Some Action with the Riot Police

This past wednesday, all us JSBPers headed off to the Riot Police station located in Budapest. Unsure exactly of the role of these men, I was intrigued to find out exactly what made them different from just being called the local police. Plus I was secretly hoping to see some SWAT Team action or something cool like that. The presentation of this talk was very different from what we have seen so far because the lady spoke Hungarian and Ildiko had to translate everything for us. This made it somewhat difficult to ask questions as they arose and to really understand what she was saying. However, we quickly learned that Riot Police are the 2nd largest unit of enforcement after the local police, and unlike the local police they can work anywhere in the country as opposed to having jurisdiction in only one district. The local police, anywhere in HU, can invite the riot police to come work on a case if they need more personnel. There are several other offices all over the country, but the main headquarters is this one here in Budapest. Riot police rank somewhere in the middle of the entirety of law enforcement in the whole country. There are 14 departments with 160-200 people in each one. That makes for 3459 total riot police officers.  I don't see how any riot is getting out of control with that many! One of the main jobs of the riot police is to- control riots! Surprise! Any big events: sports games, riots, holiday festivals, concerts- it is their job to keep in control. The riot police offer a special services department which covers things like a bomb control unit and a cash transport service among other things. They also have a tactical team who is made up of high skilled, trained officers that get sent to go after the most dangerous criminals. (That would clearly be my job- chasing bad people). There is a strong relationship between the border police and the riot police because of the amount of immigrants trying to come into Hungary, and then make it further west. The immigration unit and public security work together on this to monitor fields, rivers, and even trains. Officers ride the passenger cars to make sure no one has snuck on. I was interested to learn that all people go through training for 1 year and then they come over to the riot police station where they are on their "probation" period. They live in barracks on the property and follow around the prominent officers on the streets and learn through observing. Although they are not allowed to act on much on their own during this period, while standing next to an officer they can give orders or ask to check for IDs. This is how they train. To me, this is THE MOST effective way of training. When you throw someone right into the field after one year of schooling, they are going to learn best because they have had an introduction and learned a lot from the student perspective, but without anything hands on it is hard to get a feel for what the job entails. As soon as you throw them right into the work, they must learn quickly and certainly become more confident in their role as a training officer. It takes 2 years to become an officer, then they can apply to a unit they would like to go to. A university degree is necessary for any high ranking positions within the force so some people continue on with 2 years of schooling after that, or it is possible to attend the police university from the start, for a total of 4 years. Although the talk was extremely stimulating, the action we got to see after was SO COOL. We managed to be there on a good day, when officers from other countries were visiting too. That meant they had set up all the trucks and tanks, all the guns, showed us the equipment they wear and even let me sit on the back of a truck with a lot of guns and pretend to shoot them! They were tear gas guns and looked SO AWESOME. I sat right up there in my pink sweater and flip flops and pretended I was cool and official. I was also volunteered by one of the officers to run and help them show how to catch a fleeing person with a net. Not sure how I feel about that. The coolest part of everything though, was getting to watch action performance examples of the officers all covered in their decked out equipped uniforms. They did role playing to show us how they would fight back and control a riot in many different situations. It was AWESOME. We also got to watch an attempted arrest and how to go about it.  The officer even took the car home after he arrested the guy! Although I am most interested in the FBI acting as a special agent, something like this real interests me. I could see a lot more action and do a lot more than a local police officer I feel, and be able to get this special training. All in all, it was an EXTREMELY fascinating experience and of course for me, interested in law enforcement beyond the local level, I thought this was a pretty cool chance to once again, explore a job that might appeal to me.

Barracks where the students stay when on their "probation" period!

This is what the officers wear when going in to control a riot.

All the guns- modeled after the original AK 47. These are mostly tear gas guns.

Last time I checked, that is a very bad way to hold a gun.

This is the shield that the officers use. It deflects almost anything that hits it and it very heavy. 

I hope to not be riding in one of these while I am here.

DANGEROUS. 

Be in 2 Cool Places at Once... CHECK!

