24-hour update

In the past 24 hours, I have:

• Seen a human-sized avocado walk down the heavily-touristed street in front of my current apartment, advertising a bar (I think?)
• Paid $40 for contact solution
• Stumbled into an anti-Russia/pro-Georgia demonstration
• Been thrilled and then confused to see American football on my TV (commentary in Hungarian) - it was a Pats-Colts game from Nov 2007?
• Frequented a Native American-themed teahouse at the invitation of a new Hungarian friend
• Chuckled when ordering cheese at the market (cheese = "sajt," pronounced "shite")
• Been instructed by my language teacher that being too uptight about attempting to learn the rules of Hungarian will not work out well (I studied math! I want rules!)

In semi-major news, I've nearly closed on a really cool apartment. The contract should be signed in the next few days. It has a balcony overlooking a pretty quiet square, lots of natural lighting and is two blocks away from a really central traffic/public transportation hub. Incidentally, the metro stop is called OKTOGON. Unfortunately, this will probably force me into habitually telling visitors to "Step into the Octagon" and other UFC references. Admittedly, I don't think I know any other references to make, but perhaps I'll look it up. I also should publicly give my parents all sorts of "thank yous!" for answering lease-related questions on very short notice across a sizable time zone difference.

Finally, http://www.pestiside.hu/ will give you a pretty good/funny idea of what is going on in Budapest. Check it out!