Goodbye, România

(I have good intentions to write more regularly, to offer interesting insights, to stay connected but... life interferes.  I would like to write a long a detailed post reflecting on my overall experience in Transylvania as a teacher, but it is not yet finished.  For now, here's an update). 

I left Romania with Buttercup and her family on Friday for Budapest.  Traveling in the car was so much more comfortable than the 15 hour train I took from Budapest back in June, although we had our adventures on the way.  At one point, the "road" was no more than tire tracks on hilly terrain... and it wasn't just us driving on it: we were behind an English coach bus.  Yep!  Only in Romania.

I love this picture of Buttercup and me.

Buttercup's uncle, aunt, and cousin live in an apartment in the city, but it was a little too small for me to stay with everyone there.  So, relatives of my host family–a friendly family of four–put me up at their place for two nights.  Coincidentally, the two boys, though 100% Hungarian, attend a Croatian language immersion school in Budapest.  This made for an interesting trade of linguistic knowledge, as I know *some* Croatian and now, from my experience as a teacher, a little Hungarian as well.  Admittedly, their father speaks English so communication wasn't much of a problem.

Fresh produce

I spent a good portion of Saturday re-exploring the city with T, my surrogate host family's niece.  T is my age and speaks excellent English and it was pleasant to roam Budapest without the urgency of a first visit.  I was able to see two points of interest I had missed the first time: the Shoes on the Danube Promenade, and the Great Synogogue.  Since it was Saturday, we couldn't see inside the Synogogue, but the exterior architecture was well worth admiring.

Shoes at the Danube

Dohány Street Synogogue, the largest synogoge in Europe and fifth largest in the world

Later that evening, my temporary host family took Buttercup's family and I out to see Budapest by night.  The weather was warm but not oppressive like it had been earlier in the day, and the city was not at all crowded because, apparently, many residents had left the city during the national four-day weekend.  (Hungary's national day is August 20).

City of bridges at night

Buttercup and her dad

The next day was an emotional one as I had to say goodbye to Buttercup and my host parents, as well as my new Budapestian family at the train station.  My ticket was for Zagreb, because the direct line from Budapest to Sarajevo no longer exists.  To make a long story short, the train was anything but short or punctual and I arrived in Zagreb thoroughly exhausted.  It was quite late when I arrived so unfortunately didn't get a chance to see the city at all.  However, my hostel was comfortable and easy to find.  This morning, I bought my ticket to Sarajevo and spent another day en route but I made it!  I went out for about an hour, ate ćevapčić, and attempted to take pictures without a memory card.  I did manage to get one from my hostel window, though.  

Beautiful Sarajevo

I can't believe that I'm here in Sarajevo... It's difficult for me to verbalize my fascination for this city, but perhaps my experiences tomorrow will give me answers.  Until then. laku noć!