Budapest

4 months into the assignment and I really am not sure if I am indeed getting any wiser or if my world is spinning out of control ? We have our highs and we certainly have our lows......You just can not find the middle ground nor is it possible to settle down, because there is always changes people are coming and going and you really do not want to invest to much money in getting the apartment nice and cosy? There is just not much point

I must say though, that Gareth is coping very well, he is not used to living in the city and he is plodding along and adapting well considering he is used to the more tranquility up in the Rossendale hills. I on the other hand have learnt to appreciate the countryside and am looking forward to going back to rainy England. Probably on the basis why on earth would I be into sunny places considering my pale but interesting complexion? I do know for a fact that Gareth is missing his car badly, and who could blame him with the public transport. There is always a metro arriving every 3 minutes but they're always so crowded that your personal space does not exist. Jack is of course loving it as his obsession for public transport has just not worn of yet

Anyway we should not complain, we are now in the middle of January and it is 15 degrees outside, I say 15 degrees/ 59 F ? Helloooo? What is happening to this world? Well I can not say other than that the Tracey family had prepared themselves for a somewhat colder Hungary and spent an absolute fortune on thick clothes before we came down, You know....that saying of being well prepared and so on.......? Yeah whatever!

So let me talk about Hungary and Budapest. Great people and if they know you, they so want to please. Food is different and we do miss our English cuisine. They like to deep fry everything and anything, so you really need to keep an eye on that waste line. Sometimes you just have to take a wild guess regarding what you order in the local cafe where I have my lunch, so no room for picky eaters in this place! Gareth got kinda disturbed when he found pizza's with cauliflower and broccoli.......
Alcohol is cheaper than milk in the shops, and for some reason there is only a very small section with a few bottles of milk in the shops,do they not drink /use it?
I will NEVER take the quality or the service for grated when it comes to my local ASDA ever again. the shops are the size of the bread section in a local Tesco/Asda store. So the choice is not exact vast and it is possible cheaper to go out and eat, than buy all the ingredients to cook a well balanced nutritious meal. Unfortunately also the English language is not widely spoken amongst the population in this country, so it can get somewhat interesting when you have finally managed to prepare a meal..... and you realise what you thought they gave you as tomato paste actually is chili paste and you have already added the whole tube.........And my poor,poor,poor husband is gulping the soup to please you with tears in his eyes because his head and throat is on fire.
The best part of the shopping is if the product doesn't have a bar code "You don't get it" simple as that. The amount of times silly me has got to the till and there has been some "vital" ingredients that I am not allowed to have due to missing bar code. GREAT!

Jack's world

I thought it was important to capture memories,episodes and not least Jack's funny words and felt the need to dedicate a huge section to the most important little man in my life. He is currently 2 and a half and finding his feet and his personality, the days are passing by and he has so much to say, and it is just absolutely hilarious. He has me and Gareth in stitches every day. He certainly knows what he wants and is developing into a determent little man. He is also at the stage where he not only copies what we say but our gimmicks and our behaviour. I have learnt one major thing and that is never underestimate a child!

Tuesday 13/02/2007: Jack thinks Salami is Lama, and we are trying to explain the difference but he is not having it.........Also yesterday we put him to bed and he would not go to sleep, so Gareth went in for the third time to tell him off for singing and jodling. He must have heard him approaching the door because when he got into his room he was sat on the bed with his legs crossed his eyes shut and his fingers in his ears repeating over and over again "Don't shout daddy I am not listening....."


Friday 19/01/2007 The morning starts fantastic with all of us running around with our normal getting ready routine. Gareth goes into the Jack's nursery bag to check that he has a set of clean clothes and finds his nursery report. Aaaaww..... Jack's very first report. We open it with huge enthusiasm and we are greeted with the following;

Jack is by far the most energetic boy in the whole pre-school. He is bright and very loving,although sometimes his energy can be a problem. He always wants to play and be moving,and does not have enough patience to even participate in song time,which is an active time. He is a sweet boy and tidies up well. When we ask him to apologize to someone, he does. We just can not get him still even when we are changing his shoes to go outside. Jack is lovely and all the teachers like him,he just has trouble cooperating. Even though he doesn't listen to lessons there is no doubt he is soaking up information like a sponge. He talks well in English and is picking up Hungarian very quickly,without being thought in Hungarian. He just seems to understand what the other kids are saying in Hungarian and repeats it. Jack gets on well with the other kids except for one girl who has caught his habit of hitting,we are trying to teach both of them that hitting anyone is wrong. Jack is staying out in the garden longer and having lunch with the big kids. This has improved sleeping time a lot,and Jack is already making friends with the other kids he plays with, When he wakes up in the afternoon he is a lot more cooperative and friendly.

