Submitted by Diana Magana on the 2014 winter session program in Budapest, Hungary sponsored by the School of Education…
Week 1: After finally getting over jet-lag and lack of sleep, I was able to explore the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria. I spent four short, but busy days here visiting the Hofburg Palaces, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna, and more. I enjoyed lovely meals including the traditional schnitzel. Perhaps the best part about being in Austria was visiting the Mauthausen concentration camp. This experience was truly unique and certainly moving, but I am glad to have had the opportunity to visit it. As I previously mentioned, the stay in Austria was short and by mid week we progressed to Budapest by way of coach. After a wonderful tour of the city, we visited St. Stephen’s Basilica and learned about Hungarian culture. I had a wonderful first week and I am blessed to have had the opportunity to visit such historic locations. I will continue to take pictures for the math course and look forward to the school visits coming up.
Week 2: We spent two days at the Britannica International School this week, a school we will be working with for two more weeks. I am in a fourth grade classroom with students of diverse backgrounds. I quickly learned the names of the students and even got to teach a lesson on the very first day. I am eager to see what the next two weeks have in store at Britannica. We went on a tour of the Hungarian Parliament and got to visit the thermal baths (yes we went swimming in the middle of winter). We also took a river cruise on the Danube and explored the Buda side of Budapest. I have been eating traditional foods this week including my new favorite, Hungarian Goulash. I also got to visit the International Christian School of Budapest this week.
Week 3: This week we visited the small town of Pecs. We got to explore on our own and my group chose to visit the Victor Vasarely Museum and several other museums. This week also contained the four-day free weekend, which my roommate and I used to catch up on our assignments and to continue to explore Budapest. We saw a Hungarian circus show and loved the Budapest Zoo. We essentially became locals and people would speak to us in Hungarian. I went to the supermarket and cooked for the first time during the program. I also visited the Great Market and stocked up on souvenirs and chocolate. I also had the chance to interact with a Spanish class this week at the Britannica School in addition to my primary classroom.
Week 4: Time has truly flown by and it is now time to depart Europe. I had an amazing four weeks traveling, learning, and exploring. This week, we took a coach bus to Eger and visited two traditional Hungarian public high schools. We even danced Hungarian folk dance and met students who had never seen Americans before. Our hotel featured a spa and thermal bath which we certainly took advantage of. Many of us enjoyed getting fish pedicures and massages. It was also our last week at the Britannica School and saying good-bye to the children was not easy. I really learned to love my class and I will truly miss them. Lastly, we visited a Jewish community school in Budapest and had our farewell dinner with the best professors ever. We couldn’t forget to visit the Great Market Hall one last time for souvenirs and to pick up my favorite Hungarian snack, Langos. Packing was not thrilling, but I am excited to go home and see my family. I had a wonderful time in Europe and I can’t wait until I return one day, hopefully in the near future.
