First Field Trip of the Year

Ted was given Tuesday after Labor Day off work...normally he would have gotten Friday off as a family day, but since the Red Flag exercise ended last week, they got Tuesday of this week instead. With that in mind, I planned for us to take a field trip on Tuesday so we could avoid the holiday madness downtown but still have Daddy enjoy some time with us.

We did some light school activities at home after breakfast--Bible story, verse review, Charis' handwriting page (capital J and S!) and Tobin's reading lesson (number 57!). Ted packed a lunch for us while I worked with the kids, and I packed our Sonlight books to take in the van to read while he drove.

We headed for the parking lot at the Bellagio hotel. A friend of mine had told me about a fun miniature train exhibit at their conservatory, with a USA theme. It sounded interesting, and hey, it was free, so we decided it would work well with our Machines & Transportation theme for the week. I read a lot of theme-related stories and units on the trip downtown, which made the half-hour drive go quickly. We piled out of the van, and the kids piled into the wagon--we were very glad we had brought it later on!


The conservatory is not very big, but it's beautiful, and the display was definitely worth seeing. The kids were enchanted with all the miniature landmarks, not to mention the plants and the trains themselves. Having been stationed in the D.C. area before this assignment, Ted and I enjoyed seeing the miniatures of the Capitol building, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial. The kids even recognized the Capitol building from the time we toured it with Grandma and Grandpa K.

It was a fun place to walk around. There was even a little fairy tale section, where we could see the 3 little pigs' houses, Rapunzel in her tower with her hair flowing down, Tom Thumb's cottage, and a big castle back in the woods.

After awhile the kids started saying they were hungry, so Ted pulled them in the wagon out to the front of the Bellagio, where we parked under some shade and had a picnic lunch. We were hoping to view a fountain show, but unfortunately they didn't start until 3 p.m. that day...guess the summer tourist season is officially over! So we decided to head home since it was pretty hot and neither Ted nor I felt inclined to walk about the city much, even though it was devoid of the hordes of people we usually encounter on the few occasions when we do go downtown.

All in all, it was another fun home schooling day, and it was fun to have Ted with us on our first field trip!

First Day of Home School

Some moms eagerly anticipate the first day of school because they can hardly wait to get rid of their kids for a portion of each day. I was up at 3:30 a.m., unable to sleep because I was so excited to start our first day of home schooling! I had wanted to do some things to make the day extra special, but a busy weekend left me tired and unmotivated to be creative. When I awoke at 2:30 and couldn't get back to sleep after nearly an hour of tossing and turning, I decided to just get up and do something productive. Even though it was Labor Day, I had already planned that THIS would be our First Home School Day for the year. Since we had been unable to consistently do any school activities during the summer (with the exception of Tobin's reading lessons, which were coming along well), I decided I would take the wee early morning hours to put some time and effort into making our kickoff something to remember.


I logged onto the Sonlight forums, one of my favorite places to spend computer time, and did a search for first day of school activities. There were lots of fun ideas, but I had to find something that didn't require too much preparation, using only materials already in my home. After reading one mother's tradition (she thought it was a German thing), I decided to make card stock cones with a handle and stuff them with some school goodies. I had purchased new crayons for 10 cents a box at the office store, so I labeled one for Tobin and one for Charis and put those plus two sharpened new pencils and an eraser plus a piece of chocolate in each of their cones. I stamped simple little cards--Charis's said "1st grade" on the outside, and Tobin's said "1st day." I wrote notes to each of them, saying how proud I was of them and how we were going to have such a fun year of learning and playing together.

The kids slept in (for once), not waking until close to 8 a.m. You'd have thought it was Christmas! Charis burst onto the scene, all a-twitter over her new goodies. Tobin was delighted to get more crayons, and they both eagerly attacked their chocolate (with my permission). We read their cards together, and Charis just kept squeezing me and thanking me for the cones, which were also a hit (the two discovered they also can double as a horn or make a pretty nifty hat). Charis even asked if I would do the same thing for her on the first day of her 2nd grade year! I was so delighted by THEIR delight--how something so simple could make such an impression.

Another great idea I got was to have the kids hold a sign saying it was the first day of home school and take their pictures. Charis then came up with a good idea--she thought we should measure and weigh all the kids! So we did, and that was part of our math lesson. :-) In case you're wondering, here are the stats:

Arden--35 pounds, 38 inches
Tobin--37 pounds, 40 3/4 inches
Charis--34 pounds, 44 inches

Since Ted obviously had the day off work, he made us a special oatmeal breakfast. We usually don't have oatmeal during the week because of time, and once again, that little something special went a long ways. Charis asked if we could have oatmeal on the first day of 2nd grade, too!

