Simply Amazing (Budapest Day 2)

              I think that Thursday was my favorite day in Budapest. We went to the Budapest business school and got to meet with some of their students. They put together a whole tour, presentation and lectures for us and provided us with an amazing lunch. It was amazing to learn about the average life of students in Hungary and how hard they have to work in order to get their education. During our tour of the university, I had a pretty in depth conversation one guy (in the pictures he has long hair pulled back and a checker button-up shirt.) who totally impressed me. He told me a little bit about the economic transition that Hungary is going through and his thoughts and opinions about it. He explained how the government was finally trying to get control of their financial crisis in the 90s and it was causing major discomfort for the people. In his opinion, at this point Hungary as a country saw the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of economic stress. Because of the difficulty that the people were having, they demanded a change in government action. Then the money was spread amongst the people and life got easier for a time. This only lasted a small amount of time until the country became indebted to foreign powers and started to have problems again. Now the people don’t understand why things aren’t better. This guy explained to me that because of his studies in economics he understands that it would be better for them to suffer in the short-term in order to make things better for everyone in the long-term. We discussed the fact that there are not enough resources to help the general public understand this and to embrace it. I then told him that in America we have the resources and yet people still don’t understand that bigger picture. Anyways, it was a positively fascinating conversation and I was extremely impressed by how much he knew and how well he answered all of my questions.

               After our tour of the school we had a lecture about Hungary’s economic history from the dean of the school. It was extremely enlightening and it is amazing how political motives so intensely effect the economy of a country. For example, Hungary was excluded from the European Union for an extremely long time because of their association with the Soviet Union in the past. It was a great presentation that really allowed one to understand the situation of the Hungarian people.

               As soon as our visit to the school was done, we went to an amazing museum called the House of Terror. I would quite seriously return to Budapest, Hungary only to see this museum again. It’s the best one I have ever been in and it really is more of a full-building monument and symbolic art piece to the heroes and victims of the Soviet Union and German occupation during the WWII time period than it is a museum. This was particularly interesting to me because I have always loved the history of this war, but the stories that have the lime-light are the German Nazis. Not many realize the incredible dictatorships and horrors that occurred in Hungary as well. Long of the short, they basically had a similar time period as we did in the US when the red scare affected us. The major difference between them was the sick torture and executions that occurred in Hungary. (and the fact that the communist party was the entity killing people rather than people being scared of others being communist.) We were only allowed to take pictures of the tank but none of the actual exhibits. I actually liked it because it helped to maintain the respectful and reverent atmosphere that is needed when discussing such a delicate topic.

               The reason that these experiences this day were my all time favorite is simply because of the fact that they help one to understand the background and genuine culture of the Hungarian people. Through these experiences we were truly able to begin understanding who they are, how they struggle now and in the past and how these things have shaped who they have become as people. I love having this sort of understanding of a culture the people there. If you ever go to Hungary you will find the people to be very reserved and quiet. They don’t do anything that makes them different or that keeps them from blending into the crowd. The obvious reason being that in the past they were killed for being individualistic and the culture-wide effect has made the trait of anonymity a part of them. What is interesting is that once you engage someone in a conversation, they are typically extremely nice and very interested in learning about you. Until you cross that boundary, they usually come off a little rude and rough.

           After our educational experiences we were let loose on the city of Budapest to do whatever we wanted. My roommate, Jessi, a girl Sheila and I went off to brave the subway system and to try to find a church and marketplace to buy things. We successfully managed the metro (which I actually thoroughly enjoy!) and ended up at a cathedral where they display the saint’s (who the church is named after…. even though I can’t remember it at the moment…) mummified arm. Forgive me, but I find it super weird. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the hand, because it was closed before we got there, but the church was beautiful. After this we went to find a market which took the rest of the evening because of the confusing directions we received. Either way, it turned out to be an eventful and super fun evening.

          We ended our night at an Italian restaurant 2 blocks from the hotel that was super tasty! Their pasta, pizza and gelato was super good! Then we went back to the hotel and my roommate and I tried to wash our clothes. I say try because it turns out that they take a LOT longer to dry than either of us realized. Kinda ridiculous! By the time we’re done with this trip we’ll both be pros though. :o)