Celebrating 1 month
Monday was a pretty typical day here, except for the rain that is going to be sticking around all week! I continued to work on sheep business things; Flora and I discussed possible adventures for the weekend!
Tuesday was full of things to keep me busy! Flora and I woke up and headed over to the canteen for lunch. After the canteen, we decided to try out the Italian bakery that the girls told us about over the weekend. I had a cappuccino and the equivalent of a cinnamon roll with walnuts and pistachios. Flora also had a cappuccino but got a raspberry cinnamon roll - naturally we shared our sweet treats. We sat in one of those bubble things to stay out of the rain but still be outside for a few hours and discussed our plans for the weekend. We decided on going to Vienna to celebrate 1 month of us being here! After wrapping up our sweet treats, we headed back to the dorm so that I could finish my homework and prepare for my language class. As I walked over to my class, I came to the conclusion that I really need an umbrella especially if the weather is going to be like this for the week! Charlotte, Adeline, and I rushed over (in the rain) to one of the student programs after class to paint tote bags! I visited with the girl next to me who is from Moldova and has been studying in Debrecen since her undergraduate (she is getting her master’s in mechanical engineering)! It was great making a new friend while we shared paint supplies. We finished the night with a couple of group photos and were off to the dorms to eat dinner and sleep.
I went to my early class on Wednesday and have added more books to my list. After lunch at the canteen, I went over to visit Katalin, and we got my residence permit application submitted! I came back to the dorm and reheated pasta for dinner. Flora and I got ready for another night at the Bakelit cafe - this time the theme was Traffic Light Party (you picked a bracelet color based on your romantic situation). Around 10:30 Flora and I rode the tram down to the city center with Adeline and Zeyad, but when we got to the tram station we ran into the Portuguese Mariana’s and their Spanish friends! We visited the entire tram ride and it was great getting to meet some more of the international (ESN) students. When we walked into the bar we picked up our bracelets and met up with Eetu and Tommi. While we were at the bar we visited with some of the Turkish people and learned that Sumeyra went to Italy last week. We left the bar at 3 and made it back to the dorm to get a few hours of sleep.
On Thursday, I woke-up early to meet with Katalin and try to set up my bank account (I am still waiting on my residence permit paperwork to do that). After the meeting, I came back to the dorm and showered and worked on homework til noon. At noon, Flora and I decided to venture over to the Immigration Office for me to finalize my permit with biometric scans. On the hour long walk we managed to get caught up in a torrential thunderstorm and hail storm. Thank goodness for the bus stop shelters that we could hide under while the storm passed. Surprisingly, Flora had never seen hail before, so that was a first! An hour later we finally made it to the Immigration Office, where we then waited for anther hour before I was called up to take a photo, get fingerprinted, and sign a few documents. Another thirty minutes later, the bus arrived and we were able to take off back to campus for our classes. I had my Hungarian language course and today we had a quiz on the alphabet, conjugating first person pronouns, and countries and nationalities. After our quiz, we learned about the plural pronouns and practiced introducing ourselves and each other.
Example introduction:
Jenna vagyok (I am Jenna)
Amerikai vagyok (I am from the USA)
Debrecenben elek (I live in Debrecen)
Huzonegy eves vagyok (I am 21 years old)
Erasmus diak vagyok (I am an Erasmus student)
Ismayi, de Debrecenben (I am from Ismay, but I live in Debrecen)
Angolul beszelek (I speak English)
Friday was the start of the first roommate adventure! We left our dorm at 7 am to catch the 8 am train to Budapest, unfortunately, our train was delayed in arriving at the station, so we had to get our tickets validated for the noon train to Vienna. Our train was pretty full up until the Hungarian border, but once we crossed into Austria we had room to spread back out. We arrived in a very rainy Vienna and figured out how to get from the station to the hostel. After checking-in, we opted to find a budget friendly lunch and landed on schnitzel sandwiches from a gourmet SPAR (kind of like a Hy-Vee). We walked a few blocks and turned the corner to see the incredible St. Stephens Cathedral and just stood in there in awe before circling the building to find the entrance. After the Cathedral, we walked around the square and looked at some of the statues and fountains before walking over to the Austrian National Library. We were able to get student discount tickets for viewing the State Hall and library. We walked around some more as the sun was setting and enjoyed the architecture. Our friend Charlotte was also visiting Vienna with her friends so we decided to meet up for coffee at a cafe. While we were waiting for Charlotte, we visited St. Peter’s Cathedral and were able to listen to the organ and some hymns. We got cake and coffee at Aida which is a pink themed cafe that are all over Vienna. After our cake, we parted ways with Charlotte and walked around the city some more. We decided it was time for dinner and after 2 attempts at restaurants that were both full, we found an Austrian restaurant that was a little out of the way. We split a pork schnitzel with a salad and fries that was delicious. After refueling, we both decided it was time to call it a day and head back to the hostel for the night. We got lucky and had the room to ourselves for the night!
On Saturday morning, we left the hostel and traveled over to Belvedere Palace. It was another rainy day so there were not too many tourists out and about that early. We purchased our tickets and wandered over to the entrance. While we were inside, we were able to look at all kinds of artwork including “The Kiss,” “Character heads,” and “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” along with other Baroque and more modern pieces. We walked through the Botanical Gardens on our way to find a breakfast place. We ended up going to a Parisian bistro close by. After breakfast and a quick break, we visited the Butterfly House. We decided we would try and visit the Opera House, but there were only guided tours available and they were all booked. Instead, we ventured over to the Music House Museum that was suggested by Flora’s mom! It was a very interactive museum, and we were able to learn about the famous composers of Vienna. After the museum, we opted for a walk to the Danube river. It was about an hour and a half from the city center, and at the halfway mark we stopped for another round of coffee and pastries. After warming up, we continued the trek to the river. It took another 40 minutes to walk across the river, and we stopped for a few photos. After getting to the other side, we hopped on the underground train and found our way back to the hostel for a break. Flora really wanted to eat Five Guys so we headed back to the city center for her to experience all the goodness in one burger! After another long day of sightseeing, we headed back to the hostel for the night to shower and sleep.
Sunday marked the end of our girls weekend in Vienna. We checked out of the hostel and traveled back down to the city center for breakfast. We stopped at a cafe for coffee and pastries and made a plan for the day. We decided to take a walk through Stadtpark and did some people and dog watching. After an hour, we decided to go look for our souvenirs I got 2 postcards and Flora bought a magnet. Of course, on our way out of town we had to stop at the Lindt chocolate store and picked up some assorted chocolates for the journey home. We hopped on the tram for the train station and bought our ticket to Budapest. After a very long 3 hours, we finally made it Budapest. However, we had to go to one of the other train stations in town to buy our tickets for Debrecen. We went to the ticket lady and I was able to speak some Hungarian (whoop whoop) to get our student discounts! The train back to Debrecen was packed with students and the 2 and a half hours took forever. We made it back to Debrecen in one piece and were ready to sleep in our own beds!
This next week is going to be pretty busy again with ESN activities so stay tuned!