We read our Bible story at the breakfast table, and then we moved into the school room. I'll go ahead and give a breakdown of our day, but I promise I won't do this every time I post about our home school days!

* Explained verse for the week, Proverbs 4:20-21: "Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully." Worked on memorizing it plus memorizing the following: "Attentiveness: I listen with my eyes, ears, and heart." This was the first verse in last year's schedule that we used, and I decided it was a great one to start the year with, particularly since I now have Tobin as an "official" student, and listening is not one of his strengths! (You may recognize that Proverbs 4 is part of our blog address...there's a reason for that! It was fitting that in our daily Bible reading schedule, which takes us through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice each year, we were supposed to read Proverbs 3-4!)

* Prayer time--prayed for the B family, missionaries in Alaska; also committed our home schooling year to God.

* Big kids decorated their notebook covers, stamping their names and being creative with crayons, stencils, and stickers. Arden decided he wanted in on the action, so he decorated a piece of scrap paper.



* "Math time"--today consisted of weighing and measuring each child. Also, Tobin and Charis each updated one of our two perpetual calendars, which hadn't been updated since June!!

* Handwriting and workbook time--Charis did a practice handwriting page, focusing on the capital letters V and W. Meanwhile, Tobin and I did a couple of pages from his counting workbook. We punched out numbers 1-10, and he placed them in the correct locations to show how many animals were in each pen at the zoo. He also finished a practice page he had started awhile ago, which gave him practice writing numerals 6-10.

* Phonics--Charis and I read through two pages in her Phonics Pathways book, reviewing the last concept she learned, the ending sounds -tch and -ch and when to use which digraph.

* Sonlight reading--we are using a theme schedule this year, plugging in some materials that we used last year and supplementing with extras from the library. (I love the hold feature on the web site so I can request books and pick them up all at once!) This week's theme: Machines and Transportation. We brainstormed lists for both, writing the kids' ideas on the board, and then began our reading, which covered concepts from science and social studies and included selections from classic children's literature. We finished in roughly 40 minutes.

* Recess time (30 minutes)--also time for Mom to make phone calls or check email as needed!

* Reading time--this half-hour block will allow me time for fun reading with the kids, games, or artwork. Today I read the story of Tootle while the kids colored a picture of the train from the Little Golden Books web site.

* Almost forgot to put a popsicle stick in our cup...we're going to keep track of how many days of school we have and bundle each set of 10 sticks. When we get to Day 100, we'll have a party! Charis selected a pink popsicle stick to symbolize our first day of school.

* School's over! Tobin is the lunch helper this week, so he helped us get the table ready for lunch.


It seems strange to have school completely finished by lunch, even with taking a half-hour break! When I think that if Charis really were in a first grade classroom, she would be there for about 6-7 hours each day...wow. Actually, she'd just be entering kindergarten this year because of her age. So I'm not sweating the fact that we're not spending a lot of hours on school work. As we get back into the swing of things, there will be actual math workbook pages and tests, and I'll add dictation to her phonics lessons. Last year we sometimes skipped math, handwriting, or phonics in favor of completing the Sonlight reading. This year, we'll reverse it, since we've already "been there, done that" with the Sonlight materials--I'll be a stickler on the three "Rs" but will allow Charis to do something else if she doesn't want to stick around for some of the Sonlight stories. Tobin, however, seems to be super excited about getting to be in on everything, and since he wasn't quite ready for some of the materials last year, I know he'll get a lot more out of them this time around. We're getting enough extra stuff from the library that I think Charis will still be challenged within each theme, and of course I'll let her read to her heart's content, something she wants alone time to do every day anyway!

So, there you have it. Our first day of school. It was tons of fun...though I did lie down for a three-hour nap in the afternoon since Ted was home and since I had been awake for so long after an unexpectedly early start to my day!

Home Again

So, there you have it! A (probably) more-detailed-than-necessary description of our trip to Hungary! Our journey home was rather uneventful, and we were more tired than I can say by the time we finally made it to our own beds, but it felt so good to be HOME. The kids were in bed, but we went in and tucked them in anyway. Arden was conked out, but the older two were awake and grinning from ear to ear to see us and give us big squeezes.

I'm so thankful for my mom and my cousin Sarah...without them being here, we never would have been able to take such a special trip. From what we heard, all went well (for the most part!) with the kids, who are still talking about the fun times they had with Grandma and Sarah!

We took the next week to relax and enjoy being together as a family, trying to settle back into some sort of routine. I had my first OB appointment and heard the baby's heartbeat, so that was definitely a relief. (I've been feeling movements for several weeks now, so I wasn't exactly worried...but still, there's something comforting about getting a tangible number--160 beats per minute--to "prove" the baby is there and doing all right.)

