Our Temporary Apartment

Wednesday, June 9, 2010
I have to double check the day and date on the computer toolbar before I type it. I'm struggling to regain my internal calendar, a clue to one of the many ways my sweet daddy first struggled with the alzheimers that has been slowly stealing him from us. The sense of being lost and having no idea how to find my way from point to point is another clue to the frustration he must have felt in the beginning. The difference of course is that each day I will do better, find my bearings and once again know where I am in this world. How I would love to walk with him around Papa and have him teach me how to view it through the camera lense that he knew so well. He was such a wonderful photographer until the disconnection in his brain took away his understanding of how to hold the camera to his eye, adjust the lense to distance and light, and snap the perfect picture that allowed us all to see the world as he saw it. I miss him, most especially when I'm with him and yet he's so far away. Hungary seems close compared to where his mind takes him now.

This morning Eric told me he would call later to tell me if we would be signing our lease today. As I anticipate the move to our final home here I realize I better describe our first place before I forget my impressions. Before moving to Hungary, Eric's friend Dan became our sponsor here. They had known each other in WA state when we were at McChord. Dan and Cherub moved here when the HAW was in it's infancy, part of the original trailblazers and thus extemely qualified to give us advice and help us navigate our first move as a family to Europe. When we asked about where we would stay when we first arrived and were searching for a house to rent, he offered a couple of options. There is a nice hotel in the center of town, a great place to stay as well as a good way to get a feel for Papa as we would be right there within walking distance of everything. The other option was a one bedroom apartment in the same place where the house they are renting is located. It's a walk from downtown but has a fenced yard (a definite plus with both TJ and Chip needing a place to run) and the landlord is very nice and lives on site. Not only would we be right next to Dan and Cherub but also some other people from the HAW, several which are fellow americans. I will admit that although we want to have Hungarian neighbors and NOT live in a little America type area, it was appealing to think in the beginning we would have friends close by who could show us around and answer our questions in a language we are both fluent in. No question - we wanted the apartment.

The day TJ and I arrived I learned the 2 girls I had been talking with thru facebook were both out of the country with their husbands (Dan and Cherub were one of the couples). I would have to wait to meet them. We drove through an electronic gate which closed securely behind us. The "compound" (for lack of a better word) has a nice patch of lawn with a gravel area that will soon house play equipment for children (too late for TJ to use but will be awesome for others that come here). There is a new brick patio that is covered with a red tile roof, a BBQ grill, table and chairs and a few canvas hanging swing/chairs. All very inviting. The driveway has parking for several cars. The building, new looking stucco with the same red tile roof, includes the office and I believe three apartments. Shandor (I am totally guessing at how to spell his name correctly) lives in one of them with his girlfriend and his 17 year old son. Connected to our ground level apartment is the house that Dan and Cherub are living in. I haven't seen inside it but understand it to be very roomy and nice inside. They also have access to a private swimming pool and sauna. Walking out their back door and across a different driveway there is a matching building where Summer and Brenton live. All of this is owned by Shandor who is in the construction business. Next to the covered patio is a wine cellar with a room to hold parties. I'll be a little sad to leave all this so soon, especially before Dan and Cherub return after the middle of the month. On the driveway closest to the patio is a new little trampoline with the net walls around it. TJ has expended much of his excess energy jumping on it. I'm seriously thinking it might be an excellent investment to get one of our own for him while we are here.

