Summer is giving Mark and I time to enjoy cooking together and though we both love it, he especially excels.  He just started a vegan blog as the Irreverent Vegan.  He composes the pithy recipes and I help out with the cooking, ideas, photography and…man, is it hard but someone has to do it…the eating!  We’re hosting a vegan brunch at our house this Sunday morning following the wonderful Ypsilanti-based Shadow Art Fair at the Corner Brewery.

I am fortunate that a typical meal at our house looks like this:

chick(pea) patties and smashed potatoes with mushroom gravy

The lettuce on the burgers and the green beans on the potatoes come from our garden.  Deck and lanterns compliments of our friend Blue at Blue Sky Carpentry.

I am packed and ready to go.  I can’t believe I got all of that stuff into two suitcases and three carry-ons.

save yourself

I have been busy wrapping things up here.  By some miracle I was able to make my video camera work long enough to put all of the footage from shoot #1 on my computer.  Now Nannette and I can continue to work on the video remotely.

Yesterday she and I made vegan chocolate cupcakes to bring to the sending off soiree hosted by David last night.

wee tiny cupcakes!

David's lovely apartment building

the view from his terrace

the sky was lovely last night

Michael and I at the party

We had to say goodbye to Beata today.  She got us these little marzipan critters.  I’m saving mine, but I watched Michael tear the head off of Winnie the Poo rather savagely.I’ve really enjoyed my time here and hope to make it back at some point.  I’ll miss all of the wonderful people I’ve met here.  Szia!  Hello!

There’s no sun on this particular Sunday.  We tried to go out to Szentendre, which is an artist community, but our day trip was rained out.  It’s too bad, but we’ll get there on a nicer day soon.  We did get a chance to see some Roman ruins before the rain started falling.  I like the way they contrast with the contemporary architecture.

Michael, Beata, and Maxie Honey Bunny checking out the ruins

We are meeting some really great people here, and have been checking out the local nightlife.  Last night I got dinner with a friend and met Michael and some other people at Corvinteto.  It’s a really amazing hang-out spot on the roof of a grocery store.  Someone told me it used to be a Socialist department store, but I’m not sure about that… I don’t have any photos, but on the beautiful breezy evening with an amazing view of the Budapest skyline with really nice people, drinking fröccs (a mix of wine and soda water- basically spritz), it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday night.  We ended the evening by getting some lángos (traditional Hungarian fried dough served with garlic, cheese, sour cream, etc.)  I had the garlicy version and it was perfect.

Here are a couple of drawings I have been working on…

...having something to do with Virginia Woolf

two Amelia Earhart drawings

Where are these weird little guys coming from?  Tomorrow I am meeting a friend to go art supply shopping.  The main art shop is closed until Friday, so that is a bit of an impediment, but we will prevail!  I want to get some oil paint to translate some of the little island images into larger paintings.  Right now Michael is cooking up some pasta with sauteed garlic and Hungarian spicy sauce.  It smells amazing, so I am going to go eat!

Here are some images of my situation.  I am staying in an apartment in the Jewish Quarter of Budapest.  It is a side street, but still realtively active, as there are plenty of shops and restaurants.  At first I was relieved that we had a 24-hour convenience store (here called a “non-stop”, which is displayed on the storefront in English) across the street, but then realized that all of the commotion I heard through my window the night before was people hanging out at the non-stop.  I am relieved to have brought my earplugs.  Here are some images of the apartment:

the living room (not that we spend much time watching TV- a little of The Office here and there)

there's a kitchen- hooray!

the courtyard

our little terrace, good for unwinding

my studio space

I have a roommate, Michael Hilsman, who I get along with really well. Mark had a chance to meet him too.  This residency is unique in that explicit studio space is not designated.  Since the living conditions are a lot nicer than some other residencies, it’s an okay trade-off.  It was difficult to negotiate at first, but since Beata, the woman who runs the program, found us a studio space outside the apartment, we decided that Michael would work there and I would work in the apartment.  The arrangement seems to suit our particular practices nicely.  Finally, and importantly, here is where I get to eat breakfast every morning:

Mint Cafe and the nice people who serve up my espresso each morning

I have a voucher for breakfast each morning (cereal, rolls, jams, margarine, orange juice and tea or coffee), so I don’t pay each time.  So, even though I have already paid, it feels as though I am getting it for free.  Ege’szege’dre! (Hungarian for Cheers!)

Speaking of unfamiliar languages, I think when in a foreign land, the words we learn to say really reveal what we value.  For instance, I now know how to ask for soda water and a large black coffee in Italian, German, and Hungarian.