Finally. Monday. The day of employment.
Szylvia had said she would know about the job on Monday, and since she had said she was 95% going to get the new job I awoke with a spring in my step and my wallet practically bursting with the forint I was soon to acquire.
Except, of course, it didn't work out that way.
Szylvia was actually working that morning, so I asked her immediately what the situation was, since I hadn't spoken to her for days. She said she wouldn't know about the new job until Friday.
Unbelievable. Unbefuckinglievable.
She told me to stay there again that night because "who knows what will happen," and I told her that I had stayed there LAST night because of that very reason. And I couldn't exactly afford to do it again. But she said that her manager was going to be there in the evening, so I should at least stop by.
Szylvia said that she had to go to an interview the next day, when she was supposed to be working, and her manager had said she would be able to go but now was going back on that. She said that she asked the manager if I could at least take her shift the next day, and the manager had said no. So Szylvia told me that if the manager still wouldn't let her go to the interview she would quit. So, this new information realized, I figured that if I showed up and talked to the manager, then maybe I would get the shift the next day. Or, if Szylvia really did quit, then maybe I could just get the whole job. I was keeping the faith.
I left the hostel to meet Beate for lunch. We had made plans to meet at noon at a big McDonald's, which I figured was just because it was an obvious meeting spot. Instead, Beate wanted to eat at McDonald's. So she spent 800ft on a burger and fries and I decided to hold off on lunch for the time being.
Now, Beate had obviously been willing to do me a huge favor and let me spend the night on the couch and she had met me for lunch, but the girl didn't say more than three words the entire time. Mixed messages, I guess. Or maybe just one message.
Before she left to go to her next class, though, she took me to the student employment office. I didn't feel too optimistic about it, but I wasn't going to turn down her offer of help. So I went inside and asked if there were any jobs, and of course they said that it was an office for Hungarian students, not any students. Figures.
I got another lunch of tomatos and bananas-- I'm telling you, as a meal it could do no wrong-- and took it back to Margitzeiget. Afterwards I walked over to Vaci Utca, which is the internationally-known main commercial street in Budapest. It was basically what I would have expected-- 90% tourists and 10% street vendors-- so I wasn't all too crazy about Vaci Utca itself. But this was my first time deep in downtown Budapest, and I really enjoyed the streets around it.
The thing about Budapest is that, if you keep your head down, it's easy to forget that you're in an Eastern European country. But if you look up, if you're just aware of your surroundings, all you see is old, obviously Hungarian buildings and communism-evoking architecture. It's the coolest thing about Budapest, in my opinion.
Of course, if you keep your head up for too long you'll see a KFC or a Subway and you'll forget you're in Budapest. It works both ways.
(Oh, and by the way, I had potato wedges on the island for 380ft. This cheap eating might be healthier than the cheap eating in Ireland, but it's quite a bit less filling.)
Towards the early evening I headed back to the hostel to see if there was any update with Szylvia. The manager hadn't come yet, but Szylvia said to return at 7:30 because then they would both be there and I would probably have the best luck then.
I had an hour to kill so I went to see Laura and Neil for a bit and came right back. I was at the hostel at 7:26 but the manager had already come and Szylvia had already left. So it was just me and the manager, and I knew from the start there wasn't a chance in hell for me. The manager was, well, a total bitch and she said that I couldn't work there because I don't speak Hungarian. I explained to her that I don't need to speak Hungarian when no one staying there speaks Hungarian, and she had no response. But that didn't matter in the least. Regardless of Szylvia's new job, my job in the hostel was an impossibility.
Well, this was a bit of a disappointment. A huge fucking disappointment. It wasn't just that I was no longer going to be making money, since the money wasn't a whole lot, but the fact that I had been banking on this job and had basically spent the past few days in Budapest just waiting for it. Now that I didn't have the job I was not only none the richer, I was none the wiser because I had just been WAITING for the job and hadn't done much during the days. I was so upset I can't even explain it.
Anyway, what this also meant was that I was in need of a couch again. I went to one of the universities-- the only university in Budapest that has anything even remotely like a campus-- and asked around. Some kid pointed me to the "student hostel," but like the place that Neil stayed over the summer it's not a hostel during the school-year.
Then I asked a group of six dudes, and this was my first "Eastern Europeans hate Americans" moment. At least, I expected it to be. It was just me-- the American traveler loaded down with stuff-- and six Hungarian dudes drinking beer. I was pretty convinced they would give me bad directions just to fuck with me, and the stocky dude eyeing me the entire didn't exactly help with that impression. But two of them gave me directions-- walk this way to this square, take this tram this way to this street, walk this way to the hostel-- and they ended up being perfect. Got me there with no problem at all. So they pass the test, and I shouldn't be so quick to pass judgment. Hmm.
