Picture This

There are some things that happen in our daily Budapest life that must be documented. I want to remember the little crazy stories. Today was one of those.....so picture this.

It is about 40 degrees outside. People here have their kids covered head to toe when it is about 70, much less 40. I am not so paranoid about the cold weather. It is Thanksgiving, but it is just any other day to the Hungarians. However, Chelsea is out of school. She wants to dress herself this morning and I let her. She comes downstairs in her red, sleeveless Christmas dress and a pink belt. Whatever. She is happy.

Fast forward to this afternoon. A man from Eurocar is coming to pick up our rental car. He calls and says he is on our street, but he can't find the house. I tell him I will walk outside and look for him. I grab Cade and put his jacket on. Chelsea yells that she wants to come, too. I tell her to find shoes and a jacket, and then she can come out. I head down the driveway with Cade, but I don't see anyone. I call the man back and now it sounds like he is at the corner. I tell him I will walk that way. Meanwhile, Chelsea comes running down the driveway. No jacket. No shoes. No socks. Sleeveless dress. The guy is waiting for us, so I decide to just let her come like that. Needless to say, we get some interesting looks on the sidewalk. Some Hungaran teenagers stop, stare at her, and laugh. Then, a car stops and I think the lady was asking if we need a ride. She was speaking Hungarian, so I just said thank you and waved her on. Still, I cannot find this poor car man.

At the end of our street, there is a small street that is guarded 24 hours a day. I have never spoken with the police officer, but I decide to go for it. The car guy needs directions, preferably in Hungarian. The police officer looks at me, looks at Chelsea, and then gets on his radio. He doesn't speak enough English for me to tell him she really does have shoes and a coat. :) I hold out my phone to him and he calls someone else, who does speak English, and finally they tell him he can talk to the car guy on my phone. I guess he has to get permission to deviate from his duties. He gives the guy directions and the guy finds us. Success! I am going to take something to the police guy to tell him thank you - he is a good guy to be friends with on the street!

Happy Thanksgiving to all - I am off to cook and will share pics of Hungarian Thanksgiving later! -