Now we are getting ready to start our first week of school! I know today is Labor Day, but for the J family, it is also the first DAY of school! Hey, the kids don't know any better. :-) We're doing a theme schedule this year with the Sonlight materials we already have...Charis will continue in her first grade math and handwriting books, and our schedule suggests additional books from the library, so we have a lot of new material as well as the "old" stuff that we went through last year. But since I'm including Tobin specifically in our school schedule, plus the fact that Arden is older and more willing to sit through the readings, I think it will benefit all of us to go through those great books again. In the spring, after the baby is born, we'll be prepared to move on to the next Sonlight Core.

So, now that I'm caught up on our blog, I'll be able to return to chronicling the everyday events of our household, a fascinating running account that I'm sure will keep you on the edge of your seat. ;-)

Hungary Trip--Day 8

We spent a whole day being tourists in Budapest! Kristof was with us for most of the day, and we enjoyed hanging out with him again. We went first to the House of Terror, a recently-opened museum commemorating the victims of two regimes of terror. The museum is actually in the building described as follows by the web site:


"Opened on February 24th, 2002 at 5 pm, the House of Terror Museum - the only one of its kind - is a monument to the memory of those held captive, tortured and killed in this building. The Museum, while presenting the horrors in a tangible way, also intends to make people understand that the sacrifice for freedom was not in vain. Ultimately, the fight against the two cruellest systems of the 20th century ended with the victory of the forces of freedom and independence....

From the beginning of 1937, the Hungarian ultra-right party, the Arrow Cross Party, rented more and more space in the house. In 1940 they took possession of the whole building and made it their headquarters. The party´s leader, Ferenc Szálasi named the building "The House of Loyalty". In the autumn of 1944, when the Hungarian Nazis came to power, the basement was used as a prison.

As Budapest rid itself of German rule and was occupied by the Soviets, the communist-led Political Police claimed the house in February 1945, and created a prison labyrinth by joining the cellars of the block. The State Security Police possessed the building until 1956. After they moved out the house was renovated, erasing all traces of its past. Andrassy 60 then became the headquarters of several firms and offices. In the 1970´s, the basement where hundreds, perhaps thousands of people were tortured, was used as a club for young communists."

We spent probably close to 3 hours in the museum. It was at the same time fascinating and horrifying. Ted was especially interested in the stories, having studied Russian history, and he was able to translate some of the Russian quotes on the walls for us. I wouldn't necessarily say this part of our trip was "fun," but we were both really glad that we had the opportunity to spend time in the museum and learned much. It never ceases to amaze me how cruel humans can be to one another...


We ate lunch at a mall food court and all agreed that we wanted Chinese food. Go figure. :-) We met up with Samu (Shah-moo), Jozsef's middle brother (there are 4 boys and then Miriam) for a bit and walked along some shops by the river. There are two parts to the city, the "Buda" side and the "Pest" side. The Danube River separates the two, with several bridges, including the famous Chain Bridge, connecting the two sides. We were walking along the Pest side of the city, and this picture shows the palace where we went later on. As you can see, it's not very big--Ted could reach the top. ;-)


Later we took the subway to the other side of the city to explore the Fisherman's Bastion and the castle. Above is a picture of me at the Bastion, and below you can see the Parliament building across the river. I've always thought this Parliament to be one of the most beautiful structures I've ever seen.



At this point, Kristof had to say goodbye and go to take his younger brother and sister back to Kecskemet. Samu met us and became our tour guide for the rest of the day. After spending some time at the Bastion, we hopped on a bus to go to the castle. Though I've wandered around the castle during previous trips, I don't recall actually being inside, so it was fun to walk beyond the outside. There is a museum inside, so we checked in our backpack and wandered around. We didn't have a lot of time before the museum was to close, but we were able to see quite a bit. It seemed a bit strange not to have things roped off with guards all over the place--we were pretty much allowed to go wherever, though there really were security personnel around, just not overly obtrusive. We discovered that we could go outside and were able to climb up a couple of winding staircases to a lookout tower. The views were spectacular--but, oh yeah, we weren't allowed to have our camera inside the museum! So we had to enjoy the view without getting pictures. At least we were able to get some when we were outside the castle.

By the time we were finished looking around, Ted and I were thoroughly exhausted. We decided we'd rather go back to the flat and have dinner there than try to find something in the city, so Samu took us back to his father's flat, where we later had pizza and salads delivered to us. We visited with Samu awhile, and Ted showed him some Christian music web sites, thereby endearing himself to Samu forever. :-) He and Jozsef and his brothers all have similar interests in music, and I know Ted enjoyed being able to share some info with them and talk about their passions.

We went to bed early, as we had to leave at 5:30 a.m. the next morning for the airport. Hard to believe it was our last day, but by this point we were definitely ready to head home!

