Spring Has Finally Arrived!

  Yea! It is spring finally! No frost for a couple of weeks now, so I started cleaning flower beds in our front flower garden (virag kert) and planting seeds amongst the roses. I also planted some flower seeds in some containers that "came with the house".  Violets are blooming like crazy in the grass, between bits of sidewalk, around trees and other shrubbery. English daisies and hyacinths gone wild are also blooming in people's grass and yards, trying to beat the cherry trees as they prepare to blossom.  Sour cherries blossom and ripen first (a Magyar favorite), then the sweet cherries. They even have separate names for the types, denoting if one is sour or sweet.

  As people come out to work in the garden, take a walk, ride a bike or just sit and enjoy the sun and its warmth they are also now being greeted by us as we pass by. Most are finally willing to speak back, so either the sun has made them less hesitant, they are used to seeing us, or our Hungarian is getting better! Either way, we are glad to make more acquaintances.  Sometimes (usually the older people) will just start rambling on - like the man splitting wood today, or a lady talking about her mop for 8 stops on the tram, or one of our neighbors I met a week or so ago chatting about her flowers.

  We try to use each of these situations as more "on the street Hungarian lessons".  For instance, Maria, our neighbor, was out looking at what was coming up.  I walked up and told her the forsythia looked beautiful (in Hungarian), this led to an on-the-street class for both of us - she was ASTOUNDED there was a "foreigner" living on her street! I was astounded that Hungarian doesn't use the latin names I learned (thank you mom!) for the flora - so Maria proceeded to help me learn the Hungarian names for the plants I have known most of my life.  Then, a day or so later, my Hungarian tutor and I were walking past Maria's garden & they started quizzing me, and I nearly remembered them all and the pronunciation!  We still need all the prayers we can get  - learning another language in immersion takes it out of you in many ways.

Tribes and Tongues

  Easter Monday we had the fun experience of "getting outta Dodge" and going on our first road trip since being in country.  Bundling up and climbing in the van with a bunch of other fun people early in the morning & off we went! (This spring has been unseasonably cold and rainy - and that day in particular unbearably cold). Easter Monday is a national holiday here and many events were happening all over the country.  Ladies were promptly sprayed with perfume by the men - an Easter Monday tradition.

  We arrived at Opusztaszer about 45 minutes later (this is considered a really long drive!).  From the step out of the van it was clearly a different place.  This is the spot over a thousand years ago that the main tribes of a large area came together to sign a treaty of strength and form a nation. The nation is now know to most of the world as Hungary. Here it is Magyarorzsag.  Each of these different yurts represent a different tribe by the insignia at the top. Pictured are only a few of them. It was lovely to see these representations of different people standing in sillouette against the blue sky on this crisp day. You could feel the power and the strength of these people, uniting together to protect themselves against other marauders.

  There is also a 120 meter long canvas that is painted of different scenes when Arpad and his men first came to settle in Hungary. It is painted so well, you cannot tell where the actual rocks and trees in the front, used as props ends and the painting begins!

  This day, there were special dancers, people dressed in traditional dress as they would have been 200+  years ago, and there is a village that has been put together from historical buildings from all over the nation which shows life and culture as it used to be. The only thing missing out of it all was God - which is surprising considering that this is a nation priding itself on King Stephen (Istvan) dedicating Hungary to the Roman Catholic church. Maybe villages weren't willing to send off an older church to this heritage site, I don't know. I just know there wasn't one there that I observed. There were a lot of Hungarian people who were enjoying exploring some of their "roots" after making this long trek from where they lived. Another tradition (that is now only spraying of perfume) displayed in the historical village was that of literally dousing young women with buckets or containers of water on Easter Monday - harkening back to the pagan days in wanting the women to be fertile and this was a "blessing", so to speak... I will take the perfume, I think.  Especially after seeing the young lady who had been doused with buckets of cold water on a chilly morning in a chilly house run off to get changed!  Dryers weren't available back then. If you were soaked, would you have had enough clothes that were dry to change into? Lots and lots of petticoats were under those wet skirts.

  I am looking forward to coming back - to see the demonstrations later in the year - horsemen display their feats as well as the archery exhibitions and many more.

Spring is here??

   Spring is here - kind of. Fortunately we didn't have this much snow where we live, but this picture was taken last weekend between Vienna and Budapest, leaving over 35,000 people stranded - fortunately it is not a normal occurrence.

   Spring flowers are coming up here, the sun is shining today and the wind is quite chilly.  Trees are budding & nearly ready to pop leaves out. Again, locals say this isn't a normal spring, often it is much warmer. We're ready for that as well, right now!

  I (Carrie) have been asked to join with one of our pastor's wives, Marcsi, to be on a national Hungarian TV show next week! The show is live for 2 hours, and we will be quilting during that time. Other people will be cooking & I have no idea what else. I will know more after next Wednesday! Luckily I should be able to get "off air" in time for language class. Meanwhile, we covet your prayers that God would be magnified somehow through this event and it would draw Hungarians to Christ through the event.

 

Take notes...

  Hungarians are known for their innovation. They have designed the first metro subway, originally drawn by horses in 1847; the articulated bus (1960 put into use); the telephone exchange (1877); of course, the Rubik's Cube and many others, but I love the top picture giving more freedom to the handicapped people.  This just makes my heart sing with joy in knowing maybe some of our friends will be able to use something like this!

