Budapeszt 3

Yesterday Balint and I went to the Great Synagogue. I've never actually been in a Synagogue... Well I still haven't. But it was quite a pretty building I suppose. I managed to send some post cards which always makes me feel accomplished, like doing laundry. 

We then met up with my First Year from Adriatic, called Cindy, who is also on scholarship from the Hungarian National Committee. I told her of all the things I've done/seen and she said quite simply 'Well you've done all the touristy things'. Duh... Anyways, since we were in the Jewish District she took us to what is called a Ruined Pub. SO COOL. 

I wish I had gone at night time because I'm sure it would be a lot more interesting. But basically they're outdoor pubs that everything is is reused. I'm talking cars being shelled out and made into benches, with skis as the floor. To bird cages hanging from the ceiling next to gnomes on swings. 

From there we went to lunch where I finally tried something traditional - borsó főzelék - essentially a creamy soup with peas. Pretty good nonetheless. 

After lunch we went to one of the coolest places I have been in Europe, which is going to sound so meagre when I tell you it's a tea room. Basically you go in a take off your shoes and there are dozens of little alcoves/cocoons with pillows and incense and so chill. You choose from at least 40 teas and ring a bell to order. Above us in like a tree house were a bunch of Australian Uni students. I would come back to Budapest just for the tea rooms, I'm quite sure.  It really is the simple things my friends...

We then went to a Beer Garden that again would be really cool at night, and again has been undisturbed in furniture since the 1970s. Low Maintenance at least. Comparing UWCs and hilarious stories I tried my second type of Hungarian alcohol. It was a shot of cranberry-honey Palinka. Much better than the day befores Unicum anyways. 

Basically another great day. Adriano had Waterpolo training (national sport in Hungary) so I spent the evening with his younger sisters and Step-Mum. 

Budapeszt 2!

Okay my first full day.

Adriano works in the morning so my other Firstie from Hungary promised to meet up with me. He knows a lot more about the city and is a good travel buddy. I basically did 6 hours of walking all around Peszt with Balint. We started at Hero's Square.  I appreciated the statues. We walked and  I looked at the Opera House. I've never been to an Opera. Yet. 

The best buildings of every European city are their Churches. It's where all of the money went, so it makes sense. In St Stephens Basilica we sat and I just enjoyed the splendour (and the relief from my feet) for quite a while. It's always quiet, with a certain glow. I think so anyways.  The ceilings are always beautiful too, though it's a strain on the neck. This was the first time we went up about 500 spiralling steps to the top where we could look at the city from up high. Man, am I unfit, Insanity days are officially over. 

The next best building in an the city is the Parliament, which from Buda looks magnificent. One of the best. (Well of the ones I've seen). But up close on the road side there was sadly a lot of construction going on- which ruined the effect. Megh. 

Balint and I went into an antiquarian and, Hungarian) - they all make me happy. I bought  The Paul Street Boys (Hungarian: A Pál utcai fiúk) which is a youth novel by the Hungarian writer Ferenc Molnár -  a valuable souvenir. 

We stopped in one of Balints favorite pubs to try a Hungarian drink called Unicum I seriously thought it was disgusting. Peppery Tabasco Sauce flavour. Oh well... try everything once right?

Going to cities for the first time, museums are essential. Yet I didn't think I could manage the Naitonal History museum or anything of fine arts without a true guide to explain it all to me. So instead, Balint and I both being Higher European History students of Kate's - we went to the House of Terror. 


 The lady had promised that there were English subtitles under everything, but I really wish I had paid for an audio guide. Even so - it was very well laid out and I now understand more. However, going to a museum where you haven't actually learnt the topic in the first place, it's always overwhelming on how much I DON'T know about any situation. The building was once the headquarters of the AVH secret police. Many political prisoners were taken there for torture. Apparently the walls were of double thickness to mute the screams - not a great thought. 

It was interesting in that it focused on both the fascist and Stalinist regimes, and represented the atrocities of both. Now, I don't know if this is because I couldn't understand the Hungarian, but it seemed that it represented both, not making either side better - which is something you don't always get in a museum. There were prison cells in the dungeon which were harrowing. In each prison cell and in the last hallways there were dozens of pictures of people. I thought they were all prisoners- as it had been when I went to Auschwitz. Going through a hallway like that you always look at one particular picture and feel pain, and more to think that for every one person that is remarkable, there are a dozen that are not, that don't catch your eye. It's always so sad.

That's what I understood from the lack of English anyways. But it turned out it was the exact opposite, the prison cells - I had gotten it right. But the last hallway was pictures of spies/torturers from both sides (many still alive) who had allowed the atrocities to happen. A completely different feeling then... 

