Monday 5 March 2018

Fun facts: Couchsurfing

(for english scroll down, please)

Az utobbi idoben, nem nagyon sikerult posztolgatni. Par poszt kezdemeny el van mentve a laptopra, de nem volt idom befejezni oket. S, hogy miert is?
 

Amiota megvetettuk labunkat az USA-ban, minden alkalommal kanapeszorfoltunk. De lassuk, mi is ez a bizonyos kanapeszorfoles. Szoval, vannak a vilagon kedves emberek, akik felajanljak kanapejukat, vagy akar egy egesz szobat, vagy, amivel eppen rendelkeznek az utazni vagyoknak. Teljesen ingyen. No, persze ez nem az ingyen szallasrol szol, hanem kulturaink es elmenyeink megosztasarol, es arrol, hogy az ember megtapasztalja, hogy igenis van meg onzetlenseg, csak az kevesbe van reklamozva. :)

Szoval, szamos kanapen, matracon, agyon sikerult az utobbi idoben megaludni. Ati mar tapasztaltabb volt ebben, de nekem meg relative uj az elmeny es nagyon nagy hatassal is van ram.



Hawaiion peldaul egy fiatal 20-oneves hazaspar adott nekunk szallast. A Jessey a haditengereszetnel buvar a Jessica meg eletmento es tuzolto. Mar maga ez a teny is belevalosagra utal. Bar sokat dolgoztak, minden este szantak rank idot, es raadasul nagy robbanos kiscica fanok is, szoval meg kartyazas is volt. Persze kifaggatuk oket az eletukrol, meg mi is meseltunk, es persze kaptak egy kis magyar porkoltet is halank jeleul.


San Franciscoban egy magyarba botlottunk Atinak hala. O irt az ottani magyar csoportba Es Moni egybol jelentkezett is, hogy szivesen elszallasolna. Nagyon franko kinyithato kanapet kaptunk. Jol is esett az alvas tekintve, hogy a repulon nem sokat aludtunk. Volt szerencsenk megkostolni, a finom altala keszitett vegetarianus eteleket, es meg Twin Peaksre is felvitt, ahol lelegzet elallito esti latvany vart minket. Kicsit sajnaltuk, hogy nem maradtunk tobbet, szivesen jott volna velunk turazni is, ha esetleg hetvegeig maradunk, de hat a nemzeti parkok vartak rank.



Moni sajnos nem tudott teljes maradasunkra elszallasolni, igy egy utolso pillanatos szallaskeresest kellett beekelni a tervekbe. Sikerrel jartunk, hiszen Mike a fillipino srac es rutinos szorfhost jelentkezett, hogy megaludthatunk a ket kis kutyuskaja mellett a kanapen. Egy kis elmenymegosztasra is sort keritettunk, es megkostoltattuk vele a magyar palinkacsodat. :)


Elmenyeink tovabb gazdagodtak, amikor Chey es Morganhoz megerkeztunk. Egy idillikus kis videki farm hazikoban elnek, melyet egy meretes, eppen viragzo mandulaultetveny vett korbe. Mar a helyszin is eleg mesebe illo, es akkor meg kedves szallasadoinakat meg sem emlitettem igazan. Elso szorfoseik voltunk, de ez nem csorbitotta az elmenyt, sot!



Megintcsak az egesz haz a rendelkezesunkre allt, ok reggel hamarabb elmentek, igy magunk maradtunk a lakasban, mindent kedvunkre hasznalhattunk, fogyaszthattunk es raadasul egy egesz szobat megkaptunk alvasra. Es a hab a tortan, hogy meg vacsorat is foztek es volt egy kis csaladi osszeules is, ahol Morgan testvereit sikerult megismerni.




Morgan es Jaylen, A batyo, az egyik nap meg turazni is becsatlakozott, pontoasabban elvittek minket. Autonk ugyanis nem igazan volt jegbarat, igy Jaylen terepjarojanak platojan huzodtunk meg, amig a celhelyszinre erkeztunk. Nem is akarhol, Yosemite Valleyben, de talan ez egy masik tortenet. A csoda, mar ott megtortent, hogy egy csalad eletebe belelathattunk es a teljes onzetlenseg es kedvesseg mamoraban tolthettunk par napot.



