La Guardia was closed, they were thinking of closing Dulles, and he told us he saw no way we could fly out that day.
Long story short, made it out the next day. I arrived here very tired, but with Thomas's help, in the form of a ride, some food, some friendly chit chat, and some assistance getting to the mall to buy some sheets for my bed, I made it through that first day. All you friends out there who have moved abroad, let me just say I have always admired you for what you did, but I never had any idea just how lonely and scary that first day could be. I'm lucky I have my two good friends, Thomas and Susan, here to help me. Even with help it's scary. I don't know how people survive without it, but I guess we all have more strength inside us than we realized. I have a feeling I'm about to learn this for myself. Wish me luck!
Popular Posts
-
Szia! This post will take you far beyond the realm of goulash. Vegetarians beware! Caroline and I ate our way across two countries, neve... -
Szia! Saturday a week ago I found myself really bored in the late afternoon but without enough time to really walk anywhere far away like ... -
Hi There! Last week I walked up to the Castle again and this time I visit St. Matthew's Church, otherwise known as the Matyas Templom,... -
Salut again! I should probably mention that the first day I was in Sibiu I had a bad headache from staying up all night on the phone with ... -
Hello Everybody, My sister, Caroline, came to visit two weeks ago. She arrived on Friday the 14th, and I met her at the airport. I didn&... -
Guten Tag! On Friday Jimmy and I left Malancrav about mid-morning. We stopped at the orchard and purchased some apple juice and then he... -
That's Estragam for all your Americans out there. And it's the seat of the Hungarian Catholic Church andthe place where all of Hunga... -
Szia! A few days after I got back from Romania I visited the town of Eger, which has the distinction of having the northernmost Turkish mi... -
Howdy there ya'll, I hate to dwell too much on Buda Castle, but the statues up there are so cool that I felt like each statue grouping... -
Salut! I wanted to share my first impressions of Romania. First I should state that in all of these countries it seems like the train stat...
No comments:
Post a Comment