Holstens étterem (Holstens restaurant)

Allow me to set the scene: it is somewhere between 11:45 and 12:30, I'm sitting in my room, having just finished writing up a new blog or uploaded pictures when my phone rings. *Ring ring* "Hi, Meghan, it is Adam. Would you like to go to the Holsten's? Yes? Ah, ok, ten minutes? Ok, szia." This has become somewhat of a routine for me, anxiously awaiting the phone call that lets me know that it is time for lunch. I get my things ready and head downstairs of the hostel to meet Adam; like every day, he will drive me to the city center. The short trip consists of a few stoplights. We pass by some road construction, forcing this 4 lane road into 3. There is never any traffic. Just past the police station, we make a right hand turn and are now on the main street that will lead us to the restaurant. This area is usually packed with pedestrians and bikers, causing the cars to make frequent stops, allowing them the right of way. We find a parking spot and head inside. Here's where the fun officially begins.

We enter into Holsten's, hang up our jackets on the coat rack and wander into the food line. During the week, they serve food in an assembly line fashion, with the patrons walking up to the counter to order and receive their food before finding a seat. The menu changes daily, always including two soups, a few meat selections as the main dish, chips (french fries), rice, or another starch-type food as a side. You also can choose some variation of salad. Before ordering, Adam (or whoever I am with) must attempt to explain the different dishes, as it is always written in Hungarian and, as the menu changes daily, there is no English menu for me to use. It always makes for a great laugh. A couple times, Niki and/or Adam have prepared a "menu of the day" for me, translating the menu into English using the Google translator. Despite my usually impulsive selection, I have yet to be disappointed by the food. Everything is authentic Hungarian cuisine, and always is delicious and filling. Before each meal, I've been trying to take photos of the food, resulting in a round of laughter from whomever I am dining with. I constantly remind them that, when they come to visit me in America, they will do the exact same thing. My point has yet to be proven, but I know that it is just a matter of time.

Back to the main point: food. The meal always starts with a type of soup; húsleves is a broth/bouillon, borscs leves (something that Niki has yet to try) is a combination of vegetables and cabbage, and gombaleves is mushroom soup. Yes, I know what many of you are thinking: Meghan hates mushrooms. Well, allow me to inform you, I've been converted. Don't go expecting me to eat them raw anytime soon, but my palate is gradually growing accustomed to their spongy texture. For the main dishes, I've sampled much more than the examples I will provide, but this gives you a general idea: garlicky pork roast with french fries, fried turkey breast (rántott pulykamell) with rice (rizs), turkey breast filled with smoked cheese and mashed potatoes (burgonyapüré).

Each meal is concluded with a glass of water, a nod from Adam, and, grabbing our coats, we leave. I get dropped off at the hostel with an exchange of "szia".

First Home Game: BRSE vs. MAV

The day began like any other: breakfast followed by some blogging and reading before meeting with Adam and Niki to go to lunch at Holsten's. The sun was bright and shiny, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky--a rare occurrence for Hungarian winter. We all deduced that this was a good sign, believing it meant that we would be victorious in tonight's match against MAV. The lunch was great, as usual. We talked about local sports teams; I told them about the previous night's NFL playoff games, having to stop and explain various rules here and there. Once we all finished our meals, we decided we would go to the Csaba Center for some coffee. There, we chatted about the different costs of iPhones and other technologies from Hungary to America; Niki really wants an iPhone, so I think I might have to work some American-magic, maybe introduce her to CraigsList and eBay. The afternoon was full of comparisons between life in America and life in Europe, more specifically Hungary. Finally, we headed back to the university campus so I could rest up before the match.

