Jó estet! (Good Evening!)

Today has been a good day. Definitely relaxing. Renewing, fresh, free... I met my new church family today. It was weird, but I am apparently already a member of their 'choir.' SWEET! I was also coerced to play saxophone soon (okay, secretly I'm excited to start taking part in worship, I'll be honest... :D)

Then Matt, Evelyn, Silke, Silvia and I grabbed some Chinese food from Déak Tér, a tourist area of Budapest. And since now we have a free moment, I decided to give you more pictures. I have a huge collection piling up in my computer, filled with stories and sights that I wish you could experience for yourselves.

I'm very homesick today. I miss my family. I miss my church family. I miss my most amazing friends. I miss my catdaughter. I miss you.

Prayer Requests:
* defined job description this week.
* VISA obtained this week.
* internet and roommate meeting sometime this week.
* Heidi (remember my angel a few posts back? - just please pray for her and her transition in Transcarpathia, Ukraine)

*~*~*~*

on to the pictures...

Okay, so this is just for my music nerd friends. Bela Bartok is a famous contemporary composer from Hungary. I love his compositions and you should too. Check 'em out next time you get a free moment :)


also, apparently I'm giving a performance somewhere. not sure on what or where, but there's gotta be a Richter there and we decided I'm the only one in Hungary, so it must be me. hmmm...


and last but not least, see the sticky notes? my dorm room at Monoszló was covered with them thanks to my roommates. However, we learned all the vocabulary for things in our room by the end of our stay!

an update after too long!

Yesterday was an extremely busy day. In fact, the last three days have been extremely busy as well. We have successfully moved into the apartment and there are 4 of us total: Andrea (Romania), Silke (Germany), Silvia (Italy) and me. It’s a good time, but there are a lot of things that still haven’t been decided and it’s hard with language barriers. Yes, we all speak English, but there are a couple girls whose English are not that great, so it’s hard to discuss things like groceries and cleaning. It’s going to be a slow meeting, but as long as everyone understands, great. Personally, I’m not sure what to expect. I have my worries and doubts, sure, but it could also be extremely cool.

I am growing frustrated with the Visa situation. We now have 4 days to get our Visas or there will be consequences. I don’t think anyone foresaw all of this going down the way it’s going, but waiting so long to begin the process has also been an issue. Matt (the other American volunteer in Budapest) and I went with a couple guys from Ukraine to the Office of Immigration. It was a lot of standing and waiting, then sitting and waiting, then playing hacky-sack outside and waiting… then walking to and from a Posta (post office), then sitting some more and waiting, then finally talking to someone and walking away without a Visa and without really having a clue of what happened in the last 6 hours… I still have no idea. I guess we’re going back on Tuesday and this time, Matt and I are bringing a deck of cards.

I am growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of internet here at the apartment because I really would just like to head out and see some of the city, but I don’t even know where to begin. I’d like to just go online and get into some indie travelers’ site and see what the top things to see are… and go! I asked my 6th graders what I should do and the first thing they said was the zoo. Now, I have no idea where the zoo is, otherwise it’d be a great idea. The next thing they said was Heroes Square – also a good idea, but I think we’re going there today as a group, so it’d be a silly idea to go there twice. I’d also like to go on a tour of Parliament, but again, I’d also like to know ahead of time how much it costs, when the tours are and if they have an English tour… I guess in due time, right? I have a year!

Another random thing about yesterday – Silvia and I were sitting in the apartment when we decided to find internet. We found a café, which also means “bar” in Hungarian (well, I’m assuming that because they served a whole lot of beer). In order to get internet access, you must buy a beer. Now, that’s rough living, folks. I think when I go to post this I will get a coffee, but yesterday evening, it was a good beer.  Anyway, we’re sitting there checking our emails and chillin’ when all of a sudden we hear people on the street. We rush to look out the door and there are these guys in suits dancing across the street in the pedestrian walkway. Then some girls, also in suits, start dancing on the other side and they cross in the middle. People clap and laugh and life seems to have gone on. Not the case whatsoever. It happens again when the streetlight changes! So… I have decided that on Fridays, in order to welcome the weekend, you must dance across the street. I like this country!

