Why not write?

So I’m sitting in Hungary right now in the dark in my ‘sisters’ bedroom. She is somewhere for the weekend so my ‘mom and dad’ just told me to stay here.  It’s about 9:45 in the morning and I’m tired but I can’t sleep.  I’ve had a good trip.  I’m coming home tomorrow.  I really don’t know how I feel about it.  I was homesick for a while, but things change and I end up not wanting to leave. 

I got here on July 29th…I travelled all of the 28th from Portland to Boston to NY to Budapest.  It was long, but I sat with an American girl on the plane, so it wasn’t that bad.  I’m not looking forward to my flight tomorrow, I wish I could teleport home, if I must.  I’m flying from Budapest-Paris-Boston then Kelly is meeting me at the airport with her bf and we are driving home from there.

This vacation has gone by so fast!  I’ve done so much compared to other years I’ve came.  I’ve barely had time to rest.  I got here on the 29th of July as I said, hung out for a day, and then on the 31st I went on a 23 hour drive to Greece.  Now, I’ve been on this drive before, 2 summers ago, through Hungary-Serbia-Macedonia-Greece, but it did NOT take 23 hours, only like 15.  We left at 3 am and got to the hotel at 2 AM.  It was so exhausting.  Because we were going to Corfu (which is an island) we had to take a ferry ride to get there, which made things seem longer.

One thing I need to point out is that being here is AWKWARD a lot of the time.  I live with a family who for all intents and purposes I am a ‘member’ of, but the fact is I’m NOT a member.  They speak a language that I can understand and speak, but not as fluently as I should since I never get a chance to practice, so a lot of the time I spend in groups of Hungarians is just sitting around not talking, listening, and looking around.  It feels awkward.  It’s hard to explain.  I feel like I’m an annoyance some of the time.

Anyway, once in Corfu, I was glad to see we had wireless internet, I don’t know what I would have done without it.  We stayed in a town called Benitses, a little bit south or Corfu town.  It was funny because it was like being in Hungary, its the town where all the Hungarian tourists go, so everyone was Hungarian.  Even the waitress at the ‘big bites’ restaurant was Hungarian.  The water was nice, warm, the hotel wasn’t bad, there was a pool, BUT no American shower, just the shitty Euro kind that no matter how many times I visit/no matter how long I live in europe, I will never get used to.  I need an American style shower.  And you couldn’t flush toilet paper down the toilet due to shitty Greek plumbing.  Anyway, it was a good trip, very relaxing.  We went around to another beach which was nice, we did some sightseeing in Corfu town, I went out to a bar with my friend, and visited a mansion.  I was nervous initially because there were 6 Hungarian families that drove together in a convoy and shared the same hotel, it was awkward cause I didn’t know any of them, but then I got used to it.  We stayed there for a week and drove home, but it only took 19 hours that time.  Did I forget to mention that I love REAL greek salads?

So I then came back to Hungary for a day, and the NEXT day I went to stay with my friends in Budapest.  I say friends now because I know the other guy, but initially I was only friends with one of them.  I was pleasantly surprised to say the least, they live in the  ‘Buda Hills’, kinda like the Hungarian version of Beverly Hills (but not really).  Very nice house, nice views of the city, BMW, own boat and airplane…I was impressed.  That day we went for a boat ride on the danube in the center of Budapest.  It was really fun.  Then we came back, got lit, and went to bed.  The next day I had plans.

LOL this is queer I’m making it like a story.  Anyway…my plans we to go to Romania.  I’ve always wanted to go to Romania, Transylvania specifically because I’m really into the whole Middle Age/Dracula stuff.  So I got on my train in Budapest at 9 am…and got to Brasov Romania at 11 pm..so that was a good 14 hours of traveling.  At least the train was nice, modern, and comfortable.  I was a little uneasy about traveling alone…mainly because I thought it would be boring.  I was also nervous about missing my stop in Brasov, because A) I have never been to ROmania so I had no idea where I was, and B) it was dark, so it was hard to see the sign.  Luckily, I was able to ask a Hungarian woman when the stop was coming, and I say the Brasov sign (like the Hollywood sign) light up on the hill.  So I got to the train station, took a taxi to my hotel, which was in the city center.  It was nice, the driver was like..giving me a mini tour.  Anyway, I got to my hotel room and was pleasantly surprised to find an American shower.  So I slept the first night..woke up..had breakfast…(Europeans and their breakfasts…I dont get it..that is something else I will never get used to about europe.  Who eats tomatoes and peppers for breakfast?!  why isnt cereal enough?) 

I have to admit I was kinda bored alone in Romania..I didn’t know what to do.  I didn’t want to eat at a restaurant alone because  I was afraid I’d look like an idiot..so I just got salads from McDonalds and brought them back to my room.  I ended up leaving Romania 2 days early because I just didnt know what to do by myself.  I still had to pay the hotel for the 2 nights I was not going to be there for, so I wasted like 150..but whatever.  And I had to pay to change my train ticket.  So anyway, in Brasov, I walked around, went in the black church, went to the historical museum, walked on the pedestrian street, and climbed a mountain to look down at the city.  This was lone…I got lost twice…not really LOST but I didn’t know where I was on which trail.  At the top, they have an overhanging balcony where you can step out and take pictures, I did…but I was scared for some reason and shaking and sweating so I couldn’t hold my phone good to take pictures.

I also went to Bran to see Draculas castle.  I could have gone on a tour bus or taken a taxi, but I instead chose to do in the romanian way, and got a local bus.  It was about an hour drive.  The castle was pretty, it was smaller than I thought it would be, based on the pictures of it, but it definitely looked like what I imaged ‘dracula’s caslte to look like.  I did a tour inside, my favorite part was the secret passage from the first floor to the third floor.  After I went to a village museum and came back to Brasov.