Persze tovabb fokoznam. Hiszen lehet. Andyhez leerkezve Fresnoba egy masfajta csalad eletebe kaptunk leheletnyi betekintest. Andy es lakotarsai, Claire, Oliver, Cathy es a szomszed srac Wili egy igazan vicces kis kozosseget alkotnak. A hostunk altal berendezett hangszerekkel felszerelt szinpad, kulteri konyha, projektor es mini farmgazdasag arulkodik arrol, hogy nem kozonseges emberek koze kerultunk. Minden este sok nevetesre, sztorizgatasra kerult sor. Elokerultek a hangszerek is, volt filmnezes porkolt fozes es palinkazas kozben, megosztottuk egymassal zenei es filmes kulturankat.
Nehez is leirni, de egy teljesen befogado szeretettteljes erzes volt, az hogy mar a belepeskor ugy kezeltek, minket, hogy elkerulhetetlenul otthon ereztuk magunkat 10 perc utan. :)



Es igazabol ezzel meg tovabbra sincs vege, hiszen mi hamar leautoztunk Las Vegasba, ahol egy szuk estet toltottunk el Levinal. A srac es kedves lakotarsa Charity, mindjart belepesunk utan belekostolhatott a magyaros backpacker krumplistesztaba. Persze cserebe, nyomtunk egy kis beerpongot, es robbanos kiscicat is, nem beszelve a magasroptu geek beszelgetesekrol, mivel Levi, hasonlo informatikai erdeklodessel birt, mint en (meg persze par pippantas fu utan, az agya eleg rendesen fel is volt porogve). Hat igen, Nevadaban legalisan lehet fuvezni, es ez erzodik is csupan akar az utcan setalva. De ez is egy kis pluszt adott az elmenyfaktorhoz.


 Mivel en mar kozeledtem az amerikai kaland vegehez igy sietni kellett. Ami annyit jelentette, hogy Levitol valo elvalasunk utan 700kmes ut vezetett, kovetkezo hostunkhoz Charliehoz. Egy epitesz uriemberrol van szo, aki sokat latott, elt meg eleteben. Es ezt nem felt megosztani velunk lakasa mellett. Magasroptu beszelgeteseinket joizu nevetesek kisertek, es persze vele is megosztottuk a backpacker krumplis tesztat es a jooreg palinkat is, amit egyebkent Moninak kosoznhetunk meg. :) Ujabb nehezen leirhato erzes, hogy mennyire termeszetes volt szamara, az hogy vadidegenek ott alszanak par ejszakat, es mar a talalkozas elejetol regi ismeroskent zajlik a kommunikacio.


Lehet csak az en szuklatokorusegem miatt van ez, de engem ez az elmeny sorozat hatalmas kultursokkent ert. Persze pozitiv ertelemben.
Es mindezt nem kevesbe fokozta az utolso hostom (az USA-ban) Helen is, aki egy nagyon fiatalos erett no es nagy mama Las Vegasban. Ottletem alatt tobb baratjat/ismeroset sikerult megismernem, sot  mindegyik gyermekevel sikerult par szot valtanom, es a kis unokaval, Charlieval egy jot jatszanom, aminek a jutalma egy hatalmas oleles volt elvalasunkkor. Mialatt foztem a a szokasosnak mondhato magyaros etelt, reszese lehettem a mindennapi csaladi programnak, kicsit csaladtagkent is erezve magam. Nagyon szivmelengeto erzes.

(Sajnos errol az elmenyrol foto nem keszult:( )

Es nem is tudom tovabb fokozni. Hosszas lett ez a poszt, de valahogy le kell kozolnom azt a melyenszanto felismerest, hogy igenis hinni kell az idealizmusunkban, mert leteznek fantasztikus emberek a vilagban, es nincsenek kevesen!
Megprobalok, majd posztolni a mindekozben elkovetett kalandokrol is, de jelenleg az ido az elmenyek befogadasara megy el jo reszt.

Petty

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Recently I was quite unsuccessful in posting. I've got a few drafts, but none of them is really finished. You can ask; why?



Well, since we set our feet in US, we were doing couchsurfing all the time. But let's see, what is this couchsurfing really. So, there are people all over the world, who offer their couch, a room, or whatever they can to the people who like to travel. For free! Of course don't get me wrong. This is not a free accommodation service, it a society for sharing culture and experience. To let people experience, that there is still selflessness and kindness out there, but it is just less advertised. :)


So, we managed to sleep on several couches, beds, mattresses in the last few weeks. Ati was already quite experienced in this regard, but for me it was quite new and had a great impact on my views.


For example, in Hawaii, a nice couple in their mid tweinties offered shelter over our heads. Jessey is a diver at the Navy and Jessica is a lifeguard and firefighter. Considering only these fact shows already, how awesome people they are. Although, they were working a lot, they still tried to spend some time with us in the evenings and since they were exploding kittens fans too, we managed to play a few rounds as well. Of course, we "interrogated" them about their life and vice versa and to express our gratitude we cooked for them an excellent goulash.



