Let them eat caviar!

What a wonderful week! God is great and God is good. Let us thank Him as we should!



We discovered one of the large grocery stores is open 0-24 (or as you say in America, 24/7) and so we've often found ourselves shopping until late at night. Cile loves to walk down every aisle and peer at each item, trying to learn the vocabulary and hoping to find something she recognizes! (Since it gets dark here so early, this picture could have been taken at 5:15 pm!)

The biggest news of the week is that our crates arrived and were delivered safely to our doorstep on Friday.



We arrived at the customs/tax office at 9:30 am with all our completed paperwork in hand. After paying the taxes and signing the last document, the customs agent finally decided we looked honest and said he didn't need to inspect the inside of our two crates! The crates were then carried to our new home and were there by 12:00 noon! This process was amazingly smooth and we believe God had His hands all over those crates!



Unfortunately, the trucking company was supposed to bring a forklift to offload our crates, but they only sent a pallet lifter. Our crates were toooooo heavy for a pallet lifter, but amazingly, a construction company is across the street from our house and loaned us a forklift and driver, all for the bargain price of $10!!!!



Vincent, a young college student, and a missionary collegue, Darrin, helped us unload our crates, piece by piece, into our house. Vincent had to go on to his classes after 2 hours, but Darrin stayed well into the evening! His wife, Kesha, came after she got off from work at 5 pm and stayed late too.



Later in the afternoon another missionary couple with a different organization, Dan and Janet, also came to help us sort, take things upstairs, put away dishes, etc. They pitched in and worked until late that evening too. We had great help!

We'll show you pictures of the house next week, but this gives you an idea of the piles of "stuff" we unloaded. Nothing broke! The only damage was a small hole the size of a quarter in the back of the china cabinet, up at the top. It's not visible at all, and we will probably stick a night light through the hole and light up the cabinet. Don't people pay extra for things like that? And we got ours for free!

Our friends, Mary and Alvin, couldn't help us unpack but they provided a wonderful dinner for 6 hungry people from Pizza Hut, Cile's favorite!! There were four pizzas, but we were starving and ate every piece! Recognize the dining room table and china cabinet??? Finally, we called it a night at 8 pm and went back to the guest house to go to bed. We were exhausted but excited to be able to begin settling into our new home.

The next morning we headed out with Darrin and Kesha to eat our way across Budapest! We started with breakfast at IKEA, Darrin's favorite breakfast place, then we walked through the store to get some ideas of what furniture we might need to buy to compliment our furnishings. (We did not bring a lot of furniture in our crates, but mainly household items like dishes, linens, decorations, lamps, etc.)

IKEA says, "No peanut butter for your crackers? Let them eat caviar!"

We had packed some food items in our crates such as spices, pancake syrup, salsa, rotel tomatoes, granola bars, and a few jars of peanut butter. Hungarians do not eat peanut butter, but we can buy it at a grocery store that has an international isle for $5 for a medium size jar. Glenn tried the caviar on crackers. Cile didn't. Glenn wishes he hadn't.

We drove a car to IKEA in case we found some bargains that we couldn't pass up (we didn't), but then headed to a parking lot so that we could take public transportation for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, just before we got to the parking lot, we had a little fender bender. Well, it was really a side panel. The driving in Hungary scares Cile terribly because they have this law called "priority to the right" which means if two cars come to an intersection at the same time, the car to the right has the right of way, even if the car on the left was on a more major throughfare! That means you can be driving down a pretty major street, and all of a sudden a car comes flying across in front of you because it was on a side street to the right! I'm sure this will not be the last time you hear from us about priority to the right!

Our next stop was a creperie. Cile and Glenn had ham, mushroom and cheese crepes, but Kesha and Darrin had crepes with jelly inside, shown above. They were delicious and brought back memories of our time in France in 1984-85.

Darrin then took us to another mall, The Arcade, since we had never been there before. We ate lunch at Burger King, which was our first time since arriving in Budapest 6 weeks ago.

Darrin and Kesha shared their Burger King coupons with us. Between us we bought 4 cheeseburgers, 4 small fries and 4 cokes (no ice, of course) all for the bargain price of $9.50.

After this meal, Darrin took us to one of the McDonalds that had a McCafe; it looks kind of like a Starbucks if you close your eyes and try real hard to imagine it. We all got chocolate frappacino's, but to Cile, it just tasted like a chocolate milkshake. By this time, we were all stuffed!

Lest you think all we did was eat, I've included some of the sights we saw along the way during the day.

The countryside out near our house.

The Parliment Building

We promise not to show any more pictures of the Parliment Building, at least until the weather gets sunny. It's just that this building is soooo big, ornate and beautiful that Cile can't help but take pictures of it each time she sees it!

Glenn, Darrin and Kesha

Saint Anne's Church (one of the many Catholic churches in Budapest)

We think this building is beautiful, except for the flashing casino sign on the corner!

