Central Europe-Diana Magner

I have more then enjoyed my experience thus far in central europe. When we first arrived after our long day of flying I was a little worried about the safety in Hungry. As we drove from the airport I had a pit in my stomach that it wouldnt be what i expected at all. I was happy that those feeling soom surpassed once we went to the university and went on the cruise on the danube and to the gypsy dance. I really enjoyed the gyspy dance not only because we got the cool little men shot cglass, but because we got to try these good and got to experience what hungarians would do on a typical night. I really enjoyed the speaker at the unnniversity it really put into perspective how diffcult it is for women here to be able to live a life that fits anything, but the mold that society has created for them. They have so much pressure to have children and to stay home with then for almost a decade that it makes it near immposible to ever get back into the workforce. I never knew about parental leave until this and at first i thought it was great. You could graduate from college, work a bit, then have kids stay home on a paid vacation until they get older then go back to work. Then you think about and relize that their skills will deminish as they stay home and that thez are only allowed to go back to work for 1 month at their pervoius job so many people are terminated after that short time so they stay home. I enjoyed Marta presentation and the cartoon she showed. It really expressed that the women are suppose to dress sexy, care for the house, take care of the kids, and balance a job. I have also seen a trend that the women have the same right to education, but then alot less attention is paid to them and thez are supported less. It really makes one appericate our experience at simmons and see how lucky we are. Then we were off to Vienna and it was a beautiful ride. I could not believe how different the countries were from eachother considering how geogrpaically close they. When we drove into the city it felt like we were in a time machine and we had advanced about 200 years. It is such a richer countries and so modern and looks alot like other countries I have visited in Western Europe. It seems alot less effected by the communism. The city was so beautiful on the new danube sitting around I felt like I was on a tropical vacation. I loved the greek resteranut it was fabulous. I was surpized at how similar it was to our greek food because usually countries interrupt foods from other countries in different ways. It was really interested to speak with Catalina. I quickly realized that the womens have much more oppoourtunies here. They want to get educated and go into the workforce like us. They dont have to be tied down by marriage or having children at such a young age. On adverage the women get paid 20 percent less then men, but that happens in the US too. It was shocking that our guides need to go threw schooling and a difficult exam. That should happen in the US so they all know what they are talking about. Also 80 percent of tour gudies are women. So they have jobs that are dominated by one sex just like us. The walking tour was great, but I wish i was smarter about the shoes i decided to wear. It was interested to find out that their city is not divided like river as it is in Budapest and also in Paris. The people in austria also are more into fashion and dress much better then the hungarians. They also smile more and are more friendly and this is a direct correlation to their economic status. I cant wait to go to Prague and Bratislave and couldnt be happier that I came.