Procrastination is a long, slippery slope

I'm back in my office after our ten-day fall break. Unlike my last time in Budapest, October 23rd came and went generally without incident, or at least none that I came across. Oktogon was flooded with fleets of police officers in riot gear and most of Andrássy was closed off. There were almost a dozen planned demonstrations (kindly emailed to us by the embassy), at least half of which were within twenty minutes of my flat, so I was grateful for the quiet.

Break was great! I didn't catch up on nearly as much work as planned (of course), but I did do some programming, some graph theory, a bit of algebra, some travelling, and some beer drinking, so I feel as though the time was well-spent.

Sorry-- I write so infrequently that sometimes it's hard for me to think of interesting ways of summing up my time.

Meredith is visiting! It's great to see her and hard to believe it's been five months. Among so many other things I'm glad also to have the chance to really show off my city to a friend, as well as to do some of those touristy things I've been postponing. Maybe I'll write about those.

Election tomorrow!!! I can't think about it too much. The embassy is throwing some hoo-hah party in a fancy hotel (like the riots, it is also conveniently located close to my flat) from seven until three. In my mind, though, the best part is the advertised "American-style buffet." Responses I get from foreign friends: "What is that going to be? Hamburgers? Maccaroni and cheese?" Hopefully also some over-cooked green beans with bacon or something. I couldn't be more excited!