Today things are pretty much back to "normal," so to speak, after yesterday's events. In some parts of the city you could still smell the tear gas from yesterday, the barricades are still up, and riot police are everywhere. Nonetheless, people are going about their normal lives, waiting to see what happens next.
Yesterday's events are a hot topic of discussion, however, with police brutality at the forefront of the debate. Many people witnessed with their own eyes what they would call brutality- for example, attacks against peaceful men, women, children and elderly who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw on television police excessively beating down a man who appeared to unintentionally collide with passing riot police. The footage very clearly shows officers who passed him after he was already down and out kicking and beating him with rubber batons.
In addition to the news available from the major networks, I would encourage you to read these more personal accounts of yesterday's events:
http://www.pestiside.hu/archives/seeing_through_the_smoke_of_budapests_black_monday002831.php
http://riotsinhungary.blog.hu/
The first link in particular has fabulous pictures from throughout the city- what many have described as a war zone for a day. That is not an exaggeration.
Kelsey
24 October 2006
23 October 2006
Protests Continue in Budapest
You may have read/seen that today's national holiday in celebration of the anniversary of the 1956 uprising against the Soviet Union was marked by protests and a bit of violence. I AM SAFE. Knowing that things might get ugly, I stayed home all day and watched everything unfold on television. Where I am living is significantly outside the downtown area where the violence has been.
That being said, however, protestors reportedly threw rocks at police (though I saw on television the police throwing rocks at crowds), brought weapons to the protests (against an agreement the opposition party had made with police to keep weapons out) and stole a tank that was part of a display commemorating the anniversary of the revolution and used it to approach the riot police. In reponse the police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and more against the protestors. Most of the public transporation is shut down because people are gathered in the streets, preventing buses and trams from passing. My host parents also said farmers are coming in from all around Hungary on tractors planning some sort of descent on the city. The American Embassy issued a warning for American citizens to stay out of the downtown area.
You can read about what is going on here on all the major news networks. Check out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6078052.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/23/hungary.clashes.reut/index.html
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-10-23T163102Z_01_L16093752_RTRUKOC_0_US-HUNGARY-UPRISING1.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-8
I am safe for the time being and will keep you posted as events unfold.
That being said, however, protestors reportedly threw rocks at police (though I saw on television the police throwing rocks at crowds), brought weapons to the protests (against an agreement the opposition party had made with police to keep weapons out) and stole a tank that was part of a display commemorating the anniversary of the revolution and used it to approach the riot police. In reponse the police used tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and more against the protestors. Most of the public transporation is shut down because people are gathered in the streets, preventing buses and trams from passing. My host parents also said farmers are coming in from all around Hungary on tractors planning some sort of descent on the city. The American Embassy issued a warning for American citizens to stay out of the downtown area.
You can read about what is going on here on all the major news networks. Check out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6078052.stm
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/23/hungary.clashes.reut/index.html
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-10-23T163102Z_01_L16093752_RTRUKOC_0_US-HUNGARY-UPRISING1.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-8
I am safe for the time being and will keep you posted as events unfold.
Vienna and Bratislava
Monika (another Rotary scholar) and I returned at 1am this morning from a whirlwind tour of Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia. Here are some of the highlights:
Vienna
We left Saturday morning on the 9:20am train from Budapest and arrived in Vienna at 12:30pm. We visited th
e Belvedere museum to see the Klimt exhibition, had lunch across the street from the museum at a Greek restaurant, and then went to meet our host. Monika had arranged through the Hospitality Club, a network of people who are willing to host travelers in their home for at least one night, for free, for us to stay with Franz, this 28 year old Austrian guy who had a fabulous flat near the center of town which he shared with 4 other people. He showed us around the center of town a bit and then we had dinner with some of his flatmates. The city is gorgeous- our guidebook called it the "Wedding Cake," which we finally understood after walking around a bit. I don't know any other way to describe it other than to simply say that it's just amazingly gorgeous.
Bratislava
We took a bus from Vienna to Bratislava on Sunday morning and arrived in Bratislava in time for lunch. We walked around the historic downtown a bit- small but extremely clean and beautiful. They have a lot of interesting, reasonably priced restaurants
(Thai, Japanese, etc.) and many shops owned by locals which sell "made in Slovakia" goods, etc. Just very interesting. Outside of the downtown Bratislava is a bit scary- we got lost on our way to the train station and ended up on some path that was empty and not well lit. We ran into a German guy who proceeded to tell us we had passed the train station half a mile back... oops. The train station was a bit depressing- it was probably built in the 1960s or early 1970s and has never been remodeled. The lighting is poor and makes everyone standing in that lighting look a bit shady. That combined with the car (we think) backfiring in the background... scary. We left on the 8:50pm train and got in to Budapest at 11:30pm. Never thought I would admit that it was amazingly refreshing to hear Hungarian again after two days of German and Slovak.