Hungary Trip--Day 7

We didn't make any plans for Tuesday morning, as we had to pack and be ready to leave with Kristof, Jozsef's brother, for Budapest. However, partway through the morning we learned that there were car problems, and we were to wait indefinitely at the F's house before leaving. We were not at all disappointed by this...Ted took advantage of the time to snooze in a chair, and I took our home school planning notebook out to the back porch and got some uninterrupted time to plan our school year. We also enjoyed an absolutely fabulous lunch that Mama Magdi prepared--one of my favorite soups (green beans in a creamy sauce--so yummy and something we hadn't had on this trip to that point), plus the BEST mashed potatoes and wonderful roasted chicken. As usual, she urged us to eat more...I was particularly urged to "eat for baby!" I did, believe me! Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot pass up any kind of potatoes. :-) Fresh peaches made for a good (and healthy!) dessert.

Jozsef and Zsuzsi stopped by to chat a little bit while we were waiting--they were in town to take care of some paperwork for financing their new home. They returned later to take us to the train station, as it had become clear that the car was going to require major repairs. We rushed to the station so we could meet Kristof and hop aboard, only to watch the train chugging away, exactly ONE MINUTE ahead of schedule!! Jozsef was most distressed, as the next train wasn't leaving for another hour, but we convinced him we'd be just fine walking to get ice cream before boarding the next train! He and Zsuzsi had to return to the bank to finish their paperwork, so we said our goodbyes and dragged our suitcases a few blocks away to get some famous Hungarian ice cream, a treat that I had told Ted we simply must partake of. I got my two favorite flavors (at least in Hungary), cinnamon and peach--an odd combination, I know, but I LOVE them both!

We enjoyed talking with Kristof, who had grown up so much since I had first met him in 1999. He's now 20, a student at a university in Budapest, and his English was quite good. He and Jozsef had hung out with us a lot when I was here before and we spent a lot of time with the teen/tween students, so it was a lot of fun to get reacquainted with him.


So, we did get on a train to Budapest, finally, and were planning to do a bit of sight-seeing before going to Kristof's father's flat outside the city area...however, when we emerged from the subway, we discovered that it was pouring rain! So we left the river area where we had planned to walk and headed back to the other side of the city, where it was by that point sunny (!), caught a bus, and then walked the remainder of the way to the flat, a beautiful, roomy apartment in a quiet neighborhood. We settled ourselves in a bit and prepared for dinner. Jozsef Sr, the father, took us three plus David and Miriam, the two youngest children, out for dinner at a very nice restaurant near Hero Square in downtown Budapest. We ate outside, and the weather was surprisingly chilly. Heat lamps helped me feel more comfortable, but poor Miriam was so cold that the waiter brought her a blanket. After awhile, big brother Kristof decided he couldn't stand the chilly breeze either and ended up sharing the blanket with her!


After a wonderful, leisurely dinner, Ted and I walked with Kristof to Hero Square while David and Miriam stayed with their father in the warm car. I have been to Hero Square twice, both times during daylight and both times with American missionaries. So I really enjoyed being there with Kristof, who racked his brain and gave us a quite adequate explanation of the various heroes represented in the square. There are some interesting stories, and Ted, a major history buff, also enjoyed our brief sight-seeing stint. We're posing here under the statue of Saint Istvan (Steven), the first king of Hungary. It's amazing to me that Hungary has a history dating back over a millenium! In fact, Hero Square was built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest. You can read more interesting tidbits by clicking on the link above.


When we arrived back at the flat, Miriam stopped just before we got to the door and exclaimed. She had spotted this hedgehog! Not something we see every day here in the States! I had to get a picture of it to show our kids. :-)

Hungary Trip--Day 6

Monday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before getting on the bus to go downtown Kecskemet. Hanna met us at the bus station and acted as our tour and shopping guide. It was so fun to walk around--some things have changed, but much remains the same as I remembered. I did notice there are more McDonald's now! We saw all the famous buildings, took some pictures, and did some shopping for the kids. The picture here is one of the many beautiful church buildings--I think there are about seven that you can see from the Centrum--though I can't remember which denomination this one is.

We again had lunch at the P's house, this time only with Eszter, Zsuzsi's sister, and Geza, their father. Eszter was in charge of our afternoon's activities, and Hanna ended up being able to go along with us, which was lots of fun. We went to Tanyacsarda, a place that I discovered I had actually been to in 1999 with one of my former students and his fiance. We had eaten a lovely dinner at the restaurant there, but as it was dark, I hadn't seen much more than the restaurant. This time we were there in the afternoon to see a horse show!


