Another Year in Budapest

I can excitedly say that Bill and I are going to spend a second year in Budapest!  This past year has been absolutely amazing, and we have come to feel so comfortable and at home here.  Probably since October Bill and I tossed around the idea of staying another year, because right from the beginning we felt connected to Budapest.  When March rolled around we knew we would need to start moving forward with things if we wanted to stay or if we wanted to leave.  If we only listened to our gut, our decision would have been easy; Budapest.  I would get a sinking feeling in my stomach when we talked about leaving Budapest and sometimes my eyes would well up as I looked out at my favorite view of the city across the Danube and thought all of that could be gone next year.  We weren't ready for it to be gone; not yet.  But was it smart to take a leap of faith in a country where the political and economic climate seem to be worsening by the day, where jobs are scarce, and where salaries are extremely low? We had a lot to think about.

We made the decision to stay in Budapest before I had a job completely lined up.  Bill's school loved him and immediately offered him a job back.  It took me a little longer to get everything sorted out, but I am extremely happy with what I'll be doing next year.  I am renewing my Fulbright grant, but it will be more or less a new assignment.  I will still get to work at the Fulbright Educational Advising Center working with Hungarian students interested in studying in the U.S., but it will be just one day per week, rather than 2-3 days like this year.  The other four days I will be working with a study abroad program in Budapest called Aquincum Institute of Technology, which is specifically geared towards computer science undergraduates from elite universities in the U.S.  There I will get to do a lot of student-centered work (with current and prospective students), as well as working on developing policies, assessment, and new partnerships with U.S. universities to help grow and improve the program.  I started working with them this month and am really happy with how things are going.  Next year will be a good year.

Oh and one last thing.  Lucky for Bill and I, there was a small miscommunication with our landlord which has resulted in us needing to move out of our apartment for the month of July.  What was initially really frustrating has turned into a great excuse to go do some more traveling! We are packing up and leaving at the beginning of July to go traveling through the Balkans for a month!

Inching Its Way Up

Over the past couple of days there have been  massive amounts of flooding in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary.  Germany has gotten the worst of it, and had to evacuate thousands of people from their homes.  In Budapest, the Danube is at its highest point ever recorded, and water has spilled over onto the streets that border the lower banks.  Luckily there is a water retention wall that has kept the rest of Budapest dry, and the city has been vigilant about setting up sandbags in problematic areas.

On Saturday night Bill and I walked a couple miles along the Danube to check out the flooding, and chatted about how just the week before we were walking on the very path that was now under 15 feet of water.  What was even more surprising than the water levels were the amount of people lining the Danube.  I had never seen so many people along the Danube. Everyone was snapping photos and children were in wellies testing their courage by giving a quick stomp at the edge of the water and then running back to their mom and dad.  People are saying that the water levels should not continue to rise, so now we will wait and see just how long it takes for the water to get back to normal level.