My newest ministry!

In addition to my TCK education ministry, providing member care to our personnel, covering at the Eden House once a month, opening our home for food and fellowship, and being a tour guide in town when folks come to visit Budapest, my latest ministry is flower delivery!

I got an email from Dwayne and Missy, asking if I could pick up some daisies for Dwayne's mom for Mother's Day and take them to her. Dwayne's mom is Mary, our co-worker here in Budapest, and they wanted to make sure "Mimi" (as they call her) knew they were thinking of her on Mother's Day. I couldn't find cut daisies so I got her a potted planter full of daisies that she will be able to enjoy for a long time. Hopefully!

I promise, I work hard during the week (I also PLAY hard on the weekends!) This week I took Friday off to go with one of the guests at the Eden House to the Szecheny Thermal spa in downtown. I know... it is a rough life but SOMEBODY gets to do it, and there's no reason why it can't be ME!

I met Elizabeth in town at 12:30 pm in front of the thermal spa and before going in, we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the grounds. The day was warm and beautiful. Very comfortable, temperature wise, but not hot. Perfect day for the spa! Indoors or outside!

Now, we all know the rumor that Europeans are not very modest, and there is some truth to that, but we bought spa tickets that allowed us to change and store our clothes in private "cabins". The ironic thing is that men and women use the same hallway so you have to make sure you are fully dressed before exiting the "cabins.

I've shown you pictures before of this place, but I didn't do much else this week besides return emails about education. The pictures of the spa are much more interesting than me sitting at my dining room table with the computer in front of me and all my papers spread out before me. Boring!

Outside, there are 3 large pools with different purposes. This one has the hottest water at 38 degrees Celcius (or if you prefer, Centigrade). If you look closely (zoom in) on the far right side, you will see several men playing checkers or chess in the water. If you see a picture in a tourist magazine of this spa, it will usually have a shot of this pool with a close-up of men playing chess or checkers.

The middle pool is a lap pool reserved for those who are here for exercise. No loafing in this pool!

And the third pool at the far end is the "fun" pool. In the very center is a jacuzzi that will seat about 15 people. In the circle surrounding the jacuzzi is a whirlpool that has jets that make the water go 'round and 'round. This is my favorite! If you lift your feet off the bottom, you will float all the way around the circle without a bit of effort. The current is really fast and if someone tries to walk it, they will get bumped by the folks who have their feet lifted!

The weather was really nice, but not warm enough for me to want to sunbathe! Maybe this guy had done laps all afternoon and needed a bit of rest!

We also took advantage of the indoor pools. All in all, there are 17 pools, I believe. Each one has something different to offer. Temperatures vary, some have minerals in them, one is for a water aerobic class (we also participated in this too!), and there are a bunch of saunas with the ice pool right beside it for dipping/freezing afterward! Some people just enjoy sitting or laying in the water and letting the warmth relax them. (And for those who are wondering, no, that is not me in the aqua blue bathing suit with the dark hair. She just looks like me.)

This man evidently got too relaxed in the pools! He was sleeping quite soundly!

Anyway, the day was lovely (as my "British" co-worker would say) and I felt all loosy goosy the rest of the evening. Taking people to the spa is one of my favorite things!

This week the iron man showed up at our house with burglar bars for our downstairs windows. We didn't ask for them but our landlord felt really, really bad about our break-in back in January, so he hired a guy to make burglar bars for the house.

This is the view out of one of our four living room windows, overlooking the carport.

And this is the view out of our downstairs bathroom, overlooking our neighbors yard. I was a little worried that I wouldn't like the bars on the windows, that I would feel like a prisoner in my own home, but actually they are quite nice. (I sound like my "British" co-worker again.) Do you see my curtains on the window? They are shower curtains that match the curtains on the tub/shower! I thought that was creative! Besides that, it was a lot easier to buy two sets of shower curtains than to find fabric to match and then have to make the curtain myself (or take it to my Hungarian friend, Judit who is the seamstress.)

Well, tomorrow I head to Poland for a Ladies Road Trip. We are going to shop for Polish pottery! I'm using (by faith) birthday money I hope to get from my Dad and Glenn's parents, and from money E. gave me last year that I've been saving for this trip. I am driving; two other ladies from BP are going with me. We will drive to Brno, Czech Republic and pick up Wendi and her daughter Emma, then the five of us will drive to the town of Boleslawiec, Poland which is the town where all the pottery is made. We'll shop on Tuesday, and return home on Wednesday. Glenn is staying in BP because he had a revisit by the stomach bug that was here two weeks ago. Maybe I will pick him up a piece of pottery so he will know I was thinking of him!

A Horrible Winter Means...

a beautiful spring, we hope! The winter was long, long, long, and a good bit colder than previous winters. Certainly more snow than we've ever had before! We won't have any apricots this year because a late frost got all the blooms, but the apples, cherry and pear trees all seem to be doing beautifully.

