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January 23, 2006
Dancing with Hungarians
Today was chock-full of Hungarian goodness. A and I spent the morning and early afternoon at the Budapest History Museum, which is a random assortment of Budapest History, from prehistoric times to after World War II. Strangely enough, there was no discernable chronology to the museum, with the prehistoric times on the 3rd floor, the 1st and 2nd floor dedicated to the Middle Ages (with a temporary exhibit on the 2nd floor dedicated to the Rennaisance era), and the Medieval Age in the basement, where we also saw the chapel and cellars of the Middle Ages palace.
Thankfully, there was a LOT of information in English, so after giggling about the statues, A and I were able to take it all in. I've decided that, overall, Budapest's history is too complex for anyone but a Budapest history buff to understand. From my 2 hours in the history museum, I'm convinced that the government completely changed every 10 years, not to mention all the invading armies, class warfare, and religious animosity. The trick to enjoying the museum was to just go with the flow and not try to understand it too much.
After that, we hopped over to the Grand Market Hall (also called the Central Market Hall) for a quick lunch of sandwiches. The marketplace isn't heated, and the bitter cold (it was about 25 degrees with a driving wind) drove us quickly out, after a brisk walk around the stalls. From there, we sought out a tea shop, where we each had a fragrant pot of tea (A had spiced apple, I had senchu citrus). It was a bizarre experience to be having tea in an asian-inspired tea house, in Budapest, with Cajun zydecco playing in the background.
Fleeing the freezing streets, we took the subway back home--or at least, I did. A got off the subway early to attend a lecture on something related to The End of American Hegemony and Its Implications for the Future of the World. I decided that, since I had been up since 4 a.m. (I blame residual jet lag AND the pizza I had for dinner), I would instead take a nap...because, the best part of the day was about to begin.
Tonight, A&N and I joined a Hungarian family (all 20 of them) to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of one of the patriarchs of the family. The couple was adorable and hilarious, and spoke fluent English (as did many of their family members). A&N knew their son and his wife from N's work, and so we met the smaller group for dinner. Over a mammoth meal of turkey and vegetables, we got to hear all about their lives. They were both refugees in the war, and met in a Yugoslavian camp. They immigrated to the United States in 1958, but still have most of their family here in Hungary. Now that their son is posted here, they've come back to visit and see all the relatives again. Somehow we were all invited to the party, at Club Kameleon.
That's right, the 70+ couple had their anniversary party at a club, where the dancing started at 10 p.m. and was still going strong by the time we bowed out at midnight. Apparently, the club's live band plays 50's rock (with a little modern country and other miscellany thrown in) every Monday night. And let me tell you, the crowd knows how to dance--and I mean full-on swing and shag and charleston and two-step. I myself was taken for a 3-song spin with one of the guys in the family. While I have no idea how to swing dance, he was an excellent lead. A said I looked like I knew what I was doing, which could NOT be farther from the truth--in fact, most of the time I was so dizzy from all the twirling that I was afraid I might fall over (or at least step on his feet). Nonetheless, I had a GREAT time--one of those experiences that you would NEVER get without knowing the locals.
Now it's almost 2 a.m. and I'm ready for bed. A has a class tomorrow morning, so I'll get to sleep in before we try out the famous Budapest baths. Then it will be time to decide how I'm going to spend my weekend, with the goal of getting to Milan on the 30th. And if that weren't enough, I got an email from my Berlin partner, who indicated that she might bail on her part of the trip too, if a workshop in Arhus pans out. Grr.
On a totally side note, I also received a notice that my paper for a conference in Graz (in April) has been accepted. Now I have to decide if it's worth paying 250 Euros for the entrance fee, plus travel and accommodations. I wonder if there's any way they will let me in for free, like last year. Fingers crossed, because I'd love to be back in Europe this spring!!
