Messzelátó Egyesület

My time here in Budapest has been a time well spent. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for over two months, and harder still to think that I actually survived the whole way through. Looking back to the man I was when I first started university at the age of nineteen, I couldn’t see myself being able to do what I’ve done, being able to move to another city, let only another country and continent, and to work and survive and fend for myself. The man I was a year after, when I was twenty, may have been able to do it, but it is unlikely that I would have been able to work and thrive as I have. Me as the man I am now, I feel much more confident, much more sure of my abilities, my wants and my needs. Things appear a bit clearer now, and I understand the complexities of the world just a little bit better. I’ve made friends and had experiences that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life, I’m sure. I have my time spent here in Budapest to thank for that.

I came here originally to gain experience in several facets of life, and I think I accomplished that. This was the first time I had lived far away from home for any one extended length of time. My home and my university are very close by, only about a 20 minute drive, and while I did live on campus for a couple of years and experienced what it is like to live on my own (with roommates), this was the first time I had my own flat and my own responsibility to maintain it, and to maintain myself. Luckily Budapest is not the African plains, so you’re able to find what you need fairly easy around here, but it does take some getting used to. Luckily I had friends and mentors helping me find what I need and assisting in any problems I had, so I haven’t had the complete “Ex-Pat” lifestyle, but then again, I’m sure many Ex-pats would have graciously welcomed some help when they first started out. We all get by with a little help from our friends.

Not everything has been good, unfortunately, as there are inevitable bumps in the road, but Budapest’s relative lack of pot-holes in the city streets leads me to believe that things could always be worse. The language barrier is the first problem you encounter, typically, as many of the educated and the youthful know some English, whereas many of the elderly and uneducated do not. Learning some Hungarian is important, just as it is in any other foreign country you travel to. Impressing Hungarians with your skill of the Hungarian language is one thing, but being able to understand what they are saying to you is equally as important. As an American living in Europe, I also had to learn and understand other facets of the European style of life. I was surprised to find that my washer/dryer didn’t completely dry my clothes, and I had to learn to deal with my clothes drying rack. As a European this doesn’t appear to be a big deal at all, but as an American, who is used to dryers that actually dry clothes, it’s a bit of a shock. On the up side, the European lifestyle of walking and biking to most places has worked wonders on my figure!

In terms of my internship, it really has been a learning experience for me. Due to miscommunications and different ways of running an office space, it took me a while to get used to the way things were run around here, and it took my employers a while to figure out what I best respond to. In the American system, we’re used to a boss telling us what to do, giving us direction, and we’re used to some sort of structure, as in a boss and employees and employees to the employees, etc. Here in my organization, however, there technically was no “boss,” so no one technically gave me projects or tasks to accomplish. Projects and tasks were indeed given to me to do, but according to the way the office was run, I was supposed to ask if I could assist in something, rather than having a “boss” dump work on me, which is what I’m generally used to. It is true that showing initiative in the work place is good no matter where you work, but I was unaware that to even get work in the first place I had to ask for it. In any case, eventually differences were resolved and I was able to assist on several projects that were crucial to the objectives of the Messzelato Association. I’ve been able to meet several important figures in several organizations, including the president of the Hungarian branch of Greenpeace, also known as Bob. Working with my Messzelato co-workers, including, for the most part, Judit and Tunde, has been very fun and informative. Orsi and Csaba, two other volunteers to Messzelato, I did not deal with as much, but they seemed very nice and welcoming, inviting me to several events, and Orsi herself conducted Hungarian lessons for the volunteers of Messzelato. Alban, Ninni, Pablo and Vera, the European Volunteer Service (EVS) members that I worked with were all especially nice and made my stay at Messzelato all the more wonderful.

I’d also like to thank Zita from Greenpeace Hungary, for helping me with transcribing a film about the life and teachings of Mohandas Gandhi, and for interrupting me while I was typing this blog! ; )

I’ve met so many people while I’ve been here in Budapest, and I’m sorry if I haven’t mentioned you here as I’ve forgotten a lot of your names (my bad memory), but I can assure you that I’ll always remember you and how you made my stay in Budapest all the more pleasant.

Now, as I organize my luggage and plan my departure, so too do I organize my thoughts and plan my future. My time here in Budapest has been very beneficial to me, and I can safely say that I’ve become a changed man due to my experiences here. Some were bad experiences, and some were very good experiences, and all of those experiences combined have taught me a great many things, both about how the world works and about myself. I think I’ll miss Budapest and all of Hungary very much, and I’ll be sure to visit it again very soon.

So, without further ado, I bid you all good bye and a happy, healthy, and productive life! Bradley, signing off.