Hello friends! I am currently blogging instead of finishing a paper..... we all know I'm good for procrastination.... especially when something fun is an option. I am here to tell you about a quick trip I took this past Saturday just for the day to a small Northern Hungarian town called Esztergom. It is located on the right bank of the Danube River, which forms the border with Slovakia! You can see a GIANT bridge connecting the two countries and you can take a quick walk over to the other side and there you are in Slovakia! Grace, Courtney and I set off paying out 550 HUF train ticket ($2.50) and off we went! We saw a vast amount of Hungarian countryside as the train makes about 10 stops in between at other small towns. 
When we got there, we roamed through the streets (following an elderly crowd of tourists- of course, letting them look like the group of tourists and we just followed.....) until we made it into the central part of the city! There we used our expert map skills to find out way through the town. We crossed through a few squares and walked down along a river bank spotting several forms of wildlife (a swan, a doggy and some birds). From there we found our way to the Esztergom Basilica... providing with us the most beautiful view I have ever seen. We climbed to the top where we could see miles and miles from every nook and cranny- Hungary to Slovakia. It was incredible. The climb up was a bit traumatic... you'll see a photo of the stairs... and not all Europeans use deodorant so some that were walking near us.... let's just say they could have used some Secret or Dove. It is the tallest building in Hungary and 72 meters high inside. We also toured the crypt at the bottom of the basilica which was incredible. I got to light a candle for Paul, Vicki and Krista which was very nice for me. 
We then headed out to explore the Esztergom Day festival which we did not know was taking place that day! A great thing to stumble upon. We got to experience some of the culture and see some delicious food stands, that I drooled at of course. On that note of realizing how "hungary" we were (hahahaha) we set off to cross the bridge into Slovakia for some lunch! And boy oh boy, did we live up to our reputation of being the typical tourists. Midway through the bridge when you hit the border, we must have stood at the sign for about 10 minutes, causing serious traffic problems with people, just to hit every pose possible, making sure we could be seen in two places at once. Of course, there had been a giant marathon and everyone was coming back from the finish line across the bridge so that was a nice crowd of people. As soon as we made it into the town, we stumbled across a dance performance going on in the main square. Performers ranged from all ages and did all sorts of dance/gymnast type of performances. It was an incredible show. 
Now brings us to one of the more disturbing experiences. Of course we have encountered many homeless people and I am AWFUL at it. I always feel so sorry for them, it makes me depressed and I want to give them money. Now I know that's not really the best thing, but I also have a hard time walking away. Well, this once lady approached us at the entrance of a restaurant and I though she was offering menus or something. Nope, she wanted money. Well, in asking for it, she blessed me on my forehead and then, meaning to bless me on my chest, she got a nice boob grab in there. That was one of the more awkward things. Needless to say, I didn't give money. 

Well finally, we found a place to exchange our HUF for EUROS and found a nice place to eat. For good food at a cheap price, we sat in this cute outdoor lounge and ate as we observed the culture. There were a few troubles with the food. For example, Courtney ordered dumplings and received a loaf of bread to the side of her breaded chicken. hmmmm. I ordered chicken with a sour cream and mushroom sauce and got a slab of fried chicken. hmmmm. But hey, we worked it all out. We finished off the Slovakian adventure with our latest addiction: GELATO. It is 173489487 times better here than in America (no offense America) and is SO CHEAP. This particular stand however was quite an entertaining one. The man would throw the scoop in the air and catch it in the cone, or "throw the scoop to Hungary" as he told me, flip the scoop, ya know all those tricks cool kids do. The funniest thing though- Grace and I ordered and got our waffle cones. But when Courtney ordered a regular size cone, he came out with quite a creation. You will see below. There was also an inappropriate joke made regarding some American political figures that was quite hilarious, considering he didn't know we were American (shocking, actually) but I will keep it to myself as to not offend anyone. Please contact myself or the Stirling parents and we can share it privately. 
ANYWAY, after this we headed back home. Of course not without the following- making a second scene on the bridge with photos, telling the lady in the station (who did not speak any English) that we wanted a return ticket to Nyugati-Budapest and receiving one for Urom?... getting our ticket switched and then almost missing the train. Oh and being dehydrated with no water to be found. ALL IN ALL, This was a fantastic trip. Now I can cross one more thing off my bucket list: be in two places at once. 
Thanks for playing! Keep it real people!


I'll be back soon with a post about our trip to the Riot Police! 


OH AND I GOT MY CARTILAGE PIERCED! cool stuff. 

its fall in Hungary! 

this one is for daddy and our boat!

Basilica and the surrounding fort! 

take note of how big this statue is for later reference point

inside the crypt where the people have been buried in the walls

a beautiful statue leading you into the crypt 

the dark hallways of the crypt 

inside the crypt 

the room with all the honors 

in loving memory of PM, VR and KDD. <3 

the "not so hard to climb" stairs to the top!

making our way up there.....

first balcony we land at where we see one of the two smaller domes, surrounding the giant bell tower dome. 

not scary at all........

the view from the top! AMAZING. 

HELLO WORLD! 

please note, that little tiny white thing is the statue! 

some minor titanic action....

the bridge! Hungary is on the left and Slovakia on the right!

this is how high up we are... remember that dome?

central courtyard of the Basilica

on the bridge, about to walk into Slovakia! 

view of the Basilica from the bridge!

IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE! (awkward squatting positing....)

tug of war between two countries.....

our little dancers! 

SO CUTE. mini cheerleaders!!!!

the folk dancing

more  amazing performances

my favorite hip hop dance!

throwing the scoop of gelato!

his final work of art... just wait for it...

