Peace Through Humility

I've always said that the best way to get to know a place is to get lost in it. In that same sense, I have learned, since I have moved to Hungary, that the best way to find comfort/to feel at home is to force yourself into moments of humility.

I say this because I feel at home in Budapest, and it is not because I have sat at home, reading and drinking a cup of tea. I have gone to the market and stared blankely at a stand owner until he said a word I vaguely understood; I have struggled with a beginner student to arrange one-on-one lessons; I have gone to T-mobile and have been stopped in my tracks because the employees spoke no English; and I have gone to the banks, forced to go to a teller because I froze my debit card, and successfully withdrew money, and, on top of that, I learned a new Hungarian word.

It was these moments that reminded me that I'm a normal person. I'm not special; I'm not the English expert that the Hungarians tell me I am; I'm learning and living just like everyone else. I'm just trying to survive just like the seed couple I buy my dried cranberries from, or the butcher I buy my chicken from, and it gets easier every time I go and make a fool of myself as I try to talk to them with the language barrier.

Even though we don't speak the same language, I can see our relationship building. They know who I am and greet me with a patient smile as I try my hand at a new word or sentence -- it's too bad I don't understand their response. I'll figure bits of it out slowly if I keep stepping outside.

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"People don't grow when they're wrapped in cotton wool. They grow when they confront the world." - Russ Rymer's Genie: A Scientific Tragedy. (I think of this quote every time doing something or going somewhere intimidates me.)

The following pictures were taken today at Heroes Square -- statues of Hungarian heroes who weren't sipping tea at home.