high ceilings, high art and conway twitty

august 27th, arrive in budapest, slightly wilted after 24 hours of travel, carrying all of my worldly possessions in 2 suitcases (69 pounds and 64 pounds, no luggage overage payment! thank you matt). i knock on my new front door and am greeted by a barrage of hungarian from relatives of the landlords (the landlords live in texas where they apparently are quite into the country music scene as seen by an extensive collection of country casettes and albums (yep, albums). yes, i fly across the atlantic to be greeted by conway twitty, aint life grand.

i manage to splice together some hungarian, smile, nod, nod and smile. after i learn all there is to know about the operation of the flat, bill management, washing, keys and locks, the relatives depart, and i go to sleep for 2 days. i have since awakened and have been attending fulbright orientation and diplomatic receptions from 8am until midnight for the past couple of days. my next blog will cover my impressions of the fulbright program, diplomats, and the other fulbright students (2 mathematicians, 2 musicians, 1 playwrite, 1 linguist, a geographer and me). but for now, i wanted to put up some photos i have taken of the flat. sorry for the blur of some of them, havent quite conquered all of the settings on the new digital camera. thanks for visiting the blog, i hope to keep it updated throughout the year, so if you so desire, check in every once and awhile. love, bets