Four days in Budapest and probably less than three hours of rest at night. On the plane back to Paris, I slept like a log even before we were up in the air. It was not my first time among the Magyars. I visited the city many years ago with a group of friends and went back ten months ago to spend some rather romantic post-Christmas time there with my boyfriend and some “Föralt Bor”. But the experience was different on those rainy days in the beginning of November 2012.
I had never been to an Agora. I remember the first night, just after the arrival to Budapest; how the crowd was standing around waiting for the buses to take them to the opening ceremony at the Corvinus University. How I was overwhelmed by the mass of 700 people, some of which I actually knew, and how nice it was to see them again. I was listening to bits of conversation… English, French, German, some Polish… There were groups of chatty people next to other people looking around shyly. Some had never been to a European event, just like me, and I think all of us to some extent, had come there to see what AEGEE “really is all about”.
Before Budapest, I have come across AEGEE only on local level. I was therefore positively surprised not only by the amount of people travelling to Budapest to be part of this assembly, but also by the people caring for the idea of a united European youth and their will to make the authorities consider us. I myself grew up in Luxembourg, where the exchange of cultures and European ideas is of high importance. While I had never thought about some points that were heavily discussed during the plenaries, I liked the atmosphere of the workshops where we would not beat around the bush, but openly share ideas, tools and concrete advice on how to work, to plan or to communicate with others. A simple question about which local you belong to could lead to new acquaintances.
During the parties, again I was surprised with how people largely remained close to their local friends while having fun before warming up a little. It is understandable though. Sometimes, one is in a rush and just does not have the time for a deeper conversation; sometimes, one just wants to chat with people without having to introduce himself/herself first. I was running around a lot to find out about the programme, to see at least some parts of beautiful Budapest and its raw charms again, to meet our journalist team and to bathe in the Gellért spa. After the day’s programme and very little free time, we were having fun all together; tired, but happy. And I eventually did get to know some people better. I mostly enjoyed the differences between us and how they would lead to very nice moments of laughter or conversation.
Looking backwards, I recall the Greek condom collector whose aim was to beat the Guinness record, a very young girl already happily married or the laughter of my Italian friends while an Estonian girl chose a cappuccino to go with the goulash we ate… At the Agora, each of those over 700 people has their own story to tell. That is, I believe, the most important and interesting part of what AEGEE is all about.
Written by Edmée Dopfeld, AEGEE-Paris