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Today, our journey took us to the city of Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary. Home to approximately three hundred thousand Hungarians, Debrecen is considered the regional center of the Northern Great Plain region of Hungary. Upon our arrival, I was immediately struck by the unique flavor of Debrecen. Lacking the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Budapest, and the slow pace of life in Pecs, Debrecen was a breadth of fresh air - not too big and not too small.
After a quick lunch and some nice gelato, we headed towards the Pentecost Festival, which was taking place at Hero's Square. Calling it a festival doesn't portray how crowded and jubilant the atmosphere was.
After an amazing tour through the smaller cities in Hungary, we were on the road again with a 7 a.m. departure to Budapest. The lack of sleep from the night before led to a glorious "I'm on a boat" parody created by Aubri and me, entitled "I'm on a Bus."
The differences in the physical surroundings between the Roma village and the winery were great, but it was easy to move from one to the other because they seemed to have one key thing is common. From the Roma community, to the vintners of the winery, it was the element of family that carried through.
At the end of the afternoon, I met with Vizer, my local home stay for the night. We had dinner at a very nice local restaurant, and he knew the workers there and most of the patrons. He explained to me that this was one of the best parts of his city, to live in a small enough area where everyone knew everyone, a luxury I have not experienced while living in Phoenix.
This morning we all met at our hotel, the Radio Inn, after spending the night with our homestays in Budapest. From Radio Inn, we took the metro to the IIE office for our first lecture of the day--an ethnic-relations discussion with Professor Ferenc Zsigo.
I cannot believe that this is only the third day of our program! We have seen and experienced so much in only 72 hours and, as a chaperone, I must have counted, recounted, and counted our group of Scholars hundreds of times.
The day began at 8:58 am with a sprint to breakfast after I had pitted an exhausting but exciting night against my small travel alarm clock. Ten came and we were settled into the IIE office preparing for our first speaker of that morning, Károly Pintér.
Houston, we made it to Hungary! After a seven hour layover in London, 18 sleep-deprived Flinns wandered off into Budapest to experience Central Europe.
Each year, the Selection Committee that interviews finalists for the Flinn Scholarship includes one past Flinn Scholar. That Scholar is then invited to present an address at the Recognition Dinner in May when the new class of Scholars is introduced and graduates of the program are congratulated for their achievements. This year, the Scholar on the Selection Committee was Siobhan O'Neill ('88). Here are Siobhan's remarks at the Recognition Dinner.
For information about Flinn Scholars, please contact:
flinnscholars@flinn.org or (602) 744-6802
