It's Will Lynch Day!

The heat wave has temporarily subsided in Budapest. Today we had rain and thunderstorms for most of the morning. The weather turned nice after Dr. Lynch declared it “National Will Lynch Day” and stated that rain was not allowed on this day. Remarkably within 15 minutes of his pronouncement, the rain subsided. This man is amazing!

While the rain was pouring down, the mentors worked on 3 separate computers to “translate” the practical exam from Hungarian English into American English. This year the translation went very smoothly because the Hungarian committee gave us concise and easy to understand problems for the students. After the translation we passed out gifts to the other mentors. They received a postcard with the entire 20 member team, the travel team and information about our national exam; a pocket periodic table; a USA flag pin; and some countries received a badge holder. Traditionally mentors trades gifts among themselves while students to the same.

After our translation, the Lynch family traveled to Pest while Ms. Pezzi, her husband, and JL traveled to Buda. We took a bus and a tram and then walked (in a roundabout route) to the castle district to view the Labyrinths. This is a series of caves and tunnels well below street-level in Buda. It was dark, damp, and really cool! We also ate lunch at a very good restaurant that had delicious food.

Tonight the mentors and guests traveled to Szentendre where they had a chance to make different traditional Hungarian crafts and eat more of the delicious Hungarian food. After the dinner there was a performance of music and dance that was very lively. The performers really enjoyed sharing their talents with the audience.

The students had an excursion today before tomorrow’s 5-hour lab practical: the first of 2 days of exams that they complete in the competition. We know that the students are probably very nervous and excited about the lab practical and hope that everything goes well for each one of them.

Jó éjszakát!