So My Romanian trip was good..except It would have been better if I wasn’t alone.  On Friday the 13th, lol, I experienced literally the worst day of my life.  I seem to have gotten a stomach flu when I was in romania, and it didn’t manifest itself until I was on the train.  I found my seat on the train, which was 2 hours late…and I noticed that it was getting really hot.  I don’t speak romanian but from what I gathered, the a/c was broken, it it got so hot.  I was sitting there SWEATING.  people were visibly sweating, unco

mfortable, and everything. 

DONT READ BELOW IF YOU ARE GROSSED OUT.  THIS ENTRY IS FOR ME TO REMEMBER THINGS BY AS WELL

suddenly, I felt the urge to shit.  I got up, went, came back..there was no toilet paper, so I had to bring tissues with me.  Anyway, it was so hot, and soon my stomach started hurting so bad.  I went to the bathroom 5 more times within the hour and then I decided something was wrong.  I was PALE.  my face looked like a ghost.  my hands and feet were numb.  they were tingling.  I was dizzy, and I thought i was dying.  I couldn’t move.  I was so weak.  All i had was ice tea to drink, a big bottle of it.  However, being sick and having it be PISS warm due to the train being like a volcano made it impossible to drink, so I decided I would somehow get energy and go to the dining car to get water.  So i did.  On my way, i noticed that the air conditioning in ALL the other cars was working. So, on the way back, I just kinda fell into an empty seat in the air conditioned cart.  I couldnt move or open my eyes I was so weak.  I didnt care if it was anyones spot or that i left my bags…my brand new droid x, my iphone, my wallet, in the other car.  I got up and threw up.  6 times.  It splashed out of the toilet and went all over my jeans.  I was so exhausted I didn’t know what to do.  there was no toilet paper to clean any of it up.  I puked all over the floor too.  So, I left the puke on the floor and rolled my jeans up to try and cover it on there.  It was still visible.  Then i found some americans and asked them for medicine, which didnt work.  So for 13 hours, I was writing in pain on a train in romania.  I was trapped, alone, hungry, scared, and so sick.  I shit at least 30 more times, no joke.  My stomach was killing me, and I was so tired and dizzy.  I can honestly say I have NEVER experienced anything like that, ever. I’ve never been sick like that in the US…only alone on a train in Romania.

So I got back to hungary, and luckily my ‘brother’ and his gf picked me up in Budapest, then we drove home.  That was Friday.  I was throwing up and shitting until Monday, when I finally got better.  It was so boring.  I was pissed.  I was sick in europe.  I spent my time like…watching movies, I didn’t know what else to do. 

Then on Tuesday I went back to Budapest to visit my friend.  We had planned to go to bosnia but after the train fiasco I was scarred for life so I said NO…we can stay in Budapest.  by the way, I am never traveling by train in europe again, unless the distance is 3 hours or less.  Flying is so much easier, faster, and not that much more expensive.  My round trip ticked to romania for 2nd class sitting car was almost $100…flights here arent that much more expensive.  So anyway, I went to Budapest to visit my friends…we didnt do much..watched movies, ate, played games, drank, I dunno..normal stuff.  I was there alone a couple times for like 5 hours which was kinda wierd but whatever.  I just used the comp.  I went to the city a few times, to the mall LOL because I’m a loser.  It brought back memories of when I was an exchange student, and I thought of my friends lauren and alexa in the mall, and I thought how my mom and sister have been there too lol. 

So I was in Budapest from Tuesday until yesterday.  Filled with awkward moments.  I am so shy when meeting people for the first time..I hate it..and I try to avoid it….image how hard it must be for me here in Hungary..a different language and everything.  I also got really homesick around wednesday-thursday and just wanted to be hom with my family and friends and pets.  I was scared for Friday.

Friday is like..Hungary’s national day..there fireworks and everything.  My friends were renting a boat on the danube which was to go from 1pm to 11pm.  I was so nervous about it, just due to the fact there were so many strangers.  I had an anxiety attack the morning of and I was flipping out I was like I can’t go i can;’t go!!! But I went.  you only live once.  I had to keep telling myself that.  anyway…the boat was good.  right of the bad I had 2 shots, so that loosened me up.  By the time the trip was over I had 9 mojitos and 5 cosmos.  And a lot of water.  I didn’t throw up, I wasn’t sick, or hungover.  And i met some really cool people.  When people are drunk, they are more likely to want to speak english..and EVERYONE spoke english with me.  I met some really coolpeople, as I said.  I was fucking lit.  I was on the roof of the boat fucking singing into a microphone and dancing around..alone for the most part but who cares.  YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.  anyway, the time FLEW by.  we went up to the danube bend, which is the point where the river starts going n-s instead of w-e, and turned around.  People went swimming in the river.  Let me just say, this river is sick.  It is brown, people litter constantly, and it looks like sludge to me.  I was like…I only swim in blue water! It really is fucking sick.  I prolly would have been fine swimming in it…but you never know.  Maybe theres like a mineral in the water (or just garbage) that my skin couldnt handle and I’d get a rash.  anyway…after we went back to budapest, docked in the center, watched the fireworks..which was nice and went back to the marina.  After we went home and fell asleep.  I hung around for a while, came home last night, slept, woke up, and here I am. 

this has taken my 45 minutes to write..I never write this much. sometimes when I drink a lone in my room and feel bad for myself I like to read my old entries, so I thought i might as well make this detailed so I could remember everything.  I’m flying home tomorrow!