Ferenciek tere. aka my house. well, actually not the whole building, my apartment is in there somewhere, but i look out onto the courtyard in the middle, not the exterior.

as you walk into the building you see multiple stores on the ground floor, including a newstand, a bookstore, jewelry, and im not sure what else. the ceiling is quite ornate stained glass, sorry for the blur, havent quite figured out all of the settings on my camera yet.

the sleeping portion of my bedroom.

as you may have noticed, my apartment is a bit fancy, or at least fancier than my typical abode. therefore, i have spent the past couple of days making it my own. first step---multiple glasses of water by my bed in case i get dehydrated at night.

red-head barbie is enjoying her afternoon by the wave pool.

the sitting room, where i will officially receive guests, read hemmingway, smoke cigars and sip brandy.

the kids were nice enough to leave me some madagascar chocolate-flavored cereal for breakfast, along with a couple friends (barbie prom and barbie brides maid).

ahhh, the balcony where i would dine for breakfast if i actually could wake up on time to eat breakfast--nearly an impossibility as orientation runs from 8am until midnight each day---nuts.

so if you walk down two blocks from my flat, you see this view, the danube and the buda hills. if you look closely, the level of the danube is quite high, as hungary, as well as other nations in europe, have had some bad flooding again this summer---i best be getting to work, heh?

My Morning Routine

Many of you have been asking what my daily schedule will be like, whether I am actually going to do work or if this Fulbright thing is just one big vacation funded by US taxpayer dollars. So therefore I have decided to walk you through my typical morning post Fulbright orientation. Alarm, 9am. seems like a reasonable hour to awaken.

I do my morning weight lifting routines, trying to keep my pecs toned.

step 2. multiple books in bed with me. during my sleep deprived jet lag phase i have made it through 5 books so far---the world is flat, 3 hemmingways and one gertrude stein. luckily the flat has a fairly complete library with an emphasis on american writers in paris in the 1920s, travel books, shakespeare and hungarian literature---this should provide plenty of opportunity to avoid my dissertation research.

step 3. toothbrushes found throughout the flat. unfortunately i havent developed any consistent habits yet of toothbrush placement so spend much of my early morning prep time searching for the toothbrush.........

then i hop in the bath.

now im all pretty and ready to go-----but must make a decision where to have my morning coffee. Option 1, Gerbeaud, the most famous coffee house in Hungary, been in service for approximately 140 years. Cappucino costs 650 forints (about 3 bucks).

or do i go to cafe anna, a more modern cafe that is a 'hot spot' (has wireless internet access if you bring your laptop). Cappucino costs 520 forints (about $2.50). Both of these cafes are about a two minute walk from my flat. A third option is McCafe (McDonalds new line of coffee houses, yes, im serious), but so far have avoided the golden arches.

After my cappucino, i decide to talk a stroll down the Vaci Utca to check out the latest in Euro fashion. This is the main high fashion district of budapest. Perhaps this purple coat for winter?

this morning i opted for the gerbeaud. was very psyched because i did the whole transaction and chit chat with the waitress in hungarian and she didnt speak to me in english or ask where i was from---perhaps my accent is improving........

this look seems a little madonna-circa-1983 for me.

i like this shirt and jacket, but a bit out of my price range.

perhaps for my next diplomatic reception.

ahhhhh. an orange ski cap quite similar to mine. i always have been Fashion Forward.

and finally, for those of you that have asked about the state of my toe, here's a photo just for you. my big toenail is starting to grow back and the cuts on my toe from the broken wine bottle are slowly healing.