Day Seven was an opportunity for us to continue working at Karinthy, as well as send another group to the Sofi school. The group at Karinthy continued working on the bicycles and on the fence. However, we began the day by playing a game of volleyball with the net we had helped repair. Then, after working for a few hours, we played a game of soccer outside the school.
The group at Sofi worked with a different group of students, ages 14-25, and were involved in various activities throughout the day.
When the groups got back together, we worked on making outdoor furniture for the school using old plastic bottles covered with concrete.
We concluded our seventh day in Europe enjoying dinner with and a receiving a presentation from Mr. Joseph Truesdale IV, the Political Section Chief of the U.S. Embassy located in Budapest. In addition to being a U.S. representative in Hungary, he is also a former Humanities instructor from the Culver Academies, discovering the presence of our mission trip group through a chance e-mail to Mr. Buxton, Head of Schools. He mesmerized our group with his stories from his time studying abroad as a young man, at Stanford University, while teaching at Culver, his two years in Russia, his two years in Ukraine, and his time so far in Hungary. He shared details of the struggles he has overcome and still faces, as well as answer the many questions our group had about his career and diplomacy. The entire team felt incredibly grateful for the information and time he shared with us.
Global Pathways Spring Program 