We waited until the tour buses arrived, as we were to join with the other tourists for the show. The event began with "salty biscuits," as Hanna described them. I can't remember the Hungarian name for them, but "salty biscuits" seems to fit well. We also had the opportunity to have apricot brandy, which was "only" 40% alcohol!! Needless to say, I passed on that, though Ted managed to get a shot down! Apricot brandy is a specialty in Hungary--I had learned that during a previous trip when I did partake of some as a guest, but being early on in my pregnancy, I did not want to jeopardize our little one in any way, especially with a drink that was "only" 40% alcohol!


Then we walked to a large, fenced-in area and watched three Hungarian cowboys ride bareback with a herd of horses set loose in the area. They circled around awhile, and then the horses were taken away. We tourists were loaded onto horse-drawn carts. Since we were not part of those from the tour buses, the four of us had our own little carriage! There were four horses that pulled our cart, and they were part of the show later on--so we were special. :-)


We had quite a long ride in our carriage. You can see Hanna and Eszter here--I think they had so much fun doing this with us! We certainly enjoyed the show and being with them as well. After our ride, we returned to the starting point and found seats on the bleacher area.


We watched a number of demonstrations, the first of which was the most exciting. A cowboy stood on the backs of two horses, one leg on each horse, and guided them plus three other horses in front of the two--a five-horse show! Apparently it was a feat done previously in Austria and Germany, and a Hungarian horseman saw it and wanted to do it, so now people learn to ride this way in Hungary as well.

An interesting feature of the show was the use of whips--not for the horses, but for the sound! They made a loud popping sound, like a shotgun. Ted said it was because the end of the whip actually traveled at a speed greater than the speed of sound, thereby creating a small sonic boom. It was quite something to hear five cowboys swinging their whips in sync!


Five cowboys with single horses showed us tricks with the horses, such as having them lie down and remain still while the men sat, stood, or lay down on top of them. It was quite something to see these animals be so still and calm! I thought this pose, shown in the picture, was the most interesting, as you would likely never see a horse sitting this way on his own!


We also saw a donkey doing some similar tricks to the ones the horses had shown us, then watched a carriage pulled by "our" horses from the carriage ride demonstrating maneuvers between posts, trees, etc. We also saw Hungarian cows pulling a cart. Sounds strange to say there are different cows there, but as you can see from the picture, they look something like a cross between oxen and Texas longhorns.

After the show we got to walk through the barn and see the animals. Ted had a difficult time with his allergies. As we neared the end, a pony nudged my arm, so I started to pat his nose, only to be shocked when he tried to bite my chest! I was thankful for the clothing that stood in his way--I was not hurt badly but was definitely startled!


Later in the evening Papa Erwin found some allergy tablets for Ted, who was still having a difficult time. Papa mused that he didn't know how effective the tablets would be because Ted was "so big!" Papa joked that Ted is like two Hungarian men! Anyway, we were glad for the medicine, as Ted seemed to do better after that. In this photo with the F family you can see that Ted is indeed about twice the size of Papa. :-) From left to right in the picture: Andrea (the oldest F daughter), "Mama" Magdi, me, Ted, "Papa" Erwin, Anita, and Hanna.

Hungary Trip--Day 5

Sunday morning after breakfast we walked to church. The new Kecskemeti Baptist Church is very close to the F's house. Hilda, a friend who has also helped much with translation in the past, translated the service for us as best as she could with a wiggly 4-year-old daughter on her lap. As the service came to a close and announcements were being given, Papa Erwin invited Ted and me to come to the front to say a few words about our family and what we've been doing in the years since I had last been to Hungary. Hilda translated for me, and it was neat to see so many familiar faces in the congregation--though I would have been hard pressed to have remembered more than a few names, since I had only come in contact with most of the church members during church services, not in my own English classes.

After visiting awhile, Ted and I went back to the house to relax a bit before having lunch with the P family, neighbors to the Fs and family of the bride. It was a lively, rambunctious affair, with much laughter and jesting. Ted and I felt a bit like outsiders at this meal, as only a couple of people knew English well enough to communicate with us, and there was so much discussion that it was difficult to keep us informed. But we enjoyed the food and obvious affection the family felt for one another, and after the meal we did visit a bit outside and showed off our photos once again to those who wanted to see them.

Around 2:30 in the afternoon Eva, Jozsef's mother, picked us up and took us with her two youngest children to the little town where she works as a dentist. It was maybe a 45-minute drive. Ted rode in the front and enjoyed chatting with Eva. She is a dear, sweet lady whom I had only known as Jozsef's soft-spoken mother when I was in Kecskemet last, and it was a joy to get to know her better during this day that we spent together. She showed us her workplace, an old building that houses her office as well as the town doctor's office.