Oh my god we have produced a monster, was my first thoughts this morning after reading this, I quote the first line "Jack is by far the most energetic boy!!!!!!" and my next favourite "Jack gets on well with the other kids except for one girl who has caught his habit of hitting," HIS habit of HITTING?????????? I was completely mortified when I read this and I am already looking forward to school. I will probably be one of those parents that receive a phone call at least once a week "Mrs Tracey? we have your son again in the headmasters office, can you please come and pick him up?"

Oh well what can I say ? He didn't come with a instruction manual, it's just obvious that we are failing dramatically as parents........That was until I confided in some more experienced parents which just laughed at me and my concerns and told me to stop focusing on the negative and look at all his positive feedback. And it is true he is the most beautiful little man I have ever met

Thursday 18/01/2007 There is wake up calls and there is wake up calls. We currently have a guest staying with us, and he is occupying Jack's bedroom. So Jack is sleeping in a spear bed that we have bought and is placed in our bedroom with us. This morning I woke up with Jack being sat nicely on my head with a cold wet soggy nappy singing nursery rhymes, minding his own business as you do!!!!!

Sunday 14/01/2007 So we are out and about doing family stuff and pushing Jack down Vaci Utca in his pushchair Jack is singing and mummy and daddy are talking. Out of the blue Jack screams out " Mummy, daddy shut up! I am singing"

Saturday 13/01/2007 Gareth was flicking through the Hungarian channels on our TV when he finally found some sport. It was handball Norwegian v. Hungarian woman Handball. Jack was playing in the living room, and when the TV eventually caught his attention he stops up looks very thoughtful for a few seconds and then blurts out " Oh.... MY GOD!, Daddy !!!! they are doing it wrong" referring to the fact that they where holding the ball and not kicking it.

Friday 12/01/2007 Jack was carefully slipping his pennies into his money bank and when he had ran out of pennies he shouts "Can I please have some more money! " Gareth replies "No, Jack there is no more pennies" "But, Daddy I need some" "Well you will have to go out and get a job" So he looks at me and daddy, puts is head on the side looking very thoughtful for about 3 seconds and replies very chirpy "Okay" "me Jack go to work, bye,bye"

Saturday 06/01/2007. So Me and Jack are at Budapest Zoo looking and learning about all the animals. In the zoo they also have a farm section where they keep pigs, horses and a rather large and old cow........Jack is fascinated by the cow which at this point is trying to lick Jack's face. At the same moment the cow lifts his tail up and starts to pee, Jack at this moment nearly falls over with amazement and his huge big blue eyes are nearly popping out of his round face, in the next second the cow starts doing it's number two business and at this point Jack nearly passes out. And with no warning he stomps off to the zoo keeper starts pulling his top and shouts frantically and with a complete panic in his voice "Excuse me, excuse me you need to change his nappy, it is going every where and the cow is dirty"

Tuesday 02/01/2007
"What you do'in daddy"
" I am trying to get the shutter down"
" ohh.........."
(a few seconds pass....)
"Is it stuck,daddy"
"Looks like it"
" Ohh............give it a good bang, daddy"

My Elin

So my dear friend Elin which I have had the honour of working with for 3 whole years is finally Pioneering her way out of Budapest. Being the first guinea pig testing the water and making her way through as the first Power User in this country. You can not have anything else but respect for that girl! Damn, she has showed nothing but girl power and she has certainly not only made my experience her more pleasant but also she has been my rock and my mother hen........So I am dedicating my very first Blog message to Elin. Elin I love you and thank you. I seriously whis you all the best. And I can not wait until our next photo session. Saturday 13 January 2007 will always stay in my Heart

It was also Elin by the way that opened my eyes to the world of blog and to even taking my up and coming photo hobby to the next level. So thank you again. And the result of our photo sessions you can see on this BLOG all marked with date 13/01/2007