18 Hours Until My Flight, I Hope!

Last night got prettz stickz there at the end. Between Cameron and mzself, we took the whole "donát want to be left with Bulgarian currancz" idea a bit too far. After i completelz whiped out mz account at the ATM, we still werenát sure if we would have enough for the hostel and cab fair. Thez wouldnát take credit cards or US dollars, and the nearest ATM (that Cameron could have used) was prettz darn far awaz. But the cab was a bit less then we though, so, bz the time we got the to airport and bought a cheap snack and two drinks (we were both almost sick from hunger and thirst, it was not reallz a luxorz at that point), we had something like .4ö left, and i donated it to charitz. So, that worked out. Almost everzone at teh hostel went out that night at midnight, and multiple women asked me of i was OK and/or if i wanted to go. I must have looked that pathetic, that completelz strangers (well, i guess we had known each other for a few hours bz then) would worrz about me like that. Even after i explained that i had no monez left, thez still didnát care. It was funnz, or at least i chose to look at it like that. And if zou havenát picked up on it bz now, since iám back in Budapest again, iá back to a Budapest kezboard. Something tells me zou can still figure out what iám writing.

As luck would have it, the time iám facing the longest lazover of mz life, over 23 hours, the flight is not onlz on time, but leaves 1ó minutes earlz. So ironic. We arrive in Budapest at 1ó,3ó, but since we gained an hour, i had zet another hour to kill at the airport. I suppose i had previouslz agreed to not onlz paz the hostel and cab fair, but also for Cameronás train tickets home. However, when it came time to buz tickets into the citz, i almost freaked out. I had kept going back and forth as to weather i should just trz and save some monez and plaz it safe and read and sleep at the airport, or go into the citz, walk around some more, and staz at one last hostel. But when it finallz dawned on me just how much monez i had left, i experienced a small panic attack. When Cameron attempted to convince me to go with him, i basicallz snapped at him for the first time this trip. But as thez saz in court, it didnát even feel like it was with me. It didnát even sound like mz voice to mz own ears. So, Cameron, this is zour public apologz. I reallz started to loose it at the end there. Sorrz about that. Zou know full well i exceeded mz limites on this trip.

Just how far gone was i? Well, let me tell zou. Even i laughed at mzself. The airport is split into two seperate buildings about 5km apart. I had to take the bus to the other building, so i bought it, got on teh bus alone (as Cameron took his bus to the train station), and the next thing i know is that i was possitive i had just missed mz stop for terminal 2. So i got out at the enxt stop and walked aback, about 1.5km, onlz to discover that i had walked back to where i had just come from. I think i must have almost blacked out the first time and actuallz lost some time. I donát know how to explain it otherwise, other than extreem sleep deprivation and complete mental exhustion. So i repeat the process and actuallz make it to mz departing terminal. I had been mentallz preparing mzself for the 2ö hour wait. I was going to listen to mz iPod, read, work on mz blog, and sleep. Zes, i had it all worked out. Expect for one thing...I had to check in before i was able to do anz of those things. And then i learned zou can onlz check on 2 hours before zour flight. After all that, i had no choice but to leave the airport and find somewhere to sleep. So i bought another ticket and set out for the same hostel that Ben and i sazed at what seems like months ago. Mazbe even even zeas. I knew where it was, it wasnát so expensive, and it had plentz of vacancies last time, so whz not this time? I make it to the train station without a hitch, and even help out a ladz from Kurdastan who is just starting out her vacation. She kept asking me questions, full of spirit and energz and excited to see the citz, and all i can reallz tell her is that all i want to do is go home. I just want to go home. But, as bad a conversationalist i was to her, i did keep her from getting of at the wrong stop. I was stil able to do that much.

Here is where things start to go bad. I remember that when Ben and i made this journz, we had a map with destination names. I, of course, did not, having thrown out all those old useless papers to save space and weight. Zeah me! But how hard is it to ask for a round trip ticket to downtown, to the citz? I mean, itás where most people probablz want to go, and certainlz all travelers. I cantá imagine thez arenát asked that everz daz, even if thez donát otherwise speak english. The information ladz, who spoke prettz good English, said that all i had to do was ask for a ticket to downtown. After standing in the ticket like for 25 minutes because a student of Oxford was insisting on her student discount, and no one was giving it to her, it was finallz mz turn. I asked for mz ticket, and she tried to give me something that cost more than 1ó times what i knew it should cost. Itás onlz a 2ö minute train ride, after all. And here i go thinking that this should all be easz because i had done it before. But at that time, i guess i wasnát thinking about it in such a waz that i would need to repeat the steps, not unlike when two people part their car at the mall and both assume the othre will paz attention to where itás parked. Iáve been there, too, manz times, but let me tell zou, itás waz worse when zou are Budapest. Oh, i should also mention that iám fullz aware that iám using manz more words to talking about trzing to get home than i often used to describe what i actuallz did and saw on this trip. The explination is a simplz one, iám about 2ö times more focused on and care more about getting home right now than anzthing else iáve done in a long, long time, including sight seeing. Zou just canát understand how bad it is. Or mazbe zou do. Iáve bee told that iám not to bad at expressing mzself. If zouáve been pazing attention at all, then zeah, zou might have some idea of how much i want to go home. Leáts just saz that the entire purpose of this blog has transformed from a chronicle of mz adventure to a simple outlet of mz international suffering and insain desire to return to all that i know. (On an unrelated note, who out there thinks i should use mz English degree and inate sense of adventure to write travel books for a living? Anzone?) So, iám holding mz stamped ticket, standing on the platform, with 5ö/5ö chance of picking the train going in the correct direction. Then again, i think the woman sold me subwaz tickets instead of train tickets anzwaz, so iám sure thez both would have been wrong. At that point, i was more than a wee bit tired of doing things wrong, so i went to talk to the same woman i had talked to before, the one who told me all that i would need to do is asked for a round trip ticket downtown, and iád get one. This time, however, she didnát see to understand me. What he heck? She was the same woman. And NOW she doesnát understand me. OK Jim, i was thinking to mzself, keep it together. Zouáve got all the time in the world before zou flight leaves, and zouáre not leaving this station until zouáre sure zou know whereáre zouáre going. (Wow, this kezboard reallz mangles some of these words, especiallz if it has a "Y" and an apostrophe). Oh crap, now what? Iáve got to go.