Hungary from a New Angle

Budapest

I’m a big soccer fan. My roommate at Yale and I have been talking about the World Cup since fall semester. For me, the tournament transcends even the beauty of the game at its highest level- when billions (?) of people around the world stop once every four years to watch the same games and share in the craziness of the world cup, the cultural mixing and energy is mind-blowing. So as excited as I was for the tournament to begin, I did not expect to experience the first game in such a fittingly epic setting. When Neymar scored the first goal of the world cup, I was packed into a cluster of people from all around the world in a beautiful square in downtown Budapest called the Szabadság Tér (or Freedom Square). On my right, was an Egyptian friend I had met earlier that day, on my left a man from Albania with whom I had been discussing the game. A sea of yellow and green rippled all around me, including at least a dozen Brazilian friends I had already met through AIESEC. A Brazilian flag danced above. Blaring horns, Brazilian drums, people dancing… and pure joy.

Celebrations in the  Szabadság Tér following the first goal of the world cup

            Though this happened about two weeks ago now, this moment has accurately represented my time in Budapest. As I told one of my friends from back home the other day, it has been a multicultural explosion, more intense than I could have imagined. I’ve been raised to naturally love this multicultural feel- my mom is from Hungary, my dad is from a French, Caribbean island named Martinique; I was born in France, have dual citizenship from France and Hungary, and I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since ’97. I came to Hungary through AIESEC, because I wanted to experience the country from a fresh perspective while still being close to my grandparents and other family in Hungary whom I haven’t seen in three years now, I wanted to do meaningful work, and I wanted to be around students my age from all around the world. My trip so far has been a dynamic combination of these three things.

 I’m volunteering at an institution called the Equal Chances Foundation in Csömör, Hungary, about an hour outside the Budapest city center by public transit. It’s a non-profit center where people of various disabilities (both mental, physical, and combined) receive institutional care and work in various workshops. There are four AIESEC interns here including me. From left to right, meet Charlene from Singapore, Aya from Egypt, Slavina from Bulgaria, and me looking way too excited on the right. It’s a great crew, and we’re having a good time at the Foundation.

We all help out in the employment workshops from 8 to 3 every day; then we have optional time to work on other projects, or go explore the city, etc… Some of us have been helping out in the Ceramics workshop, where the residents prepare all kinds of products like decorative mugs, plates, and pots for retail. My Hungarian knowledge has opened some other really cool opportunities as well-  I’ve had the chance to translate a grant application for the organization from Hungarian to English, I’ve represented and taken notes during an international webinar on social entrepreneurship, and I’ve been the main link between the center and the other AIESEC interns. The director of the center, Erzsébet Szekeres, has given us a lot of trust and freedom. As another project, I’ve been working on learning how to use the Soundbeam 2 device, a therapeutic electronic, musical instrument that allows people with physical impediments to create music based on how their body movements interact with motion sensors. Here’s a link to the product’s website: http://www.soundbeam.co.uk/ if you're interested. Next week, the goal is to start working with a girl who has severe Autism and is very passionate about music. I’ve been working hard to learn how to use the machine and to plan my project with Sonia and I really can’t wait to see where the it goes- I’ll definitely post updates!

Aya, Charlene, Kriszti, and me in the Ceramics Workshop

Outside of work, there have been plenty of opportunities to get to meet new people from all around the world and get to know Budapest and the surrounding area. Just this past weekend, there was a town celebration in Csömör (which by the way is a beautiful, peaceful town)- the director of the Equal Chances Foundation arranged to have someone drive us there and show us around. We watched some traditional Hungarian music and dancing. The dancers are dressed in Slovakian wear because many of the original residents of the town were Slovakian.

Traditional Hungarian  music and dance at the town festival                  
We’ve also gone clubbing with our Hungarian AIESEC hosts as well as all the EP’s from around the world (strong contingent from Brazil)- of course this has been really fun. But the chiller events have been the coolest for me. For example, last Saturday night I took public transit to the southeast tip of Budapest, where I spent the night watching the movie Alien in the backyard of a Hungarian AIESEC host- along with a Canadian girl of Afghani origins, a girl from Singapore, a few Hungarians, and a Venezuelan guy. We sat around the fire as we laughed at Private Hudson’s cheesy lines (the movie is worth watching just to laugh at Private Hudson by the way)- the movie was projected on the house’s wall and the stars were surprisingly visible for a big city sky- and though I was super far from home with people I didn’t know well, I felt at peace.
            The next morning, I hopped on a bus, and arrived at my grandaparents’ house in a town 20 km outside of Budapest . This was my second trip to my grandparents’ house. I’m planning on going back every weekend, even if just for a day. The weekend before this one was the first time I saw my grandparents, uncle, and cousins in three years (first time since I’ve started college). I used to go back to the town every summer with my family. My grandpa is very sick with dementia, he can barely string together two or three meaningful words, and my grandma spends all her energy day in and day out taking care of him, so it’s been great to go back, spend time with her and support her and the rest of the family! Loving the family time. 

            Anyways, since I started with the world cup experience, I’m going to complete this first post by recounting how that night ended. After traveling for a good hour-and-half, our night bus arrived at our stop in Csömör. Unfortunately, all four of us were fast asleep. So I guess I accidentally and literally took a hit for the team when I bonked my head really loudly against the seat in front of me in my sleep and woke everybody up on the bus (including my three roommates and myself), just in time for us to get off. People who know me well know that I have a pretty hard head. So luckily, I didn’t feel a thing or even get a bruise, and on top of that, I provided some quality comic material for Charlene, Slavina, and Aya to laugh about for the rest of the summer. I’m glad my unintended shenanigans came in handy… we’ll see if I’ll top that in the coming weeks. Next post coming soon since the first one came late, hope everyone is having a great summer!

            -Márk, Morse College ’15