Mom, Dad, all that staying up late and practice running on little sleep has, in fact, paid off this weekend. Last Thursday morning, Brittany and I announced that we would be hosting a dinner party on Saturday. This was a whim we had on Wednesday evening, walking home, as a few of us were raving about the dinners Brittany was making. I said that everyone in the program should come for dinner at least once, so we decided a dinner party would be the best way to showcase Brittany’s cooking and our apartment (which, with so many chairs, is made for this type of gathering). After dinner, we were planning to head out to Club Verne, which is advertised as a submarine disco club, a place below Christy’s and Sarah’s apartment in the eighth district. It was described only as a disco that looks like a submarine; whether the decor is submarine-esque, or it’s simply underground (would kill the hype), or they just really enjoy submarine-themed songs, we had no idea. But submarine disco was definitely going to be a highlight. For the dinner party, Brittany and I gave directions to our apartment and asked everyone to bring something small (bread, salad, etc.), but we were careful not to invite everyone (our apartment has at least 15 chairs, but not 40). And then we wrote lists, lists and more lists–but we didn’t actually start doing anything until Saturday. I guess I should first recount Friday night.
In school, a bunch of us picked up an issue of “Time Out: Budapest” and decided to scour it for good dance clubs. So on Friday, we went for one called Corvinteto near Blaha Luzja Ter (aka Blaha), right above a supermarket (Tanar Erika, langauge school teacher, raved “all the youth love that place”). Colored lights, graffiti, loud music, it was definitely the place to dance and not to talk, which was mostly a change from us BSMers’ previous gatherings. That night I tried the famous Hungarian pear Palinka and met some Hungarians using my basic vocabulary (hallo, hogy vagy? jo, es te?) but mostly English. Anyway, we stayed there until at least 2 a.m. They played a lot of music I’d recently been feeling including Arctic Monkeys, MGMT, and Florence and the Machine (hey thanks Mark for all of that music), but it had already been a long week of 8-hour-class days coupled with attempting to get settled, so at some point we all made our way home.
Therefore, it was by accident that Brittany and I slept into the afternoon on Saturday and did not start any party planning until around 2 (with guests arriving at 6:30, dinner at 7). We knew we were to provide shepherd’s pie, carrots, fruit salad, and libations, so she headed to the grocery store to get cooking supplies and I went straight for the Great Market near Ferenciek Ter to get fresh fruit and veggies. As it turns out, it was closed, which for a minute made everything that much more frustrating. But I found one of many fruit and veggie stands instead, and cursed that I forgot to bring a bag (here, they charge to fill a plastic bag with food, and the plastic bags are very flimsy anyway). So, with plum Palinka in one hand, juice in the other, and a bag filled to the brim with fresh produce, I got on the Metro in the wrong direction. And did not come home until around 4, when, luckily, Britany had already started peeling potatoes and cooking beef. We worked like madwomen: peeling, chopping, frying, laying out, mashing, opening, mixing, baking (figuring out how to light a gas oven is an interesting ordeal), and cleaning/preparing the house in the minutes with less to do. But it all came together around 6:40…when we received about 3 guests. After that, they started coming in droves; a couple to buzz in. Then a group of five. Then six others. By 7:15, we were laying out bread, bruschetta (Nick’s delicious contribution), cheese, and wine, and each subsequent item seemed to be so easily vanquished, so we cut into the shepherd’s pie and carrots around 7:45, to rave reviews. This was definitely an accomplishment, considering not only that we had no idea where to light the burner on the oven, but we also had no way of knowing what the temperature was, or set a timer. About 18 people got some of the entree, 15 got chairs, and 6 others showed up later for dessert. There was also a fantastic ratio of side dishes that people brought; lots of bread and cheese, but it was all demolished by the end of dinner. The desserts stayed out, as did the wine. And by the end of the night, all 11 bottles of wine/palinka that were bought/brought were wiped clean. Add that to the six or so wine bottles that Brittany and I had previously cleaned out ourselves (sometimes with guests), and the shelf of empty bottles we’re keeping is slightly…..embarrassing?
A smashing success. We were going to head to Submarine Disco, but everyone was so enthralled in their discussions that we never did. About ten people stayed past 1:30 a.m., at which point Brittany and I were so falling-over-dead-tired that we needed to kick them out, so we crashed in bed without cleaning up anything and this morning worked for hours sweeping, taking out trash, washing, dusting. Nothing broken, one blanket lost. Success.
And the plan for the rest of the day? Turkish baths. Grocery shopping. Study vocabulary so we can learn 4 new conjugations tomorrow. Get some sleep. Perhaps.
Budapest and Beyond 