We finished the eating tour (uh, I mean sightseeing tour) about 5 pm and headed home, full and tired. We had a great time though and look forward to eating in more of Darrin's favorite restaurants!

We truly thank God for His goodness and call on our life. We thank Him for the wonderful church that we attend on Sundays, and for the warmth we feel from our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. We thank Him for providing different people to translate the sermons each week so that we can be fed spiritually. We also thank West Cobb Baptist Church for "pod casting" their sermons so that we can be led into worship in our living room during the week by our American pastor and friend, Ken!

We have much for which we are thankful, but we also have a few needs. Would you pray that we will focus on our language study and make it a priority over setting up our house? Would you also pray for opportunities to practice what we learn in our language classes? Cile is meeting once a week with a female college student just to practice speaking. Pray not only for Cile to increase her comfort with speaking, but also for the relationship with Nora. We do not know where Nora is spiritually.

We also met a man named Steve (American version) who lives near us as we were uncrating. He speaks English pretty well. Pray that we will develop a friendship with him that will open doors for opportunities to share Christ with him too.

We still do not have a land line for our new home phone nor have we been able to get cell phones. (This affects our internet access and our ability to "skype" our family and friends.) Foreigners can get land lines for their homes because ultimately the responsibility to pay unpaid bills falls back to the landlord. Likewise, foreigners can't get cell phones unless a Hungarian is willing to open an account on their behalf, making the Hungarian ultimately responsible in case of the foreigners' non-payment. We think we have found a Hungarian woman who is willing to open an account for us. Pray that all these arrangements happen quickly, as it will be difficult to move into our new house without any ability to communicate with our missionaries, families and friends.

As always, thanks for remembering us in prayer!

Magyarul tanulunk!

Ahhh! What a wonderful week! It all started with our first care package! Our daughter Kari sent some of her coveted private stock of Ranch dressing to share with her mom because we can't find anything like it here in Hungary. She also sent some Italian dressing for her Dad. We have been enjoying salads ever since the package arrived!



We've been able to find the real McCoy or close substitues for most food items, with a few exceptions. In addition to the Ranch dressing, I've been surprised that we can't find Karo syrup, wheat germ, or anything like Bisquick. I can make Bisquick from scratch, but I'm not sure how to make Karo syrup and wheat germ!

On Friday, we walked down to the mall after our language class to mail a birthday present to Kari in France. While we were there at the mall, which is where the post office is located, we decided to eat lunch in the food court. Yes, the food court! (I tell you, I am having difficulty adjusting to this life in Budapest after not having any of these luxuries for all the years we were in Africa!!! For some reason, I feel I am supposed to be suffering!)



We both got a slice of "pepperoni", and then Glenn went back for a second one. When he sat down, he smiled and said, "Oh, they had my favorite pizza! Pepperoni, onion and kidney beans!" We are having to adjust to some different tastes! I bought a bag of pre-made salad at the grocery store and in it were corn kernels!

Because of a few little odd things, such as granulated vanilla flavoring instead of liquid vanilla, Cile is having to learn how to make adjustments in the cooking department. We invited guests over for lunch one day, and Cile made brownies from scratch but they turned out very grainy, and pretty tough to chew. (The other option was to buy a box of Duncan Hines brownies for $8.50 from the international food isle at Tesco.)



By that evening, they were hard as a rock and we had to try to break them by hand rather than cutting them with a knife. Cile will have to work on that recipe before company comes again, or try some other desert!

Saturday we took public transportation back into town with two other couples to do some real sightseeing. We left the house at 9:00 am and returned at 5:00 pm. We saw some beautiful sights! Cile, though she is not a history buff, really enjoyed the walking! The night before, the temperature dropped into the low 30's and stayed there all day. It was either walk fast or freeze.


Fishermen's Bastion

Glenn is standing at the base of the Fishermen's Bastion, which was built in 1905. It is located on the site of the former fish market, and was built primarily to be an outlook post. Though not the highest point of the city, it still offers a great view.


Chain Bridge over the Danube River

Down the hillside from Fishermen's Bastion flows the Danube River, which divides Budapest into two parts: Buda and Pest. We live on the Buda side. There are several bridges that connect the two parts of the city; this one is the Chain Bridge. It is a 380 foot suspension bridge that was built between 1839-1849, and was considered a technical wonder back then.


Heroes' Square

The famous Heroes' Square, completed in 1929, represents the patriotic feelings of the people and honors the seven legendary leaders of the Hungarians. In the porticos are statues of the Hungarian kings.


The Parliment Building

Probably the most famous of Budapest's landmarks is the Parliment Building that sits on the edge of the Danube River. It was built between 1885 and 1902, and was designed by Imre Steindl (you probably already knew that, didn't you?). Unfortunately, Mr. Steindl died two weeks before the ribbon cutting ceremony.