Today is a national holiday to celebrate the revolution of 1956. There is always a large event at the Parliament and this year the event will go on, even though protesters remain camped out on the front lawn of the Parliament and have vowed to stage a very large protest. Should be interesting. I will probably stay home and recuperate from the weekend and get some homework done.
Vienna
We left Saturday morning on the 9:20am train from Budapest and arrived in Vienna at 12:30pm. We visited th
e Belvedere museum to see the Klimt exhibition, had lunch across the street from the museum at a Greek restaurant, and then went to meet our host. Monika had arranged through the Hospitality Club, a network of people who are willing to host travelers in their home for at least one night, for free, for us to stay with Franz, this 28 year old Austrian guy who had a fabulous flat near the center of town which he shared with 4 other people. He showed us around the center of town a bit and then we had dinner with some of his flatmates. The city is gorgeous- our guidebook called it the "Wedding Cake," which we finally understood after walking around a bit. I don't know any other way to describe it other than to simply say that it's just amazingly gorgeous.Bratislava
We took a bus from Vienna to Bratislava on Sunday morning and arrived in Bratislava in time for lunch. We walked around the historic downtown a bit- small but extremely clean and beautiful. They have a lot of interesting, reasonably priced restaurants
(Thai, Japanese, etc.) and many shops owned by locals which sell "made in Slovakia" goods, etc. Just very interesting. Outside of the downtown Bratislava is a bit scary- we got lost on our way to the train station and ended up on some path that was empty and not well lit. We ran into a German guy who proceeded to tell us we had passed the train station half a mile back... oops. The train station was a bit depressing- it was probably built in the 1960s or early 1970s and has never been remodeled. The lighting is poor and makes everyone standing in that lighting look a bit shady. That combined with the car (we think) backfiring in the background... scary. We left on the 8:50pm train and got in to Budapest at 11:30pm. Never thought I would admit that it was amazingly refreshing to hear Hungarian again after two days of German and Slovak.Today is a national holiday to celebrate the revolution of 1956. There is always a large event at the Parliament and this year the event will go on, even though protesters remain camped out on the front lawn of the Parliament and have vowed to stage a very large protest. Should be interesting. I will probably stay home and recuperate from the weekend and get some homework done.
14 October 2006
Rotary Takeover of the Student Council... and Other News from Budapest!
So I've mentioned before that there are 5 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars here in Budapest. Except for Aaron, who is in the Business School in a very different type of program and at another campus, the rest of us see each other every day... and we are very slowly taking over CEU, one Student Council seat at a time. The four of us at main campus got elected this week as Student Council reps for our respective departments. Noah and I, representing the Public Policy department, held our first meeting with all public policy students this week, and will begin tackling department- and university-wide issues this coming week.
Speaking of CEU, it's hard to believe we are already going into week 4 of classes and thinking about midterms and final papers! The biggest issue so far has been the quantity of reading- not that it's unmanageable, but when I arrive home exhausted from eight straight hours of classes and sit down to read, nine times out of ten I fall asleep. Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays we have eight straight hours of classes, so one issue we will be speaking to the department about is spreading the classroom instruction out more evenly.
In other news, Budapest's indian summer is definitely over. Sometime last week it turned from summer to late-fall here in about two days. In the mornings and evenings it is quite cold (people wear fall/light winter jackets and scarves), but luckily the daytime sun warms the air to about 65 degrees. Next week looks cold though- 50s during the day and 30s in the mornings and at night. Brr! You have to remember I have not lived through an entire cycle of seasons in five years! The apartment building where I am living has central heating, which was turned on last night for the first time. The building turns on the heat to a certain level (last night it was on low) and then each apartment controls whether they want high-low, normal-low or low-low, or no heat at all. I am not embarrassed to say that I am fully prepared to use my long underwear under my clothes and/or pajamas if necessary to survive this winter. :)
Looking ahead to the next few weeks, the other scholars and I are planning a trip to Vienna (probably next weekend) and then trying to coordinate a massive five-day trip to Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia in early November when we have a few days off from CEU. I am also meeting my family in London and Paris for Christmas and will travel with my brother for ten days or so afterwards- we are looking at venturing through Italy and Germany, then spending a few days in Budapest as well.
More news next week!
Speaking of CEU, it's hard to believe we are already going into week 4 of classes and thinking about midterms and final papers! The biggest issue so far has been the quantity of reading- not that it's unmanageable, but when I arrive home exhausted from eight straight hours of classes and sit down to read, nine times out of ten I fall asleep. Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays we have eight straight hours of classes, so one issue we will be speaking to the department about is spreading the classroom instruction out more evenly.