This gorgeous Lilac bush is at the front corner of our yard. Our house sits on a corner, Komaromi ut (Komaromi Street) passes in front of our house and Heja utca (Heja Road) passes along the side of our yard. Our first year here I never even noticed our Lilac bush since it is outside our fence and the straw mats woven into the fence blocked the view of it. Last year I found out we had one, but it was after the bush had already bloomed. This year I am enjoying the blooms with fresh bouquets in my house for several weeks!

Even though the flowers are starting to bloom, the sun is not out a lot. Most days it is overcast. Saturday, Glenn and I worked out in the yard for 6-7 hours (yes, I'm feeling it today!) and neither one of us even got the slightest bit pink from the sun. Too cloudy.

It's been a calm week as Glenn and I quarantined ourselves from the stomach bug we caught last week. We worked on emails, and didn't even leave the house until Thursday, and that was to go get some groceries! Since there isn't a lot to tell you about in our life this week, let me share with you something from our local "superstore", Tesco.

I always get amazed at the American products that we can buy here, and the "randomness" of them all! Why do some companies come to Hungary and others don't? Why can we buy Lays potato chips in an assortment of flavors, but we can't get Fritos by Frito Lay? There are tons of other brands of potato chips, but nothing here that is equivalent to corn chips!

By the way, the Mabelline Mascara in the familiar green and pink tube is 1,399 Hungarian forints (HUF), which is equal to $6.93 (USD). I think these sell for about $3.99 at Walmart, don't they?

Freeman's facial products are some of my favorites in America, especially the facial scrub. However, I try to stock up on it when in the U.S. because a tube is $7.75 here whereas in America, the last time I bought Freeman's, it was about $3.50. Of course, it's now been 3 1/2 years since I last bought any and the price has probably gone up some.

I get a little excited when I see an American product with English on the front label, but then my excitement is squelched when I turn the package over and there on the back where the directions are, there is this white label that has been totally pasted over the English and everything is written in Hungarian. There is NO WAY to get that label off to be able to read what was under it. That's the best adhesive money can buy, for sure! Sometimes there isn't a white label; then I really get excited! That is ... until I turn the package or box over and notice that only the front was written in English and the back, sides and everything inside the box is written in Hungarian! The worst is hair dye! (Not that I use it, of course!!!)

And this just cracks me up. Why do they put the words in English on products that are produced here in Hungary and sold exclusively here? On one side of the box of milk it says Tej, and on the other side it says Milk. Honestly, in 10 years, everyone in Hungary is going to be speaking English whether they want to or not!

I told you this was a calm week. Glenn and I are here all this week so hopefully I will get caught up in emails and get in a bike ride with my hubby. Glenn is getting ready to go on a 3 day bike ride with a co-worker and his son, and he needs to build up his endurance. While Glenn goes bike riding/camping, I'm going pottery shopping (in Poland) with the guys' wife! More on that to come!

Have a great week!

Macedonia reminds me of...

Glenn and I managed to get "clear" skies for our flight to Macedonia, but it was obvious that the ash from the volcano had left its dirt in the clouds.

As we were rising to cruising altitude, we could see a layer of brown dust particles caught below the clouds. It looked like dirty clouds below the white fluffy ones.

The plane we were on had a total of 6 passengers, counting Glenn and me! Two were in first class, and one young man right in front of us, and one behind us, plus Glenn and me in row 5. The flights going north out of Budapest were still all cancelled; only those going south were able to fly.

We started out in the capital city of Skopje (pronounced scope-ya) for the first couple of days to visit with our families there.

We visited with Emily, the youngest of all the folks there in Skopje. We ate the most fantastic meal at an Italian restaurant called Henrico's!

We also visited with Gef, the most mature of our folks. She probably wouldn't mind me telling you how old she is because she is very "young for her age", but my daddy taught me you don't tell other peoples' ages. Let's just say she is very spry! She is Macedonian by birth and is an amazing lady! Even though she was raised in the U.S., her parents spoke Macedonian in the home so she is fluent in the language, and Gef came to visit relatives as she was growing up so she is quite familiar with the Macedonian culture.

Skopje is not like any other European capital city that we've visited before. It does not have the trappings of big cities with huge high-rises, modern facilities, and a well-developed public transportation system. It does not have the beautiful architecture of cities like Budapest, Vienna and Prague.

We saw a LOT of bikes!

There is one street that the folks call Plastic Alley. It is a street lined with shops selling all kinds of goods out on the front sidewalks, most of which are made of plastic. Sure reminds me of Daloa, Ivory Coast!

As in Ivory Coast, shops on the ground floor with apartments above.