Before our first shipment of stuff arrived yesterday, the apartment was perfect for a temporary stay. Everything is too small for long term but much nicer than living in a hotel. We have a small kitchen with 2 burners and a tiny fridge as well as a microwave. There aren't many cupboards or drawers but it is enough for now. When we shop for food we have to stack some things on the kitchen table until other stuff is eaten and there's room in the cupboards. We just don't buy much at a time. Our bedroom is big enough for our low-to-the floor queen size bed and the wardrobe and dresser - but just barely. To be honest it was roomy before I arrived. Since we will be leaving soon I have left everything in suitcases and so we have 3 large ones on my side of the room taking up a lot of the floor space and Eric's large one on his side. I will take pictures after our stuff is moved out so it shows the place off better. The bathroom is interesting. The shower is a corner stall with sliding doors on either side. The opening is kind of narrow even after both doors are open. The toilet is different. The bowl is shaped with a flatter bottom that doesn't hold water and in the very front a smaller round deeper bowl, almost tube shaped, that holds the water. The handle is on the top of the tank - you push it down for a forceful full flush or can push the opposite side to stop the flushing when less water is required to clean the bowl. Very interesting. A funny story about it (TMI for some of you, feel free to skip this part). TJ announced that he had to poop and went in to the bathroom to do just that. A few minutes later I heard an amazed, "Mama, come here, quick. You've gotta see this!" I hurried in only slightly alarmed at his tone and was invited to look into the toilet. (If you don't have a child under the age of 8 you might not understand how often you are requested to examine and endlessly discuss poop). I looked and actually burst out laughing. There on the flatter waterless part of the bowl sat a tower of you-know-what, as if someone had purposely balanced it on it's end. TJ was delighted by my reaction and we both got a little hysterical over it.

The wash machine is a front loader and very small. Above it is the hot water tank. And nowhere to be seen is a clothes dryer. Apparently Hungarians hang their clothes to dry. I forgot about that when I decided to throw in a load of wash yesterday afternoon, including the sheet for TJ's bed. Lucky for him it's also pretty warm lately and so when I moved the clothes rack out to our small patio (just out our back door, not the larger one with the grill), the clothes were dry by evening. Speaking of heat, I guess it's typical here to go without air conditioning. The first day I was here we stopped at the Tesco (similar to Walmart - sort of) and along with our food picked up a small inexpensive fan. Thank heavens! Hungarians are much tougher than me. I need cooler rooms when the humidity and heat index collide! Electricity is different here. Well, electricity is the same everywhere but the voltage is different. According to my husband, who travels extensively around the world, we are the only country that insists on using 120 volt power. Here and everywhere in Europe I guess it's 220/240. If I were to plug my 120 appliances in here they would blow up. Not making that mistake is helped by the plugs here, which are for 2 round prongs and not our flat ones. I am also learning the difference between adapters and transformers (boy, was TJ excited when he heard us saying we needed to pick up some transformers! And disappointed when he discovered what they were). An adapter is a small piece that fits over our type of appliance plug and has the round prong one on the other side. This works well for things like my hair blower or curling iron which are made to use for either 120/220 without blowing up. The coffee maker on the other hand can't handle the stronger current so it needs a larger transformer to lessen the current that reaches it. On a side note, can I tell you how much I enjoyed the fresh coffee I made this morning by grinding the beans I sent along with the coffee maker in our first shipment? I did forget to include filters for it and so we got to search all over the Inter Spar (a store that's closer to us right now and is more like Target - a bit more upscale than Tesco) for filters. We searched the coffee and tea aisle, the paper products, and every other aisle to no avail. I finally went off on my own and found a store worker stocking shelves next to actual coffee makers. I happily tapped him on the shoulder and prepared to point to the box and pantomime coffee filters when he asked me in pretty good english what I needed. We both walked back to the coffee aisle and after a minute or two he found boxes on the bottom shelf that held filters. To be honest, I never would have found them on my own!

We have been in Hungary for 4 full days as I write this and I think we are adjusting pretty well. TJ watches his favorite cartoons and the fact that they are all in Hungarian barely phases him. We have enjoyed chatting with Shandor and Yanni (his girlfriend - and I have no idea what her name is but that's the way it sounds to me) with the help of Shandors son whose English is good. His secretary, Agatta (she's polish, speaks Hungarian very well and has a 4 yr old son who TJ loves playing with) is so nice and friendly as well. Her English is great and they are all trying to help me learn Hungarian. I'm going to miss them when we move. We sign the lease this afternoon at 4 PM - I'm hoping it takes a few more days for them to paint that upstairs bedroom!