Welcome!

Keith and I are picking up to move to Pécs, Hungary for one year. He has never been to Europe and the furthest east I've been is Switzerland.... Our Hungarian language skills are...well, we know some phrases. Come follow us on our adventure!!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Change of Plans

Funny how things can change so quickly. At first, my big concerns about moving to Pécs, Hungary were: #1. where is Keith's passport? #2. how are we going to afford this? #3. how does one get international health insurance? #4. why won't Fulbright let me control everything!? #5. what if I don't get a work VISA? And other typical MegBlack concerns.

Keith's passport was under a bag of rice in the cupboard, the cost of living in Hungary is 1/5 of the cost of living in the U.S., obtaining international health insurance is easy as long as you are healthy, when I write the check I can control everything, and to get a VISA, I just need to prove I can support myself in Hungary for the amount of time we will be there. Done and done.

So ta da! We're set--flying from JFK airport to Madrid August 10th and traveling via train to Hungary (making stops along the way in Paris, Verona, and Vienna) via train before arriving in Pécs around August 20th. We have the airfare set and the train tickets reserved but not purchased.

And then I flip off my bike and fracture my pelvis. Friday (July 16th) I went for a bike ride to Lighthouse Point Beach for a swim while Keith took a nap. The water felt amazing!! On my ride back, there are unmarked railroad tracks that cross Forbes Ave at a diagonal. I hit them wrong and flipped off my bike. I had my cellphone and called Keith--the people in the car behind me helped me get untangled from my bike while someone else called 911.

The ambulance came and took me to Yale New Haven hospital. I was on a lot of morphine and in a lot of pain. Keith beat the ambulance to the hospital by like 20 min and got kicked out of the unloading area twice when he thought I had arrived.

Jan and Ted (Keith's parents) arrived at the hospital around 11:30pm (right after I got the news about my fractured pelvis) and stayed until 2:30am. I was finally moved into a bed in the hospital around 4:30am (Keith slept on the floor--poor guy) We were finally allowed to leave the hospital around 2:30 Saturday afternoon. I was on Oxycontin and Oxycodone and thought my socks were talking to me. It was weird and painful.

Keith and I are staying at his parents' in Moodus because I cannot walk up/down stairs (our apartment is on the 4th floor of a walk up) Jan makes an excellent nurse and Ted has been bringing me all sorts of treats. Keith, as always, treats me like a princess--even when I'm cranky on painkillers or cranky because of the pain.

Due to the pain, I can't do anything by myself...anything. Jan even shaved my lower legs for me--how incredibly sweet is that!? When he told me they were on their way to the hospital, I cried.

Since Fulbright took care of our airfare--they got us refundable tickets, so we are changing our flight to August 20th and flying straight to Hungary. I'll post my x ray soon. ;-)

1 comment:

  1. Wow! That is a phenomenal story already. You are such a strong woman. I admire your perseverance and continued positivity. A true inspiration for me :)

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