McHorrified

Okay, it happened. I actually went inside a McDonald's. Okay, technically it wasn't a McDonald's - it was a McCafe. But you had to walk through the McDonald's to get there. I was meeting Natasha Friday evening to talk about my project before she left on vacation and we wanted to go to a different cafe near Vorosmarty Ter (a nice plaza with outdoor cafes). But it was so hot and there was no air conditioning anywhere. So we she said, "Oh, we can go to McCafe." But I didn't realize that's what she said. Next thing I knew we were walking into a McDonald's!!! Well, at least it was air conditioned. And, I didn't pay. I told her it was the first time in about ten years that I was patronizing a McDonald's. I noted the irony of talking about socially responsible investing in McDonald's. But then I remembered that McDonald's is on several SRI indices, including Domini. Still, I didn't enjoy it, and not least because an ice coffee simply doesn't taste the same with the wafting scents of Chicken McNuggets and Big Macs.

TICK TOCK
Peter and I left the hot city this weekend and had some quality time in the countryside. Okay, so I wouldn't say it's the countryside BUT, Budapest is the largest city with ten million people. We went to Miskolc, the third largest city with 200,000 people. That is one-fifth the population of San Francisco. Feels like the countryside to me! We went to visit Peter's brother's new baby, Mihaly (Mee-High), but he is called Mishi-ka (Kinda like how my grandpa calls me Marci-la). He is ADORABLE. He has the cutest little baby acne all over his cheeks and he is teensy. His head fits into the palm of my hand! He was so good, too. I held him and he didn't fuss at all. Then he fell asleep in my arms (after letting out a nice, wet poop!). I could feel my womb crying out, "I want one!" Oh wait, that was me.

We had a great time with Micu (Mitsoo), Peter's brother, and Judka (Yoodka), Peter's sister-in-law. We went out to dinner and then to a club that Judka's cousin just opened. It was nice to spend time with them and nice for Judka to get out of the house. IT was her first night out after giving birth three weeks ago! The next day Peter, Micu, kis-Micu (keesh-Mitsoo, or little Mitsoo) and I went for a little day trip to Lillafured, a nearby town with a small river and waterfalls and caves. There is a beautiful hotel there that was built just after the first World War. It's notorious because apparently Hungary got a loan after WWI to rebuild and about one-third of the loan money went to building this particular hotel. That's one-third of the money for the entire country! Well, it is a nice hotel!

That afternoon we went to Kistokaj (Keesh-Toe-Kye), a very small "lake" community near Miskolc. Judka's mother has a little house on the lake there and so we went for some kayaking and a swim. I have not been swimming for more than two months and it was so wonderful to stretch out like that in the water. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. I lost my goggles in the lake! So Peter and I kayaked around a bit and then we headed back to Budapest for the night.

Sunday we went back to Lake Balaton and spent a glorious day in the sun on the beach.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT
I cannot believe I am leaving in less than two weeks! Between now and then I have to finish up as much work as possible before Peter and I are go on a road-trip to Austria and the Czech Republic. Oh, and I will be celebrating another birthday. Funny how I just don't feel that old. But the numbers tell a different story, and the numbers don't lie (unless you are Enron or Worldcom).

I am really looking forward to going home but it is going to be BRUTAL to leave Peter. I don't know how I will manage! Well, I am not going to look that far ahead.