If this is Tuesday, it must be Greece.

I think Greece is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a few!



We left Budapest on Sunday, June 22nd and landed in Greece to a bright sun and sizzling heat. However, temperatures this year in Greece are in the low 90's, which is an improvement over the 110 degrees we had this time last year when we were here for the South AGM! We are here for the Annual General Meeting of the South Europe Field. Basically, the same thing as last week but with different people.



During the day Glenn and I had several appointments with families to see how they were "hangin' in there" as part of our counseling ministry. In addition, Glenn led a two-session seminar and worked with some of the folks on upcoming events and I met with some moms concerning educational issues. The first couple of days in Greece were relaxing and almost like a mini-vacation but as the week progressed, our schedule got fuller and fuller.



We are actually staying in a really, REALLY nice resort hotel on an island off the coast of Athens. We did find time to go to the mainland (Athens) one evening for a meal with the folks from our missionary orientation. Just like last year, we hopped on a ferry boat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery from the waters of the Agean Sea.


An evening "cruise" on the ferry boat

Breathtaking scenery!

We couldn't read a word! It's Greek to us!

Hilly narrow streets

Doritos! For real???

While walking through the streets along the coast in Athens, we saw this Doritos truck and figured Doritos must be around there somewhere! We actually found them in a little "kiosk" right near the truck, along with OREOS! Wow! We paid an insane amount for the Doritos, but we ate every crumb and licked the spices from our fingers to get every bit of enjoyment for our money! It is weird to me the random things that we can find in the different countries. Why Doritos in Greece? Why Hellmans mayonaise in Czech Republic?

Houses up the hillside

One-third of the hotel pool

Even though Glenn and I never got in the pool (would you believe we were working all the time???), it was very relaxing to have this view off our balcony and to sit under a beach umbrella on a lounge chair in the evenings and visit with the other families there once the sun started going down. We really were blessed with wonderful accomodations with air conditioning to cool us off from the high temperatures! We are refreshed!!

We left the hotel on Friday morning at 7:00 am and boarded a bus that would take us back to the airport where we caught an 11:30 am flight to Finland! This was more than a discount airline! We did not get any drinks, meal or even peanuts!! No movie, no offer of a magazine or newspaper, or anything! Fortunately, they did have bathrooms. When we arrived in Finland, it was about 4:00 pm. The bus driver that had been hired to pick up those of us flying in from Greece (that is-those of us that have regional responsibilities and attending all 5 AGM's) allowed us to stop outside Helsinki at a gas station with a restaurant to allow us to get something to eat! We hadn't eaten since about 9:00 that morning when we arrived at the Athens airport, so we were just a little hungary. (Oops, I mean hungry.)

Glenn entertains our busload with some strummin'

The bus ride from Helsinki out to the "retreat" center was a little over 4 hours. We are here for the Annual General Meeting of our folks that work in the Baltic countries. This is the third of our five AGM's.

I was struck by how clean and modern Finland is! Additionally, Helsinki and the countryside through which we drove looks more like America than any other country I've been in. The houses are very similar to ours in America with their slanted roofs, manicured lawns, and carports!

There are also lots of large lakes with clear water! By the way, the temperature here in Finland is a stark contrast from that in Greece. As we disembarked from the plane in Helsinki, we were met by a cold blast of air that was very different from the sticky heat we'd just left in Athens! The temperatures are in the 60's!

There are actually quite a few contrasts to our time in Athens. We are staying at an evangelical retreat center in the village of Kiponniemi. "Retreat" means "rustic".

Cile's cabin with 5 other women

Instead of a huge air conditioned conference room, we worship in this tent on benches without backs. Kind of reminds me of the Israelites as they moved their tents from place to place. Even though the seating is not particularly comfortable, the music and fellowship is awesome!!! It is also good to see folks we haven't seen since last year.

Dining hall

The group here is smaller than the other two AGM's so we will be able to actually spend some quality time with just about every family here, which is a good thing! The misquitos are pretty ferocious but we came prepared with repellent and plug-ins to chase away the swarming critters. The food is delicious, as they are able to make it more "homestyle". They even fixed us homemade cinnamon rolls for our afternoon snack.

Peaceful, isn't it?

One thing we are really enjoying is the fact that the sun never goes down! It is daylight 24 hours a day at this time of year. It is interesting. Sometime in the middle of the morning, one of my cabin mates had to get up to go to the bathroom, and yes, she had to hike to the bathhouse... but she said that she could tell the sun was "down" but still had no trouble seeing how to get there. I almost want to stay up all night just to see what it looks like when the sun goes down. Almost.

