One of the things I love most about my life here is that we've been blessed with amazing Hungarian friends, some who have become almost family. If and when we finally do pull out of Budapest, it will be a very sad day for me, as it has been much more than just a layover for us. I don't belong here, but on some kooky level I actually do. Riley and I were talking in the car yesterday and it really clicked for me. We were discussing the 'proposed' move to the American school in September, and he kept asking me why it's so important. I then went into the usual song and dance about how he needs to get his English up to speed so that when we go back to the US he will be able to hit the ground running. His response, very simply - 'but I belong here'. Guess that about sums it up. And I guess it will be a painful thing for all of us to say goodbye. This is not the direction I was headed in when I sat down to blah, blah, blog away. Focus, Kerry...

Here we are, back on track.
Where was I going with that whole thing? Oh, good friends... We had a lovely evening last night with our very good friends Tibor and Rita, who we don't see often enough but absolutely adore. They came into our lives via my friend Laura, who used to live here. I can only aspire to see the universe they way they do, with such open minds and hearts. And they are still so much in love, twenty years later. Anyway, we went to an Uzbek restaurant in the neighborhood, which was fantastic. Took some photos of us and the food which, I may have mentioned, was fantastic. They even have little rooms you can reserve, with lots of big pillows and a set of hookah pipes in all shapes and sizes in the corner, just to give you that authentic feel. The food is definitely off the charts if your counting Weight Watchers points, but hey, it's Christmas.

Are they adorable or what?

Dessert, which is some version of funnel cake, dipped in honey with raisins tossed in. Yum. And everyone just eats it from the middle of the table with their fingers.

After we ate, we headed back to Tibor and Rita's place for another bottle (or two) of wine, some chit-chat and, now comes my favorite part, a sneak-peek at Tibor's latest song. Got it on video, although I was using my digital camera, so it kept stopping automatically after one minute (not sure why it does that), and the song ended up in three pieces. Oh well, you can still hear his beautiful music, just in two acts :)....

I also got video of Tibor singing his most famous diddy, 'Rita', but again, after way too many glasses of wine, I had turned the camera from landscape to portrait mode, and so the video ended up on it's side, with no option to rotate. Tibor, we'll have to record the Rita song again next time, it's my absolute favorite. Thanks for sharing your beautiful music with us. xoxo.