Gopher on the Road

I'm writing my first post outside of Cologne from a very sunny Budapest. I've spent the last 10 hours walking around the city, and have stopped back at my hostel for a much needed break. Although I have a ton to talk about so far, I'll save the details until my Budapest experience is over. I'll just say that I'm impressed so far!

I wanted to give you an update to the badminton rematch. This week's contest took place in a much warmer gymnasium, so weather played a factor (adding drama to the event). I came out of the gates sluggish, falling behind 26 - 13. I slowly chipped away and finally pulled even at 40 - 40. My efforts were wasted though as my opponent rattled off 7 straight points before time ran out. I'd like to consider it a moral victory, and I would urge you to place bets in my favor before the next match.

Since my badminton skills aren't up to par, I thought I would try my luck at beach volleyball. The weather has been fantastic lately, so I thought it sounded like a good idea. The school has a couple nice sand courts on campus, which surprised me a little. The amenities on campus are sufficient for learning, but aren't what you would call glamorous.

Anyways, a group of six of us started playing, and wouldn't you know on the third serve, I screw up my thumb. This is after I biff the first two serves sent my way, and before I biff the next four. I looked like a complete doof out there, and my hand puffed up like the Pillsbury Doughboy. Soooo for the next hour, every ball I played came with pain. What was supposed to be a fun afternoon turned into me praying it would be over. Afterwards, I could hardly take notes in class.

I'm happy to report though that the hand is doing much better. I almost have my entire grip back, and the swelling has gone down. I'm glad, I was not hoping to find out weather my insurance covered a volleyball injury or not. It seems that physical activity is not specialty on this trip. The spirit is willing, but the skills seem to be lacking.

Well, I think that is it for this post. I'm itching to get back out and explore the city. I arrived in Budapest late last night, and will spend the next nine days traveling throughout Hungary and Poland. Since I have loaded all of my classes in the beginning of the week, my week long spring break turned into a week and a half long spring break. I will spend four nights in Budapest, three in Krakow, and two in Warsaw. I'm very excited to travel a little further east and hopefully enjoy some cheaper prices. Since I will be on the road and want to write about my experience in detail (with pictures) I will more then likely not write another post until I return on the 16th. Please check back after that time to read up on everything I have been up to!