Flashbacks

So, three things have happened to me in the last week that haven't happened since I was a wee thing. First, about six days ago, I took a tumble while running in the Varosliget, or the city park near my apartment. I don't have any good reason for my fall - no child dashed into my path causing me to hurl myself aside, no dog crashed into my unsuspecting ankles, no vicious tree root leaped from the ground to twine itself around my feet. No, I just fell. And, as it was about 6:30 in the morning, I had not seen anyone while running for the first twenty minutes of my run and only when I fell was there somebody not ten paces away from me. Of course.

In any case, I fell and bruised one knee quite badly and scraped the other one impressively, though with not much lasting damage. The point is, it was a skinned knee, basically. I did that as a kid all the time - falling off my scooter, my bike, simply losing my balance while I tried to run down the street by stepping only on the curb at the side of the road - and damn, it hurts! I have a lot farther to fall now. It was kind of intense, but it also made me laugh as I sat there in the dirt. I can't remember the last time I had to scrub that much dirt off my legs - and maybe that's a problem. When I was a kid, I thought I was going to be an adult who still played in the dirt whenever it was possible.

Turns out, I got the chance to appease that kid part of me again this weekend. After resting for several days, my knees are almost back to their normal color and are certainly back to functioning levels of strength, so I went for a gentle jog with a friend of mine here on Margit Island, a little island in between Buda and Pest in the Danube. During the run, we worked through a bunch of logic puzzles like I used to do on long car rides as a kid, and when we finished we met up with another friend for a picnic. After the picnic as we were wandering around the island, we found an amazing playground (with not too many children on it) and a huge tree with friendly-looking branches and a big, soft field around it. So, I got to clamber over things on the playground, hoist myself up among the branches of the tree ( I will never stop loving climbing trees) and with my other twenty-something friends, figure out if we could still do handstands and cartwheels. It was the perfect way to spend a  Sunday.

So, cartwheels, trees and playgrounds were kid thing number two. What was the third? Well, during our picnic, I got stung by a bee. Also something that hasn't happened to me in at least a decade. It didn't hurt nearly as much as my memories of it and at the time, it wasn't a big deal at all. However, unfortunately, the night after that my hand started to act up (I happened to accidentally pinch the bee between my ring finger and my middle finger on my right hand). Right now, typing is rather difficult and much slower than it usually is, and I am staying home from my language class with a cold and what I am thinking more and more resembles a paw than a hand. I have ice and anti inflammatory things, and I know I am not allergic to bees - I suppose this is exactly what bee stings are supposed to do. Be painful and annoying for the recipient. If I were a creature smaller than a human, this would be quite an injury, and I applaud the bee and the potency of its venom. I also appreciate the extra bits of skin that allow things to move so loosely around my knuckles most of the time, since I need all the extra space I can get right now.

A day in is probably exactly what I need. Extrovert as I am, this is a lot of new all at once - people, city, language, and a daunting math program waiting to begin. I'm going to study Hungarian on my couch with a cup of tea and frequent naps today, and I think that'll just do the trick.