A Few of My Favorite Things

I have many favorite things in Hungary. It would, of course, be very sad to live somewhere and not have favorite things. Some of these are actual "favorites" and others are more along the "wow, that is simply so unbelievable that it has become a favorite" line. These are some of the best:

electric lawnmowers - it's like watching people vacuum their lawns, holding the power cord away from the blade in one hand, while pushing the lawnmower back and forth like a vacuum with the other.

gas prices - next time someone back home complains, tell them to consider Europe. My recent calculation puts gas at $6.27 a gallon. That's a rise of approximately 59 cents since Hurricane Katrina.

"expectations" - I find it rather humorous that I will need to ask my colleagues tomorrow whether I should be happy or concerned that I had more than seven students skip two different classes today. I also should get around to asking, sooner or later, if I should be assigning homework and giving the students grades. On a related note, half of the teachers are leaving Thursday for a school-sponsored staff trip to Italy. I'm not sure how the school will function after they leave, but very few people are worried about the scenario. I, especially, am not worrying as I don't speak Hungarian.

Jon Bon Jovi - the simple fact that Mr. Bon Jovi's musical goodness transcends cultural and linguistic lines makes me very happy.

cabbage noodles served with sugar - Hungarians understand when I don't like mashed up cabbage served with cold noodles and topped off with sugar. I appreciate that.

Librarians - Today I made the librarian smile by proving to her that I knew the Hungarian word for pen. It's "toll."

Mosquitoes - My apartment has been invaded by mosquitoes. There are at least two hundred flocking around the light fixtures. The amazing part is that they have not bothered me once, not a single bite. I have yet to figure it out.

Sandbags - My bathroom floods every time I take a shower. Like New Orleans, it was a bit poorly constructed. But yesterday, I built a sandbag levee out of a grocery bag, sand from outside my door and a rusty steel bar.

Bikes - I want a bike. I figure a sign is the way to make that happen. I flipped through a dictionary and produced a rudimentary one in Hungarian proclaiming my desire for a "not new," "not 1.000.000.000 forint" bike. I drew a picture of me smiling next to a bike to better help convey the message. No reports yet on anyone with a bike to sell. (Feedback I have received, though, suggests that the word choice I used is more akin to "desire" and carries a more romantic than I intended.)