i could be heading to budapest in less than a week. this is contingent on becca's approval: we had plans that fell through and we've been tentatively exploring alternatives, none of which seem too possible. yesterday afternoon studying for dk pol with shannon, a girl i know only vaguely chatted with us and revealed that she's traveling by herself and would enjoy company. she has accomodations already and is flying on wednesday -- she welcomed me to join her. it would be in its way perfect: a few days in a city the odds are i'd never visit otherwise/again, still an adventure because i don't know my companion (she seems nice. artsy, thrift-store cool, she hails from bryn mawr and watches danish films without subtitles.) i could return comfortably in time to pack and prepare for russia.
i'm going momentarily to check prices. i'm told the flight is cheap; i'm hoping it's true. the housing arrangement certainly is.

i have officially FINISHED with all my damn midterms. mythology, the middle one, was the toughest, with a full page of obscure, context-less identifications worth five points each. jews in europe and dk pol today were both blessedly straight-forward. i didn't study overmuch for either. yesterday evening shannon and another girl who joined us and i spent most of the time talking; afterwards, i met the group at studenthouse for jazz of the laughably low quality we've come to expect from livemusic here. (belle and sebastian on sunday nite will hopefully go a long way towards redeeming this city.)
this blessed city. showing ben around on foot has caused these sentimental surges of affection. it's a perfect size for me, i know my way around but it can of course still surprise. now that my tests are out of the way, i'm mellow and auraed with contentment and luvv.
of i go to investigate hungary. happy weekend and good shabbes, all.