Pecs II

The pictures are of the police that I encountered, the view from the TV tower and the actual tower.  Saturday morning brought more adventure of course.  I showered quickly in-between my roommates grooming procedures in the limited bathroom space and didn’t do anything with my hair, since there wasn’t really an opportunity to squeeze into the bathrooms.  So I headed out on my am adventure.  I decided that I needed to travel to the TV tower high atop the hill and go up in it to see the landscape of the Pecs area.  I trekked back to the bust station to see about getting there, and when I found out that the bus only left every two hours, I decided that I would inquire about a taxi taking me up.  It was a reasonable price and more convenient, so I did it.  We didn’t speak at all in the 20 minute ride, but sometimes that’s just okay.  I arrived atop the hill – to find out that I was the only person up there.  The ticket booth was closed, the elevator was open, so I headed in.  I arrived at the top of the TV tower and met a little old lady sitting there who was collecting the $3.00 it cost to actually get up into the tower.  It was frigid cold and open to the great wide open sky, but worth the trip up to see the landscape.  I returned to the ground and went in search of the bus stop that was supposedly atop the hill.  Now, I’m sure that there is some unspoken understanding that the bus stops in a certain place and picks people up, however I don’t know this particular rule for Pecs and I wasn’t about to miss one of the few buses that makes it to the top of the hill.  So, I decided to head down by foot and stop at the Zoo where I was sure that there was a stop as I’d seen the sign.  As I was walking down the hill, I encountered the local police who drove by me 4 times.  I’m not sure why they were doing such a sweep of the area, since I was about the only person I’d seen in a half hour – but they were definitely on a mission.  When I rounded one of the corners of the windy road down the hill, I spotted them stopped, out of the car with their blinking lights on.  Now what could be happening that required the police at this particular spot on a hill high above Pecs?  As I approached them, I saw that there was a veritable blood bath on the road – large puddle of blood, and it was starting to trickle down the hill.  It seemed that someone had hit an animal of some sort – or just murdered someone and taken the body with them – who knows.  I nodded and waved at them as I passed by (as if to say, “it’s the first time I saw it too – I don’t know what happened…”) and continued down the hill.  Shortly thereafter, the police got back into their car, approached me from behind and stopped next to me.  Oh boy… they asked me where I was going to – because it apparently seemed weird that someone was walking down the hill… or maybe it was unsafe?  I don’t know.  I told them I was heading to the next bus stop… they motioned for me to get in the car, and they drove me to the next stop – the zoo.  I looked at the schedule, and I decided that I had plenty of time before the bus came, I might as well just keep heading down the hill by foot – it’s nice enough out and I didn’t have any immediate plans, so off I went.  It wasn’t 5 minutes later that I was approached slowly from behind by a small red car.  I was heading around a curve at that point, and she stopped and drove just ahead of me around the curve deliberately trying to pace me.  When I approached the side of the car, I instinctively asked her “can I help you?” (in Hungarian) and she went on and on blah blah blah “city centrum” blah blah blah.  I told her I didn’t speak Hungarian but yes to the city center and I hopped in her car.  We made small talk the whole way back down to Pecs, and though I’m getting better at Hungarian, small talk with a total stranger after the cops and a blood bath is always a bit disconcerting.  All I could really do was giggle – in the last 10 minutes, I had been picked up by the cops and a total stranger, and it didn’t seem abnormal OR unsafe to me.  I arrived back in the middle of town and she dropped me off.  She refused any payment so we said quick good byes and off I went.  Conveniently she dropped me near a wine shop that was open, so I decided to head in.  This was one of the many wine regions of Hungary and I wanted to pick up a bottle.  Upon entering the store, I was greeted by no lights, and complete silence.  Then, as if it happened magically, the lights in the display cases on either side of the entrance turned on, and a woman magically appeared and invited me upstairs.  Crap, now I was committed to purchasing something… oh well. I told her that I like sweet white wine and she showed me a couple different options, with the prices in writing so I could compare.  I chose a reasonably priced bottle and was getting ready to pay.  She offered a box and pointed at the cardboard ones I was familiar with for transporting wine and I instinctively said “igen” and 900 Forint ($5.00) later I had a decorative wooden box for my wine.  Really?  REALLY?  Oh well – I was committed – so I paid up.  Hmph.  I really need to learn more Hungarian, or at least become more comfortable with saying no. 

 

Again, I was at a point where all I could do was giggle… it was one of those “It could only happen to me” days – and all I could do was laugh.  I decided at that point that it was absolutely necessary for me to get a hair cut.  I don’t know if it was the lack of doing my hair, or the rain on my hair or what, but I needed one asap.  I’m one of those people that once I decide I need a haircut – it needs to happen fast.  I’ve never been good at making appointments and sticking to them – it’s a commitment phobia I suppose.  So I went in search of a hair stylist, and I knew exactly where to go – the mall.  There had to be a hairstylist at the mall, and I was bound to run into someone who spoke English in a town as big as Pecs.  So I ventured to the mall, found a salon and asked if anyone spoke English there.  Melinda thankfully spoke a grand total of 6 words of English.  Perfect – sign me up.  She shampooed my hair and as she was doing so, she proceeded to speak to me in Hunglish about some gift she had.  I of course responded with “igen, igen” (yes, yes).  It’s my only reflex in a situation where I don’t know what’s going on – I respond with yes.  She finished shampooing, put a towel around my head and lead me to her chair.  I sat, with a wet head, a hair cutting cape on, towel wrapped around my head, fully committed to this hair cut when she presented a gift pack to me, and set it on the counter in front of me.  She continued to explain what the products in the pack did, and when I asked how much it cost, she replied with 12,000 Forint.  That translates to over $60.00.  Oh boy – now what?  If I say no, she’s going to go Edward Scissorhands on my ass and leave me with a horrible haircut.  On the other hand, I don’t have 12,000 Forint for some products that have no instructions in English, and no purpose in my life.  ARGH!.  I looked at her and in my best Hungarian, I managed to spit out, “not now…” implying that I might return later to buy it.  Thankfully Melinda didn’t take out any anger about my refusal of her gift on my hair, and she did an okay job.