4 October 2008: Pécs, Hungary

When I woke up I heated up a stuffed pepper with tomatos. I was really going to town on Tomi's deep freezer. God bless his mother.

I went to meet the girls, Luca and Chenga, at the square and, wouldn't you know, I got lost again. Tomi lives on the West side of the square, and I arrived at the North-East corner. I don't know how I do it.

The girls were there and we walked around for a little bit. It was basically the same stuff that I had seen the previous afternoon, but it was a beautiful day for a walk around town and the girls were nice.

(They also showed me an existing portion of the old city wall, which I hadn't seen before. This goes without saying, and can be said about nearly all of Europe, but there is so much that is older than all of America, and by so many centuries. It's pretty cool, really.)

Chenga had brought lunch for us, so I had some meat cakes-- it was like a crab cake with some kind of meat in it-- with salad and pineapple juice. Not as good as Tomi's grub, but tasty nonetheless.

While we ate Luca started to tell me about the history of Transylvania, but I cut in and finished it for her. She was impressed that I knew about it, and surprised when I said that loads of Americans want to go to Budapest because she didn't think Americans knew about Hungary. I said, well, that most Americans don't know the first thing about Hungary, they just know that Budapest is the new, trendy Eastern European city to visit. And that was why I wanted to go to Pécs, to see a bit more of the country.

(The other thing Luca told me was that her friend is "a lover of Dr. Pepper." I told her that I, too, am a lover of Dr. Pepper, and she said that she had never had it before. I was shocked, but she said you can't find it in Pécs and you can only rarely find it in Budapest. I couldn't believe it. What misery.)

After a few hours Chenga went home and I went back to Luca's place. She had said that her step-mom wanted to meet me, which was interesting in and of itself. But she had called earlier in the afternoon to say that she needed time to wash her hair, because "Americans like clean hair." Then she called again and said she needed time to clean the house before I came. At this point, I was pretty sure I would be having an affair with this woman. I mean, it wasn't just that I thought it might happen or would have enjoyed it happening-- I truly believed it would. And Luca must have, also, because just before we arrived she reminded me that "she's married to my dad." So she is.

It turned out that Luca's step-mom was a hottie. A total hottie. And she had spent substantial time growing up in South Orange, which is a town not to far from Princeton, so there was loads to talk about. I meant to ask the step-mom if she wanted to take a day trip with me, which would have been a pimp move, but the dad came home earlier than expected. Cursed fate.

So I wasn't going on a trip with the step-mom, which was sad. But she invited me to stay for dinner, which I heartily accepted. We had horse sausage and homemade ham and cheese and peppers-- which I loved. And they poured me a glass of sour yoghurt-- which I struggled through. But when you're eating at someone else's table you can't leave food on your plate. It's just rude.

Even though the trip idea was a bust, I asked the step-mom where I should go in the area if I wanted the True Hungarian Experience. She suggeted Villány, an internationally-famous wine town; Sellye, a gypsie town; and Orfü, an idyllic lake town. And after dinner she helped me find the bus times.

(By the way, the word "idyllic" has absolutely nothing to do with "idealic" or anything like "ideal." I just learned that. Interesting.)

When I got back to Tomi's flat I found him still in bed, so I guess it was a very good thing that I had made plans. I took a nap for an hour and told Tomi that I would meet him and Blanka at a bar later.

When I got to the bar that night they hadn't yet arrived, but I recognized one of Tomi's friends from the first night in Pécs and I sat down. I started talking to one of the dude's there about the Balkan countries-- or, rather, he was talking to me because I don't know a thing about them-- and after a while his friend from Spain arrived. I figured I'd talk a little Spanish with them, partly for the hell of it and partly because, that way, no one had the advantage of speaking their native language. I said "pagar" in some context, and they told me that I had an American accent when I spoke Spanish. I asked what they meant, and they said it was because I don't roll my R's. I told them that I CAN'T roll my R's, because it's genetics, and they said that anyone can learn. I'm almost positive that isn't true, but they were adament that it is. Agree to disagree, I guess, but that was when Tomi and Blanka arrived.

I talked with them for a little bit but had my eye on a cutie at the table I was sitting at before, and after a while Tomi gave me a huge assist and I sat down next to her. An assist which, come to think of it, may have been late payment from the move with Vita at the club.

I started talking to the cutie and explained that her that it was my last night staying at Tomi's place, which was true because his flatmate was returning and she wasn't so keen on my being there. The cutie said that I could crash at her place the next night and gave me her number. Damn am I good.

I went back to Tomi and Blanka and spent some more time with them, but after a while I headed out to a club down the street. Before leaving, though, the cutie said "call me tomorrow." I don't want to say that she insisted, but she put it out there. Holler.

The bar down the street was OK, but I recognized a girl I saw at the bar the first night-- the bar I had just left, since there seem to be a few that I call "the bar." We talked for a while and then she wrote down her name and told me to facebook her. Which, given that I don't have a phone, is the best option available. Although maybe not so slick.

I also met a German kid named Greg, who offered me a couch to crash on if I made it back to Budapest, which I was planning on doing. He gave me his phone number and his address, which seemed a bit like cheating. At least make me work for it.

Finally I went home at 5:00. And what I realized was that I am more than capable of the Hungarian Bar Hours. All it took was a few friends.

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On the walk to Luca's home, we walked along narrow, cobbled roads with colorful homes and buildings on both sides. And it occured to me why I like Pécs so much at dusk. It's because the town has an incredibly Mediterranean feel to it. The streets and buildings look Meditarranean-- at least in this part of town-- and at dusk, when everyone sits at outdoor pubs or hangs out in the square, you could really imagine you're in some small Spanish or Italian town. It is, again, idyllic.