hello from Emmanuelle Richard

Cheers from Los Angeles,
A quick introduction to explain a frog's presence on this site: I went to Budapest in December '94, at the age of 22, to fulfill my dream of living in a country I had fallen in love with in the late '80s, thanks to a Hungarian Cure fan and penpal. I had spent the summer of '93 as an intern at The Daily News, the English-language weekly from the MTI agency, while writing my thesis about FIDESZ. In France, I was actually a subscriber to the Budapest Week, so when I moved to Hungary, I already loved the paper and knew all these people's bylines by heart.

In Budapest, I gradually became a freelance correspondent for various French media (my first published article from Hungary was for a communist weekly!) and wrote quite a few stories for Budapest Week in bad English. Learned a lot about journalism thanks to the editing of Chris and Julius, as well as Adam's advices. I fondly remember my time at the Budapest International Press Center on Liszt Ferenc Tér, with one phone line for the 5 freelancers sharing the room, and Cafe Incognito right at the corner. I met my husband Matt when he was managing editor of the Budapest Business Journal. Some people remember the birthday party for me he organized at the Gellért Baths, sponsored by Lifestyles condoms, and our farewell party at the Rudas in December '97, which made Anita Altman's column in the Budapest Sun.

Then it was time for us to leave town. After a silly attempt at moving to Cuba, we settled in Los Angeles, where we're both freelancing and leading a happy life under the sun. I often dream of returning to Budapest, but in the meantime it's important to keep in touch with friends from this magical era. You can contact me through my site emmanuelle.net and click email.