Then she took us to meet her friends, Laszlo and Kati. Laszlo operates a winery in his cellar and took us downstairs to see it. He invited us to sample some of his red wine...Ted and I are not wine drinkers, but we had some regardless--though I did ask for just a SMALL bit because of the baby. We visited for awhile, and then the family had some things to take care of, so we snapped a quick picture and prepared for our next stop. Before we left, however, Laszlo presented us with two bottles of his wine! What a gift! We knew we'd be able to share this special treat with people in the States who would truly enjoy it. As a side note, last Friday Ted took one of the bottles to work with him, where it really WAS enjoyed by some wine connoisseurs who said it was the best wine they've ever tasted it. Not being overly fond of wine ourselves, it was nice to hear that from someone else and underscored the generosity of our host in Tizengard.

Next Eva took us to a wonderful farmhouse in the middle of rural country to meet more friends of hers, Robin and Gyorgyi (similar to our name Georgie). Robin is a British man, and he and Gyorgyi have been married, oh, I don't know, quite awhile, I guess, as they have 4 children, the oldest of whom must be in the mid teen years. Mark, another British friend, was there as well, and we spent a nice hour or so having tea in the garden and chatting. Robin teased Eva that she must not begin speaking her English with an American accent since she was spending some time with us! Ted and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these folks. Mark is a fascinating person, working in Budapest as a reporter and studying a myriad of languages and tidbits about various cultures.

After tea we drove to the "oxbow lake," a blocked off portion of the Tisza River, and did some swimming. As the evening wore on, however, the mosquitoes forced us to retreat to the car, where we rolled up all the windows and endured the stuffiness for the sake of being able to kill the remaining blood-thirsty predators.


Back at the farmhouse, Robin, Gyorgyi, and Eva bustled about the homey, inviting kitchen, plopping various foods in front of Ted and me to satiate our suddenly ravenous appetites. Mmmm! Nothing like being able to nibble freshly made bread, home-grown tomatoes, plums, cheese, and homemade sausages! After we had satiated our stomachs, we went outside to a nice fire and prepared for a Hungarian barbeque. Having been to two "fat barbeques" before, I decided Ted simply MUST experience this for himself...though I have to point out that Ted, at least, was able to roast an actual chunk of bacon and not simply bacon lard, as is typical. By this point I was too full to eat, anyway, but I enjoyed the smell of roasting onions and bacon over the fire. The stars were out, and lightening flashed along the horizon, though we never did hear thunder. Occasionally we could hear fireworks--August 20 is a national holiday for Hungarians. We enjoyed more conversation and then decided we really had to call it a night, as it was approaching 10:30ish and we knew we'd need to get some rest if we wanted to enjoy our next few days of being tourists.

Hungary Trip--Day 4

Wedding Day!

After a restless night, I woke around 6 a.m. and decided to get some exercise. I thought I would go for a walk, but the chilly breeze made me want to get warmer fast, so I ended up jogging, probably around 5K. It was such a beautiful morning, and interesting to jog down the sidewalk toward the Centrum, passing familiar sights and reliving memories from past trips.

We leisurely prepared for the day and then met the wedding party outside--the bride's family lives next door to the F family. We were introduced to Ron and Brenda, American missionaries who had spent several years in Hungary. Ron discipled Jozsef for a long time and was a critical figure for Jozsef as he grew spiritually and dealt with some difficult issues. Ted and I really enjoyed getting to visit with Ron and Brenda throughout the day.


Our first stop was at the Town Hall for the official wedding ceremony. (You can see part of the building front here.) Apparently it is common in European countries that couples MUST be married by an official representative...the church wedding is not enough. So, we trekked into the beautiful town hall building, which I had been inside before, but this time we went upstairs to a church-like room that I had not seen. We had no translator for this part of the day, but we were able to figure out that they were exchanging vows and rings, and when we all stood for a song, we rightly guessed that we were hearing the national anthem. Interesting! A lady wearing a Hungarian banner was in charge of the ceremony, which was quite brief, maybe 15 minutes or so all together. This picture, taken inside during the ceremony, turned out quite dark...perhaps if you click on it for a bigger image you'll be able to see it better. I wanted a shot of the lady with her banner, plus at the top you can see the Kesckemet crest. The goat is a symbol of the city.

After the ceremony, we went outside, where we found the next couple ready to march in and have their turn. It kind of felt like weddings at the Air Force Academy Chapel the week after graduation--get 'em in, get 'em out, next, please! Pictures were taken of the families, and Jozsef and Zsuzsi also wanted a picture with us, so here we are!