U.S. Aid came to Skopje and put in a lot of money and effort into fixing up the river bank with miles of grassy areas and walking/jogging paths. It was beautiful! I wish Budapest had an area like this along the river that is a 20 - 30 minute walk from our house.

Along the streets were these huge trash bins where everyone is supposed to throw their personal trash for the city to haul away. Some trash makes it in. A lot doesn't.

After a couple of days in Skopje, we headed up to Prilep to pick up one of the families that would show us the way to the retreat, about 45 minutes outside of Prilep. Prilep is a quaint little town nestled at the base of a hill, and is the home of two of our families.

On the drive out to the retreat, we saw these rock walls near the top of one of the hills. I wonder when the fortress was built?

Macedonia is mainly rock.

This was the view out of our hotel room. Gorgeous, isn't it?

We stayed in Hotel Molinka. We were there with about 75 kids, probably about 10-12 years old, on a school field trip for the weekend. It is their "nature break".

This retreat really was a RETREAT! Most of the time when groups have a retreat, it is really meetings with each day starting with worship. We, however, didn't have any meetings! There were lots of times of worship, and Glenn led two sessions on Teaming and Communication, and then one with just the men on several issues that pertain to them particularly. I was supposed to lead the women in a session but I got the stomach virus that the Prilep team passed around the week before.

There were 4 couples and a single man that make up this team. Four ladies came from the U.S. as volunteers to keep the kids, and Glenn and me. A small but great group! Quality, not quantity.

Welcome Home!

Last week I told you about the Rierson's coming back for a visit to Budapest.

It was good to see Robert and Elaine and their two boys again. One of the wonderful benefits to working with our company is that we get to cross paths with fellow co-workers who work all over the world. When we travel throughout Europe or even back to the States, we get to reconnect with folks we've met in previous years.

The Doyles arrived back from their 3 month stateside assignment on Thursday. We were so glad to see them again! We went to the airport to pick them up because we were excited about seeing them, and we don't believe there is a taxi large enough to haul all their footlockers and suitcases across town.

We borrowed the red van from the Eden House to be able to carry all their baggage. Fortunately, they made it back before the winds blew the volcanic ash our way! Later on Thursday, I believe the Ferihegy Airport closed. Phew!

And they brought us KRISPY KREME doughnuts! They remembered our favorites: Glenn got glazed and I got my raspberry filled glazed! I ate 2 of them at their house and a 3rd one on the way back to our house. I've got the last 2 in the freezer for when I come down off this sugar high!

Glenn used some of his birthday money to buy these gadgets that exercise different muscles when you do push-ups. They swivel, therefore, using different muscles. Glenn is reading the instructions (in Hungarian, of course!) to see how he is supposed to use them. Right now, they are stored in front of the fireplace as a reminder for him to use them. My weights are under the radio cabinet next to the dining room table. Out of sight, out of mind.

Thursday night after the Doyles got unpacked and a short nap, we met for dinner at the Snyder's house. The Perrymans (Skipper and Sue) joined us. We were supposed to have our weekly Bible study after dinner, and we were going to keep it short since the Doyles would be so tired, but we ended up talking, getting caught up on the Doyles' news and catching them up on all of our news. Good friends sure are a blessing from God!

The weather is finally starting to get better. This week we've had a couple of days of sunshine, but it has been cloudy up until this week! Here you can see the cherry tree blossoms in full bloom.

From the number of blooms, we should have a bumper crop of cherries this spring!

Well, we are supposed to fly on Tuesday to Macedonia for a team retreat and then from there, fly on to Prague for a meeting, but the airport is still closed so we'll see. It is supposed to open tomorrow at noon, but they've changed the opening day every day since it closed last Thursday. They really don't know when it will reopen! If it doesn't open tomorrow, we'll be driving the 12 hours down there! Hopefully, I will be able to have some internet access during our travels; if I don't update next Sunday, you'll know why!

Take care!

Happy Birthday, Glenn!

Ah, Spring is at it's peak this week! We got back from our trip to Germany just in time to find our flowers in full bloom.

I love strolling through my yard every morning when I finish my walk with Janet to see what flowers have broken through the ground or opened their blooms since the day before. It's like a new surprise every day! Glenn and I enjoy walking in our neighborhood and admiring all the varieties of flowers. Each Spring when the bulbs start breaking ground, I am appreciative of my son-in-law, Jonathan, who planted a bag of 100 bulbs for us our first year here.

During the week, Glenn and I both were busy with returning emails. We did get a break on Friday at lunch when the Rierson's came for a short visit. They used to live down the street from us until last year when they moved to London. They were in town for Spring Break and brought their two boys back to visit all their old school friends. It was good to see them again!

