Back in Budapest

After being away for almost a year, I am back in Budapest once again. Only the timing is not right, the country's finances seem to be slipping into a bottomless pit. The upside of all this is a great exchange rate if your salary comes from outside the country. So visitors find the prices are cheaper than before. As expected, this is not true for locals many of whom are now below poverty line. People compare Hungary with Argentina, and they might be right.

Tax day in Hungary

Today is the last day to file your taxes in Hungary. The post offices are already crowded and will be until midnight. The solution? To file beforehand, not to leave it until the last moment. According to the news, a million taxpayers have not filed yet.

This certainly was a brutal year for most people, the Tax Bureau bent backwards trying to squeeze money out of enterpreneurs. I heard some truly ugly stories in this respect.

Bicyclist hit by a car

A bicyclist was hit by a car this morning, according to the news. It is an ugly rainy day and traffic is, once again, crazy in the city. But Budapest is definitely not a bicycle friendly place, I don't understand people who decide to ride here. Life-threatening, both from the drivers and pollution.

Are there any good places to ride your bike in this city?

Shine a light: The Rolling Stones movie

Just saw Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones movie at Lurdy. I was expecting the film for quite a while now and today was the first day that it was on. We went to the 7 pm show but there were only two other people in the audience beside us. That's quite shocking, isn't it? The 7 o'clock show on a Thursday night. Is it that the Rolling Stones are not popular in Hungary? Or people do not go to the movies on Thursday?

By the way, the movie was great. The best part was Buddy Guy, he really outsang Jagger. I wonder why he did not show up at the very end for bowing out.

Hospital patients running lose

I drove to a hospital (I will not mention which one it was, lest they sue me) this week to visit a friend and, as I was about a mile away, I noticed a man in pajamas and barefoot walking in the opposite direction. With his half-stripped top and dishevelled hair, and the lack of shoes on a chilly morning, I guessed that he was running away from the hospital. So at the ***ology where I was visiting, I mentioned to the people on duty that I saw a potential patient escaping. The staff got extremely excited, exclaiming, "We found the patient! Quick, call the police so they can pick him up!" Everybody started running around, making calls and all.

At this point I tried to describe the guy, saying that he had a beard and that he was a man of about 50. "But our patient is a woman!" they told me suddenly. "False alarm! This is not one of ours! Must be from another department." So now everyone calmed down.

But this made me think. Is this so common? I come across two patients in one day who run away from the hospital? There must be dozens of them every day. And the other question that comes to mind, why are the patients running away? Aren't they free to leave whenever they wish to?

Salaries in the Hungarian Army

Just heard over the radio how much Hungarian Army staff are making. I never knew this, perhaps it is useful for others as well. So privates earn about 140,000 Ft a month before taxes, which comes to about $550 net. Not that much, is it? I pay more for my apartment and utilities.

Now officers, on the other hand, make almost twice as much, but this is only a general average. I guess there is a difference between a paycheck of a sergeant and a colonel. But even so, it is only about $12,000 a year. But then there are not many opportunities to risk your life for your country, if you are in the military in Hungary.

Hail storm in Budapest, falling bricks damage cars

This afternoon there was a terrible storm in Budapest, with gusts of wind blowing bricks off the roof in downtown areas. I have not actually seen the news but I did see quite a few cars in the downtown area which were completely damaged by fallen bricks. I am not sure how bricks dislocate themselves from the top of these buildings but they sure hit the ground (and cars) hard. Just imagine if a bunch of bricks falls on someone's head, he would be dead in a second.

There was also hail. I was driving at the time and the wind was so strong that the rain and hail seemed to be coming horizontally, rather than falling from up above. And my car was shaking even after stopping by the side of the road.

As a result of the storm, lots of traffic lights were out of order. It was a good thing that this happened over the weekend and not on some busy weekday, otherwise the entire city would have been paralyzed.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, but if someone sends me a picture, I will put it up here.

What's the best thing about Budapest?

What is the best thing about Budapest? From time to time I notice that I mostly project a negative image of this city, as I am always pushed to write when I experience something abnormal or annoying. In my less malicious moments I simply do not write.

So what is good here? What are the best things? I would really be interested in what others feel. As for me, music would have to be on the top of the list, that's for sure. And the beautiful women. Not necessarily in any nasty way but in general, as an aesthetic observation.

Food is not good, prices are not cheap (anymore). Oh, the baths. Yes, I love the bath houses even though only go there about once a month. Still, the impression stays with me for the rest of the month.

Also, the relative freedom. If you are a foreigner and do not work for a bank or an investment company then you probably have some free time on your hand and can enjoy the slow pace of Hungary. This is even more so for smaller cities like Pécs or Szeged.

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Let me know if I missed anything...

Budapest is the capital of what European country?

I though I'd share this with others.

Photocopying at the Szabo Ervin Library

Has anyone been to the Szabo Ervin Library lately? This is Budapest's public library, sort of the like the New York Public Library (where they were burning the books in The Day After Tomorrow). A beautiful building, no doubt about it.

But photocopying is a nightmare. There are only a few machines and most of them are broken so you need to line up for ages to get anything done. And then you run out of coins and that's it. Nobody would change your money so you have to go down to the cashier at the ground floor and stand in line. And they might tell you that they do not change money there. I don't know, I did not have the patience to wait through the line.

So why is this so god damn difficult? It already costs twice as much as in any public library in the US, but takes about 10 times more time and an incredible amount of frustration. So my solution to the problem is that I try to avoid the library. Buy the book, it really is worth the extra 3,000 Ft not to have to roam around the building in search of a working copy machine.

Bush the winker

So here is President Bush, the leader of the nation, the most powerful man on earth. And he is in good humor, having done something useful. I can only hope that it does not involve running over another country.