Budapest...

Had class again today and had the pleasure of being the cold call, which for those unfamiliar with the term or law school; cold call= teacher questioning you the whole class. Of course there was 90 some pages to read and I spent a collective 15 minutes in my room until 4am when I got back from the club, so I hadn’t read…BUT I got ahold of a premade outline and did stupendous! Victory. After class we went to the Hungarian parliament, it was very beautiful…and it should be because the cost of the parliament was enough to build everything for a town of 50,000 I mean houses, buildings, streets, sewage…everything! We also got to see the oldest crown in Europe, from 1000 common era (ad) After that I went to the state torture museum, it is dedicated to both the nazi and soviet occupations of hungary. It was sweet, unlike most museums, it really catered to a younger audience, including spooky music and very stunning visuals, instead of just documents, everywhere you went were videos and interviews playing. Hungary started WWII on the nazi side but switched and was laid siege to by the nazi’s afterword. The soviets were much harsher. The one part of the museum was a reeeeaaaalllllyyyy slow elevator ride where you are forced to watch a video about a guy explaining how the executions in the former nazi/kgb secret police headquarters were carried out. Then you get to see the cells and the gallows. It was impressive. Unfortunately a lot was NOT in English and of limited value, but you could get the idea. Tomorrow I intend to visit a bunker and one of the world’s oldest libraries. Almost everyone else is going to the baths, but I like the history more than a Turkish massage.

Tonight we went to “The Octagon” which is a central plaza and had dinner at a place a girl recommended. I had: 1. pickle and sausage soup, 2 foie gras (goose liver) and 3. Ghoulash. Plus a glass of cabernet sovignon, a bottle of water, bread, and a desert wine; the Hungarian Tojak wine, which is very sweet. It cost me 21 dollars. The pickle soup was good, and mom I have a totally unique idea now on how you should serve the easter or thanksgiving soups, remind hwen I get back, it was cool. The foie gras is a goose liver and it tasted just like an egg i thought, it was god but apparently is very hard on the goose, kind of like veal to cattle. The ghoulash was also excellent. Of course we all shared and tried each others food, so I also had salmon, and Hungarian pork, but neither were anything unique or out of the ordinary. After dinner we went back to the club I was at till 4 am the night before. It was agood lcub because it has 3 floors and each floor has a few different rooms with different things going on. I sang tainted love and hung out in the karaoke part and then went in to the dance club for a little. Its almost 3am as I write now so obviously I headed home, still a little exhausted from the prior nights activities.
But here is a fun fact, nick Solomon speaks german. Its been 2 years since issued it in Russia and 6 years since I was studying it in high school but I still managed to not only discern that the cab driver did not speak English, but also to give him directions to my hotel, find out about a big disco club, tell him I was a student and had class and that’s why I did have my friends with me as they intended to stay or had already gone home, I told him how I learned german, I understood that his german was pretty god because above 25 most speak german, below 25 most speak English, I told him that he could pull over and it would be fine and wished him a good night. I didn’t miss a beat on anything he said. This is all great being that I will be in Austria and berlin soon enough and I am nervous because I haven’t worked with german in so long, but it is super useful in eastern Europe. I don’t remember all the words but once I hear them I recall them quite quickly. I’m sure I’ll do fine navigating germany. My top 3 life goals stand as such, 1. go to law school 2. go to germany 3. own a home. I can check 1 and 2 off the list this year. Law school is so damned hard and sucks bad..but it has sent me to all kinds of cool European countries and for that it is extremely fulfilling.

 Additionally, talking to the university of Miami and Baylor law kids and such who both pay over $35,000 a year it has hit me just how great temple is. 2 kids have told me how temple was their first choice but they didn’t get in, its half the price, they ALL know it (I don’t know the university of Miami) and of course, what is quite simple to me form my law education, are things they don’t know or don’t have a strong grasp of. One girl was telling me about her most acclaimed professor, and I cant remember the details at the moment but whatever he did to achieve fame, my professor LITERALLY do every week, I have the abundance of e-mails to prove it. These kids worry and struggle with things that are second nature to me by now. Another thing about these kids is that most of them have come from the other university of miami program titled LEAP (London-Amsterdam-Paris) and it was run like this program where they had a tour guide and a bus and all that, as a result they have zero ability to fend for them selves and navigate a country. Today on the bus they were blown away that no one checked their tickets, they could not figure out how to operate the metro, they were super frustrated with no one speaking English etc etc etc. Maybe I’m becoming a veteran but I understand how public transit in Europe works, no one has held my hand for the longest time, and of course its more common than not that no one speaks English and so you have to learn a few basic things to get around. I’d prefer not to travel with them out and about in the city which is part of the reason I intend ot just strike off on my own tomorrow. I didn’t think I was very good until I rocked the house in Venice or found the way home today in hungary. I think germany will be my time to shine, even though I cant speak or understand it the greatest, I certainly can read it and will be able to navigate anywhere without difficulty I feel. Northampton high school might be a shit hole now, but the language programs were good. Note Zachary: if herr remp is still around, take him…or Spanish…its likely way more useful in the united states. Oh! Another rant about some of these kids I’m with is one girl was bitching today why hungary is not on the euro and how selfish they are and stupid. So I explain how their economy was not developed enough to be on the euro and that if they were added it would mess up the price of the euro etc etc. I completely blew her mind, it was like talking to one of my high school kids…but this girl is in law school, which brings me to another rant, you should not go straight into law school after undergrad, you need to work and get real life experience….the kids on this trip who are 22-24 STINK of immaturity and ignorance. My capacity for learning has increased 400% since I was that age. I really enjoy this immigration class, its been very sociology based, which of course was my undergrad, but it has got me thinking about a lot of the immigration debates and especially with arizona’s new laws in mind, it is a useful tool in evaluating the legality of the states actions. Today’s class was all about deportation and very interesting, things I did not know. Which leads me to a point, the laws laid out by Arizona and by Hazleton= unconstitutional and therefore illegal. If anyone is interested I would be more than happy to explain when I get back. I think illegal immigrants are a problem, but there are tons of ways we can mitigate damages without violating the laws of the united states.