Anyways, by the end of the day I was exhausted. I got back to Adriano's, had dinner with his lovely family, and was asleep by 9:30. 

Appreciation Overload. 

Budapeszt 1!

Possibly not the best start to 6 weeks of travelling.
I arrived at the airport fine. I boarded the plane fine. Yet within 20 minutes of flying instead of heading in the direction I thought would be best towards Hungary our little plane said we were going towards Amsterdam. Peculiar...

Then the captain [who was by far the most vocal captain I have ever experienced] said we were doing an emergency landing in Amsterdam for a man was in need of medical assistance. I was in the front of the plane, but in the back of the plane there was quite a bit of mayhem.

It was at this point as we were descending that I realised I was the youngest person on the plane, swear to jah, by at least 30 years. As the lady from Toronto who I became quite chatty with put it 'All these oldies going on cruises'.

So we were delayed by about 2 hours. I got to go to the cockpit. The only question I had was 'how many buttons are actually in here?' There were a lot. Apparently the man, who was 78, had had a heart attack, which could have been prompted be the rising altitude. I really hope he is okay.

After we left we heard that the exact same thing happened to RyanAir 20 minutes later. Supposedly the whole situation, with the cost of landing, parking refuelling, paramedics etc cost 10,000 pounds. And it's becoming more and more frequent.

By time I arrived in Budapest, Adriano was there to meet me. We drove for about 40 minutes to his house in Buda and quite quickly went out again to see the Royal Palace.

From the Palace/ Castle Hill you can see the Parliament, and Peszt. Adriano didn't know much about the history of the area, but it was still pretty.

We went to dinner where I really wanted to try Hungarian food. Didn't quite manage it, as most of it seemed incredibly meaty. That night we watched Hangover 3. Though you can watch movies anywhere I think it's pretty cool watching them in different cities. I have now watched The Dark Knight Rises in Oslo, Skyfall in Lausanne and Hangover 3 in Buda :)

London Shenanigans

I suppose the last bits of this blog will be more of a recollection of my Summer Travels than speaking of AC. However, I will at least be with AC people- and none of it would happen if it weren't for UWC. It's always connected.

LONDON

Day 1-

Arrived to Gabi’s apartment in Waterloo early afternoon, went to a pub to meet up with 30 AC students in the evening. Six of the most beautiful girls staying at Gabi's for the the next 3 days.

Day 2-

Camden with Shana and Chloe, shisha and people watching at its best. Pims at 6 on the Terrace while the sun set. Night out in London with the gang…

Day 3-

Met up with Second Years in St James Park. It was a beautiful sunny day J
 Searched 7 stores for teriyaki sauce for dinner with Gabi’s parents. Early night, the History Boys.

Day 4-

Move everything to Ece’s student room at UCL. Mission in itself. Dinner at a Korean restaurant. Hackney for the night, staying at Carys’ with Chlo and Rhys.  Watched the Great Gatsby- dazzling.

Day 5-

Museum hopping. National British Museum, Carys (who will be studying Art History in Cambridge in September) took me around her favourites, Ancient Egyptian and Greek. Lunch in China town, [Malaysian food ironically]. Another museum, though I do not know which one. Tons of Picasso, Manet, and Monet… fun listening to Konan and Chris Lowell’s interpretations of the paintings.

Dinner at Pizza Express with Chlo.

Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre – it was amazing!

Day 6-

Not feeling too well… mission to move all of my luggage to Hounslow and spend time with my family. Chill.

Day 7-

Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes. Covent Garden performances. Lots of walking.

Day 8-

Canary Wharf, lunch with my second cousin Will. Camden Town: find a journal for Ilisha.
Found myself in  her aunts car on our way to Hammersmith to find fabric with Ilisha. Weird what can happen when you say yes and do things on a whim [obviously not my forte].

‘Crocktails’ [created cocktails] in the family backyard for the evening- incredible night.

Another Beautiful Song

Arjun, James, Bram and Michael's song at the graduation evening.

We stood and stared at length
At Mandela's bust by the wooden bushy bench
We've climbed trees and tames bees
While a bunch of us were gathered in rooms to make peace

I'll miss those chinese eyes, egyptian breakfasts
Sick bay lies and sosh rejections

Those long dayroom conversations
Some silent passive intimidations

Wakie wakie!, Its the morning surprise
The miserable rain or the rarest sunrise

Farewell farewell
To you and to me
And that castle by the sea

Those endless walks by the coastal path
Those chinese all nighters doing math
and then for a short while in August
We got to know us
Look at us now, we're packed
Let's just take the next bus

I'd like chicken donner with a can of coke
But cigarettes and marcross make me broke

Ive been waiting for this day for so long
Its time for skinny dipping, just grab your thongs
If it wasnt for the code of conduct, Id play beer pong
But look I just made a sad sad song


I want a shower party coz Im legal now
You completed the AC challenge, just take a bow

We're still staring
Our ships are steering
As we've watched the winds take more than just the barren
So you'll go tomorrow and Im sure Ill feel hollow
The ends in sight
Not sure if we should party tonight

Farewell to you and to me
And that castle by the sea

Leavers Dinner Speech

One of the most spectacular guys I know. Šarūnas Genys  from Lithuania's speech at our Leavers Dinner.



