fall break trip recap :)

ahh... vacation, aka, "da life"

Internet hates us. Our stolen wireless in the flat has deserted us, so we went so far as to travel into Oktogon and buy taquitos to obtain free wireless. Still we cannot post photos on facebook. If things continue like this we may have to actually start *gulp* paying for internet.

I have spent the last two weeks surrounded by disgusting displays of natural beauty.

Transylvania: 23 people crammed into a large van for 6 days, traveling through the mountains of northern Romania. Transylvania belonged to Hungary until the peace treaty after WWI, and they still speak Hungarian. We visited countless small towns, and stayed with families who have taken advantage of the new "rural tourism" trend to survive. Everywhere we were greeted with incredible hospitality, displayed with incredible amounts of fresh, delicious food and homemade cumin palinka. Including for breakfast. We saw Count Vlad's birthplace, a destroyed synagogue, giant gorges, a one-room farmhouse housing 3 generations, countless old men wearing awesome hats and neny-s in babuskas, innumerable horse drawn carriages, a heartbreaking amount of stray dogs, and beautiful wood carvings. And a LOT of churches.

Bekas gorge and river

On our last night we stayed in the small village of Szentkiraly, where they happened to be having a folk dancing festival in honor of the rose hip harvest and successful marmalade making. They invited us, and we crowded into a tiny dance hall decorated with rose hip branches to watch 10-25 year olds leap through the air, spin about, and yell, all decked out in the most beautiful of traditional costumes. Then there were dance lessons, as many of the locals did not know much of the traditional dances. We spun along, laughing, girls dancing with girls, while older generations watched and sipped dark purple blueberry palinka. It took Romania, the incredible exuberance of a misplaced minority, to make me truly fall in love with Hungary. As I watched the young boys jump on stage, slapping their heels, with the most genuinely joyous smiles on their faces, I felt my heart twist in a way that I haven't since Granada and the flamenco basement. Maybe it's just that I'm a sucker for passionately dancing men in strange garb, or maybe it's the unusual-ness of this to an American, or maybe... I don't know. But I fell in love with Hungary in Romania, and that's just how it's going to have to be.

from atop an old castle wall looking out into the Romanian countryside

Croatia: First of all, a much more relaxing trip. Just 4 girls lounging around an incredibly beautiful (and disgustingly cheap) country. We started in Zagreb, the small and surprisingly neo-baroque capital, where we toured churches, including one under a bridge lit only by giant yellow candles, and ate delicious sandwiches, and drank fantastic beer called "goat." We then continued on to the coast, to Zadar, and stared for two days at the incredibly blue water, even on the second, grayer day, and listened to the sea organ (a contraption that plays music powered by the waves and sounds sort of like whale song), and observed the impossibly beautiful people speaking impossibly incredible English. Seriously, folks: head to Croatia if you get the chance. It's a lovely, developed nation full of hospitable people in a disgustingly beautiful setting. It's like I imagine Italy once was, and still is in the heads of many, except that it's actually like this today.

the coast in Zadar

Life changes: as many of you have noticed, Alfonso and I have split up. This happened due to mutual agreement, and through no fault of either party. Distance just got to be too much. We're very different people with very different desires and goals, but we still respect and care for each other. We simply looked at the relationship with dispassionate eyes, realized it wasn't going to work, and chose to end it before we wound up hating each other. I'm sad, but also relieved. I know it was the right choice.

Tomorrow I go back to work after almost two weeks of vacation, and it's a little surreal. I'm excited though. I like my job, and having a routine, and November is going to be an action-packed month for me.

carefree girls on the coast

Miss you guys. Stay safe.