A Last Dip in the Baths

Budapest has wonderful bath houses. one within walking distance of the dorm. great place to relax and play and watch people. they have hot pools cold pools inbetween pools. mineral pools kiddie pools. indoor and outdoor pools. and the hottest sauna i have ever been in. it stung to breathe. so i breathed slowly. it burned to move. everyone wore a tense melting frown and squinty eyes dripping like vesuvius. john and eye stayed for maybe ten minutes. its hard to say really, maybe more. i had closed my eyes and pretended i was waist deep in snow in the alps.

right outside the sauna was a basin connected to a shoot that was sputtering out slivers of ice. people were rubbing these on their bodies. next to that was a cold pool. most people didnt stay very long in there. i decided to cool off fast and stepped in the pool, dropped under water, then hurried out to catch up with john who was heading for the hot tubs.

halfway through a doorway, i had walked just upstairs, i felt a tap on my shoulder. "do you speak english?" an accent thick but understandable. i turned to see a european man standing behind me. mid thirties. not uninteresting looking. he must want to talk to me. why? maybe i can help him. it feels good to help other people. ive been here a while. im practically a native, but i dont know the baths very well. "you are blooding." "huh?" i followed his extended finger down to my foot, which was awash in red. "oh man.."

john disappeared ahead in search of the hot tubs. i quickly got off the walking path and stood on wet tiles holding my foot aloft, trying to figure out what to do. i didnt know where a first aid station was. and i couldnt go look for one without bleeding all over everything. people are staring in horror. i glanced down at the steady dripping blood from my big toe. the gash is a good size. almost a half inch it looks. gotta do something. he looks young probably speaks english.

excuse me do you speak english?

a little.

im bleeding.

what.

i point to my foot. and his puzzled face pales. he quickly enlists the help of a friend and leave in search of aid.

follow me.

he leads me through the baths. i hate blood. especially when its mine. outside my body. especially when its coming from my toe. for a moment i feel light, then all the noise the voices and splashing goes numb, like there is cotton in my ears. dont faint. we stopped at a locker room near the exit and a man who worked there asked me to sit. i did. i point my toe out to the cute australian girl next to me and make small talk for couple minutes. a distraction, but she has to leave. "i hope you get fixed up."

i lay down on the bench. i note mentally how much i like the contrast of colors between the red emergency box and the pale greenish grey tile on the wall. good contrast of textures too. reminds me of frescoes from pompeii. wish i had a camera. close my eyes.

i knew he was a doctor by the long white coat he wore overtop his blue speedo. he sat his black doctors bags down on the bench.

magyar?

english. you dont speak english?

he shook his head no. asked me in another language. i shook my head no. hope i dont have to get stitches. hope this doesnt hurt. hope i dont have to pay cash.

then everything went fine. he just smeared some iodine on my wound, wrapped it in gauze, taped it up, checked my blood pressure. and that was that.

it was quite exciting though. it doesnt really hurt so i dont think it will put too much of a damper on my trip. plus john gave me his sandals to wear.

* * *

i always write boring stories like this and forget al the interesting stuff like lard is a food group here, they fry it or smear it on bread like butter. and yo means good, but is used all the time for lots of things, so you hear yo yo yo yo. and the sidewalks a huge and have bicycle lanes.

i forgot to mention frigyes the awesomeness. who was our drawing professor half the time. he has produced more artworks than is humanly conceivable. at least a hundred paintings a year. a 1000+ page book full of topographical drawing and castle ruins. plus textbooks to boot. he has a crazy beard, a pony tail, smokes a pipe, wears sunglasses inside, always laughs, rarely is serious, wears the coolest jackets and ties every day (that rarely match), has a squirrel in his pants, and could draw blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. he is out of this world unbelievable. in fact you probably dont believe me do you? but its all true.

ok ok thats enough. so much more that i didnt say.