We headed to the gym around 3:00 to get our pregame massages from Kata. Everyone was really anxious to play and memories of Friday's loss lingered in our minds. We were determined to not make those same mistakes again. Once out in the gym, we danced and laughed, trying to remain relaxed. Toncsi had made a warmup CD, with mostly American songs, allowing me to share with the girls my American Idol-worthy singing and dance moves. We all became focused as the warmups began; channeling our physical energies into mental preparation. The first set we struggled, MAV's defense proving to be too much for our attackers, losing 18-25. The second set, we played much more smoothly, finding our groove towards the end. We won 25-20. The third set was similar to the previous one and we came out swinging from every angle, forcing our opponents to make changes in their defense, winning 25-17. At 20-11, we were feeling strong sense of deja vu, as the scores were eerily similar to that from Friday. MAV started a run of points on us, bringing the score closer (21-17); fortunately, we all had the same sense of urgency in the fourth set, refusing to accept defeat. With a long rally, we finally were able to end the match, securing victory with a score of 25-21. WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!

Everyone was all smiles after the match, glad we were able to start our home matches 1-0. Post-game, we had a team meeting with Attila where he gave us the weekly statistics. Everyone had a few areas where we could improve our overall play. After a somewhat somber discussion, we had some cake for Kicsi's birthday! Talk about a picker-upper. That evening, I went upstairs to Barbi's room to play hair salon. She and I talked about the match, still excited about the turn-around from Friday. She, and the other girls in university, would be off from school for the next week or so, and were all glad for this much needed rest after their examinations. I dyed her hair while watching the Bears-Seahawks game, taking time to explain the different means of scoring. Football is such a normal part of my life, it always blows my mind when people don't know the rules, but I guess even in the States, some of my friends are uninformed. Finally the game ended, and I headed back to my room to call it a night.

First Match in Budapest: BRSE v. UTE

Our travels started 26 minutes behind schedule, as Barbi had a final exam that started at 10:00am. As we loaded the bus waiting for her to finish, I whipped out my English-Hungarian phrase book and introduced the team to my terrible American pronunciations of their language. After a few laughs, Barbi ran by the gym towards the hostel to get her game day gear. I would sit in the front of the bus, next to Toncsi for the ride into Budapest. Zsoka informed me that, as this is my first match, afterwards I have to buy her a drink. When I asked if it was just a round for her, or if the whole team would need one, the girls all instantly perked up, only to get knocked down by Tibi saying "no, they want an American cake". Guess I'll have to import funfetti cake mix. As the drive began, Attila put in what appeared to be the South Africa World Cup CD, playing it on the loudspeaker; we all put in our headphones. The drive would take about 3.5 hours. Due to traffic we arrived around 3:00pm. Everyone began to get antsy aboard the bus, eager to start the match. Attila told us that, if we win tonight, he will buy some beer for on the ride home. How's that for incentive?

Pregame in the locker room consisted of Red Bull, grape sugar, and some crunk mix playlist, as per team request. When I was offered the chance to pick our jersey color for the match, I opted out by asking around which one those present in the locker room preferred. The white jersey + black spandex combo won in a unanimous decision. We were all getting focused for the match. Attila gave us a pep talk, and we headed out to play.

The first set, we fell short due to inconsistent passing and high amount of errors, losing 18-25. The second set was much tighter, with both teams serving aggressively; we would clench the victory 27-25 on my ace in the deep corner of zone one. Thanks, Jeffy :) We took control of set 3 early on, allowing the other team to score only 11 points total. We were on a high going into the 4th set, shaking off the few errors we made. With a 22-14 lead, we began to be overly confident, shown in our many hitting errors. The other team was making a comeback and we could not manage to side out, getting blocked at every attack. The game would eventually be lost 24-26. The 5th and final set, we had the advantage 8-6 at the switch. Back and forth, we chipped at the score, finding ourselves in the lead at 13-12. Unfortunately our youth would fail us against this much more experienced team, as they claimed the victory 14-16.

Overall, our team showed moments of greatness, however the lack of consistent mental toughness was highly evident across the players. Hopefully Sunday we will be able to come out on top, proving ourselves at our first home match of the year.

