Csak keks, nem szex July 14, 2009

There is a precious little seven year old girl standing next to me at this very moment, talking to me entirely in Hungarian and I have no idea what shes saying. all I can do is smile and nod and look into her eyes as if I understand. I have a feeling she doesnt mind. maybe she just wants someone to listen to her. So im keeping quiet, and she keeps talking. Its been about 2ö minutes. and shes still talking. she pauses sometimes, to see my reaction, espcially when she says something she thinks is funny. she grins wide, her tongue pressed against the spaces between her teeth. when i just smile, she continues her story. so far, i think shes talking about a black and white butterfly....and something about forgetting about her dog. thats the only vocabulary ive recognized in her conversation (fekete, feher, pilango, effeletetem, kutya). she gave me a beautiful drawing she made of an ocean and a fishermen. i will try to continue this email without disturbing bettis (thats the little girls name) story. yesterday i rode on a horse drawn carriage up a mountain and rode on horseback when we reached the top. it was amazing...so beautiful, and frightening. of course, i got eaten alive by mosquitos, but it was worth it. hope i dont come home diseased. it was my first time riding a horse. then, on the way home, i drove a stick shift down the mountain! i never learned to drive one in california, but somehow i managed to learn with my buddy benyo in the passengers seat instructing me in hungarian. it was awesome. i i figured i might as well get as many firsts over with as i can while im at it. i made the decision pretty early on to say yes to as much as possible. that kind of philosophy can change a girls life, ya know?i had an INCREDIBLE time in ljublana with the other volunteers. we met a french couple on the train who had been going to school in lubey for a year so they knew everything about the place. they ended up being our tour guides for the whole day and night. they also ended up becoming our great friends. there was a lot of drinking and eating and wandering through the gorgeous city. we had an amazing 24 hours. i cant wait for slovakia. other than the villagers, some of the other volunteers have become dear friends. alison, yan, camille, diana, ridge...i cant wait for you to meet them. they are hilarious and kind and adventurous and wonderful. they know all about you all and are very excited to see you. were thinking about having a reunion in nyc in the fall. oh, yesterday ran into the sexy young village boy, rolande. he was with his dad and i was with my host dad and they stopped to chat while we made eyes at eachother. if only i was staying here for 3 more weeks! i could totally make it happen! my friend anita, who speaks no english, and i have a saying, "csak keks, nem szex" which means: "just cookies, no sex." which cracks us up and i cant really explain why. i guess we think its funny that im not getting any while im in the village. i love these people so much. i am so lucky to be here, and i can only hope that my village in slovakia is a fraction as amazing as this one. ok, betti is still talking, this time im pretty sure about her pants and something about going upstairs.

i love you all so much

foram