LacigolonorhcitnA

Song for the weekend: Eminem, Lose Yourself
... because that damn club wouldn't play it. Among other reasons.

Today I boarded the train from Nyíregyháza to Szolnok, snagged a compartment to myself, and settled into my book. Before we left the station, I was joined by a jovial middle-aged Gypsy woman, who promptly cracked a Soproni, offered me some (declined), showed me her backpack full of perfume, tried to sell me some, smoked like a factory, offered me pogácsa so persistently that I finally had to take one, and complimented me on my Hungarian. She got off in Debrecen and was replaced by much more staid and quiet travel companions.

This morning was calm. We woke up to a heatless house, but quickly remedied the problem by turning on the stove burners and shutting the kitchen door. After running to the Csemege for bread, bacon, and more eggs, we had a hasty breakfast (thank you, Jenna!) before packing and departing.

Saturday evening, we ate a fantastic dinner of spaghetti and Jell-O. This, along with other fun activities such as dressing up in Mariah’s clothes (pictures of Laura in a skirt will be posted as soon as I get them) kept us busy until it was time to head out to the bar/club. We abandoned plans of The Atlantis in favor of a much closer place, which turned out to be two floors of bar and an attic dance floor, where we took up residence. The evening went as it usually does: us dancing, Hungarian gawking, us demanding good American music, the DJ complying for a time before devolving to mediocre Hungarian techno. Still, it was a good time. That place, whatever it was called, is now one of my favorites yet.

On Saturday morning, our main goal for the was making it to the store before it closed at noon. This turned out not to be a problem, as we were up and coffee-infused by 10 at the latest. We spent a good chunk of midday and afternoon watching Sex and the City before the Nyíregyháza contingent (Jenna and Yerik, plus Tim and Jen) arrived. Mark also stopped by for a while, but cut out early (pre-spaghetti, although not pre-Jell-O) to attend some school-related event.

This was my first trip to Kisvárda. Mariah’s flat is, shockingly, much nicer than mine. Although she suffers from similar hot water problems. After a long, cold walk from the train station (during which my new scarf from Juli played a vital role in keeping my face not frozen), Mariah, Laura and I decided not to brave the cold any more than we had to, and stayed in. It proved a good choice, although a relatively early evening.

Friday afternoon, I made it to Kisvárda despite being on a freezing cold and extremely bumpy train. Mariah, bless her heart, was waiting for me at the station with hot chocolate. We waited for Laura at a bar down the street which has to win the award for Sketchiest Bathroom Yet in Hungary. The lights in the back part of the building had gone out (I think the owner told me it had happened just that afternoon), so a trip to the WC involved a candle. The candle, set into a pool of wax on the sink, shone light into the doorless stall. Nice. I love small town Hungary.