Not-So-Official Official Rules of Handball

Preface: After attending a local women's handball match, it was brought to my attention that my sports knowledge is not as well-rounded as I had thought. As an American, I have limited exposure to sports occurring outside of my country, and therefore at a disadvantage. Luckily for me, I am a relatively quick-learner, so within a short amount of time, I was able to figure out the rules of the game. After receiving the seal of approval from Adam--the papers were just sent out to get stamped--it is my pleasure to share with everyone (all two people who actually read this blog) the Not-So-Official Official Rules of Handball. (Note: the Rules are in order of my observations, not according to importance)

1. No kicking of the ball with your feet, unless you are the goalkeeper
2. When attempting to shoot at the goal, you must be behind what looks like a 3-point line in basketball
3. Goals are worth one point
4. If you bear hug another player who is in possession of the ball, the play is dead, indicated by a referee waving his arms and blowing a whistle
5. You are allowed to turn a bear hug into an MMA style choke out
6. There are 6 players from each team on the court, plus one goalkeeper each
7. Substitutions are made similar to hockey change-ups, where you just run in from the sideline
8. Stripping someone of their jersey is allowed (Note: tops only, pantsing someone is frowned upon as just plain dirty)
9. Body checking, shoving, and tripping other players is allowed, but only as individual actions. If any are combined, you get carded
10. Carding results in a one-on-one game of "dodgeball" where the fouled player gets a chance to pelt the ball as hard as they can at the goalkeeper from behind a small line on the court
11. Never, under any circumstances, can you hair pull. That's a bitch move and will get you beaten up
12. Constant shoving and poking of the player you are guarding is strongly advised, as the pure annoyance is enough to make them lose mental focus
13. There are two 30-minute rounds, in which time counts up, stopping only during 50-second timeouts

The combination of basketball, soccer, wrestling, and football found in this sport is enough to spark the interest of any sport-fanatic. I truly hope that the rules outlined above provide insight in what is sure to become the next-big-thing in the American sporting world.

Stay tuned for more exciting news...until then, szia!! (pronounced see-ya)

Röplabda, part one

My team, Békéscsabai Röplabda Sportegyesület, finally had our first scrimmage on January 7 and 8 against a team from Budapest. The teams were on a holiday break for the past 3 weeks, with no competitions, and would start back into matches the following week. On Friday, we won 3:0, playing a friendly fourth set to allow more play. Many people from the town came out to watch this scrimmage, as everyone was eagerly anticipating my introduction to the team and city as the new setter. Everything went very well for our team the first day, serve receive and defense, and we were able to be highly successful in our play. The girls and coaches all seemed optimistic about starting back into matches and everyone was able to leave the gym that evening with a smile.

That evening, Barbi (our libero), Niki (one of our outside hitters) and I decided we would hang out in Barbi's room and watch an American film, The Express. We made bundáskenyér,or french toast, and shared childhood stories, comparing cartoons and other TV shows from our youth. The night finally came to an end, and we all headed home to catch much needed rest before our scrimmage the next morning.

Saturday morning came much too early for our team. We arrived to the gym still half-asleep and unfocused for the morning's match. Our passing and all-around play was no where near the level from the night before. Attila was less than pleased with our performances, as we fell to the visiting team 0:3. We played two more friendly sets, and were victorious in only the 4th. It was definitely a humbling experience from our success the previous day, and showed that we have a lot of mental aspects that must be improved on in order to be successful. We would have Sunday off from training, and resume back on Monday to prepare for the first set of matches that weekend.

Hungarian 101

My Hungarian lessons began with Rita, one of the players on my team, with a little help from her husband Zoli.
Rita invited me to her home for New Years Eve day lunch, where we were entertained by her son Nandi. Her husband is obsessed with American sports, and almost died when I showed him pictures of me andthe UT volleyball team on the sidelines at the Bucs/Jags preseason game. I showed them both pictures of my university and the sights around Tampa. Lunch was really good, included lots of Hungarian dishes.

As the meal wound down, Rita and I grabbed out the Hungarian/English dictionary and my Hungarian phrase book and tried to piece together sentences to further communicate to one another. This led to my first, of what I assume will be many, Hungarian lesson.

