[jason_t]

I have been to jail.

I studied in Budapest for a semester a few years ago. My first week in the city I hardly knew the language and I was at the supermarket paying. The cashier tried to tell me something and I had no idea what she was saying but it appeared that she would not accept the cash I was trying to pay with yet wouldn't return it to me. I offered her my Visa card but she wouldn't accept it. I decided to just walk out the door leaving behind the cash. Security for the supermarket stopped me and I realized that she was accusing me of something, probably shoplifting. Security took me to an office in the supermarket and the Hungarian police came and took me to a station, processed some paperwork, fingerprint me, took my photo and put me in a cell. I had no idea what was going on and I was scared. I was in a solitary cell. Eventually an interpreter arrived and I was informed that the money I tried to pay with was counterfeit. I requested that the American embassy be contacted and a few hours later someone from the embassy arrived. In the precense of the embassy official, I was questioned on every aspect of my whereabouts and doings since arriving in Hungary. The embassy official instructed me to just answer the questions and after a few more hours I was finally released.