Budapest night bus = nem jó

Okay, so I debated not writing about this for fear of seeming like a wuss, but whatevs.

I went out to Szimpla (a "beer garden," which is as awesome as it sounds) last night with a bunch of CETPers. It was pretty chill; I got to meet a lot of other people teaching in Budapest and in the rest of the country, attach faces to stories (CETP is like a summer camp or something in that way, freakin' rife with gossip- I love it), and hear about other people's experiences here. Everything was real swell until I agreed, not too reluctantly, actually, to throw palinka into the mix (that's the national Hungarian liqueur; tastes like fruity moonshine with a laundry detergent aftertaste). About two shots and one beer in, I felt like I wanted to crawl under the table into a fetal position and die. I swear to God, that plum-juice-mixed-with-Tide enfusion gave me an ulcer. For sure. Not wanting to reveal myself as the little bitch that I was (I was representing UMass, after all), I powered through till about 1 am, sitting there with my Dreher, sober, nauseated, and exhausted, using Herculean feats of strength not to upchuck all over everyone.

When the others decided to go to another nightclub, I decided it was time to pack it in and take the "night bus." How, where, what, I didn't know. I'll spare you the sorry details, but basically, made a few laps around Deak Ter and Astoria, being directed, re-directed, and misdirected by Hungarians and foreigners alike, none of whom knew what the fuck was up with anything. The bus drivers had no desire to talk to me, and probably thought that my smudged make-up and greenish skin tint was a mark of being trashed, and the unfairness of it all made me want to up chuck more. At one point, some dickwad with a cellphone ran up to me with arms spread wide, shouting what at first I took as "PUSSY!!!!". I then remembered that "puszi" means "kiss," which wasn't a sight better, and I ran away, practically weeping and muttering "er, koszonom, but nem." So finally I caved, and I took a 1000 ft taxi ride home (that's about $5-- freakin' worth every penny.)


Note to self- figure out transport prior to leaving house. Not being prepared= definitely nem jó.