***

This was the view from our bedroom window in Monoszló. It was a very simple, small-town view, but beautiful nonetheless.



I have decided that this is my dream gate. I have never EVER wanted a gate to my home (it just seems cold and uninviting), but in this culture, every home has one. So, if for some reason I NEED a gate, this is my dream gate. So cute!


Emilie and I took a walk one afternoon into the vineyards. These are the views we found :)

more pictures and memories (already!)

well, friends, it is 23:15 here on Monday night. It's a beautiful night here in Monoszló, Magyarország (Hungary). It's beautiful for many reasons: the stars are out, it's cool and crisp and... it's our last night!!! in a little over 24 hours, i will be moving into my new apartment in Budapest!

A lot has happened since I last updated, so sorry about that, but they've kept us busy!
We finished language school and apparently I'm supposed to now know enough Hungarian to survive a year. HAHAHAHAHA! it's a funny joke, really... thank goodness we have continued lessons once a week at the ÖDÉ office!
The other volunteers (the ones that speak Hungarian) joined us from Hungary, Ukraine, Switzerland, Romania and Italy. It was great to finally meet everyone. We have been well orientated and it was great to finally figure out some of the nitty-gritty details that have been giant question marks this last year.
I met my roommates. i'll be living with three other girls in Budapest: Silke from Germany, Andrea from Romania and Silvia from Italy. Luckily, Andrea speaks Hungarian AND English. I'll be sharing a room with Silke for the next 11 months. it should be exciting and trying at times (can't remember the last time i shared a room with someone... 6 years ago?! wow...), but it should be a lot of fun as well.

pray for everything to go well with travel and settling in. I'm excited to finally have a HOME (with an address!) and unpack into a space that is actually mine (even if it's shared).
pray for everything to go smoothly with visas, bank accounts, bus passes, phones, etc.
pray for Vorosmarty School - I start there on Thursday, I think.
Praise God for renewed health! I'm not 100% yet, but almost! I can sleep again and my coughs are few and far between :) yay!

...

on to some pictures! When we were in Sarszentlorinc, we made some crafts with some of the towns people. This is me helping to make a reed mat :) it's a style of weaving and was very interesting...


we also got to see a couple choirs on the last day we were there - turns out it was the 125th anniversary of the choir in Sarszentlorinc (i think?) - any reason for a party, right?


one of them even did some traditional gypsy music and dancing :)


finally, this is a picture of us 5 American/Canadian volunteers - Kristy, Matt, Emilie, Jeff and I --- and our new friends in Sarszentlorinc on our last day :)

állatok Magyarországan (animals in Hungary)

it's Sunday in Hungary. today we are doing: nothing... except church at 2p. 2p is my kind of church service! it's the best of both worlds: sleeping in and worshipping. I must bring this idea to Home Acres! At any rate, it means i'm just sitting in my room, enjoying music with Kristy, uploading pictures and updating my blog.

Yesterday we made a trip into the city and among other adventures (with pictures and stories to come, i promise), we found the only open pharmacy in the city. You can only get good meds from a pharmacy and like pharmacies in the US, you need a prescription. However, Sophie told me to cough a lot in front of the pharmacist. Not a problem whatsoever. I just had to stand there and I was certain to cough out a lung or two. Turns out, the pharmacist was feeling nice, and feeling bad for the American with the bad cough, so we got some meds. Yay!
then, in my poor translating, I took 2 pills at one time. BAD IDEA. the instructions actually said to only take 1 pill at a time every three - four hours. good thing I am in language school! anyhow, I have not noticed much difference, but hopefully once i start taking them correctly, it will get better.

...

so, some of you may know my dislike for creepy, crawly critters and even asked several times: "How are you going to survive in Hungary?" well, I have an answer for you today. I just try not to look.