In San Francisco we bumped into a hungarian thanks to Ati. He wrote in the local hungarian group and Moni immediately responded, that she can host us. We've got a great unfoldable couch for the night, which felt really comfy, after a sleepless night on the airplane. We've got the opportunity to taste her amazing vegetarian dishes and in addition she took us to Twin Peaks, where had  a breathtaking night view on the city. We felt a bit sorry, that we did not stay longer, she was keen on joining in the tramping too, but the National parks were already waiting for us.


Another unfortunate event was, that she was not able to host us for the entire time in SF, so we had to plan in a last minute couch. We were lucky and successful. Mike the superkind philippine guy and experienced couch host was there for us and offered us a couch besides the two cute snorring pugs. :)
We also had some time to share some stories and we "convinced" him to try the wonder of the Hungarian palinka.

The number of our uplifting experiences were only increasing when we arrived to Chey and Morgan. They are living in a romantic little farm house on the country side hugged around with a huge, currently blooming almond plantation. The place already sounds like we were being in a fairy tale, not to mention our hosts. We were their first surfers, but that did not change the experience, in the contrary!

Once again we could walk around in the house freely. They left in the morning for work and they said we can use anything eat whatever we find in the fridge, additionally we've got a full room to sleep in. And the icing on the cake was that they cooked for as superb dinner and we also had the chance to meet Morgans siblings.

Morgan and Jaylen, Morgan's elder brother had even joined us on one of the days. To be more accurate, they took us to the hiking place since our car was not really prepared for the icy conditions. We jumped on the trailer of the truck while there were taking us to our destination. The best thing was, that this all happened in Yosemite Valley, but that is another story. Of course the wonder already happened when a nice couple gave us shelter and we could be the part of a family for a short time and could spend a few days in the vibe of absolute kindness and selflessness.



Of course there is more. As we arrived to Andy in Fresno we had a short insight into a different sort of family. Andy and his flatmates, Oliver, Claire, Cathy and the neighbour, Willy are forming a unique and funny community. The indoor stage with all sorts of musical instruments, the outdoor kitchen and movie projector and the mini farm backyard already suggested that we bumped into people out of ordinary. We had good conversations and lots of laughing every evening, the instruments were put on the use as well, we shared our musical and film culture. We had an outdoor movie watching tied to cooking goulash and drinking palinka. It is really hard to describe the feeling but, just as we arrived they treated us so welcoming and nice, that it was inevitable to feel at home after approx. 10 minutes.:)



And with this story it is still not done yet! We quickly arrived in Las Vegas were we had the chance to spend a short evening with Levi. The good fella and his lovely flatmate Charity could almost immediately have taste of our spectacular backpacker potato pasta. As an additional cultural exchange we played some beerpong and game of exploding kittens. We also had some deep geek conversations since Levi has a similar interest as I do (not to mention, that he got really excited after being a little bit stoned. :D). Yeah, it is apparently legal to use weed in Nevada state, which you actually could smell even just walking on the streets, but you know this has add a little bit to the experience.

Since I was already closing in to the end of my US experience we had to rush a little bit. After saying goodbye to Levi, we had to drive about 700 kilometers to get to our next host Charlie. He is an adorable architect gentleman, who had seen and experienced a lot. And he was not afraid to share those with us... besides his brilliant house. Our deep conversations were interrupted with good laughs, and of course we shared our backpacker potato pasta with him, not to mention the good old Hungarian palinka, which by the way, we got from Moni back in San Francisco. And once again it is hard to describe the feeling, when somebody invites strangers in his house for a few nights as it would be a natural thing and does the communication as we were friends for years. Absolutely mindblowing!

Maybe it is because of me narrow minded thinking, but all these happenings were a huge cultural shock for me. Of course in a positive way.
And this was even more lifted by my last host, Helen in US. She is a really kind mature lady and grandmother with an exceptional young mind and good heart living in Las Vegas. During my stay I was able to meet with a few of her friends, had the chance to talk to each of her kids and to play with the granddaughter Charlie, who rewarded me with a great hug as we parted. As I was cooking the regular exchange food, the amazing goulash, I could see how their everyday goes, and had the feeling that I am a little bit part of their family for a blink of time. It is really heartwarming!

(unfortunately I forgot to take photo of this experience :( )

I guess I cannot lift the feeling any higher. This post has gotten quite long, but I had to tell all this in order to kind of broadcast the recognition, that we have to believe in our idealistic side. There are good people out there and they are not few in numbers.
I will try to post all the adventures that happened in between this, but most of my time is spent to create these experiences.

Peter, Hot Balls, Pumpkin

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