Sometimes "Mother Nature" loves to have some of the last giggles... I am willing to laugh along as long as they don't bring tragedy like this weekend's..
 It is spring here now - and there was a HUGE snowstorm the night before last hitting western Hungary. In our class Thursday afternoon, we had all ready heard of a 30 car pile-up on the freeway to the west of Budapest!  Thankfully, we didn't get much here (10 cm ~ 4"), but we walked to class in the rain and walked home with much colder temperatures and snow blowing down on our umbrellas.  Yesterday was a holiday (a failed revolution in 1848), and while there were scheduled speeches all over the city of Budapest, they were cancelled due to the storm's vehemence elsewhere.  (Personally, I just baked up a storm at our snug house.)

    We are learning that as practical and brilliant Hungarians are, they do have some quirks like everyone.... for instance, there is an ice cream truck that goes around our city this winter (maybe all year - we don't know yet).  At first we thought, "Really? It's winter!" Silly us! Of COURSE it is winter, but you evidently still need these great ice cream treats - if you can catch the driver.  We are used to hearing the ice cream truck blocks/ miles away (depending on where you live) and they slowly parade through the neighborhood/parking lot. Silly us! Not this one! If you hear it, you better run, but be careful.... they go through about 30km/hr or more! Good luck catching it! MAYBE they will even come back through, but forget about them slowing down! We still don't know if the ice cream truck ever stops except for gas - we haven't been that fast.

But lo the winter's past....?

    This is the outside of our house - looks like a lot of others all over Hungary.  Although this was a couple of weeks ago, we aren't counting on not getting more snow yet!  Spring is trying to break through all around us - pussy-willows coming forth, crocus blossoming, daffodils and tulips starting to come up as well as some iris preparing for summer.

   I forgot how odd it is to live in a place where you don't know how the seasons behave, exactly.  It tends to be quite an adjustment in the anticipation and yes, stress in it's own right, along with many others in cultural adjustments.  Though the air wants to be balmy - I can actually feel it trying - sadly, it is having a hard time getting the motivation up.

   Not so with the birds! Each day as we walk to language school or back from school we hear new arrivals everyday.  We have called one "the squeaky swing" bird, another one, "the squeaky tricycle" bird (quite different sounds), a bird that doesn't really cackle, but has continual stops and stutters in it's song... we haven't named it yet.  There are robins starting to arrive, and the ever present mourning doves, pigeons, some rather large birds, but they are too far off to tell what they are.  Yesterday on the way home, we saw our first butterfly of the season - and what a large one it was!

   We are definitely getting our exercise daily, stairs, walking, more walking, more stairs, riding the bus (who needs the shaker machines when you can just stand on the bus through the rough parts of the road?!) balancing standing (metro), balance walking (the cement walkways can be terrible, so we are always watching where we are walking - no thank you for walking at night on some of those walkways!). Something is out in my back, so my knees have been killing me all day, all night - ok, whining is over!  All in all, we are walking at least 3 miles a day, not including going shopping, which is a whole other experience which will be described some day.

  Through it all, we pray for people, places, situations. The anguish of a young lady on the metro, the aching joints of an older lady trying to stand up on the metro, the angry young man on the bus, the man who has given up on life - just existing for ... ; and the many hundreds who have been so well trained to not show ANYTHING on their faces lest there be a hint of a crack in a wall exposing them to the outside world.  Language isn't needed to perceive these emotions, just a heart that is willing to reach out and share HOPE to them.

  Last week on the metro, a tiny wisp of an old lady sat next to me. She was trying to prepare for her stop, nearly losing her balance, so I put a hand out on her back to steady her to the stop. As many of you know, I love to rub backs, so I was gently moving my hand back and forth & the look of glee and surprise on her face was worth it all! She said, "Kösönöm!" as she got off.

   Then a young man, who had been standing behind Kurt sat in her place. The smell of alcohol at 8am was a bit much.... and that is when God said, "tell him he's loved", so I did in my halting Hungarian.
"Jézus szeret téged". He turned quickly and looked at me amazed, so I said again, "Jézus szeret téged". And the look of wonder and of astonishment was truly something to behold! I had literally felt him get blown back a bit!  The next stop was ours, & I wished him a good day, but haven't ceased to pray for him...

Language School..

Well, we are about to embark on our second week of intensive Hungarian. We made it through the first week with our class, and although you could nearly hear the rusty gears turning (2 others are "in our age group", Lol), we all made it through.

What is Hungarian like? Well, one of our teachers was going to do this:    dzsesszklubban


 Can you guess what it is?

Sure you're ready?






Jazz club!  No wonder when people want a Jeep, they think of DZSIP!  That's how it would be spelled!

 Are we ready for week 2 yet? I really don't know but we will find out tomorrow.

Szeretlek!

 Szeretlek means "I love you" in Hungarian... no one said that more to us than Jesus, Himself.

  Every season is a season of love to share with others, to let them know that God has CHOSEN them before time began, and wants fellowship - personal fellowship with them everyday. All we need to do is ask Him to come into our hearts and desire to follow Him now instead of our own selfishness. That's okay - our selfishness just gets us into trouble anyway.

  We have had the opportunity to share this in the Hungarian schools all ready! We have been invited in and asked to come back more! Who would have thought we would have created interest? Certainly not I! It is only by God's grace that we are here, and the prayers and support of those in the States and around the world who are allowing this to transpire. For this we are deeply thankful and love you to help us love these Hungarian people in different ways everyday!