After pictures we drove out of town to a nice restaurant, just past the Kecskemet Air Base! Ted and I craned our necks to see what we could see, but it wasn't much. :-) We enjoyed a leisurely, two-hour lunch that began with fruit soup. The main course was served on big, wooden platters, heaped high with various foods. I think each platter was slightly different. Every four people or so shared a platter. Ted and I were seated across from Ron and Brenda, just around the corner from the bride and groom. I don't think I can remember all the types of food, but I believe I personally tried the breaded mushrooms, some yummy potatoes (roasted?), sesame (fried) chicken, vegetables, and rice. We carefully avoided the goose liver, a Hungarian delicacy.


After we were stuffed to the gills, we enjoyed seeing the wedding cake! It was so beautiful, and very unique. Also unique to us was the Roman candle sitting on top! I believe at this point the guests sang some traditional songs, though not being one of the singers, I can't remember if the singing came at cake time or a different time. Jozsef and Zsuzsanna cut and served cake to everyone. I must say, it was the best wedding cake I have ever eaten, and I thought my own cake was pretty darn good! By this point it was around 3:30 p.m. (The ceremony at the Town Hall had begun at 12:30 p.m.) We piled back into the vehicles that were decorated for the festivities and drove (everyone honking wildly) back through town to the church, as the next ceremony was to begin at 4:00.

We Americans were put into the "cry room" so as to not disturb the other guests by having a translator (Anita V). It was a bit unfortunate that we couldn't be in the main room, as the difficulty in seeing and hearing made us suddenly aware of how incredibly hot and tired we were! The ceremony lasted over an hour and a half--Ted mentioned later that he was not prepared for a 45-minute sermon, which was longer than our whole wedding ceremony! However, the sermon was very good, and the whole ceremony was God-honoring. It was also neat to see some pictures of both the bride and groom from childhood on.

Afterwards we joined the receiving line and gave our gifts to the couple. Jozsef was nearly in tears, overcome with emotion that we had made the effort to be there for his special day. We had also brought a gift from one of my teammates who had known Jozsef well, and I know he and Zsuzsi were touched that Andrea had thought to send them a remembrance.

Then it was time for...more food!! This time it was potluck style, as there was not enough space to seat all the guests (probably at least 150) around tables. We nibbled a bit, mostly fruit, and mingled with the guests. I met up with a student I had had from my first trip in 1996--I remembered her immediately, though not her name! It was fun to catch up with her.


We watched Jozsef and Zsuzsi perform a beautiful Hungarian dance. They did it so well that the crowd "encored" them, and so they did it again, but this time with much laughter and a few mistakes. :-) They had been so perfectly serious the first time, so it was fun to watch them relax and have fun together.

Then everyone went back to the auditorium for "greetings." I think this would be akin to our toasts. The fathers first gave greetings, then the maid of honor and the best man. Another friend spoke, and then I got called up to speak. I was somewhat surprised, though I shouldn't have been, because Jozsef had told me about this and I had said I'd be glad to say some things. However, since I hadn't heard for sure what the program was to be like, I was caught slightly off guard, partly because I was so tired and was nearly dozing in the back despite the efforts of a new translator, as Anita and her family had already left. Anyway, I was glad to say some things to the couple and encourage them with a couple of verses, and then it was time for games.

Games?! Yes. Games. Jozsef's heart is with the youth group, and there was much laughter and silliness, much of which did not translate well. Despite our best efforts, we just could not hold out any longer. We knew there was to be traditional Hungarian and Jewish circle dancing later, but we had to call it quits at 10:30 p.m. Jet lag had SERIOUSLY set in, and it was a long day already! We were home and fast asleep by the time the dancing began...I'm sure it was a fun rest of the evening for everyone else! We thoroughly enjoyed all the festivities of which we were a part.

Hungary Trip--Day 3

We were able to sleep until about 9 a.m. on Friday, August 18, though we had a spell of wakefulness in the middle of the night, so we weren't quite as rested perhaps as we could have been. We had a long, leisurely breakfast and chatted with Anita, the middle F daughter, and her fiance, Paul, who was visiting for the weekend. He is a musician and lives in Austria, where they will live after they are married in October. You can see a picture of them here. They both speak English quite well, and Ted and I really enjoyed the chance to visit with them and get to know Paul. They seem like a well-matched couple, and I could tell that their families are pleased with their engagement. There was much flurry and wedding talk as they worked on invitation lists and other details over the weekend. :-)

At lunch time my dear friend Anita V, along with her daughters Fanni and Greta, picked Ted and me up to go to their house for lunch. When I first met Anita, Fanni was only a couple of years old, and Greta was born just a few days after our first meeting. Anita is an English teacher and has done much translating for the Americans who have been involved with the ministry program, and we had a delightful visit over the course of the afternoon. We met her son, Simon, who is about 5 years old, I believe. The girls are (I think) 13 and 11 now. We had a yummy lunch of fruit soup, mashed potatoes, and chicken with cream and cheese.


