28 September 2008: Budapest, Hungary

I woke up at 6:30 and Beate saw me out the door before anyone showed up. So Beate was off the hook and I was crazy about Beate. Or something like it.

I went to Adagio Hostel to see if I could just sleep on the couch there for an hour or two. There were four employees of the hostel that I had met, and two of them would have been fine with me doing that and two wouldn't have been. I was sure about this and, as luck would have it, the two people there from the overnight shift and for the morning shift were the two who would have said no. And who did say no. So I made myself a cup of tea and left my stuff in the kitchen, and I was on my way.

Since it was Sunday, I figured that most of the hostels in Budapest would have massive clean-ups to do from the weekend. At the very least, they would have loads of laundry to do from the sheets that would have to be changed. I figured the time was right for work-to-stay.

The first hostel I tried said no, but the girl at the second hostel told me to come back at 11:00 and ask the dude working that shift. We had some tea and toast together and, when I told her I was looking for a more permanent job that just changing sheets for a night of sleeping, she told me that she had just gotten a new job as a psychologist at a children's home. Impressive.

And she was good. After I explained to her that I'm just traveling around and trying to find work as it comes up, she looked at me with her most serious face and asked "What are you running from?" I told her I wasn't running from anything, and she said "So is it an emptiness inside that you're trying to fill?" I told her to give it a rest. But she'll be perfect for the children.

The girl was confident I would be able to get a bed that night, so this was to be my first calm day of exploring. Before I left, though, she gave me 2000ft because her new job-- read: new salary-- was going to be, like I said, impressive. She figured I could use 2000ft. I could.

My first move of the day was to Margitzeiget, a beautiful island in the middle of the Danube. I had gotten bananas and tomatos and had myself a little picnic, and then I walked around for a couple hours. It might be the most beautiful place in Budapest, and probably the best place to meet people. If only you were able to speak the language. Damn.

There is a hostel on the island, and I figured that if the bed didn't work out it would probably be the most fun option, as far as the hostels went. I mean, it was right there on the island and had a huge outdoor terrace-- the perfect setting for a sweet hostel. So I asked how much the beds were, and the guy said that the night before had been the last night of the season. And it was now closed. I couldn't believe it. What luck. The guy did tell me a couple bars to check out, though, so I guess it wasn't completely worthless.

I went back to the hostel at noon but the girl was still there, so I walked to the church and synagogue. Or, maybe, the Church and Synagogue, since they are the famous ones in Budapest. They were impressive, but I wasn't exactly blown away or anything.

I was back at the hostel at 2:00, only this time there was no one there. And when I went back at 3:00, the dude on the intercom said "full" and that was the end of that. I was back where I had begun.

So, like I do whenever I need something, I went back to Adagio Hostel. The blonde girl who had been there that morning-- one of the two I predicted wouldn't help me out-- was still working, and I asked her if I could pick up my stuff that evening "if you're still working." She said she would be and that it would be fine if I picked it up later, which would have been good news if that was why I had been asking. But it wasn't. I had been hoping she would say "I won't be here" because that would mean that maybe one of the other two would be.

So I figured I might as well take a shot, and I asked her if I could crash on the couch that night. She of course said no, and when I explained that I would be gone before she even woke up she called her manager to ask if I could do that. Seriously, she called her manager to ask if I could sleep in the hostel without paying. I couldn't believe it. That was the end of that, but good.

At this point I figured that I had just about used up most of my good karma. I was a bit worried that if I tried to find another place to sleep for free I might in fact be the recipient of some bad karma, on account of not using the 2000ft the girl at the hostel had given me. Plus, since I hadn't heard back from Szylvia, it couldn't hurt to re-establish myself at the hostel in the hopes of being more inclined to give me the job.

When I went back to the hostel a girl named Nora was working. She had an Italian name and was speaking what sounded like Italian on the phone, so when she hung up I said something to her in Italian. She said she didn't understand, so I said something else that may have been more likely to be correct Italian. She still didn't understand, so I tried to explain myself in English, and she DEFINITELY didn't understand that. I'm pretty sure Nora has absolutely no say in the hirings and firings of the hostel, but it wasn't a good sign.

(And, for the record, she probably is Hungarian. Almost definitely is Hungarian. Oops.)

Having paid for an actual bed, I took a glorious, two-hour nap. What had begun as a relaxing day had become sort of stressful. And a lot of walking.

Now, when it comes to hostels, you're paying for a bed but you're also paying for the atmosphere and the company. Well, I was the only person in a 12-bed room that night, and one of only five people in the hostel at all. The other four were a group of American girls who were just about the least-friendly people I've ever seen choose to stay at a hostel. Since hostelers are typically, by definition, extremely friendly.

They were watching "Spiderman" on the television and, though it was in Hungarian, I enjoyed the chance to confirm my suspicions about Tobey. The one in Galway. Plus, it's not exactly too hard to figure out what they're saying in that movie, anyway.

I went down to a shop to get a couple beers for 170ft each and bring them back to the hostel. I was going to get three but decided against it when I had brought them to the cash register. I told the girl working there that I only wanted to get two, but she absolutely refused to re-do the total. I mean, she didn't budge for three minutes, and though it wouldn't have hurt to have another beer, now it was a stand-off.

Finally she relented, I guess, and she wrote the math on the receipt with the most pissed-off look on her face. I couldn't believe it. So she did 605-- the price for three-- minus 165-- the price of the beer I put back-- and she scribbled something and handed me the change. Except she only gave me 340ft.

Now, I'm not one to make a fuss over 66 cents-- the equivalent of 100 ft-- but, like I said, it was a stand-off. So I told her she was 100ft short, and she didn't believe me. I showed her the receipt and her scribbled math, and she begrudgingly-- and I mean BEGRUDGINGLY-- gave me another 100ft. I win.

After the beers and a little more "Spiderman" I went to one of the bars that had been recommended to me by the guy at the island hostel. What I found was essentially Budapest's attempt at an Aussie bar. So it was fun, but was strictly English-speakers in groups. I stayed for a beer but then set out to find something more Hungarian.

I tried the other recommended bar, but there were only a half dozen people there. I asked the bartender where I should go, and she said that no one goes out on a Sunday. That probably isn't exactly true, but I figured most of the people that did go out on a Sunday were at the Aussie bar. Or similar such places.

I stayed for a beer there, too, and talked with the bartender and the drunk Hungarian sitting at the bar-- which is pretty much what I had wanted to find. Then I went back to the hostel, since no one goes out on a Sunday.

I had some food from the "staff" drawer in the fridge, seeing as I was only taking an advance on what would soon be coming to me, and then I went to bed in the empty room.

To be perfectly honest, I was pretty upset with myself for how the weekend had gone. That had been the case the previous night, but it was just magnified this time. I mean, I had basically done nothing over the weekend, other than the ordeal with the Hungarian dudes which I admit was awesome, but I had spent my nights with Neil and Laura when I knew exactly what it was going to be like. I had basically wasted the weekend and now, when I was finally on my own, it was Sunday and nothing was happening. Poor form, Zach.