My dearly beloved co-years, teachers, staff and above all friends,

Firstly, I cannot be grateful enough for all of you who have had faith in me in delivering this speech and possibly my haircut was slightly unexpected I hope you understand that the flaming hair represents the never ending UWC movement.  

All the drama aside, before coming to AC I didn’t know what to expect, I know sounds cliché, but my parents never went to UWC, neither they have heard about it,I have never gone to an international school before, never had friends from abroad.

A perfect inexperienced student to be transformed by the international atmosphere of AC you would, sharing a dorm with people from 3 other countries. Should be completely transformational, shouldn’t it?

Well, it wasn’t. I never measured my time in AC by the number of times Norwegian flag was up in the flag tower because of a national celebration. And possibly I did not truly learn a whole new set of facts about countries besides the easily observable things of how fruity Quebecois might be, how diverse can personalities from Serbia and how party-animals Bengalis might be with all of the Diwali celebrations and the singing of the stage. I understand how important it is for college to increase its diversity, although it’s never  clear if we have 89 or 91 nationalities, for me AC was never measured by any numbers.

AC for me was finally coming to understand that people from around the world are largely the same, have same fears, same expectations, same hopes and same feelings.

Atlantic college will always remind me of the philosophical discussions at 4 a.m. in the dayroom whilst sharing the last piece of toast and ever more than that the silly moments that bring people together and make them laugh, for example throwing buckets of ice-cold water over the people enjoying their hot shower after a long day. I don’t know if it’s only me but I believe that the power of laughter is immeasurable.

Hey, I acknowledge AC is not a perfect place, there are conflicts, there are awkward moments in the canteen when you get your spicy Chicken Tikka slice, enter the dining hall and the only free space is next to Alice and then you have to endure a long awkward lunch without saying anything. And that’s OK, not everything in AC had to be meaningful.

And no matter where you heading off now, whether it volunteering in India, travelling in South America or simply moving down to the barracks for AOC summer – ARAF my friends as we say in Welsh, and enjoy the last few hours of the journey that does not have an ending.

#uwcexperienceneverends

Stay golden, my dear friends and let’s make this journey last forever.

Goodbye.

So I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to wrap this up.

I made it through the IB. The majority of the exams were good enough, I hope. It was strange to finish an exam in a couple of hours, or max no more than 5, which summed up dozens of hours in classrooms, homework manics and studying. But that's the same with any exam I suppose.
History was better than I expected. Geography was worse.
I lost many hours of sleep. I consumed more coffee in two weeks than I had ever in my life previously. I only had one major mental break down, before Geography.

But too be quite frank, I'm exhausted with talking about the IB. It's been two years. Always on my mind. Always nagging. It's over now, until July 6th anyways when we find out the results, I just really don't find it necessary to think about that part of AC for now.

It's probably the most surreal part of graduating. I've been asked several times now- what is it like to finally have graduated? Weird. Not only has it not truly hit me, but it won't for a long time. Saying good bye are being prolonged to it's the last possible moment. Travelling for 6 weeks has it's benefits.

Being in London for a week means we meet up. Last night meeting up at a London pub, there were about 40 ex-AC students, four generations. It was a realisation that AC can't actually end. As our ''leisure periphery' expands, the idea of not being connected is less and less. Which is consolation.

However, to a few US students... good bye was tough. For example, dear Joaco from Uruguay. He's going to Middlebury in August. He travelled all over Europe last summer. For people like Joaco who I lived with for 2 years and have seen nearly every day in that time- we can't say when we'll see each other again. It's as hard (possibly harder) than saying good bye to a few family members. We cried for a very long time.
Arriving in AC to pots and pans and cheering. Leaving AC with the same guys who looked so macho as Second Years with red puffy eyes is not something people say everywhere.

I could go on about every goodbye. I could go on about the celebrations in Cambodia [field], at the Watch Tower, watching the sunrise on our last morning. I could give all the details. But words are never sufficient. They give an image- but they won't give a memory. Those, well I keep those.


With all my Love,
Abi

PS- I'm still in debate whether to keep the blog going for the 6 weeks of travelling. I may continue until then. Simply to console dear Daddy.