Well, we are here until Thursday, July 3rd, at which point we return to Budapest. We'll have a few days to unpack, do laundry and clean house before Chris, Kate, Kari and Jonathan (in no particular order!) arrive on July 8th! We are counting down the days!!!

We'll be in touch when we get back to town, unless the misquitos carry us away!!!

AGM or Vacation?

Well, if you are one of our regular blog stalkers then you know that I am WAY BEHIND this week. Unfortunately though, I am not sure it will be much better for the next two weeks because we are about to go on the road again this Sunday. But let me back up....



I got a birthday care package from a wonderful friend last week and I loved it. Kristin has been faithful to let me know I am missed, but more than that, she prays regularly for me which I appreciate most of all! By the way, the book is really good!

Glenn and I attended the first of five annual general meetings (AGM) that will be held in Central and Eastern Europe this summer. The first one was for the folks who work in the Central Europe field (CEF), which is made up of 5 countries, including Hungary. We spent almost a week
in a small village about an hour from Budapest with close to 100 of our co-workers. We had a great time of...


being pampered by volunteers during Ladies Night...


enjoying corporate worship together...

having medical needs attended to...

and enjoying traditional dancing during a special Hungarian meal...

Glenn led a seminar and I sat there as the adoring wife....We did some jogging together twice (30 minutes without stopping!), and some great fellowship time around the bowl of popcorn.

We returned to Budapest on Thursday and have spent the weekend unpacking, cutting the grass, paying bills, doing laundry and returning tons of emails that came in while we were gone.

We leave on Sunday for Greece where we will have another one of these meetings, and then to Finland for the third one. (The fourth and fifth ones are at the end of July and the beginning of August and will be held in Ukraine and Russia.) The biggest challenge is packing clothes for two weeks in a suitcase that weighs no more than 20 kilos for temperatures in Greece that are in the low 90's and in the high 60's in Finland!! My daughter-in-law Kate wisely suggested layers!

Oh, one of the things we did while home this weekend is to get HIV testing for our passports for Russia! When we go to Russia for AGM in August, we have to prove we don't have Aids. Do I get any sympathy for that blood work??? We also had blood work done at the AGM (thanks to our volunteer medical team) so I feel like I have been a human pin cushion. By the way, Glenn and I are in tip top shape according to our blood!

While we were driving through town this weekend, Glenn noticed this car had FLORIDA license plates! What a weird sight! One of these days I hope to learn how this is possible. Not that I want to be a Florida resident living in Hungary.

I will TRY to update this blog at least once during the next 2 weeks while we are gone. In either case, I will probably have a guest/ghost writer the following week for your reading pleasure!!!

Birthday bash and more!

Well, another week when I am behind on updating my blog. I'd like to think now that the Eden House moves into the hands of the Stevens that I will have a little more time, but I fear my supervisor (Glenn) will find other things for me to do!!!


My birthday dinner!

I received an email a couple of weeks ago from a friend here that said on my birthday I should "Be home at 5:20 pm and be hungry." Well, we had our Member Care team meeting at the Doyles at 3:30, and while we were at the meeting, all the ladies of Budapest (you know, the wholesome ones) gathered at my house and prepared a Mexican spread like I've never seen!! We were also celebrating the birthday of another one of the ladies who's birthday was a few days after mine. The ladies here have become my good friends, and I thank God for them.


Mexican food-a true American favorite of mine!

I missed being with my family to celebrate, but in addition to the wonderful Mexican feast, I received enough birthday wishes from around the world to make the day special! Another thing that made my birthday special was knowing that literally thousands of people (mostly WMU ladies) would be praying for me! I needed those prayers on that day because being away from my family on my birthday was hard. I don't know if it is because I am getting older or if it is because I am living overseas away from my family, but birthdays are a big deal to me now (they never were before) and I was a little weepy that day. I am so glad I had all those people praying for me.


Worship at the International Baptist Church of Budapest

On Sunday, Glenn and I rode with Alvin and the Eden House guests to the International Baptist Church of Budapest (on the other side of town) to learn how to get there by car. We have been only one other time, and that was a year ago, and we went by public. Even though I hand the keys to the Eden House to the Stevens this week, we will still have responsibilites there one weekend a month to give the Stevens some much needed time off. On those weekends when Glenn and I are "on duty", it will be our responsibility to take Eden House guests to the International Baptist Church if they would like to worship in English (so we had to find out how to get there!) I must admit, it felt a little weird to be singing songs in English and be able to understand the words!! Weird in a good way.

