Heló!
Monday
morning brought about our second-to-last Number Theory class where we dove into
the exciting topic of cryptography. The Caesar code and other variations of it
involve assigning numbers to the letters of the alphabet, starting with A=00
and ending with Z=25. With the use of encoding and decoding functions these
codes are both easy to make and easy to break, so better methods have been
developed. According to Professor Hanson, “Back in the 70s, three guys, R, S,
and A, devised a coding scheme where you could tell everyone how to encode
messages, but it is ‘virtually’ impossible to decode messages from this
information.” We are able to understand the complexity of this coding because
of our newly found knowledge of number theory; however, this coding system
relies on primes hundreds of digits long, numbers that are, unfortunately,
beyond the capacities of our iPhones and TI-84 calculators.
This
afternoon we had a lecture on Hungarian literature and insight into the Hungarian
psyche by Laszio Arato. He shared two concerns of the Hungarian people: fear of
extinction and sense of isolation—both of which define Hungarian personal lives
as well as society. These themes also present themselves in Hungarian
literature, a sampling of which we received today. Moreover, we learned that
poetry, at least before the twentieth century, was the main form of Hungarian
linguistic expression. Politics and poetry also went hand-in-hand, a compass
for the nation. Arato closed his presentation with book recommendations, making
us eager to revisit a local bookstore.
Before
tackling our homework assignment, we along with Matt I, Jack, Ian, and Miranda
took advantage of the beautiful afternoon by taking a stroll to the Donut
Library (yes, Matt and Jack finally got their tastes). Kali, Megan, and Miranda
then proceeded to burn off the calories by climbing the hill above Szent Gellért
Tér. We made it to the top of the hill just as the sun was setting, allowing us
to appreciate this beautiful city that we have called home for the month.
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| Our delectable donuts |
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| One of the many spectacular views from the hill |
Although
our Monday was busy and fun, it was nothing compared to our last weekend in
Budapest. Our Saturday started out bright and early, well actually, cloudy and
early would be more accurate. What’s the best way to beat the rainy-day blues?
For Megan, Miranda, and I (Kali) the answer was surely the largest mall in
Central Europe: West End City Center. After taking the number four metro, a bus
(to replace part of the number three metro, which was undergoing renovation
this weekend), and (finally) the up-and-running section of the number three
metro, we safely made it to our destination. West End City Center is home to
400+ stores, encompassing a whopping 186,000 square meters. For the sake of
comparison, the Mall of America has 230,000 square meters of retail space, 520+
stores, and 12,287 parking spaces (in case you were wondering). We explored almost
every square meter the mall had to offer, shopping in stores we had never heard
of and window-shopping in the familiar H&M and GAP. Leaving with our
stomachs full of food court cuisine and our hands full of shopping bags, we
went back to the hotel to finish up our problem sets and unload our new finds.
Dinner
and a trip to the baths rounded out our Saturday, but the real fun was spotting
Miklos Laczkovich (the mathematician who visited our class last week) while
riding the number 49 tram on our way back to the room.
Unfortunately
unable to watch the Pro Bowl, our Sunday began with a tour of the largest
synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world: the Dohany Synagogue.
We along with Matt I, Jack, Colin S, Ian, and Miranda learned about the history
of Hungarian Jews and were impressed by the beauty of the numerous memorials as
well as the synagogue itself. Our synagogue visit was followed by lunch with a
waiter who was a big fan of the Miami H/heat (not entirely sure if he meant the
basketball team or the weather, question mark). Later we checked out Memories
of Hungary, a souvenir shop offering everything from your typical magnets and
key chains to hand-painted mugs. We also all enjoyed delicious and beautiful
creations from Gelato Rosa.
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| A peek inside the Dohany Synagogue |
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| Our bouquet of gelato |
The
highlight of our weekend, without a doubt, was when we (Kali, Megan, Jack, and
Miranda) saw the production of Onegin at the Hungarian State Opera House. Everything
was gorgeous: the venue, the costumes, the music, and of course, the story that
unfolded before our eyes.
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| Aliya Tanykpayeva as Tatyana en pointe http://blog.ibs-b.hu/2012/11/19/anyegin-onegin-hungarian-state-opera/ |
Viszlát!
-Kali
and Megan
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