our neighbors

it always takes a little while to get to know your neighbors, especially when there is a language barrier, but i have to say we have the nicest neighbors. everyone is always pleasant in saying hello or good day, but i thought i'd tell you about the ones that live on our floor.



illian and gabor and another man (don't know his name and i feel bad saying this, but he stinks so bad! i won't even ride in the elevator with him.) live across the way from us. i think they are about 65ish and matt thinks 50ish (who knows!) and they don't speak a word of english, but are always so nice to us. a couple of days ago a strange man rang our doorbell and was trying to talk to matt at the door. gabor was standing out on the balcony talking to the strange man about what he came to talk to us about - all of which was in hungarian, so matt had no clue what they were saying. we think gabor was speaking for us and was telling the man that we were not the ones playing the loud music. (sign language was used a bit and matt got loud music out of "boom, boom" and hands banging at his ears! it was so funny!) anyway, at the end of it all matt thinks gabor told him that if we need anything that we can come knock on their door. so nice.



today reese and i ran into illian at the elevator and she asked me if she could bring over a kismama (little mamma, referring to a pregnant woman) magazine that was put in her mailbox. all i got out of the sign language was pregnant belly, book and mailbox and i got it right! i said sure. illian must have seen us get home because not long after we walked in the door our doorbell rang and she handed me two pregnancy magazines - all in hungarian of course, but how nice is that?!



there are two guys probably in their twenties that live with their parents and three big dogs on our floor as well. the parents don't speak english, but the guys do. one of them was so kind to me one day. the elevator wasn't working when i got home from the grocery store, so i had to wait for someone to help me up the stairs. i had reese, the stroller, groceries and was about 10 weeks pregnant and way to tired to make it up four flights of stairs! he helped us up. the other guy always walks the big dogs that we hear bark when we are at the elevator. reese loves to see them although they are really big compared to her.



there are a couple of old ladies that live on our floor who are probably in their 80's, but we don't see them too much. occasionally they come out and they always love seeing reese and saying who knows what to her. i just have reese say "szia" and wave at them and they eat it up! how sweet.



one day last week our doorbell rang out of the blue and thankfully luca (pronounced lutza), the babysitter, was here with me and was able to talk for me. two old ladies were standing there, one holding the other one up. at first we thought we needed to call a doctor, but it ended up that the 96 year old woman who lives across the way and down one floor couldn't get back into her flat. she had the keys, but couldn't get the door open. poor thing was crying and telling luca what happened and asking for help and was so worried she wouldn't be able to get back in her flat. i'm so glad luca was here! i wouldn't have known what to do! luca went down to try to get the door open, but couldn't so she found some help and finally some guys pushed it enough times that it popped open. while all that was going on the 96 year old woman started talking to me, but i told her "bocsánat. nem magyarul beszélek." ("i'm sorry, i don't speak hungarian." - a phrase i use a lot!) she then asked me, "do you speak german?" i was shocked when she asked me in english! unfortunately that's probably all she knew in english. i'm so glad they saw luca and reese coming up the elevator and came to our door. and i'm even more glad luca hadn't left yet so she could help me!



the neighbors on the other floors are nice too, but we don't see them quite as often. one couple is from scotland and they just had a baby four weeks ago. matt had met her the other day and i finally ran into her and the baby and she pretty much unloaded on me. poor thing, she had been couped up in her flat with a new baby that wouldn't sleep. i just reassured her the baby will sleep at some point and to go out and get some fresh air. i felt sorry for her, but at the same time it was kind of comical. thankfully i understood what she's going through! she just needed an ear to listen. i'm glad it was mine.



there are some younger gals that live on the floor above us, but i don't see them much. when i do see them though, they are very nice, even offering to help me if i need anything. again, everyone is so nice and we are so grateful for good neighbors.