Well, the arrival part worked out pretty well even though the departure got off to a rough start. After a chaotic chain of events in Sea-Tac beginning with the losing of my phone and culminating with me boarding the plane nearly dead last due to the running (yes, literally running) back to the TSA checkpoint, riding the tram again, dealing with TSA who were wondering why I was going backward when my plane was "back there", I finally arrived in Budapest.
When I arrived at the Budapest airport, nobody hassled me, and I just picked up my bags and walked out. Mary and Hajni from CETP were waiting there right outside the arrivals door with their CETP signs and were easy to spot. It was nice to finally meet them! They had been waiting there for several hours already and had even more left to go while waiting for other people to arrive. Little did I know but there was a guy from Seattle on the same flight as me, and he was standing with Mary and Hajni before I got there, so that was cool.
Upon a 30-minute wait for another girl who was supposed to be on our same plane, it was decided that she might not be coming, so Hajni sent us two off in the airport taxi. It felt like a long drive, but maybe I was just tired. I want to say it took nearly an hour to get to the hostel from the airport, but when you're so tired because you haven't slept for 20+ hours, any time spent awake feels like a long time!
When we arrived at the hostel, two current CETP teachers were waiting to greet us at the front door and help us carry our bags to the elevator and check in. That was super helpful because I was so tired and really not in the state to do all that. When we got up to the 5th floor where the hostel is (after first going DOWN half a floor to the 2-person elevator from the Paleolithic area followed by a 5-story rise and a 1-flor downstairs trudge because the elevator stopped on half-floors), we checked in and saw our rooms.
I am in the 12-bed room, which is two sets of six bunk beds and two bathrooms. I got the top bunk, which is kinda cool because I never had one before, but it also sucks when you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night! I almost died, I swear. The bathrooms are nicely sized and pretty clean. I took a shower and went to the common room where a bunch of nice Ikea couches awaited my tired backside.
Other people who arrived just before I did joined me, as well as people who were arriving after me. I sat in the common room for a while and talked with everyone--it seems like they're all really nice people. I don't have the exact numbers, but one of the CETP helpers here had said there were around twenty return teachers and forty new ones this year. We talked about Budapest, CETP, teaching (briefly), but mostly we just sat there like vegetables.
At that point, I was getting REALLY hungry. I mean so hungry that I was shaking, so I asked about a cheap restaurant. I was directed to some Chinese restaurant down the road, and since everyone else, for the most part, had already left to go somewhere, I walked down there by myself. It was easy enough to find, and it was really cheap. I had a generous portion of Kung Pao chicken and noodles for about 650 forint, or as today's exchange rate says, about $2.89. Not bad. I walked back and could finally sleep because my stomach wasn't imploding on itself.
Needless to say, at this point, I was really, really tired, so I went back to the room and snapped this shot of the view out the window:
I then felt like I was dying, so I went to bed at 8:30pm. I was the first and ONLY person sleeping in my room for several hours, and most of the room's residents returned back between 10-11pm. I slept like a rock!!
When I arrived at the Budapest airport, nobody hassled me, and I just picked up my bags and walked out. Mary and Hajni from CETP were waiting there right outside the arrivals door with their CETP signs and were easy to spot. It was nice to finally meet them! They had been waiting there for several hours already and had even more left to go while waiting for other people to arrive. Little did I know but there was a guy from Seattle on the same flight as me, and he was standing with Mary and Hajni before I got there, so that was cool.
Upon a 30-minute wait for another girl who was supposed to be on our same plane, it was decided that she might not be coming, so Hajni sent us two off in the airport taxi. It felt like a long drive, but maybe I was just tired. I want to say it took nearly an hour to get to the hostel from the airport, but when you're so tired because you haven't slept for 20+ hours, any time spent awake feels like a long time!
When we arrived at the hostel, two current CETP teachers were waiting to greet us at the front door and help us carry our bags to the elevator and check in. That was super helpful because I was so tired and really not in the state to do all that. When we got up to the 5th floor where the hostel is (after first going DOWN half a floor to the 2-person elevator from the Paleolithic area followed by a 5-story rise and a 1-flor downstairs trudge because the elevator stopped on half-floors), we checked in and saw our rooms.
I am in the 12-bed room, which is two sets of six bunk beds and two bathrooms. I got the top bunk, which is kinda cool because I never had one before, but it also sucks when you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night! I almost died, I swear. The bathrooms are nicely sized and pretty clean. I took a shower and went to the common room where a bunch of nice Ikea couches awaited my tired backside.
Other people who arrived just before I did joined me, as well as people who were arriving after me. I sat in the common room for a while and talked with everyone--it seems like they're all really nice people. I don't have the exact numbers, but one of the CETP helpers here had said there were around twenty return teachers and forty new ones this year. We talked about Budapest, CETP, teaching (briefly), but mostly we just sat there like vegetables.
At that point, I was getting REALLY hungry. I mean so hungry that I was shaking, so I asked about a cheap restaurant. I was directed to some Chinese restaurant down the road, and since everyone else, for the most part, had already left to go somewhere, I walked down there by myself. It was easy enough to find, and it was really cheap. I had a generous portion of Kung Pao chicken and noodles for about 650 forint, or as today's exchange rate says, about $2.89. Not bad. I walked back and could finally sleep because my stomach wasn't imploding on itself.
 |
| Mmmm Chinese |
Needless to say, at this point, I was really, really tired, so I went back to the room and snapped this shot of the view out the window:
I then felt like I was dying, so I went to bed at 8:30pm. I was the first and ONLY person sleeping in my room for several hours, and most of the room's residents returned back between 10-11pm. I slept like a rock!!
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