Later in the afternoon Kornel, Anita's husband, returned home from work, so we were able to visit with him as well. Ted and I had printed off a number of recent family photos to take with us, so we showed off our children to the V family and just about everyone else who was patient enough to go through our stack with us. ;-) You can see a picture of the V family here, taken in back of the Kecskemet Baptist Church on the afternoon of the wedding.

As a side note, Paul, Anita F's fiance, is a cousin of Anita V.


Anita drove us back to the F house late in the afternoon, and we freshened up a bit in preparation for our next meal, which was hosted by Csaba (pronounced CHA-bah) and Edit (Eh-DEET). Csaba and Edit were in my first evening English class in 1996 and stayed all 7 weeks of the course. They were perfectly delightful students and soon became good friends of mine. Csaba is a cardiologist, and Edit works for a pharmaceutical company. They were neighbors when I first met them and are now living together. When I left Hungary in 1996, I was so sad to leave them...they had become so dear to me. I was delighted when we were reunited in 1999, though we were not able to spend as much time together as we had the first summer I was there.


We had another wonderful dinner--cantaloupe with ham slices, followed by potatoes, steamed fish with tomatoes, and Swedish mushroom salad, the latter of which I had never tasted before, so it was fun to try something new. It sort of tastes like mushrooms in pizza sauce, but a notch fancier. Ice cream was a perfect dessert. We again went through our photos with Csaba and Edit and visited for a long while. I think it was close to 11 p.m. when we returned to the F house, ready for a good night of sleep.

Hungary Trip--Days 1-2

On Wednesday, August 16, Ted and I left our house at 10 a.m. to begin our Hungarian Adventure! Sarah took us to the airport, where we breezed through check-in and security, despite the uproar in London from the previous week. We had been thrilled to learn that we would be allowed one carry-on bag, a restriction that had been lifted just the day before we were to travel. After all, 22 hours is an incredibly long time to be traveling without any good books!

We had plenty of time before boarding, so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch together at Chile's. We traveled first to Los Angeles, where we, our bags, and our fellow travelers were thoroughly searched by members of the U.S. Army. It did give us a measure of comfort and security to see the military presence.

Finally it was time to board the plane to London. The flight was approximately 10 hours long. Our activities on board included reading, watching a movie, and trying to sleep, though a determined toddler who tested his lungs in a piercing wail THE ENTIRE TRIP made the latter nearly impossible.

We arrived in London safe but extremely tired and more than a bit cranky. Still, one can't help but be excited to step off a plane onto a foreign country, and we soon forgot about the Screaming Child as we made our way through yet another security check, then wandered about the airport waiting for our gate number to be posted. We ended up taking a seat, and Ted read more of his book while I napped in his lap for about 30 minutes. Then it was time to get on the plane for Budapest.

Before we could board, however, we were told to go to a different desk, as there was an issue with our bags. I guess they needed to validate that we were present and that our bags indeed needed to be put on the aircraft? Odd. No one had told us that we would need to check in. But we were grateful to learn that our bags were at least in London and, from the sounds of things, would be on the same airplane as we.

So, with that taken care of, we took our seats...and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the captain announced that we were delayed a bit because of the question of a couple of bags, but they were being put on the plane as he spoke and we would soon get a line number for takeoff. Ted and I glanced at each other, partly amused and partly horrified that WE seemed to be responsible for the delay! But, as it turned out, our part in the delay was minor compared with waiting to take off, as we waited at least 30 more minutes before it was our turn. Heathrow is obviously not the airport to fly through if you don't enjoy waiting in line for takeoff.

We made it to Budapest without any further complications and were delighted to find that our bags were intact as well. We had no problems getting through customs. We changed some money, then headed out to look for Jozsef. I noticed that the airport looked so much newer and brighter than it had when I flew in 10 years ago.

After a bit of consternation when we couldn't find Jozsef, we attempted to make a call to his cell phone, using the calling card we had gotten from Sam's Clubs. I used an extraordinary amount of minutes trying to track him down (and figure out how to dial while in a different country) only to find that Jozsef was about 10 feet away from Ted, having just come in from a different terminal. Ah, well.

It was great to see him again, and we had a long opportunity to chat as he drove us from the airport to the F family's house in Kecskemet. By the time we arrived it was after 9 p.m. on Thursday, August 17--or, back in Vegas, noon. Wow. Twenty-six hours since we had left our house!

Mama Magdi had a wonderful meal of goulash and potatoes waiting for us, followed by palecsintas (oops, I'm not sure I spelled that right), which are basically like pancakes rolled up with different kinds of filling. Yum! Ted's first meal in Hungary was fabulous! We visited just a short while before going up to our room and tumbling into bed. Thank goodness we had no plans until lunch time the next day...