Peace out, Naptown.

I have approximately seven hours left here (am I packed? of course not!) and am so dang excited to be going back to school.

Even though the circumstances were less than ideal, and there were probably more days that I wished I were in Laie than not, it's been nice being around here too. This is the most time by a long shot that I've spent here since I left three years ago and I've been reminded of how much I love it. Annapolis is beautiful, and there are people here that mean the world to me and because of the much extended visit, I got to spend lots more time with them than I would have otherwise. I got to go to my little sister's birthday party, meet up with my host sisters from my last family, visit DC with another exchanger, drive down to see family in Virginia, hang out with my sibs a bit, and enjoy the company of some of my favorites from high school. My life is good.

So, Annapolis, I'm not sure when I'll be back, but thanks for the good times.

Now back to the land of longboards, late night beach jams and bonfires, new friends and that awesome aloha spirit.

"The Ladies' Resort to the Ocean."

...that's what they called Ocean City up until 1870. Who knew?

As appalling a statement this may be, from the time I moved to Maryland when I was pre-elementary school, until just a few weeks ago, I had never been to the Ocean City boardwalk. Some friends and I were wanting to hang out, and one of them tossed out the idea to drive the two and a half hours out there and spend the day seeing what there is, so off we went.

It's a typically kitchsy beach town with all sorts of fun little game places set up along the board walk, all of which are totally set up for you to lose both your money and your faith in your ability to beat six year old girls at anything. As a side note, should you see some really awesome, incredibly large Charmander stuffed animals, they are not worth the $50 you'd have to pay to buy one instead of win them. Sad.

Pictures!

This lovely shark is sticking out of one of the buildings -maybe Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum?- and it moves! If that doesn't epitomize kitschy beach town, I don't know what does.

The beach was absolutely packed. That fact, along with my inability to go in the water made me miss Hawaii and my north shore beaches pretty badly. Luckily, the company was enough to make up for it.

Probably my favorite part of the day was wandering around taking pictures on an empty beach, with my friends jamming in the background. It was a great way to end the day.

On Being a Tourist

I often think of my life in terms of pre-Hungary, Hungary and post-Hungary, and always feel a little strange when the three collide. The last week in July was definitely one of those collisions. For all that my family and some really good friends are still here, Maryland is very much a pre-Hungary place for me, and having an exchange student friend come visit now, when my life is decidedly post-Hungary was wonderful, but brought up all sorts of mixed emotions. I was thrilled to see her, and to be able to reminisce, speak Hungarian (which is komolyan one of my favorite things ever) and catch up on everything we've been up to since my departure two years ago. It also reminded me of how much I miss the place and the people that were such a huge part of my life. I am grateful every single day for the opportunity I had to go spend that time over there, for the things I learned, for the people that helped me get there, and for who I became and how I changed while I was there.

...I meant for this to stay pretty light, whoops. Anyways. She was here with a couple of friends for the first part of the week, and that Tuesday we all went down to DC together. They'd been the day before and seen all of the monuments, so we went to Arlington National Cemetery. I've visited before, but not for a while, and was reminded of why that place is so great.

For all that I love Hungary, I'm so very glad to have been born an American, and can't ever express enough how much I appreciate all those who have worked hard to make this country what it is. Even with all it's flaws (and I'll admit, there are plenty of those), it's a great place. Growing up near the capital has it's pros and cons- I remember being dragged down to visit this museum or that memorial when I was a kid, and didn't have a say in the matter, but once I got to the age where I could go down there on my own, I didn't because I always thought I'd have time to do it later. I didn't, and am a little disappointed in myself that it takes someone else coming here to do touristy things for me to go down there and be reminded of how awesome it is.

Summer vacation!

I hadn't planned to take a break, but some other things came up and blogging wasn't exactly a priority. I've still been pretty busy participating in all sorts of grand adventures, and of course, taking photographic evidence of it all. There are still a few days left before my return to school, so I'll try and get caught up on the summer out here before I get back to Hawaii and return to my daily postings.

Artscape!

Artscape is the country's largest free arts festival. Baltimore shuts down a couple of streets for the weekend and replaces traffic with tents filled with artists, craftspeople and fashion designers. From noon to ten at night, there are constant performances- in the Lyric Opera House, inside UBaltimore or Maryland Institute College of Art buildings, on various stages, and on the street. It's a veritable smorgasbord of delights for your eyes, ears and taste-buds.

I went up there on Saturday the 18th with Dan and Ellen and the fish-eye attachment for my camera. We caught the Chinese gymnast show in the Lyric as soon as we got there, then spent the rest of the day meandering.

The place was positively packed.

One of my favorite parts of the whole festival was the Art Cars. There were quite a few there- from Hawaiian themed to a Yellow Submarine. I love Mondrian's work, and was so excited to see this one.