Hedonia
III.III.II
HEDONIA
On the same exchange program were about twenty other students from all over the world. I wasn’t too keen on making new friends at the beginning. My time in Hungary was supposed to be my me time. Little did I assume that by that very first night, they’d already be family.
I still remember us sitting down on the floor outside our dorm drinking wine, playing cards and revealing all our deepest and darkest secrets on our very first night. Amazing how so many different people could click in such a way. Our chemistry was serendipitous to say the least. Add to that the fact that every single day was jam-packed with activities and you can imagine what kind of bond we had created by the end of the month.
It was the perfect location with the perfect company. From tours around the city to weekend trips around Hungary and neighbouring countries, it felt like we had been there for years. They say that time flies when you’re having fun. I’m not sure that’s the case for me. Looking back on my days in Hungary, it doesn’t feel that way. I feel like I created years’ worth of memories in just one month.
I remember every single detail. Like all our dorm room antics. Me and Pedja’s battle against the demonic insect that showed up in our room. Kadir and Mertcan filling up our fridge with the healthiest of food items whilst we’d order in or eat out at every possible chance.
And all the adventures with the rest. Miguel singing La Vida Pirata and shaving his head. Alaa and his game of Trex which we could never get the hang of. Celia being the coolest, baddest chick I’ve ever come to know. Sebas taking a bite of the whole Kinder Egg like a savage and telling us all about his Latino lifestyle stories. Valentina telling me all about her crush on Sebas and all her ambitions of becoming a surgeon. Aziz and his constant reminders that we both share Arabic roots. Emili and her wonderful drawings and ability to turn a salad into a masterpiece. Ruta organising our extracurricular activities and being an overall queen. Rachel bragging about being the tallest in her family despite her being the shortest of the bunch. Thelma wearing a matching bandana with me as part of our Bandana Sisters get-up. Carolina being perpetually annoyed at me as my fake wife. Stefanie telling me it’s a waste that I’m also into men (uhm…). Jenny and all her super interesting facts and her crush on… yep, Sebas. Sannija and her fermented fish that actually tasted good. Weronika and I belting to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Maxim and our deep conversations over wine. Jasemin and her weird, freaky and erratic behaviour. Oh and Bugrahan? Whatever the hell happened to Bugrahan? (He showed up one day and disappeared the next.) And who the hell is Is?! (He never even showed up!).
A special mention also goes to our incredible hosts. Tunde was like a mother figure to us, especially when she’d take us on trips and guide us around the city. Jason was like our cool brother, always there to make us laugh and help out when need be. Veronica and Gabor, on the other hand, were the go-to people for medical exchange-related business. We couldn’t have had a better team on our side!
I remember it all. I swear. All the times I went for a stroll around the city. The walks around the city centre. Rolling on the grass at the cultural centre. All the cups of coffee we’d down at Cafe Frei. The hikes in Tettye Park. That one time we went up the TV Tower. That visit to Siklós Castle. Buying twenty-four cups of iced coffee at one go from Penny Supermarket to stock our fridge at the dorm. Eating to our hearts’ content during the National Food & Drink Party.
And the trips… Budapest, Orfű, Balatonlelle, and most importantly, Villány – a wine region that I’d also get to call heaven. If there’s one thing you ought to do in your life, it’s to taste this red Portugieser wine. I’m not exactly sure if I recall this correctly, but I’m pretty sure we were told they produce it from Portuguese grapes using a Hungarian process. The one thing I can remember for sure is the very second that wine touched my tongue.
By now it must be evident that I’m a pretty hyperbolic person. That said, believe me when I say I’m not exaggerating when I say that this wine was so good I literally shed a tear the second the first sip touched my tongue. I can also safely say that it ruined sex for me. It was that good. I don’t remember much from that wine tour – that night in general really – but that I do remember. I bought two bottles to bring back home with me. They didn’t last the night.
Another highlight was the Sziget Festival in the capital of Budapest. Sziget Festival, dubbed Europe’s Burning Man, is a huge music and cultural festival that takes place in Budapest every year – usually on a different island each time. This time round, it would be on Óbuda Island in the north of the city on the Danube. It lasts a full week, boasting hundreds of live performances happening at the same time on different stages, 24/7 partying and loads of activities from yoga classes to beach parties and art exhibitions. And I’d be going there!
Man was I hyped. I’d be on my own for the most part, with other exchange students joining me for some bits here and there. I still remember walking through the bridge that leads to the island. A surreal experience, with hundreds of people, all clad in other-worldly, sparkling and glittering clothes, pushing and shoving each other to see who’d get in there first. And once you get there it’s crazier still. An entire island transformed into this ethereal land that’s all about fun and pleasure.
After pitching my tent in the camping area, I made my way round the island, trying to see how to make the best of my time. Which, trust me, is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I’m not joking. There’s no room for boredom on that island. It’s one thing crazier than the other.
I gotta admit that trampolines, living statues and mirror mazes all took second place to the incredible line-up that always manages to bring thousands of tourists all the way to Hungary. I was mostly excited for The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons, Cigarettes After Sex, Bastille, Lana Del Rey, Dua Lipa and Shawn Mendes. Others, like Aurora and Parov Stelar, I had never even heard of but have since become a fan of. It was an honour getting to listen to live performances by such great artists and, I gotta say, it was an experience I’ve been wanting to relive since. Simply incredible!
Another word I got to learn was ‘Egészségedre!’. Cheers, salud, proost, salute, skål, kampai. From getting drunk atop the Liberty Bridge to getting drunk at the Sziget Festival and getting drunk in any place imaginable, I discovered how good it feels to be drunk most of the time. I could have aced the CAGE questionnaire with my eyes closed back then.
But hey, it would only be just for that month and the second I’d go back to Malta I’d get to be the sober, composed Marius once again. Plus, these would be the good old days in a few years’ time. “I spend my life studying, would it be so bad for me to let my wild side loose just this once?” I’d try to convince myself. And so, I allowed the hedonist within me to take over. By the end I was drinking a bottle of wine or two and smoking an entire packet of cigarettes every single day – not to mention all the one-night stands I was having. Nothing too wild or illegal you know, but that’s the kinda behaviour that would make a soccer mom call an exorcist on your ass. Well, my soccer mom was back at home doing soccer mom things. I let my wild side loose for the very first time in my life. I was having fun.
But… I was miserable, dead inside, empty. I had hit rock bottom. I knew something had to change. It would only be just a month but I couldn’t live another day like that. I was drinking way too much, my smoking was excessive by any chain smoker’s standards, and I was having way too much sex with way too many people. I went from medicine nerd to raving lunatic in a heartbeat and that’s when I knew I had to pull myself together. It was on this one particular night that I knew I had to stop. Drunk and miserable, I called Momma Bear – my best friend – sobbing, telling her I had had enough.