The shower in Sarszentlörinz had, on any given day, at least 5 spiders in it. Yes, I counted each time. and Yes, I know they were plotting my demise. when we arrived in Monoszló, we met this creepy crawly thing on our ceiling. ewwww!!!!!!!!!! i still get shivers thinking about it.



the other fun thing that we have learned is about the animals. there are no skunks in Hungary, which is nice. However, we met our first hedgehog (sün) friend (barát) exploring the ground outside our home. Turns out, Roma often eat hedgehogs. Interesting... I'll let ya know if I ever try it, but chances are that I won't have that opportunity.

szambat van (it's Saturday)

so, i called off sick to language school this morning. i didn't get hardly any sleep last night and woke up just coughing. I am sure there was one point where I asked Kristy (my Canadian roommate for the next week) to bring me a knife so i can cut out my throat... i just want to get better.
I have a Danish angel here at the school. Her name is Heidi. She has given me these miracle lozenges that supposedly kill bacteria. I don't care what they do, they make me feel better. She also gave me some cough drops. I wish there were more ways that I could thank her besides a simple "Thank you." Praise God for Heidi!

...

So, funny story. On our second full day in Hungary, we took a day trip to Lake Balaton for a Lutheran conference for Hungarians and Swedes. It was very interesting. The topic of the day was "What are we doing to help the Roma?", so there were also some members of the Roma community in Sarszentlorinz present. One of those members was our friend Gábor. He is pictured with the group and is the one on the far left. Well, I was silly and didn't bring a bathing suit, so while the rest enjoyed a swim, I read a little and attempted a conversation with Gábor. My poor Hungarian skills (read: none) and his poor English skills made this very interesting. We were sitting on a dock with our feet in the water, when all of a sudden a watersnake came close to us. I, of course, screamed like a girl and he said "Csiklo" (chi-klo). I repeat many times and of all the words he gave me, this is the one I remembered best. Turns out, we were sitting around at language school and someone said something about snakes and I said "Csiklo", which made the Hungarians raise their eyebrows and laugh. Apparently "csiklo" is a female body part... and zsiklo (she-klo) is a water snake. whoops! Thinking back, I told a LOT of people that I saw a female body part in the water! hahahahaha



There are a few pictures of Lake Balaton - it's considered to be Europe's inland sea, but it's a really shallow lake that's just pretty big.





Also, there was a beautiful church that we visited that day on our way home. So beautiful (yet also ridiculous because there are way better ways to spend God's money, but let's not get started on that...) that I needed to take a few pictures. The idea of wings is one of my favorite pictures from the Bible (from places like Isaiah 6 and Psalm 91), so to walk through doors that are covered with wings is something simply breathtaking.

Jó napot! (Good day!)

so, it's 1:30p here and it's Friday. in 3 hours, my first week of language school will be done... thank goodness. I am so ready to be done with this stress, but I also can't wait to actually speak the language, so i know these two weeks will be worth it.

in the last week, i am developed a pretty terrible cough which is starting to worry me a bit, but there are problems with this: a) we're in a small town and there is no doctor here (or pharmacy for that matter)... b) i don't know how to do that yet... c) i haven't gotten my insurance card yet... d) there is no time for traveling to another town.
so, i just keep coughing through the night and not get any sleep. tomorrow we are taking a day trip to a bigger town, so i will get some medicine, i hope.

so, the pictures in this post are from Sarszentlorinz (Shar-sent-lorins). The first picture is actually instructions for the shower. There was one night there that I couldn't sleep and woke up at 12midnight awake and ready for the day, so i took my dictionary and sat in the bathroom to translate the sign (cuz srsly, what else would I do with my time in a small village, in the middle of the night?!) I quickly gave up when i realized that of the first 4 words, only 1 was in my dictionary. fail.
the second picture is self-explanatory: it's a shower. notice that the shower head is not attached to the wall, but movable. It's like that everywhere. Some have nice hooks so that you don't have to hold onto the shower head, but many do not. Just a random tidbit of information for y'all.
The third is a picture of our beautiful view. The picture does it no justice, but it was taken from a very comfy seat on a porch of sorts. We could see quite a way and it seemed to always be clear across the valley. So pretty!




until next time, visontlatasra! (see ya later!)

jóreggelt!

this internet briefing has been brought to you from the Telehaz (the internet house) in Sarszentlorinc.

