Wow! We are about to say goodnight on our 2nd night in vienna and our 5th night of the trip... where has the time gone? While I am weirded out that we are half way done with our adventure with only 5 more nights left, I feel as if I have already had ample experiences that i can reflect back on.
So far our investigation into the similarities and differences between women's progression in Hungary and Austria in comparrison to the United States has been incredible. I had no idea that women (or men!) in Hungary could basically have up to 8 years of paid maternity leave from the government based on how many kids they have. How come there is no government regulation on maternity leave in the united states? Another interesting comparrison between women in the US and the women of Hungary is that they seem to be fighting different battles based on their country's history. Because women in Hungary were essentially forced to work during the communist era there has been a backlash in recent years of women dropping out of the workforce to stay at home with their families. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that decision it is interesting to note that more and more women are making their decisions due to the fact that they could not before. Women in the US on the other hand were not allowed to enter the workforce in prior years, therefore the numbers of women choosing to stay in the workforce after having children has been increasing since the women's rights movement. I found it so interesting how two vastly different countries have women that are basing their employment decisions based on the history of the particular country.
On the fun side we have been able to enjoy some amazing tours and activities in the past few days that have successfully broken up our somewhat tiring in-depth analysis on women's leadership. My favorite thus far was without a doubt the mineral baths at the spa we went to in Budapest. It was so different than anything I have experienced before and it was a definite bonding time with the group!
Well we are off to brastislava in the morning and i need to re-pack yet again, this trip has been amazing thus far and we still have two more countries to go!
-Mariel Friedman
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