We arrived yesterday and after a little rest, took a walk to orient ourselves to the city of Budapest. We were able to walk from our hotel past the Dohany Street Synagogue (Great Synagogue). It is the 2nd largest synagogue in the world.
The synagogue is near where the Jewish Ghetto was during WWII and has a mass grave around the exterior where the Nazis murdered approximately 130,000 jews in 3 months time. When learning about Hungarian Jewish History I am struck by how today the small Jewish community (maybe 0.5% of the population) is working to remember its history. This is contrasted with the fact that many people in Hungary are unaware of their true lineage. Parents do not tell children they are jewish sometimes until they are on their deathbed. Many of the students at the Lauder school do not openly discuss (if they even know) their own lineage. So while it is a Jewish Day School it is not known what percent of their population is Jewish. It is also a reminder that, like in Poland and other Eastern European nations, a community once destroyed by the Holocaust is rebuilding and working to actively memorialize the events that happened just 70 years ago.
We were able to walk to the Festival last evening as well. The Festival really gave us such a lovely taste of Hungarian culture – the food, music and shops. While the Festival only happens at the Holiday time, it clearly was a central community event.
This morning we departed for the Lauder school, excited to meet our colleagues and the students. We were greeted with such warmth, immediately making us all feel very welcomed. The student body exhibited confidence, genuine excitement for meeting us and great intellectual curiosity. Touring the facilities allowed us to identify the goals of the school. The hallways are lined with pictures of senior classes, there is a small farm down one of the hallways (complete with chickens and rabbits), the backyard includes a very large, well thought out playground that includes mini-trampolines and a ropes course and there is a coffeehouse for the students. Students have 10 minutes of passing after 40 minute classes. They call teachers by their first name. Teachers receive a complimentary massage 2x a week and the school pays for a private health insurance because the gov’t supplied health insurance is not very good. The new principal of the school is a veteran teacher of the school and believes that “Trust” is what makes a school great – trust in the teachers allowing them the freedom to do what they want to make their classrooms successful. The teachers thoroughly enjoy working at the school and there is a feeling of excitement and engagement all around the school.
At the Lauder school, we had the opportunity to meet the American Ambassador to Hungary. Meeting with Ambassador Bell was a highlight for many of us. She shared with us some of the agenda items she is working on during her time here in Hungary. She has a goal to visit each of Hungary’s 10 National Parks, she is working to stand up to the government’s current position on migration, she is working to understand more about human trafficking and cyber terrorism. She discussed her position on current US politics as well as the current gov’t in Hungary. It was encouraging to hear her talk about what messages are being sent about US values through US diplomats and how the diplomats go about sharing those messages.
Teaching the 9th grade ELIT class (1 of 2 ninth grade years all students take to learn english) was an interesting experience. The students have more knowledge of US History than I would have expected – knowing some of our key presidents and understanding some of our major social movements. I had the opportunity to share a lesson with them about what is “America” and what does it mean. We talked about how America is an idea, not just a country, we discussed the founding of our nation through the Hamilton soundtrack and finished by looking at the Declaration of Independence to see how we wrote our ideals into our founding documents. The students were hesitant to engage with the content, but enjoyed the song and asked very interesting questions about US history and culture.
The afternoon was spent touring Castle Hill. We spent time in Matthias Church, a church that has been built and destroyed numerous times. The Church is called Matthias Church after the Renaissance king who was married there. Most impressive to me about the church is that the interior was wallpapered with gilded pages from a Hungarian textbook.
The views from Castle Hill are breathtaking, especially the view of the Parliament and Chain Bridge.
Budapest is beautiful city with a deep history. It has been ruled by the Ottomans, Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Soviets. It only gained independence in 1989 and is still working to put together its own proud history of Hungarian heros and leaders. It is working to gain a sense of nationalism in a world moving quickly towards globalization. It is struggling with finding its own balance between being a sovereign nation while being a part of the EU.
Day one was full of learning and experiences – cultural, political and educational. We have all already gained so much to bring back home with us.