After going over the alphabet, and stuttering over the many vowels, we decided to take on some actual words. She taught me to count to 10, the days of the week, and the months. Once we started going, she explained more about how to pronounce each letter as it is written, which made for a somewhat easier time. Occasionally Zoli would shout a correction from the other room, and we would burst into laughter. Their "c" is pronounced "ts", their "s" = "sh", "sz" = "s", "cs" = "ch"; so as you can see there is a lot of discrepancy between our alphabet and theirs, let alone a doubled amount of vowels.he words are spelled as phonetically American as possible, but was still difficult for some of their letters, as we don’t have that similar of sounds in the US.

What time is is? – ha’ny o’ra
Who? – ki
What? – mi
Where? – hol
When? – mikor
Why? – mie’rt
How much? – mennyi
Where is the toilet? – hol van a ved tse

My personal favorite:
I don’t understand – nem e’rtem

I speak English – Bese’lek angolul

Happy New Year - boldog eu yevet

Thank you – kosonom
Please – ke’rem
You’re welcome – si’ veshen

I'm off to a slow start, not sure I'll actually be able to retain all that much, but it's only been 5 days, so there is still plenty of time.

"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.” - Benjamin Lee Whorf

And here we go, life's waiting to begin...

6:00 am came far too early, and with far too much instant adrenaline. Today was the official start to a new chapter in my life and, man, was I pumped. After loading up the Suburban and doing a final walk-through of my room at home, we began our 140-mile journey to the Orlando International Airport. Upon arriving, we saw that most of the group was already checked in, and ready to go through security. After an initial group photo, Kara, Chelsea, and I led the way, ensuring everyone made it through the pat-downs unharmed. We had quite some time until our flight to Boston would board, so we all scattered for our first forage for food. It’s important to note that you never know when you’ll eat again on these trips, so eat what you can, when you can. That said, Kendra and I decided to hit up the BK lounge for our final American meal. Many of our group sat around the help desk area to eat and rest from our drive before we would make our way over to our departure gate. “Flight delays…” I overheard someone say, and instantly knew this could mean trouble. We had to turn in our original boarding passes for the flight to Boston so we could try to get flights changed in order to not miss our connections. Boston was snowed in; there would be no air travel in or out of the city. Panic rushed through the girls like wildfire.



As travel experts, Kamryn and I did what any well-seasoned traveler would in such a crisis: eat. And take pictures. We finished off the remainder of Big’s salad while he worked on rebooking us through Miami. Miss Paula took the group downstairs to reclaim our luggage while Ceej and Big finished reticketing everyone. We had been rerouted onto an outbound flight from Miami into Rome that would depart at 4:45pm. It was already 12:30. The group was divided into three cars and began hauling it down the turnpike towards Miami. Big managed to get us to the airport safely in just over three hours. Oh hey, Mario Andretti.

My last day in America would have to wait until tomorrow, as poor weather up north forced me to miss my connecting flight out from Miami. The group checked in and began exchanging their US cash for Euros while I waited in line to change my ticket from departing Sunday to Monday. Big and I had just left the ticket counter when I remembered I needed to shortstop my ticket and baggage in Rome instead of continuing on to Catania. I got back in line to fix my ticket while the group began to head to security. A few family photos later, and it was time to bid my parents and sister farewell. I would not see them again until possibly May, if you don’t count the numerous Skype dates that will occur between then and now. The Delta ticket counter was less than helpful in attempting to shortstop my ticket in Rome, and sent me over to the Alitalia ticket counter, claiming it was their problem to handle. Alitalia was unable to help me and merely sent me back over to the Delta line. I called Big to explain the situation and he instructed me to stay at Alitalia and have them help me to the best of their abilities or walk me down to Delta to ensure that some changes are made. 20 minutes later, I still had made no progress. Big came back through security to assist me. About an hour and a half later, we had made two contacts via phone, and one at the ticket counter and finally: SUCCESS! My ticket would stop at Rome. Big left me again, and I left the airport to drive to my uncle’s house. Due to the utter chaos of my day, I was extremely scatterbrained and unable to follow the multiple sets of instructions he gave to me. Finally surrendering to the craziness of my day, I pulled over and waited for him to find me.

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins