Sup Freshman!?

Am I the cool, older, experienced dude....? Or, am I the creepy, older, loser dude?

Life of a medical student here in Debrecen, is a bit different than how it is in the U.S... I think. I of course am not a medical student neither here, nor there. Medical school here is huge. I would almost go as far as comparing it to the Eller business school at the UofA. Most students begin medical school immediately after they finish high school, and admission into the program is far less competitive than in the U.S. There are 600 first year students. 300 Hungarian students, and 300 international students. Only about 50% of those first year students will continue on with their second year of medical school, and I assume the numbers continue to dwindle as they progress through the 6 year program. It is quite easy to explain the high rate of failure in medical school here. These 'kids' are too young to be starting an intense educational program such as studying medicine, regardless of how big their aspirations are and how serious their dedication is. They are freshman... I met a kid who just turned 18 LAST WEEK and if all goes as planned, he will be a physician when he is 23. Sure he was a cool guy and I'm sure smart enough to get through the books, but that is still frightening to me.

Hanging out with these guys has allowed me to realize just how thankful I am for my education experience thus far. Nope, I can no longer name the 206 bones in the human body or list the source and target of all the digestive enzymes. BUT, one thing that a bachelors degree did do for me was allow my immature mind and self to develop and settle to be where it is today without added disturbances of the 'real world.' A process that these kids are forced to rush through as they attend professional school.

The question, however, remains. The reactions of the Korean, Norwegian, Japanese, French, Pakistani, English, Swedish, German and Hungarian students that I have met so far lead me to think that I am the cool, older, experienced dude. But in my mind, I'm not too sure.

BA-out

Dream on.

I know that there is an entire field of science geared towards studying what the brain does when your body is unconscious. I think the term we use to describe such experiences is dream?

I don't know much about this topic, mainly because I have not had much personal experience with dreams. On the rare occurrence that I wake up with thoughts, images, or sensations from my sleep, I can just about say that they are always unfortunately forgotten by the time I get out of bed. I know that sometimes people have nightmares that haunt their dreams for years, but even so, I was always a bit bummed out by the lack of dreams in my life, good or bad. That has changed relatively recently, upon moving to my new home in Hungary.

These changes in my subconscious brain activity could have been sparked by a number of things, as my life is far from what it used to be. I am living abroad for the first time in my life, I am living alone for the first time in my life, I am spending a lot more time by myself than I have before, and I am spending a lot more time reading, thinking and stimulating my brain. Maybe I'll start keeping track of my dreams in a bedside notebook.

In other news, after a brief hiatus from the world of creative art, I have purchased watercolors, paintbrushes, and paper from my local SPAR superstore.

BA-Out

Acclimation Proclamation

So, I guess you could say that I am acclimating to the culture. I spent Saturday night at a sweet little hostel in central Budapest and got a taste of the nightlife. I went to a centrally located spot where there were local jazz bands playing... (the violinist in the picture below was amazing, and BLIND). I met some cool people and had a great time.

Everyone I talked to was surprised that I ventured out at night alone in a foreign country, not to mention move to a foreign country to work. I guess I am officially an adventurous person.

Over the course of Saturday and Sunday in Budapest, I probably put a solid 25 miles on the old walkin' shoes. I arrived via train and left via train, but my feet were the only mode of transportation that I used while in the city.

I got lost and I saw a lot. First, I zigzagged all over the place looking for a map. Then the zigzags turned into circles. But, with getting so turned around and covering so much ground, I now feel that I know my way around this place.

I passed up pizza and beer for a gyro and water... My standards for both pizza and beer were set far too high in Tucson to be let down by Hungary's attempt.

In other news, when I was in line at the market this morning back in Debrecen, I was straight up cut by a man. That's right CUT... as in "no cuts, no butts, no coconuts." I don't know if this man thought his time was more valuable than mine (even though it probably is), but I was disgusted. If only you could have seen that blatancy of this man's act. I wasn't sure if I should chuckle at the guy, or give him a nice little nudge, so I did neither. Only stared with disgust. I hope such rudeness isn't a normality in this country.

This week marks the commencement of my research project. As nerdy as it may sound... I am very much looking forward to it.

BA - out

me and my gazelle

Settling into Debrecen has seemed like a constant panic to find a bicycle. I feel like without a bicycle, I can do nothing. But with a bicycle, I can do everything. Of course this is not exactly the case, but being without a bicycle does extremely limit what I can do and where I can go. Plus, it plays a role on me psychologically by making me a bit depressed.

Its hard to look in any one direction in this city without seeing someone riding a bike. Where were all of these bikes coming from!? I tried all of the 2 bike shops that I heard about in this town, and no used market. I tried a Hungarian craigslist-esq website, which was promising, but figuring out what the hell I was doing and communicating with people was a failure... ( With the help of google translate, I told one guy that I would come by his place at 3:00PM to check out a bike. 3 text messages and 2 hours later, I hear back "no Debrecen today"... WTF, mate! )

Finally, I approach the local BMX gang... talk about desperation. They point me in the direction of another shop. This shop was legit. Yes, they sold a bunch of crap, but the owner was super friendly. I got a used bike just like I was looking for.

It's a Gazelle. An old bike (circa 1950s ?) from the Netherlands... pretty bad ass! The price wasn't too bad... 15,000 HUF ($67) which included a U-lock.

O ya... and that front light is a real, working dynamo! With the flip of a switch, when the front wheel turns, it lights up!

So that bike shop was also a ski/snowboard shop and the owner organizes tours to surrounding ski resorts around Europe. He invited me to tag along for dirt cheap. Looks like I might already have some winter plans.

BA - out

far far away

I departed the country a bit over a week ago en route to a far away place. The country of Ukraine is a great physical distance from home, but quite possibly even more distant culturally. Kiev, the capital and largest city, was a tad touristy. Seeing nearly every church and monument in the city was a bit exhausting.

... you've seen one gold dome, you've seen 'em all.

But, only a day was spent here, as the purpose of this trip was not to be a tourist.

I tagged along with my step-dad Jere and some other members of the Friedman family in attempts to trace some of their family roots to a small 'shtetl' in the western part of the country.

The 4 brothers at their ancestors' hometown - Verbovetz

It was quite eye opening. Meeting possible (and probable) long lost cousins who's family somehow slipped through the cracks during the mass murdering of Jews during WWII was very moving. These people who barely survived were still barely surviving. Living on next to nothing by our standards was plenty.

Cemeteries and mass graves filled with Jews were visited. It hit me hard.

Off to another Ukrainian city we headed, back to being tourists. We stayed at a very nice hotel, equipped with complementary awesome breakfast and spa amenities for only 175 grivna ($22!) a night! That gives an idea of what people earn around here. I learned that a medical doctor earns only about $200/month.

More churches, temples, monasteries, and castles were seen in Kamianets-Podilskyi.

From western Ukraine, I took a train to my new home, in eastern Hungary. A distance of only 600 km or so if one was driving wouldn't take terribly long. However, due to gross, dirty, smelly, slow, rickety Soviet trains, travel time to my new home neared 20 hours.

Debrecen, pop. ~200,000, is the second largest city in Hungary next to Budapest. A nice city centered around a university known for great medicine, and leading research. I am staying in a neat little hostel/hotel/dorm nestled to the north of the university right up against the forest.

I already made it to Budapest where I had to send my mother off who embarked on the adventure from Ukraine to Hungary with me. Though I was a bit overwhelmed by the things to do and places to see in Budapest, it seems quite worthy of a return trip. After all, 2.5 hr train ride is nothing after some of the traveling I've done lately!

After my second night on my new, firm mattress, I feel good. I don't like feeling like a foreigner, but I can't control that I am. I feel that not knowing any Hungarian language besides hello, thank you, and counting to 10 is a little pathetic. Even the most sheltered Hungarian can say a few more words in English. Hopefully that will change a bit as time goes on.

BA - out

Home

I got "home" from my road trip adventure just in time to do laundry and repack my bags.

I put home in quotation marks because at this time in my life, I am not quite sure where my home is.

According to Edward Sharpe, "Home is wherever I'm with you..." That of course leads to another question. Who is "YOU"?

My YOU isn't in Tucson... nor is it in Phoenix. Nevertheless, this is where I am. Confusing.

T minus 2+ days until I'm in my new "home". Debrecen (pronounced Debretzen), Hungary.

Expectations?

Weather... a tad cooler than what I'm used to (maybe not after my summer road trip however).

Economy... a tad cheaper than what I am used to.

I know that I will be working hard and playing harder during my indefinite stay at my new home.

As excited as I may be to "peel this layer from my onion," I am pretty freakin' nervous. But, I think that filling my summer with new experiences has prepared me well for this step (more like LEAP) in my life. Stay tuned.

BA-Out

Is it really August already?

Oh, where to begin. Let's add to the theme of the summer. Adventures.

Almost too much adventure was had on my way to Lake Tahoe last week when I decided to stop and ride my bike. It was a beautiful, awesome, nearly perfect trail.

To make a long story short, I got lost. Very lost. In the absolute middle of nowhere. I found myself climbing up forest roads until they dead ended, descending mountains until they were undescendable, and becoming delirious due to lack of food and water. My 3 hour ride slowly turned into a 6 hour panic attack which left my legs annihilated and my stomach empty. All the while I was thinking of the irony of being lost somewhere near Donner Pass, contemplating eating myself as the sun was setting.

Trying to look panicked...

Tahoe. Oooooh Lake Tahoe. So beautiful and so relaxing.

Besides hiking Mt. Rose, I didn't do much besides stare at the sun and take a couple of dips in the lake. It was awesome.

Caitlyn... loving every second of it.

Nick... being a sherpa.

Me... and the lake.

Is the weather this perfect all summer in Tahoe? Probably.

I left Tahoe very excited for my next stop. It was my first time to Yosemite. Another absolutely amazing national park. I was like a kid in a candy store, along with the thousands of other people enjoying the beauty. I lucked out and found a camping spot within the park and got to bed early. I woke up at 3 AM enjoyed some of the most amazing stars I have seen as I packed up and headed to the trail. It was about 5:30 AM and still quite dark when I got going on the trail, which seemed to be the popular time to start hiking. I assume most were headed to the same destination as I; Half Dome. 4,800 ft and 8 miles of beauty would stand between myself and this prominent rock.

Vernal falls, from the aptly named 'Mist Trail.'

Up and up.

Nevada falls.

I hiked quickly, but no view was left unseen.

Allllllmost there...

She's in sight.

Squirrels up here were pretty smart... and fat.

Ascending the cables was unreal. One lazy step could easily send anyone sliding hundreds of feet down the rock face.

Atop the summit, I was mesmerized by the views. I was pretty proud of my 3 hour ascent.

It was about 8:30 AM when I reached the summit. Many early birds were up there already. Some told me that they had started at 1:00 AM to catch the sunrise... including this guy.

I hustled my way down as well, but was slowed down a bit by human (and bear!) traffic on the trail.

Some of the views were much more amazing with the sun up.

A much needed creek bath.

After a little creek time, I headed westward through Cali. I hit the coast at Monterey and hopped on HWY 1 heading south. I was excited to see this section of Coast, around Big Sur. Another amazing part of the coast that I had not yet seen.

Having been up since 3, I was a bit exhausted after my long day of hiking and driving. Unfortunately, despite an abundance of campgrounds in this region, there was no open space for me to pitch my tent for the night. I kept driving south into the dark night.

I pulled off the road once my eyelids became a bit too heavy to hold up, and slept in the car... surprisingly well. I guess if you're tired enough, you can sleep anywhere.

More costal cruising on this lovely day. Through San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara as I make my way to the city of angels.

It's bitter sweet, but my adventure filled summer seems to be coming down the home stretch as I head into SoCal.

BA - out