due to a recent complaint of my not updating my blog enough while i'm away, i'm updating. i would never actually know that anyone read this blog because if you scroll down any of my entries i think i have gotten an astonishing three comments in its entirety.

today is one of two days off in the week. i got lots of sleep but somehow still feel tired. however its nice to not have to put coverup under my eyes for once today. i hate coverup. but perhaps its a good alternative to looking like the cryptkeeper. well, it is getting down to the wire. this trip is more than half way over. reading with hungarians has been a positive experience, as a whole. i dont exactly feel like i'm changing humanity as a whole, but it's nice to contribute to any little amount of good that i can.

i realize i haven't really elaborated on what i do here. every day i wake up at about 8am every morning to have a bath, breakfast, cleanup, and devo. i have two readers in the morning, and five in the afternoon. forty five minutes of discussion and sharing with each. the youngest is 15, the oldest is 36. then there is an attempt at making a decent meal, and perhaps some errands to run, a reader to hang out with, emails to send, cards to play, or rest to catch up on. for instance, i put pride and prejudice on my itouch and read it in the evenings if there is nothing else to do. im a fast reader so i'm almost done the book. i'm sleeping on somewhat of a hidabed/futon with alicia every night, which is nearby joy's hidabed/futon. we sleep on a sheet, and under a sheet. i have an established routine of keeping another sheet nearby because every single night i go to bed hot and wake up in the middle of the night cold. we have three or four fans going in the room, as to condition the air. days off are spent both at leisure and as tourists. for instance one weekend we went to budapest, and the other we familiarized ourselves with debrecen.

however, i am inclined to take my leave as i'm quite hungry.

im sitting on an orange chair in the classiest mcdonalds i have ever been in. at home when you walk into a mcdonalds you see the usual. i guess they have updated them from when i was a kid and having trains and that purple creature , the one with jail stripes on, and of course ronald mcdonald himself. but even with the more modern decorations its nothing compaired to this one. this one has pillars. tall windows and doors. nice plants. and a coffee shop in it, too. i visit this mcdonalds often. not to eat, but to steal the wifi here. it is only about a five minute walk from the appartment i'm staying in, and it's free. mcdonalds is the epitome of convenience.

well, i haven't quite been away from home for a month, but it feels like it. july is almost over and then i only have over half of another month to go before i can be home. it's odd that here in debrecen feels like home in a few ways. for instance, we went to budapest yesterday (the capital of hungary for those who may not know) and went sight seeing there. when our train arrived back and we walked the street back to our appartment it oddly felt like home. but that got me thinking more about regina. got me thinking about how it will feel when i step out of the plane, into the airport, where i can finally see daniel again after a month and a half of being hundreds of miles and an ocean apart. you can call that lame if you want, but it's the truth and im looking forward to it.

for the time being, however, i am in debrecen. two and a half more weeks of reading and then we go to budapest to catch a plane to rome and spend a great but stressful week there. great because it's rome, stressful because we're not in the least prepared, besides having a list of places we need to find and explore. i've really enjoyed the buildings in hungary, but i'm extremely stoked to see buildings and structures that are less than 1000 years old. i'm pretty homesick, ya. i'll just throw that out there. i always thought i'd be the type of person who might be able to take off for months at a time to a place, but even if i didn't have a boyfriend of a year and a half at home i'm not so sure. im loving this, but being away from home is hard. i commend those who can pick up and actually move their lives to somewhere foreign. i want to and will see so much more of the world, but i really do love canada. i think the next time i sing the national anthem in canada i'll have a little more pride than usual. its funny how much more you appreciate something when your without it for a while. you appreciate your bed when you sleep somewhere else for a while. you appreciate your family more after you have moved away. you appreciate the opportunities you have after they've passed by. my dad prolly appreciates the rest of his fingers more after he lost one of them to a tablesaw. i wish the world could be just a little bit brighter with everyone just appreciating what they have without hoarding it, losing it, or without having to go through withdrawl.

well, if you have my facebook you can check out the photos i have posted there. i love my readers.

ps. its weird seeing 99% of the people in mcd's thinner than the percentage of people you see in any place any where in north america. i think we need to start walking / biking places more. food for thought.

szia. that means hello and or goodbye in hungarian. hugy gugy i think means how are you. kiszinim i think is thank you. not sure on the spelling. but, szia. debrecen is beautiful. there's something about just walking down the street on cobblestone, with tall beautiful buidlings around you that makes you walk just a little taller. it's also nice to walk in a skirt or a dress and not have people wondering if you are going to a wedding that day. yeah, europe is definitley not as casual as canada. there are much fewer flip flops, and perhaps more short shorts. on both men and women. but i do enjoy the city, and now that i am getting to know hungarians and reading with them and knowing them i am starting to fall in love with the people. it is different actually living in a foreign place. passing through is one thing, but living and trying to buy groceries and find your way around when not a lot of people speak english is interesting. i think it's a good experience in life though, of course. we are almost a week in. it has felt like longer. but i am enjoying myself. we have had some issues along the way, but i think that this trip came in the time in my life maybe when i needed it the most. i think i need a good challange or two to better myself as a person, in frequent. and i had not had much challange at home, i have had it very easy and very good. so this is helping me not only to appreciate different culture and to appreciate different places of the world, but also helps me to appreciate home.

so far the best part has been the readers. i actually thought i might be selfish enough to enjoy the buildings and the history and the just being in europe to be at the top and i just wouldn't tell anyone. however, it's definitely the readers. they are all genuine, they are all wonderful, and i think i might love them already. i do, however, love the city. our appartment is very old, and i like that. we lock the bathroom door with a very old style key that is like, over the size of your palm. you know the ones you see in the movies from way back when. the windows are large and have no screens, we are on the third floor which doesn't sound too high but it actually is. we have a good view on our tiny balcony. i would put up pictures but my computer is too slow to use. i tried. it wasn't worth the wait. the toilets flush with buttons and the water is heated by this heater that you can see an open flame, and if you touch a pipe or the water for that matter you'll burn yourself. literally. i have a mark to prove it. i sleep on a hidabed in one of the big rooms. it's been like, over thirty degrees every day we've been here so it's nothing less than hot.

i do miss home, of course daniel the most of all. but i am on a wonderful opportunity. well, until next time.

im here.


yes, im in debrecen, hungary!! after a very very long flight.... from calgary to frankfurt.. (nine hours) we took an hour flight to budapest and then a shuttle to debrecen and now im here. im not sure how often ill be able to update because we have to use internet cafes.. but.. i cant believe im in europe. and, i cant believe ive been awake for so long.............. i have jet lag so bad. ill update more soon.

Next time I write I'll be in Hungary. I think I am ready? At least I have done everything I need to do physically. Mentally, I'm not so sure. I might be terrified, actually. The past few months and weeks and days and hours have all flown by and now this is it. Crunch time. The big finale. Sure, it's only six weeks. But this is a huge change for me. It's something I have dreamed of doing for years, and now I'm boarding the plane tomorrow, not knowing a single thing to expect and feeling completely unqualified. Here goes. Next time you hear from me I'll be half way across the world. Till then.

Daniel got me a wii for my bday! I can't believe it. What a guy. :) oh, and tomorrow I find out if i'm accepted in education. And it's my last day at work.