In other news, Budapest's indian summer is definitely over. Sometime last week it turned from summer to late-fall here in about two days. In the mornings and evenings it is quite cold (people wear fall/light winter jackets and scarves), but luckily the daytime sun warms the air to about 65 degrees. Next week looks cold though- 50s during the day and 30s in the mornings and at night. Brr! You have to remember I have not lived through an entire cycle of seasons in five years! The apartment building where I am living has central heating, which was turned on last night for the first time. The building turns on the heat to a certain level (last night it was on low) and then each apartment controls whether they want high-low, normal-low or low-low, or no heat at all. I am not embarrassed to say that I am fully prepared to use my long underwear under my clothes and/or pajamas if necessary to survive this winter. :)
Looking ahead to the next few weeks, the other scholars and I are planning a trip to Vienna (probably next weekend) and then trying to coordinate a massive five-day trip to Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia in early November when we have a few days off from CEU. I am also meeting my family in London and Paris for Christmas and will travel with my brother for ten days or so afterwards- we are looking at venturing through Italy and Germany, then spending a few days in Budapest as well.
More news next week!
09 October 2006
A Trip to Eger
Yesterday three friends and I visited Eger, Hungary, home to winery after winery after winery. The main point of our trip was- surprise, surprise- to visit these famous wineries, and we were not disappointed. A collection of nearly 50 wine cellars is called the "Valley of the Beautiful Women," arranged in numerical order on a cul-de-sac like street where you go from locale to locale sampling wine for 50-70 HUF a glass (approximately 0.25 USD). This time of year in Eger is very similiar to New England in that the weather is cool and crisp, but sunny, and the leaves change colors. It was wonderful to sit outside and enjoy our wine. We also joked that we will have to return to Eger for the food- not only was it delicious, but it was significantly cheaper than Budapest (where eating out is both expensive and less than tasty most times). We enjoyed one of the best meals we have had since arriving in Hungary.
07 October 2006
Protests Continue
Every day this week I have walked by the Parliament on my way to class to monitor the protests against the Prime Minister. After admitting two weeks ago that he lied to the Hungarian people day, noon, and night about the state of the country's economy, people have been camped out (literally, as in sleeping in tents) on the front lawn of the Parliament. Except for the first two nights, protests have been peaceful.
Yesterday as the Parliament cast a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister, as many as 50,000 people turned out outside the Parliament. This was easily the largest demonstration yet. The police blocked off the streets immediately surrounding the Parliament and set up a screen two blocks from the Parliament so people could actually see what was going on. The peaceful demonstration was marked by live music and speeches. It was quite the experience to make my way through the thick crowds and the stream of red, white and green Hungarian flags all around. The local news also showed people holding clocks (I guess to indicate that it was time for the Prime Minister to go) but I personally did not see this.
For more information please check out the BBC and CNN stories at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5411022.stm and http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/06/hungary.vote.ap/index.html.
Yesterday as the Parliament cast a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister, as many as 50,000 people turned out outside the Parliament. This was easily the largest demonstration yet. The police blocked off the streets immediately surrounding the Parliament and set up a screen two blocks from the Parliament so people could actually see what was going on. The peaceful demonstration was marked by live music and speeches. It was quite the experience to make my way through the thick crowds and the stream of red, white and green Hungarian flags all around. The local news also showed people holding clocks (I guess to indicate that it was time for the Prime Minister to go) but I personally did not see this.
For more information please check out the BBC and CNN stories at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5411022.stm and http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/06/hungary.vote.ap/index.html.
01 October 2006
Weekend with my dad
I enjoyed a muc
h-needed "treat" this weekend after my first week of classes- my dad came to visit for the weekend! He arrived Friday night at midnight and left Sunday at noon- he is in Italy on business and decided to come to Budapest for a quick visit.
We had a whirl-wind tour of Budapest, taking the city in from all angles- from the sea level perspective you get walking along the Danube River at Margaret Island, to the bird's eye view from the top of the Basilica and Citadella. We also went to Szentendre (a very old city along the Danube that caters to tourists- see picture of church from the 1700s!) for a few hours to do some shopping.
You can view pictures from the weekend here.
h-needed "treat" this weekend after my first week of classes- my dad came to visit for the weekend! He arrived Friday night at midnight and left Sunday at noon- he is in Italy on business and decided to come to Budapest for a quick visit.We had a whirl-wind tour of Budapest, taking the city in from all angles- from the sea level perspective you get walking along the Danube River at Margaret Island, to the bird's eye view from the top of the Basilica and Citadella. We also went to Szentendre (a very old city along the Danube that caters to tourists- see picture of church from the 1700s!) for a few hours to do some shopping.
You can view pictures from the weekend here.
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