Welp Our Chair Broke (Don't Worry it Got Better)

Greetings Earthlings,

Two math students in The Wild 

Today was yet another fun-filled day of learning.  We practiced many Hungarian phrases and even started doing some very complex arithmetic, all in Hungarian!  Hat meg kilenc az tizenöt (Only true Hungarian math fans will be able to understand that!).  After language learning, a few of us went off adventuring on our lunch break.  We stopped at a delightful bakery for some delectable bread-based treats, and then barraged the beautiful church nearby with a photo session.

       
After the swell, albeit brief, lunch interlude, we learned about the Hungarian refugee crisis and the state of the current political climate here in Budapest from the lovely and wise Anna.  It was very interesting to see the parallels in politics between Hungary and the United States today.  In a way,  being immersed in this new Hungarian world definitely distracts us from current events back home and it was an alarming pull-back to reality.

A stoic lady looks on

After this heavy presentation, we switched over to math, where we learned all about Mathematical Induction and accidentally found our small groups tackling a problem much more complicated than originally thought (we handled it flawlessly, of course).  With all this new knowledge crammed into our brains, we ended the long-lasting class period quite eager to get some rest and food, with homework of course looming as an afterthought.

Observe math students in an unfamiliar environment, a classroom.

Math students in a synagogue

Lovely interior

Earlier we adventures to the great synagogue of Budapest, which was lovely.  All the religious edifices we seem to encounter (and there sure are many) are positively gorgeous, and the synagogue was no exception.  We received a tour from a local who was very informative, teaching us about the current Jewish community in Budapest, as well as the sordid past, reminding us all that is important not to forget or rewrite history, no matter how grizzly it may be.  We also took a look around the synagogue's museum, which houses many interesting artifacts and intricate silver pieces.

 Memorial for Budapest holocaust victims

Penelope had her professor's dinner tonight at Belvárosi Lugas Étterem, which was splendid of course, with many Hungarian-fashioned menu items to be had, and ásványvíz to be drunk.  The most interesting food of the meal would have to be the "Bird Milk".  This probably sounds much more appetizing and sensible in the original Hungarian.  It turned out to be a creamy viscous treat, similar to that of melted vanilla ice cream, with a lovely island of merengue floating on top.  Overall much banter was had and it was a good meal.

Because class ended at 5pm and Penelope abandoned the squadron, Hannah and Karina went to buy food from a grocery store and then cooked it like adults.  Amanda, Hannah and Karina (with a not-so-brief addition of Eric) enjoyed pasta and mug cake with a side of mathematical induction.

To top off this day, we settled in with our homework and a live tutorial of how to open a pomegranate.  Chairs were broken, seeds were eaten, dishes were washed, and mathematical claims were proven.  All was well for team Amanda-Hannah-Karina-Penelope.

- Szia -

~How to Split a Pomegranate with Hannah~

Step 1: Aquire and score a pomegranate.

Step 2: Foster your new friendship by letting the pomegranate experience the famous baths of Budapest.

Step 3: Surreptitiously assume proper splitting position.

Step 4: Vigorously murder your new friend. The pomegranate will never know what split him.

Yay! Pomegranate for Everyone!