Beneath Peter’s office—do you remember that office? The one a semi-famous girl owns?  Would a photo help jog your memory? Recent studies have conclusively shown that true cognitive recognition only comes after a third viewing:

Beneath Peter’s office I saw Andrew Zimmern from Travel Channel’s TV show, “Bizarre Foods“, in a Jewish pastry shop filming a scene. (I’m telling you, it’s a happening neighborhood.)   However, at the time, I got it mixed up and as he came outside I said, “Aren’t you the guy from “Man vs. Food?”

He passed me without breaking stride and replied with a terse, “Bizarre Foods”. I felt stupid. After this I couldn’t decide if I should take a picture of him for the blog or whether I should be heckling him: “Hey! What ‘bizarre food’ is in a freaking Jewish pastry shop?! Let’s see you tackle the spicy horse sausage!” but ultimately I putzed around for a few minutes and took a photo of this scene:

Andrew had a crew of about eight. That's a lot of baggage.

See that shiny cake on the lower left? I know, it's not the best picture. Part of my website redesign is to make these photos bigger. It is called "drum cake" because the top is a hard caramelized layer that you could drum on if you needed to. 220 forint = US$1.00

I was pleased I could understand an exchange at the Lehel Square market between a pretty Chinese girl who could speak Hungarian very well and the guys behind the counter selling fresh poultry.   It looked like the guys hadn’t seen a pretty girl in a long while, so when she asked for 30 chicken feet, they were simultaneously surprised by the size of the order, bemused by Chinese eating habits, and eager for her to linger which made them pause and smile.
She seemed used to this attention and repeated, “30!   Chicken feet!”, making a claw gesture with her hand. They laughed.   She laughed.  
One said, “30? Really?”
“Yes!” she said.   “Hey, you’re laughing! Why?”
He said he had to go into a back room to get that many chicken feet, and as I walked away everyone was still enjoying a good laugh even as she kept pressing them, “What’s so funny?”

I was entranced by how well she spoke Hungarian.   Something about two disparate cultures mashed together like this always gets me.   I could have followed her around the market all day to watch her shop, just to listen to her speak.  
How do you say “restraining order” in Hungarian?

I left home four months ago today.