Thankful

Although maybe it’s a bit cliché, today I can earnestly say that there are several things I am purely and singularly thankful for. In no particular order (except for the first, which is more important than the rest combined), they are:

1) Hot Water! Yes, indeed. After, wait let me count.... after 40 days (and 40 nights, how convenient), hot water has been restored to my humble flat. Oh, the joy of doing dishes. Oh, the wonder of washing my hands with burning hot water. Oh, the exquisiteness of a warm or hot shower - and the ability to choose! It’s beyond description

2) Oxford School. I know I’ve gloated about this before, so I’ll keep it short. I love them. They’re great. Thank you. That’s it.

3) Juli (from Oxford), who has become my new Hungarian teacher. In addition to being generally an awesome person, I discovered today that she is also an amazing teacher. Very patient, which is probably my number-one requirement. She actually told me that when we were “conversing,” I didn’t make a single grammar mistake. I don’t believe her for a second, but it was kind anyway.

4) Art Supplies! (Like hot water, this also deserves an exclamation point) With the help of Item Number 3 (Juli), today I discovered a little art store on Szapáry út. We went in looking for Item Number 5 (see below), and I discovered a whole wonderful world, one I had almost forgotten, of fabric, papers, floss, beads of any shape and form. And paint for Laura.

5) Rubber Cement. Rachael, I think you might be the only one to understand my appreciation for such a mundane item. But I didn’t have it before, and you can imagine my distress at having only glue to work with. Thankful, indeed.

6) Attempts at Baking. I say attempts, because the second batch is yet cooking. And I haven’t tasted anything. It looks a bit sketchy. But smells delicious. And, in the end, I’m thankful that I could successfully cook anything without a recipe, without certain ingredients, without a real oven, and without pans.

7) The traditionals: Family, Friends, and Health. Stop me before I descend into sheer, tearful corniness. But what can I say? Family: it isn’t my first holiday away from home, but I miss you and I love you (in my book, even hot water comes a distant second to you). Friends: the new ones I’ve found here, the old ones I’ve re-found, so to speak, and the home-friends who are kind enough to keep in touch, even though I bore them with the same stories over and over (for you, hot water can be moved back to third place). Last but not least, health, which I am especially thankful for due to my recent recovery (recent being within the last few hours) of a quick-but-killer 48-hour cold.

On that note, now that I’m healthy again, I am ready to go to Nyíregyháza and make myself sick stuffing my face with various goodies. And booze, god willing.