The big news of the week is that yesterday (April 10) was Glenn's birthday. I always like to stay around the house on my birthday because I want to be home when folks call to wish me a happy birthday, but Glenn wanted to go on a bike ride on his birthday, so we did. (About 5 people called while we were gone to wish him a happy birthday. Thank you for leaving messages!)

It was a little cool and overcast, but we were adequately prepared so it was quite pleasant. We rode along the Danube River, going AWAY from town, as much as we could, until we got to this bridge that took us onto an island called Csepel.

Construction on the Harosi Duna Hid (Haros Danube Bridge) that took us over the Danube River onto the island was started around the time the Berlin Wall fell and Communism broke apart. It struck me as I noticed the date of construction that the bridge was being BUILT as a way to connect one world with another (Budapest with Csepel), and the wall was DESTROYED as a way of connecting two other worlds together (east and west Germany).

We found this wonderful path that runs parallel with the river that is part of the land owned and managed by the Water Works department. We went in one direction until the path ended, which was 6 kilometers. Next time we'll go the opposite direction on the path to see how far it goes! All in all, we rode 25 kilometers yesterday. I was very, very thankful for my new biking shorts with the padded seat (worn under my long pants, of course!)

Big news for this coming week! The Doyles return on Thursday and we will be soooooo glad to see them. I'm sure there will be pictures of the reunion for you for next week!

Sprechen Sie Deutsche?

Nein! I don't speak German but I wish I did. Germany is such a pretty country and the language is so much easier than Hungarian; besides, they have gummi bears and sour sticks (two of my favorite candies!)

We were in Germany for the Germanic cluster meeting, which is for all our personnel who live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Glenn and I went to do the member care appointments.

This is the hotel where Glenn and I stayed. A nice, typical German hotel. The meeting was held in a small village near the Czech Republic-German border in an assisted living complex. The families with children stayed in the apartments in the complex but those of us without children were blessed to stay in this beautiful hotel down the street, 5 minutes on foot. Unfortunately, neither place had wifi for us to be able to check emails. In fact, no where in the village was there a place to check emails so we had to drive to a McDonald's in a nearby town about 10 minutes away. It cost us 8 euros (about $11) an hour for internet. It didn't really matter that it cost so much because there wasn't much free time in the schedule anyway!

We had a few hours one afternoon for "family time" to do some sightseeing so we went into the nearby town with another couple, Andy and Kaye, to see what there was to see. We went to Zwickau, 20 kilometers away.

Every town has a Catholic church, and this town was no exception.

We saw a skilled craftsman repairing the head to a statue! If you look at the top left part of the picture, you can see the statue on which the head normally rests. Before we left the church, we saw the man climb a ladder and replace the head. Cool!

Some of the other families drove an hour and 15 minutes to Dresden, a much larger town that boasted a Mexican restaurant. We love Mexican food, but we weren't willing to drive that far just for it. Lo and behold! In the small town of Zwickau there was a Mexican restaurant! In fact, it was the same chain as the one everyone else went to in Dresden, and we didn't have to spend all our time riding in a car!

The day was cool, the restaurant was close by, the colors were bright, the food was mediocre, and the company was great!

Oh! Another neat thing was that one of the volunteers who came to lead the worship music is from Jonesboro, Georgia! The world is getting so small!

After the meeting ended, we drove through the Czech Republic to visit with several of our families on our way home. I think we visited with seven families between Germany and Budapest. We got to spend the weekend with Melissa and Larry in Plzen and join them in all their Easter festivities.

Sunday morning we drove about 40 minutes out into the country to attend worship in a village with the Lewis family. Larry preached in the Czech language so that was a special treat for Glenn and me! The church meets in the lobby of an old, old theatre while they save money to renovate the actual theatre to get rid of the sloping floor and self-closing seats.

That afternoon 3 Czech families and 2 American families joined us for a huge meal, an Easter egg hunt, and the story of Jesus's victory over sin and death by using "Resurrection Eggs". Melissa did a great job of talking about Jesus to the children...

...and the adults listened intently to her too!

Czech's don't have the custom of hunting for eggs so this was a new experience for them, and I think they really enjoyed it.

As we headed on to Budapest, we spent a night with the Young's in Brno. Their lovely daughter Emma is into basket weaving and made me a beautiful one while we were there.

I was so impressed! Hmmm, maybe I could get into something like that. I love baskets!

Well, we are home for the next two weeks before heading to Macedonia for a team retreat where Glenn and I will be leading a couple of sessions. For the next week, I won't be doing much-other than responding to all the emails that came in while we were traveling these past two weeks. The week after that, I will be focused on preparing for the retreat. Please pray for me to be able to get a LOT of emails written this week.

Yippee! The Doyles return to Budapest from their 3 month stateside assignment in the U.S. on April 15th. We will be so glad to have them home again! We've really missed them.

Have a great week!