HAHAHAHA SO AWESOME. not so awesome when dripping everywhere.....

back home to Hungary :)

Patriot Nation Alive Across the Pond

Yes my obsession is healthy... Poor Grace's fear was confirmed today when we found an ad online showing a Patriots credit card and checks saying.... "Take your obsession to the next level with Patriots banking through Bank of America." That's when she turned to me and said, your obsession has no level. (yes, I have that card and those checks.) After living with me for only one month, she has realized I am insane for football. Coming into my room in the morning and seeing me watching the latest press conferences and screaming at the screen watching highlights from previous seasons, she has seen I am insane. The New England Patriots are on the top of the top of my charts. It doesn't get better than Brady. He is my future husband. A phenomenal leader on and off the field, he has the entire Patriot nation in love with him. Fresh out of Michigan, it was a big day in the Stirling household when he was no longer a Wolverine but #199 in the 6th round, a pick for the NE Patriots. Big, big day.

Tonight the New England Patriots are playing the Buffalo Bills (Kenny's awful team). Its 8:48 pm here and my men are now playing in the beginning of the 3rd quarter. The score is 21-10, PATRIOTS of course.
Anyway, today I am feeling especially sad that I am not at UNH in the boys disgusting apartment, devouring dominos' and screaming at the TV. I am also more sad than usual because you all know my beloved best friend Kenny, well he has made the unfortunate choice to like the Bills. So as you can imagine there is always serious conflict and yes, actual violence, between us during these games. As a matter of fact, my freshman year, when the Bills ALMOST beat us, Kenny kicked me out of his room and threw things at me. Including my patriots blanket I kept in his room. Not my fault your team sucks. Love you kenneth. Anyway, I LOVE BUDAPEST... my missing my Patriots games and giving up fantasy football HURTS. Anyone and everyone who knows me, knows that you can't find a crazier fan than me. I might love football more than I should, or more than any normal girl should but that's okay with me. That's what you get when you're raised in a crazy New England household and you're screaming the plays by the age of 5. Of course my first Patriots game was the best day of my life, and getting elbowed in the face and having a black eye for a week was worth Tom Brady waving and saying "Hello, nice jersey!" Of course that was before Randy Moss needed a serious attitude adjustment and was too busy yelling at the camera to catch a ball. However, him and Brady setting their record together was a day to remember. 50th touchdown pass at the Giants. In September 2010, my man became the highest paid player in the NFL. Signing onto another 4 years, for $72 million. Highly unnecessary, but I don't care because he is still here. I better stop before I go on with every other millionth stat regarding Tom and the team.

IN BILL WE TRUST.

Although I am disappointed I am not home to scream with the boys and have the whole dorm hear every play of the game, Champ's will do. Luckily, I have my NFL.com subscription so I can watch online as well. I plan to watch my men get their rings in their 7th superbowl appearance and Brady and his boys go to the probowl once again. Excited to watch Hernandez continue to rock it, and Woodhead run over everyone. Are we just here for the Gronk show? Our promising young talent is insane. And our veterans will continue to amaze us, as Wilfork did last week. SEE YA NEVAHHHH CHARGERS! We'll watch this transition to the 4-3 defense.... as if there are any concerns. From a 3-4 to a 4-3, we can handle it.

Anyway I hope if you are in America you are watching proudly and I am sure you can all still hear me yelling from over here in Budapest. Nandi certainly can, I'll tell you that much.

American Football is God's gift to earth. I LOVE YOU NFL.

MUCH LOVE PATRIOT NATION.
Oh and P.S. don't ask the boys or daddy if they miss my screaming. I like to pretend they do.

throwback, now we're back together

the greatest place in the world 

Gillette turf <3

at Gillette! happiest ever. 

PATRIOTS PRIDE 

caption is not necessary. 

NFL REPRESENT YO COLORSSS

after out 3rd super bowl win! 

i miss you bedroom.... this is my haven where i come to clear my head. 

current update: Tom has thrown 4 interceptions..... we are losing to the bills.... and i am trying to breathe. NOT. WORKING. I. NEED. A. WIN. or at least, NOT A LOSS TO THE BILLS. AHHHHH.

OH WAIT 6 YARD TD PASS TO WELKER! he really is SUPERMAN! LETS GO BOYS!

OH WAIT ANOTHER TOUCHDOWN FOR THE BILLS. i am pulling my hair out. someone come save me. help. kenny i hate you right now. just kidding. touchdown NO MORE. thank god.

AND THATS IT. pulling my hair out and the bills win. good thing they have been to the superbowl 4 times and have no rings. and good thing brady had to throw 4 interceptions for them to barely beat us. i'm not a sore loser. no not at all. but seriously, in bill we trust. its just one game....... help. WAH.