These last few days have simply been filled with great things, however, i feel most inclined to tell you about last night.
We were in Uzd, a neighboring village, home of Joszí, our Roma guide. We walked the three or so kilometers to the village and were invited to visit the local muzeum, which was fairly interesting. there was a lot of history and facts that I had no idea about, but i DO know that there was a cabinet with 3 random human skulls... and there was a basement and we needed to descend creepy stairs in order to visit. I'm not going to say i didn't feel safe, but it was QUITE creepy.
we went to Joszí's family's house and were greeted with a wonderful gypsy meal and beer outside (picnic table style!). It was delicious - vegetables, homemade bread and pork chops - mmm...
Anyway, after dinner, we sat inside because it was getting chilly and played gypsy music with guitar (Joszí), violin (Matt), milk jug (various) and spoons (various). It was filled with much laughter and happiness.
However, it was getting quite late and Joszí said we needed to leave, so we started walking back to Sarszentlorinc and the rain started... then it got heavier... then it was pelting down on us and i thought we were going to die! okay, not really. Srsly, there was a lot of rain and wind and it was not a pleasant situation, so we did what any sane people would do... instead of keep going and knowing that we would eventually arrive, we turned around. This left us in an strange predicament. We were not stranded in a nearby town, soaked, and unable to communicate. Wonderful, right? It gets better.
So, we are now back at Joszí's family's house and soaking wet. His mother gives us girls some shirts to change into, which are highly fashionable - think crazy patterns and shoulder pads and polyester - but at least we were dry :) sorta. We had an issue that our pants were still wet. So, we were given a blowdryer and the next thing I know, Emilie is standing behind me, blowdrying my bum. awkward! it was a grand time and there were many laughs before we were rescued by the pastor's kids and a car.
We returned to Sarszentlorinc and played some trivial pursuit, while truly just enjoying each others' company.



prayer requests:
*** my throat hurts. it's to the point where, if i were home, i would take some cough/throat medicine... however, I don't have any here. I looked while we were at the store this morning, but since i can't tell you the word for cough, with my luck I would buy allergy medicine or something else that wouldn't help at all.
*** rest. we are sleeping very late and are needing naps throughout the days.
*** praise for busyness - because we have been so busy, it means we haven't even had time to reflect on all that has happened in the last week. i still cannot believe that i am, in fact, in Hungary!

Absent until Sept. 22...

Jóreggelt! (Good morning!)

After a good night's sleep, I was just informed that we probably won't have internet access again until the 22nd (at least), so i wanted to drop a little note.

I will be staying in a small village for a few days. This village is primarily Roma and it is destined to be a great, unique experience.
Then I will begin language school for two weeks, which will be pretty intense, but I will meet at least one of my roommates for the year.
After that, we'll have a week of orientation and will meet all of the volunteers that will be working in Hungary this next year.
I am set to return to Budapest on the 22nd and so I will make sure to get to a Kávézo (coffee shop) with internet access or visit the Otterness' on that day so that I can check my email and update my blog.

...

Please be praying for continued rest and renewed strength each day, for open mind for learning Magyar (Hungarian), for the excitement to not wear off, and for the sadness of missing home to subside.

Praise for smooth travels, good rest and coffee this morning :)

We have arrived!

we left yesterday at 4:13p from Grand Rapids...
and arrived today at 2p in Budapest, Hungary.

wow!

all in all travel went well and we are safely in the Otterness' apartment.
we did some wandering around the city after a short nap and found a book shop, MANY cafes, and traveled over the Danube and saw the Parliament buildings.
our hosts, Dick and Carolyn Otterness, are amazing hosts and we have felt very much at home.

It's almost bedtime (we are 6 hours ahead), so that we can get a good night's rest before tackling the world tomorrow.
Tomorrow we are headed to Sárszentlörinz for some homestays - we will be placed with families who do not speak English and will live with them for a few days.
On Sunday, we are headed to Monoszló for 10 days of language school, then orientation... i should return again on or before the 22nd of September, when I move into my apartment :)

until then, take care and I love you all! God bless!

Jóéjszakát! (Goodnight!)