Don't Fall Asleep!
Posted by Megan Roney on Friday, January 25, 2013
I've been on the road now for a few weeks and considering I came here with a bag full of dirty laundry, this week it was necessary to find a laundromat. Thankfully my friend Mike found one here in downtown Budapest. We were so excited and grabbed our dirty clothes, piled into a cab and headed into the city center.
We passed the parliament building decked out in gold lights as we drove across the Danube River. It looked beautiful and made me really excited for our days off next week when we can really explore the city and do some sight seeing.
We were a little shocked when the cab pulled up on a pretty desolate side street with only one sign that said INTERNET in neon lights but soon we sighed with relief when the sign slowly blinked and changed to say laundry. We walked into the dark hallway below the sign and were greeted by a tall, dark Hungarian man with a big smile across his face.
"You put your wash in and I take care of the rest," he said. We loaded our clothes and grabbed a quick bite to eat at a kebab place down the street.
When we returned to the laundromat out clothes were still spinning, so we sat down at a large table in front of the washing machines and got out books and ipods and various other things to entertain us while we waited, but we didn't have to wait long for the owner to come in and entertain us in his own way.
He said, "some times I like to tell funny jokes. One time a customer came in to do his wash and he was very sleepy while he waited. I told him 'don't fall asleep. I'll take a knife and I'll steal your kidneys. Hahahaha!" Apparently he thought this was a really funny joke. We laughed nervously but agreed to not let each other nod off anytime soon, even if it was a long wait. And it definitely turned out to be.
Four hours later the dryer beeped and I jumped up to unload it. I began to pull things out when the owner interrupted me. "Let me do it," he said as he pushed me out of the way. "I'll do it faster. I have bigger hands."
I was a little offended but not enough so to anger the man threatening to steal my kidney.
In all honesty, he was really harmless. He even agreed to take a photo with Thomas who thought he was definitely the most interesting stranger he'd met that week. He also called us a cab which we gladly jumped in , happy we wouldn't have to stare at the orange walls of the laundromat any longer.
Today I'm smelling fresh and I still have my kidney. I'd say it was a successful laundry trip!
We passed the parliament building decked out in gold lights as we drove across the Danube River. It looked beautiful and made me really excited for our days off next week when we can really explore the city and do some sight seeing.
We were a little shocked when the cab pulled up on a pretty desolate side street with only one sign that said INTERNET in neon lights but soon we sighed with relief when the sign slowly blinked and changed to say laundry. We walked into the dark hallway below the sign and were greeted by a tall, dark Hungarian man with a big smile across his face.
"You put your wash in and I take care of the rest," he said. We loaded our clothes and grabbed a quick bite to eat at a kebab place down the street.
When we returned to the laundromat out clothes were still spinning, so we sat down at a large table in front of the washing machines and got out books and ipods and various other things to entertain us while we waited, but we didn't have to wait long for the owner to come in and entertain us in his own way.
He said, "some times I like to tell funny jokes. One time a customer came in to do his wash and he was very sleepy while he waited. I told him 'don't fall asleep. I'll take a knife and I'll steal your kidneys. Hahahaha!" Apparently he thought this was a really funny joke. We laughed nervously but agreed to not let each other nod off anytime soon, even if it was a long wait. And it definitely turned out to be.
Four hours later the dryer beeped and I jumped up to unload it. I began to pull things out when the owner interrupted me. "Let me do it," he said as he pushed me out of the way. "I'll do it faster. I have bigger hands."
I was a little offended but not enough so to anger the man threatening to steal my kidney.
In all honesty, he was really harmless. He even agreed to take a photo with Thomas who thought he was definitely the most interesting stranger he'd met that week. He also called us a cab which we gladly jumped in , happy we wouldn't have to stare at the orange walls of the laundromat any longer.
Today I'm smelling fresh and I still have my kidney. I'd say it was a successful laundry trip!
After a while of traveling in foreign countries, you begin to realize that it's not just your luggage that can get lost. When you don't speak the language, you loose your ability to speak. If you can't decipher the written word, you loose your ability to read. And if you can't read the signs to know where you're going, you yourself can get lost. It can be a bit overwhelming, and at times humiliating, but I'm sure even Odysseus experienced frustration on his adventurous travels. This blog is my account of my travels. Hopefully, my blunders will assure others that they are not the only ones lost in translation.
