In my head...

Alright. I'm back in Sioux Center as of Tuesday night. And I still don't have internet in my room, hence making my excuse for not blogging until now valid. With that said...It's been a great two weeks! (Although I am still waking up at 6AM every morning - today being no exception). I'm trying to figure out how to sum up all the things that we did and experienced. The last week we went back into Hungary and then to Vienna, Austria. Austria was more of sightseeing and attempted relaxation...it's amazing to see the difference in Western and Eastern European countries. As our tour guide, Marta, told us, Austria is the Eastern-most Western country and Hungary is the Western-most Eastern country. And you can tell. Austria was so much like America. The big cities, the fast pace of life, everything. And Hungary, well, wasn't.

One thing that sticks out in my mind when we were still in Eastern Europe was the gypsy village that we visited. It actually was a combination of two gypsy groups, we were told that we could take pictures and stuff with the first group, but not the second because the second would try to get money for any picture that was taken, so we didn't want to even mess with that. I have mixed feelings about going to this village. When we got there I felt as if we were on parade. We saw so many run-down houses, poor clothing, and a lot of kids. Many of the gypsies use their children to gain pity from those around them and so people give the kids money. One little boy I saw had only a shirt on, no pants at all. And there was the mother standing over him, pointing at him, as if to say, "Look at him! Give me money so I can put pants on my child!" But seeing that made me feel like a complete cynic. I just pictured the mom pulling the pants off her boy so that someone might give her money. So we kept walking. By the time we were almost to the bus, the kids and other people were following and swarming us. There were some people that had to pull hard to get away from some of the tugging kids and even adults that were trying to get us to come into their homes or give them our stuff. After that trip, I felt rich, cynical, and overwhelmed with not knowing how to deal with the feelings and thoughts that arose out of this experience. I still don't. But it definitely opened my eyes to the fact that there's a lot of people in the world that have much less than me -- the self-declared "poor college student." Poor. Not even close.

So if you want to hear more about the trip, talk to me. I've got pictures...and I'll try to get them up sometime in the future. For a little bit of a topic change...my week since I've returned:

1. Got home Tuesday night - got sheets out of the car. Mooched eggs and fajitas from Mason. Slept.
2. Wednesday: Unpacked my car. Officially moved into my summer apartment (D6). Hung out with roommates.
3. Thursday: First day at work in the music building. Sorting music, filing it away.
4. Friday: Second day at work. Eyes went buggy. Too much music filing at one time.
5. More Friday: Ate supper at David and Rita's. Went to X-men III. Well worth it.
6. End of Friday: Went back to David and Rita's with many people (Ephron, Karen, Jariel, Becca, Mason, Ruth, Jon, and Matt). Hung out til about midnight.
7. Went home, played some Starcraft. Went to bed.
8. Today: Going home. Yeah.