Flux Capacitors, Fireballs, and Modern Life...

An obvious cult classic, and for all the right reasons... Back to the Future premiered 1985 October 26. I was living in Yonkers, New York, the oldest of three children (then), and had just celebrated my fifth birthday... Fast forward twenty-five years: I am living in Kaposvár, Hungary, the oldest of four children (Joey was born in eighty-seven) and just celebrated my thirtieth birthday...

Vissza A Jövöbe clearly ranks among the top of my favourite films of all time... it changed my life. McFly is an inspiration; I mean the dude rides his skate in the rain and never has any trouble skitching around town. And, Doc Brown... good for you bro! You created a time machine into a DeLorean... now that's function and style! Thanks to Hanna for letting me borrow the film.

Trying to keep it simple... Tonight was the first time since I moved to Hungary that I attempted to turn on the television (so I could watch the film)... however, I couldn't get the DVD player to work so I watched it on my laptop anyway. I didn't find the need for the air conditioner this summer and I still haven't fired up the heat in my flat. And, until tonight... never used the microwave. Whoa, microwave popcorn is strange but cool. Sometimes I feel like a dinosaur, but there's just something about microwaves that seem unnatural. I think I'll stick to the OG stove.

I had my first visitors come to Kaposvár this weekend. It was good to actually be in Kaposvár for the entire weekend... hmmm... maybe the first since I arrived in August. A few of the Fulbright gang came to check out life in the city of fountains / town of painters / coolest city in Central Europe: Kaposvár. David, Stephanie, and the three girls came from Barcs and Kent made the long haul from Debrecen. It was great to see them. True to Scaglione Family form, I cooked a legitimate Italian meal for everyone... We made our way around town, checking out Berzsenyi Park, Kossuth Square, the many fountains, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Memorial (appropriately timed for the National Holiday on 23 October), and a whole lot more...

I finally went to my first European Football match... a home game: Rákóczi (Kaposvár) vs. Honvéd (Budapest)... the game was humdrum (ending in a 0-0 draw) but there was plenty of excitement at the stadium! Some fans from Budapest through explosives on the field (at our goalkeeper) during play, and the riot police had to come and dismiss the entire Honvéd fan section... with pepper spray and arms. Apparently this came as no big surprise to the football fans, and it has come to be expected from the visiting Budapest fans. The stadium was certainly well-equipped and prepared for such behaviour, so I assume it's standard business.

Ah, and in the Western World, it's so refreshing to see a couple new teams duking it out for the MLB World Series rings this year... I'm just relieved that I don't have to stay up all morning (games get done around 5:30am here) rooting against the Yankees or the Phillies... instead I'll pull for the NL team, the bearded, the kids... go Giants!

Street sweeping... Ah, yes, the one thing everyone leaves the house for in Hungary... to sweep their sidewalk! I swear I've never seen so many people out in Kaposvár. These are some photos I snapped with my phone just walking around town for two days... and I could've taken more! If there's a single leaf on the sidewalk, it must be swept... not by law, but by cultural standards. People will go out and sweep the leaves from the sidewalk everyday (or multiple times a day) if that's what it takes to keep a clean walkway...

Talk about modern life... check out the mail truck... so simple, so green.






On deck: I'm heading out on a Eastern Europe trick Thursday... ten days / seven NEW countries... it's gonna be a whirlwind tour, but I'm stoked! Transylvania for Halloween (Romania), The Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), and Scandinavia (Finland, Denmark, Sweden)...