May 17 Biz -- We went to see the Greek and Roman Agoras, and then walked through the neighborhood, Monastiraki. I loved the Greek Agora, almost more than the Acropolis; the Acropolis inspires a feeling of awe, yet the Greek Agora lends a sense of tranquility, almost to the point of serenity. That night Eleanor, her roommates, and I went to a taverna with some of the guys, ordering one appetizer for each person and then passing them around to share. I had a great time, sitting at the end of the table with Eleanor, her roommate Emily, Jon, and his girfriend Megan, who were just hilarious. Afterwards, the group congregated back at our apartment, drinking and talking. I noticed I really haven't had much to drink while I've been here, only a little wine (ok) and some ouzo, which I didn't like at all. May 19 Biz -- I slept in while Eleanor went to the supermarket to get a box for her suitcase, with no luck. We went to the center for lunch (tiropita, not my favorite) and said goodbye to the people who were leaving that day, among them two of Eleanor's roommates. When we had recovered from Eleanor's morning melt-down (box/suitcase crisis) we went back to the apartment to wait for UPS, who would provide and then remove the boxes to be shipped. After a while, Eleanor decided to send me to the center so we could return her phone by the 4pm deadline, and get her 95 euro deposit back. It was really fun, going out and about by myself, as if I lived there; I'm really considering applying to study here in the spring. People confused me for Eleanor, and I almost got run over by a moped, but I did pretty well on my own. The UPS guys were finishing up when I arrived back at the apartment, and when they were done we went to Monastiraki to walk along the daily flea market to get souvenirs. It rained a bit while we were there, which is unusual for the time of year, and annoying b/c we hadn't brought umbrellas. With the shopping accomplished, we walked to Syntagma Sq. to post the gifts (they were breakable) and then on to the Center to send a few last emails and download pictures onto this journal. At 7 we were back at the apartment for dinner, as Eleanor's remaining roommate, Jenn, was cooking falafels, which were delicious. I met her Albanian boyfriend, Roberto, who was nice but very shy, and even his girlfriene has never seen him eat or drink anything. We brought the remaining food to the guys' apartment for a potluck, though only Loren was there with his girlfriend Jackie when we arrived, so we got him to cook the pasta and Jackie to gather her roommates. Jonathan and his girlfiend Megan (very nice, though not on the program) arrived with gyros, but only enought for themselves as they didn't realize we were doing this potluck. I wish I had those as my last meal in Athens instead, but so it goes. Eleanor and I said our goodbyes at 10pm and went home so we could wake up at 1:30am, catch the 2:20am bus to the airport to make our 5:20 flight. While waiting, Eleanor taught me to play tavli, or backgammon. We arrived in Budapest at about 6:30am and caught the airport minibus to our hostel, the Backpack Guest House, out in Buda. It was raining and gloomy, so we were a little dismayed after leaving sunny, warm Athens. It's a very relaxed, rastafarian sort of place, and we're in a 10-bed mixed dorm, which was pretty dark when we arrived, so I had issues retrieving my things and not waking people up, while Belli, hostel expert (note the sarcasm), claims she had none. After napping until 10, we cleaned up and set off by tram for Castle hill, which dominates Buda. Unfortunately, Castle Hill was not as impressive as we had hoped, so we mostly breezed through, except for Matthias (Matyas) Church, which was fantastic. The inside was absolutley gorgeous, with hand-painted walls and ceilings, and even a replica of teh Hungarian crown, which is an important symbol to the Hungarian people. It's said that a king is legit only if he is crowned by this crown, and it was used for all crowning ceremonies but one in 900 years, so it's a palpable symbol of power. Belli went a little low at this point and it had rained most of the day, so combining this with our total bewilderment when we arrived left us in poor spirits, wondering why we were here. We finished the Buda side and by 4pm moved on to Pest, where it really started pouring. We tried to find a recommended place to eat (we'd had breakfast on the plane, but that was our last meal), but nothing listed was close by, so we just crossed the street from our temporary shelter and checked out the prices (reasonable), so stopped for a late luch/early dinner, splitting appetizers. While eating we planned our remaining time more carefully, and with the food in our stomachs we felt much better. By the time we left the restaurant it had stopped raining, and just outside were two men, dressed as Indian chiefs, singing Native American tunes, which felt totally bizarre, as this was Budapest. We went back to our neighborhood supermarket (CBA) and bought yogurt for breakfast the next morning, in a much more optimistic mood. We met a nice New Zealander named Jill, and a few other people, though I didn't get their names.