... Working on the Railroad

Writing from our lovely flat in Budapest -- pictures soon.
It's Devin's birthday today and we celebrated by taking her on a children-run railroad (seriously) through the hills of Buda (in Budapest, one side of the Danube River is called Buda, the other side Pest. We live in Pest).
The railroad was a project for Communist youth -- no more party affiliation by there's still a whiff of loyalty to something as the kids (around 12 to 14), in blue uniforms (not unlike what you might see a conductor on a commuter train in the U.S. wearing) salute the passengers from the station as the train leaves.
We had trouble making our destination known to the kid taking the money in the station, not just because he didn't speak English but because I could barely hear him or his co-workers through the glass (incidentally, I walked into a bank today to break a large bill for the metro, and was disoriented because there was no glass at all -- can't remember when I was last in a bank without those bullet-proof barriers). But another customer helped us out.
On the train ,we were sitting with a bunch of teenagers (17 or so) speaking excellent, though accented, English to each other. Margaret asked them how they learned to speak it so well, and we learned that they were a group of Hungarian and Estonian teenagers. The Estonian kids were here on an exchange program and English was the language they could all communicate in. One of the Estonian girls said they were required to learn English beginning in the third grade.
They all were really nice kids, and were good enough at English that they bantered and joked with each other, and could expertly communicate sarcasm. When they left at the stop before ours, Margaret took their picture through the window. They lined up quickly to pose for our portrait, and one guy playfully saluted.
In the evening our neighbor, who rented us the apartment, came by with her adorable 3-year-old, Cash (short for Cassius) for birthday cake with Devin. They played like old friends, racing a toy NYC taxi cab that Devin gave Cash across the coffee table. Devin may begin going to Cash's school next week.
Tomorrow, we explore the local playground ...