plagues and pests

I have already sort of planned my mid-life crisis already. Of course, this depends on whether or not I'm going to have one. I haven't decided that yet. Anyone who's ever witnessed me singing along to Ella Fitzgerald knows that I kind of slide around aimlessly and slip into a trance. My roommates have gotten used to me mopping the kitchen floor while twirling around and wailing away to 'Misty'. However, I doubt becoming a jazz singer is very easy for a middle-aged woman, given that it's almost impossible for a young woman. I don't like those odds. My kids will probably also yell at me to shut up so they can pay more attention to their video games. Ew. Video games.
I'm just giving everyone a warning here. Someday, I may convince myself that I am Ella reincarnate and then try to run off and take on the world. Hopefully by then smoking in jazz clubs will be strictly prohibited. That's my main concern. That and having to walk around a stage in heels.
I am going to blame that funny little intro on the copious amounts of Sudafed and iced latte running through me right now. My mind is on overdrive, which isn't really a good thing. I woke up late today and spent most of it sitting in the park reading 'Special Topics in Calamity Physics' and watching the little Kinder running around aimlessly. I had a lot of parents smile affectionately at me. I need to tack a sign to my head that says 'Will Babysit for Homecooked Meals' next time.
I finished my book, inhaled a vegetarian Doener (which was mostly red peppers...divine) and now I'm avoiding the mess in my room and the pile of reading I have to do for this upcoming week. I returned from my last big excursion yesterday, which was Berlin-Hamburg-Amsterdam. Somewhere between Berlin and Hamburg I got the Black Plague. By the time we got to Amsterdam I had a collection of German cold medication, a nasty cough, and a slightly grumpy travel companion. Julia was a trooper though. She did her best to comfort me and even put up with me crying loudly in the bathroom in the middle of the night about missing my mom and not being able to breathe out of my nose.
Highlight of the trip: 3 hours spent in the Van Gogh Museum
Most interesting part: sharing some Amstel Lights with Neo-Nazis in the Red Light District. (When we realized this, Julia and I came up with some creative excuses and literally ran back to our hostel. I have become quite good at moving quickly through cobble-stoned streets.)
Most delicious: My Vanilla Toffee Crunch ice cream cone in Berlin, eaten at 1 AM while lost and indifferent about the situation
Most stressful: arriving at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof with literally 4 minutes to catch my train to Hamburg
Most painful: our plane's downward descent into the Basel Airport. Rapid changes in pressure are extremely unpleasant when you are fighting a wicked headcold.

That will give you a taste of that adventure. It was nice to get out again and go run around like a wild gypsy, but for the most part, I am done with long intense traveling. I need time to go home and be bored for a few months. I am kind of ready to fully understand the language around me. I will live up these last 2 months but I miss my family, friends, and eating every color of Flavor-Ice consecutively. It also breaks my heart that I am missing the 4th, which is the best holiday ever. The combination of good company, good food, warm weather, and fireworks appeals to me, as I'm sure it does most people.
This week I have a ton of schoolwork to do, and then my wonderful mother, sister, and Earl get here on the 14th. I get another week off school to run around France with them. As Laura says, she likes having me around for about an hour, but after that she just gets sick of me, so this will be interesting, because she will get 10 WHOLE DAYS OF ME (dun dun duuuuhhh)
I, being the loving sister I am, already have a fan and ear plugs on hand, for when I breathe too loudly in my sleep. I am also mentally preparing myself for The Raiding of the Closet, The Stealing of the Computer, The Complaining About Bath Products, and the inevitable bi-yearly Talk about how our parents are kind of going crazy and what needs to be done about it. (I'm sure they have similar talks about us, but they are probably more frequent and done on the phone.)
I also have decided that I want to hack off all my hair again, attempt some more French, and go hiking more. My boots just look too clean. My backpack has started showing some wear, which excites me. Thank you, Airport Baggages Goons. I feel like a legitimate traveller now.

Where was I?
BUDAPEST
If I could pick any of my friends to be immediately adopted by my parents, I would pick Natalie. This is an odd thing to say, considering the girl doesn't have a musical bone in her body. She appreciates music, yes, but who doesn't appreciate music? I just feel like the girl would just be a good Patterson. And I would say that about very few people.
I knew the trip would be a success when we arrived in Munich around 10 and instead of bugging me to go run around the city, Natalie asked me if we could just go to bed early. I love experiencing Europe, yes, but I'd rather do so after my requisite 8-9 hours of sleep.
The next day, after more interesting train travel with cranky, old Austrian women and an adorable Belgian family, we got into Pest. Budapest is actually two cities separated by some river. We found our cute little hostel tucked away on the Pest side and went out to a nice dinner at some restaurant where the only employees were old Hungarian men with white hair. We crashed early. Sitting smushed into train compartments and people watching takes it out of you.
(I've often wondered what the 'it' refers to in that phrase. Will to live? Energy to go on? Those all sound so depressing)
The next few days we took on the city. Our first day we took a long tour all over the city. Halfway through it we got to witness a guy walking down the street holding a kitchen sink and whistling to himself. Our tour guide told Natalie and me all about Hungarian history AND all about her secret passion for dancing. Hm... To get from Buda down into Pest we took the #6 bus, which should probably be called the #666 bus to prepare you for what kind of journey it was. I leaned down to tie my shoe and Natalie literally had to hold on to my shoulders with both of her hands while wrapping her ankle around a pole so that we both didn't go a-flyin.
That night we made everyone in our hostel watch Monty Python's Life of Brian with us. I wanted to watch Return of the Jedi, but I lost to Natalie at Rock/Paper/Scissors. For dinner we made spaghetti with peas. Canned vegetables always remind me of church potlucks. This makes them comforting in a grandmother-ly kind of way. Maybe I'm just crazy.
The next day we did everything backwards. After getting in a serious fight with the hostel's coffee machine (some Spanish hoodlums put the coffee in without a filter) we went to spend the better part of the afternoon at the traditional thermal spas in the middle of the city. I got caught in the middle of an intense whirlpool and accidentally trampled a few Hungarian children, but otherwise the experience was completely relaxing. We got to lay out in the sun and people watch. Very nice.
After relaxing and pampering ourselves, we decided to go caving. Now, this was not a mere tour through some vast open cave. This was the most intense physical activity I have ever taken part in. (Not really that impressive, if you know anything about me, but be impressed. Please.)We put on some intense overalls, helmets with lights, and I did not go gently into that good night. I army crawled. I shimmied. I got ridiculously dirty, bruised, and punched in the face by a few clay boulders. Natalie and I also befriended some hilarious brothers from Nova Scotia who are teaching in London for a year.
I only freaked out a handful of times but got through it by whispering "I can do this" under my breath about a dozen times. I think I also yelled it a few times. It's amazing what words spoken aloud can do when you're smushed between clay walls.
After surviving, we went out to get Turkish food with the Canadian brothers. We all compared cave hair and exchanged travel stories. They've invited me to go to Interlaken with them July 27th, to go sky-diving. Bahhh. I wish I could. They were fun.
We left Budapest early the next morning, after slinking out of our hostel at 5 AM. I think I dropped everything I possibly could have and woke up our entire room. I will blame this all on my poor aching body that was refusing to cooperate. We bought out the snack sidestand at the train station and got on our 11 hour train into the depths of Romania.
And that, folks, is the end of this chapter.

Speaking of chapters, I have a few to go tackle before bed, so I shall wrap this up for now.
All of this typing and crooning to Ella is really taking it out of me.