During the week Glenn and I went into town to look for some curtains for our living room. We've been here 16 months and have yet to put up curtains because we can't find chairs to match our couch!! The curtains need to coordinate with the chairs, of course. We have looked and looked (and looked) for chairs that will go with our fouton couch, but the furniture style here in Hungary is boxy, contemporary, uncomfortable and comes in tacky colors!!! (I figure eventually we will come across a missionary that is returning to the US, selling their stuff off and has a couch they brought out from the States.) I've given up looking for the time being. We decided that in preparation for our kids coming next month, we would hang curtains and then worry about the chairs later.



While we were out looking for fabric, we splurged and ate at Burger King. A year ago I would not have considered eating at Burger King a "splurge", but with the rise in prices and the fall of the dollar, it is now a splurge!! When we arrived 16 months ago, a Whopper combo meal cost about $5. Now it is $7.50! For the two of us, our combo meals were $15. That one little tub of barbeque sauce that comes with the meal in the U.S. costs us 40 cents here!! Kind of takes the pleasure out of eating out to know that burgers are $15.



While in town, we saw this construction on a new metro/subway line that is coming soon, like 2010. Massive amounts of steel!



We saw the Pizza Hut delivery guy!

By the way, we never bought fabric. We found that the fabric is like the furniture.



One day this week Glenn and I woke to the sounds of heavy machinery digging holes in the triangle out in front of our house. We got excited, thinking they might be building a playground or a park right there. (Just about anything would be better than the dumping ground it had become due to the recycling bins located there!) We were a little disappointed to find that it was for a HUGE billboard right out front!!



Last night Glenn and I went to pick sour cherries from the Pollard's cherry tree. I pitted (is that a real verb?) cherries all night and made a big batch of cherry soup. As far as I know, we don't have anything like fruit soup in the U.S. Do we? When Kari, Jonathan, Chris and Kate come in July, I will make more cherry soup for them, and then you will be able to get the recipe off of Kari's blog-see the link to the right for her RECIPES.

Glenn and I leave this Friday for one of our 5 annual general meetings (AGM) and we will be gone for a week. I don't know how much internet access we will have. Probably not much, and even less time in which to blog. Anyway, if you don't hear from me, don't worry. We will be back soon (and then gone again, then back, then gone....) Please pray for us as we meet with families at each of these AGM's. Pray also for Glenn as he leads a couple of seminars during the AGM. We want to share God's truth with these families, and not our own "wisdom", so we covet your prayers. Thanks!!

Super Sunday

Today has been a wonderful day! We took the Lord's supper this morning at church, and no matter that we are on the other side of the ocean, there are still some meaningful elements of worship that crossed the waters with us. After we finished taking the bread and the wine, we had a moment of quietness and the organist played gentily The Old Rugged Cross. I didn't particularly notice the music playing until I realized my heart was singing along! It was an incredible experience and I knew the Holy Spirit was in that place! I am so thankful for moments like that when Christ comes and makes His presence so obvious!

Glenn's walking/jogging partner, Istvan (Steve) went to church with us this morning and we had already invited a young man, Andras (Andrew) from the church to come to lunch at our house today, so we had the two of them at our house for an American meal. It was really fun, and very informative to Glenn and me about Hungarian culture and history. Next time Andras comes, he wants Mexican food! We are trying to make more Hungarian friends!


Strawberry season

We are beginning to see fruit stands popping up all over. Evidently cherry trees produce in abundance every other year and this is the off year! Last year our tree was laden with plump, delicious cherries but this year we have less than a bucket full. Now that I know this, next year I will freeze more to last through 2 years. On the other hand, the apple tree we bought last spring that produced 12 Golden Delicious apples last August has over 30 small apples this year! Double delicious!


Karen and Lauren

Friends from Prague came down for a day or two, and we enjoyed a night out at Pizza Hut. It's interesting to me to learn what restaurants are and aren't available in everybody's country and to hear which ones they want to eat at during their time here in Budapest. We have McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, and TGIFriday. Pizza Hut is probably my favorite, but I eat at McDonald's most often because they are the most convenient.



The Bridges

Earlier this week we had guests at the Eden House that we have distant ties with and we didn't even know it until we got to talking with them! When we told them we were from Marietta, Ken mentioned that his uncle used to live in Marietta. It turns out his uncle was a member of the church that Glenn grew up in (Marietta First Baptist Church) and we know Ken's relatives well. Neat, eh?

Hope your week is a great one!