When I got to the hostel I asked the girl at the desk if there was any way I could do some work for a bed-- not that night, necessarily, because it was so late, but the next day maybe-- and she said that wouldn't work because most of the residents speak Hungarian. I asked if I could just do some cleaning or something, whatever work was needed just for a bed, and she said that they hire out the cleaning to a private company. So that wouldn't work, either.
Then the girl decided to get cute about it. She asked if I had "checked with companies," and I said that I don't have a work visa and was only going to be in the country for a few weeks, anyway. Not exactly long enough for a company position. Then she asked if I wanted her to check with her embassy friends, and I said that was probably not such a good idea, seeing as how I'm not legally supposed to be looking for work here.
Then, and this was the kicker, she asked if I was OK with doing manual work. I don't see why not, so I said I would be fine with that. Then she asked if I wanted to "work with the miners." I didn't exactly like where this was going, but I asked her what kind of work that would entail. She consulted with her colleague and said, and I quote, "you would build a new metro station."
Really. Well, as qualified as I am to build a subway station, I told her I didn't really think I'd have enough time to finish the project. Thanks, but no thanks.
So, anyway, it was a night in the Griff Hotel. The student rate was 23,000ft/month, which is a pretty great deal, but the girl wouldnt't give me a week's worth of that price. So instead I paid 1700ft for the night, which was still the best price in town. And, as a courtesy, the girl gave me my own room because otherwise "people would steal your stuff."
Why? Well, another question might be "why does most of the hostel speak Hungarian?" The answer is that, in addition to being part-student dormitory, Griff Hotel was, as far as I could tell, also part-halfway house.
My room was in the dungeon, more lovingly referred to as "the basement," and consisted of a bed, a table, and a sink. All it was missing was a toilet, and it could have been a prison cell. (The common bathroom was in the hallway.)
I went up a few flights to explore the student dormitory part, but only two students were hanging out because the rest were either sleeping or studying. They didn't speak much English, but pointed me to a dude named Zair.
This guy, Zair, is a Nigerian student who speaks great English. We talked for a while and he mentioned that he's trying to start an English-language school for students at the university. I told him I was desperate for work and he said that he would hire me but the school is only just getting off the ground, so he's only got a handful of students and not much work to be done. I told him I would do anything and everything for a day of work and all I needed was 2000ft, and he gave me an advance of that much and told me to e-mail the next day about work. What a nice gesture. He also gave me some ham, eggs, rice, and salsa.
There was still nothing going on, of course, and I wasn't ready to call it a night. So I went to the halfway house to see if anything was up with the convicts and criminally-insane. Instead, I found a group of German students who were on a school trip.
They dragged me into the room, and suddenly I was surrounded by very little English, terrible jokes, and alcohol. A recipe for disaster when you're also surrounded by high school kids.
The whole thing was pretty ridiculous, but you'll mostly have to take my word for it. I can't remember the first thing about what happened except for the dude telling bad jokes-- at least they were in English-- and the one black dude in the room, looking pissed as could be because now he was longer the only "exotic" guy in the room. Those Americans, you know...
It was quite a bit awkward but still pretty fun, since I get a kick out of people laughing and having a good time in a foreign language. Even if it's at the expense of my not having a clue what they're talking about. But then the fat chick started hitting on me. She first asked me if I had a girlfriend, and she followed that up with asking if I wanted a girlfriend. Then she waited a minute or so and asked, another quote, "Do you like sex?" And that was my cue.
So I left, and one of the German dudes handed me 1300ft, I think because he was friends with the fat chick and maybe thought the money meant I was going to hook up with her. I didn't know what to say. But I took the money, of course.
And went to sleep.
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Three things.
1) First of all, what I learned today is that you can't exactly count on people when you don't speak the same language. I know that Szylvia was trying to help, and I appreciate that, but her English was only so-so and, well, I probably shouldn't have put all my eggs into a Hungarian basket, so to speak. Even if she speaks 50% English, which is a pretty reasonable estimate, that still means that every other word I say she doesn't understand. And, more importantly, that every other word she means to say, in order to explain herself, she doesn't know in English. So while it's fine for conversation, when she was trying to assure me I would have a job, what I didn't account for is that "you will have the job" is easier for her to say than "if the cards fall into play as I expect, you might be able to have the job." So... be wary of counting on people when you don't speak the same language.
2) Why is it always the fat chicks that hit on older guys? I mean, ALWAYS. Is it because the cute girls put them up to it and the fat girls figure they should go for it to seem cool? Is it because the fat chicks have nothing to lose, anyway? I wish some light could be shed on this issue, because it's an indisputable fact that fat chicks always hit on older guys.
3) Someone in the German room asked me if I was working abroad. I said yes, because I didn't want to get into the specifics or have a complicated conversation, but I think a better answer would have been to say that I am LIVING abroad. That's sort of what this whole thing is about. Yeah, I want to find some work, but if I can get by on the cheap, it doesn't matter how I go about doing it. I'm basically just working to live, but if I can live without working I'm fine with that. It's not like I'm spending much money.
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