For the sake of my name

When she was younger my Mum lived and worked in Chicago for a while. She was a nanny for an American family that she was very fond of and who in return, adored her. Many years later when I was in my twenties a whole page article appeared in a Bradford paper as the family was trying to trace her. Happy reuinions later and my namesakebrought her husband to visit and my Mum even went back to Chicago to see all her friends and the family she had cared for. It is one part of my Mothers life that I admire greatly and I feel connected to the family through her, especially Anne, who I was named after.

Anne is in Costa Rica at the moment and is doing an amazing job caring for turtles. I am loving her blog, which is making me highly jealous as South America is very much on my travel hit list. I think that it is much cheaper to visit from the states than from Europe, but I plan on getting there one day. I talked to her today (Skype is a wonderful thing!) and hope that I will get to see her again soon, but for now, being connected for a few moments whilst thousands of miles away is pretty cool. It makes me feel so much fondness for my Mum and for my namesake.

Sunshine through

32 yesterday

My birthday passed by in a flash. I got lots of cards and presents from people at work and emails and parcels from those at home.I am in my office looking at the row of cards including a handmade one from a student and lovely Hungarian ones that have taught me how to say Happy Birthday (Boldog születésnapot).

When school finished I went straight to my Indian Supermarket with C to buy all the things to make two curries. I was in charge of vegetarian so I made spinach and sweet potato curry and a channa daal. They were both delicious, nicely bubbled away for a good hour or so, as we all know that curries are best when whacked in the pot and left to steep. I managed to hoik them all round to C2s place in my shopping basket along with a load of paratha.

As it was a school night, we sat for a few hours, chatted and ate Indian food, lounged and complained that we were tired and generally relaxed ane enjoyed being out of our apartments during the week. I live really close to C2, and so I only had a two and a half minute walk home. I fell into bed exhausted and happy. Tired today, but it was worth it.

Happy birthday to me

I am not really a huge fan of birthdays and I don't know why. Some years have passed with more fanfare than others, but being abroad seems to heighten the fact that people who would normally make a fuss of me are not around to do so. Over the last 5 years I have had birthdays in Warsaw, Paris, Richmond and tomorrow I will have one in Budapest too. It should all be lovely, C is throwing a little party for me, and it will be full of people that I like very much.

Yet birthdays make me think that time is slipping through my fingers. Birthdays bother me in a way that New Year doesn't and I just do not like adding that extra digit to my age, (32 if anyone is asking). Presents are lovely, and so is the fuss that people make of you, but birthdays are not like they were when you were little, the excitement no longer consumes you in the way that it did. My birthday comes at the darkest time of year. After the holidays everyone is skint and I am usually more pensieve than partying.

All this morose wondering is not good for the soul though and the final thought is that I get to spend my birthday in a new city. I will be with friends, there are gifts to be opened and cake to be eaten. In the end I think I will worry about the numbers next year.

Revolution

I am starting to learn more about the place where I live. I really enjoyed my weekend, full of new places. I loved walking the streets and finding that the houses, Synagogues and cafes that I had kept reading about were all around the corner. D has lived here for many years and has a husband who is Hungarian and it was like having my own little tour guide to take me round our area.

One thing that I found out was how much the Jewish area has changed. Markets that had stood for decades just no longer exist any more. Interlinking courtyards that were used as a secret passage way in the war has been slicked up ready for yuppies to move into and exclusive stores to set up shop. I am at the beginning of getting a sense of Budapests history and I am loving the district where I live.

Elizabeth Town

Here are a few pictures from my Sunday wander with, D, baby E, and C around the Erszebetvaros, which is the ditrict where we all live.

Rumbach Synagogue, still being renovated, this building is beautiful. Go and visit if you are in Budapest and give them the 500 forint entrance fee so that the renovations can continue.

Monument to Carl Lutz, who saved thouands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

Kiraly Utca

The land of real people

Sick to the back teeth of giving in to my own selfish desires for quiet, pyjamas and DVDs in my apartment I decided that this was the weekend to join the land of the living again. After my brilliant Hungarian lesson on Friday after school I went home only to get changed before going out to Pirro, a new Indian restaurant near the Basilica. L, Ls, K and C were there and we had a very pleasant evening talking a about all sorts of random things. One of the topics of discussion was the etiquette of car driving in a Chang Mai zoo, but that is what happens when you hang out with people who have lived all over the world.

Today I woke up late, got dressed and met B for a trip to Ikea at Ors Veser Ter. I bought a beautiful, massive screen of Klimts 'The Kiss', which is making my living room glow with love and romance. I also bought lots of little baskets to take care of my storage issues and lingonberry sauce to go with the frozen meatballs I love to get when I go there. It was not nearly as hellish as Ikea can be on a Saturday and I was glad for the company, B is one of the people that I liked immediately when I arrived at the school in August last year. She is shown above in a photo from our trip to Madrid.

After I got home and she helped me to hang my new screen, we had tea and cakes. Swapping over almost within a couple of minutes, D arrived with baby E, as she lives about a hundred metres from my apartment and has not been around to look at the flat yet. E is adorable and loved trying to chew my russian dolls, which make lovely clip clop noises when you bang them together. Soon after C popped round to pinch some DVDs, by which time I was all up to the gills with tea, but we made some plans for Budapest exploring in the next couple of weeks, which makes me very happy indeed.

Alone again now, but with big plans for walks on the Island tomorrow amd lunch, it has been nice to open my eyes to the world outside my dreams and ponderings.