Hello, hello.

So sorry for not keeping up very well with news from the "Pearl of the Danube."

The last time I posted, I was beginning to work on the material for a conference held for E-ON, the IT company. It was a lot of work, and involved spending many, many hours organizing activites, workbooks, and powerpoint presentations, etc. Finally, after competeing all of the material, we set off for the conference. Balatonszarszo is about 1.5 hours from Budapest, so we left at 6.30am to get to the meeting room by 8am. I was nominated as the official "speech-giver," a decision I didn't particularly know I was volunteering for! Apparently my American accent is more comprehensible than the accents of Brits from Manchester or south of London... who knew? We commenced at 9.30 after a spectacular "off-the-cuff" speech by yours truly, in which I introduced the trainers, and incorrectly named two of them! Awesome, we were off to a great start!

Fortunately things went pretty well after the morning switcheroo, but it was definitely a long weekend. The hotel was fantastic, however (4 stars I believe). In addition, there was a wellness spa with jaccuzzis and pools and massage centers, but I spent the first evening mingling with the participants and watching a world cup match. The following morning started a bit on the rough side, as most of the students were pretty tired after a long night. But things got moving, and all-in-all, it was a great experience.

I returned for my final conference yesterday morning (again at 6.30) and did a re-run of the first weekend. Things went a bit smoother this time, but the weather was a constant torture. The first weekend was quite windy, cold, and rainy, but this weekend, it was HOT! And, this being Europe, a/c is not on the menu. Being in Budapest is hot, for sure, but the tall buildings offer a bit of protection from the direct sunlight in most of the buildings. Also, our apartment is an old concrete building that traps cool air (not good in winter...). Sleeping in the room was quite a chore because of the heat, but even more so because of the MOSQUITOS! Balaton is infamous in Hungary for the immense mosquito population. And these aren't you average little guys, these are about 1.5 centimeters long, green, and make a humming noise! Gross! But I survived, albeit, a bit melty...

I also mentioned that I was planning to stay at the lake for a few extra days after the first conference ended. I met Olivia in Balatonlelle, a small city about 20 minutes from the conference. We booked two nights in a little hostel there. The first night, we took a stroll around the town, and stumbled upon a wine festival with a live Hungarian folk performance. After seeing that, we walked to the end of "The Pier" to get our first good glimpse of the lake. It is really stunning. It was just getting dark, but the weather was a bit rough. It was so gorgeous to see the sailboats in the marina rocking, and the swans floating in the water. From there, we ate dinner at a restaurant on the lake, and checked out the scene of the city. Finally we headed back to the hostel for a good night's sleep. I was exhausted!

Balatonlelle - real picture!

More Balatonlelle

The next day we got up for breakfast, and chit-chatted with the hostel owner and her friend, who, as it turned out, lived in Florida for a few years. After that, we walked around a different part of the city, saw a cemetary, which we seem to find everywhere we go, and had lunch. When we returned to the hostel, the lady running it offered to drive us up to the top of a small mountain where she knew of a local winery. It was an amazing view of the lake and the whole region. We ended up spending a good part of the afternoon there, just enjoying the view and relaxing. It was a really great weekend after a long few days of work. The interesting thing was that the woman running the hostel was always wearing a t-shirt with the Jobbik political party's logo. We didn't end up asking about the shirt, but in my opinion that party definitely has some backward views, and her open advertisemnt of the party made me a little bit uncomfortable.

Last week was spent mostly just working and the day-to-day stuff, but we did manage to squeeze in a free Rod Stewart concert! We met our friends Rita (Hungarian) and Kevin (American) for lunch last Saturday, and then headed to the City Park for the T-Mobil free presentation. I had a blast!!! Hot Rod (as I came to call him) might have been able to pull off the glitsy suits when he was 30 in the 1970s, but he should probably tone it down now. It was hilarious! The interesting thing was that, while I knew most of the songs, the ones we Americans didn't know seemed to be the most popular among the Hungarians. (Who, by the way, didn't seem to know many of the songs - it was a free concert after all - which made me look even more rediculous when I was singing and dancing in the audience.)

Olivia and I are planning to go with Kevin and Rita to her parents' country home next weekend. I can't remember the name of the town exactly, but it is a rural place somewhere in the countryside, so I am pumped! I am super excited to see something other than the big cities.

That is pretty much the goings on of the Yanks in the East. I am getting my hair cut on Tuesday, and aiming for something distinctly European looking. I don't know what that means exactly, but I will just have to wait and see, and go with the flow. Hopefully it won't be too hideous! (I will have Rita with me, as my Hungarian interpreter, so hopefully I won't end up with the 1980s style rock mullet I have seen on some girls here...)

I hope everyone home is doing great, and enjoy the 4th of July tomorrow!