Weekend in Budapest

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a great week. Last week was one of the best weeks of my entire time abroad so far. Last weekend I went to Budapest with my friend Nia from the University of Nevada, Reno and Theo my friend from the international school. I was able to get a round trip ticket there for less than $100 USD. Also, everything was much cheaper there, so we were able to do a lot for less. It was very cold, and the temperature was below freezing most of the time. My favorite part of the trip was the thermal baths that we visited. The water was hot, refreshing and the architecture surrounding the baths were breathtaking. Additionally, we visited the House of Terror Museum which is a museum which contains exhibits related to the fascist and communist regimes in 20th-century Hungary and is also a memorial to the victims of these regimes, including those detained, interrogated, tortured or killed in the building. I also tried traditional Hungarian Goulash for the first time. Goulash is a stew or soup made of well-seasoned meat and vegetables that originated in Hungary. I am so grateful for my friends Theo and Nia because traveling with them felt natural and we all bonded deeply over the weekend. Traveling to all of these different countries over my break has increased my confidence and I feel that I am officially an experienced traveler.

Before I left for Budapest, I attended an event put on by the U.S. Fulbright Scholar program titled “Fulbright Alumni Events in the Arab Community: The Path to Excellence – Public Service Leaders.” The Fulbright scholarship team in Israel hosted an excellent panel that featured local Arab community leaders in Israel who studied in the U.S. on Fulbright scholarships. They led an interesting discussion on issues facing the Arab community and offered some solutions to address these issues. I would like to thank you all for reading this week and look forward to writing to you all next week.