View from Fishermen's Bastion of the Parliment Building on the Danube River.


St. Stephen's Basilica

Saint Stephen's Basilica is the largest church in the city. It's construction began in 1851 by Jozsef Hild, but upon his death, Miklos Ybl took over. Very shortly afterward, several walls fell "due to a sag in the main pilons". It was odd that the walls fell during the daytime, and that there were no eye witnesses except Mr. Ybl. Fortunately, Mr. Ybl had made new plans and construction continued.


Big and beautiful but not warm and cosy like WCBC!

As we were walking through the city, we came upon the biggest park in Budapest. The name is simply The City Park, but it is nothing simple. It was formerly a swamp and was the hunting grounds of the King. The swamp was later drained and trees were planted. In 1896, an English-style park was built on the grounds with several interesting buildings, including a castle (but it was never used as a castle!) Today, a huge outdoor ice skating rink is located in the center of the park as one of the many attractions.


Brrr!

We have had so much fun exploring Budapest that we plan to go out again next Saturday! After our 8 hours of walking and catching buses, trams and the metro, Cile's feet were tired so Glenn rubbed her feet while they watched a DVD movie on the computer. He is soooooo good to her!

Talking with Kari and Jonathan. Chris and Kate, got yours ready?

We are doing well but miss our families. We've been blessed to be able to talk to our parents and children through Skype on a regular basis, and are enjoying our Christmas present from Chris and Kate, the web cam. Both Kari and Chris's families also have web cams so we can talk and see each other, which has been wonderful. Technology has been such a blessing to help us feel connected to one another.

By the way-we got word that our crates are somewhere in Budapest and are going through "customs" paperwork at this time. Maybe we will get them by the end of this week. God's timing is perfect.

Walk, walk, walk! Eat, eat, eat!

Last Sunday night (actually it was Monday morning!) Glenn did something he has only done once or twice in the past 29 years, and that is to watch the Super Bowl.



This is pretty impressive for several reasons: 1) he is not into sports (at all!), 2) pre-game festivities began (at midnight) well past his bedtime (10:00 pm), and 3) he had to watch it on a laptop computer! He took advantage of the opportunity to "bond" with a couple of the guys here at the guesthouse. Cile talked with one of the wives from mid-night to 2:00 am, which is when Glenn called it a "night".

Most of the week was spent in language study, walking around our neighborhood and trying to find opportunites to practice what we've learned. This week we learned helpful things, such as, "I am American. I live in Budapest. I am learning Hungarian. I speak a little Hungarian. Thank you." Previously, when we would greet someone in Hungarian, they would then proceed to rattle off a string of words, and we'd just have to shake our heads and say in English, "I'm sorry. We don't speak Hungarian." It was sooooo frustrating. Little by little, we are building confidence in using what we know how to say in our heads. Cile actually put two sentences together today at church! (We hope you are praying!! This could be a slow process!)



Saturday, we hopped on some buses and trams and went venturing into town again for the day. We went back to the section of town that we visited on our second day here (while still under the influence of jet lag) to scout out the area around the clinic that our collegues use for medical care. (Also, we wanted to make sure we could find the medical clinic in case of emergency!)

Notice anything unusual about the building on the right, below?



There's an optical illusion! Can you see it?



The section that is charcoal gray is the front of the building, but the part that is pink and lighter grey is actually a building PAINTED on the SIDE of the charcoal building!

We saw lots of interesting things, such as the above building, but also lots of huge, ornate buildings such as this one below. This one is right in the middle of Moscow Square.



In the same part of town is one of the larger of the six shopping malls called Mammut ("mammoth" in English).



It is huge! It has four floors of shops, a bowling alley, and several restaurants. A little bit of everything!



I can't wait to take our daughter Kari to it when she and Jonathan come to visit. Maybe next week we can find the LARGEST mall here in Budapest, The Westend Mall, with 400 stores!

After walking through just a small portion of the mall, we decided to walk some more outside. As we were walking down one of the streets near the mall, we came upon a small store (about the size of an American walk-in closet) that had a lot of international foods in the front window such as tortilla chips and stir-fry noodles. It was neat to see what someone (whoever orders the food items) would choose to import from America, Mexico or China.

While in that little shop, we were looking in the "cold" drink machine to see if there was anything interesting there besides the usual drinks of bottled water, Coca Cola, Sprite, Coke Light, Fanta, Lipton Ice Tea (that one cracks me up because Europeans drink their tea hot) when Glenn spotted one, lone Dr. Pepper! We let our collegue who had come with us for the day buy it since neither of us are hooked on Dr. Pepper, but it was really great to see it! So many of our co-workers love Dr. Pepper so we'll be sure to tell them where we found one bottle. Who knows if they will ever get any more?!?



The days are beginning to get a little longer. After our first language lesson almost two weeks ago, we walked home and it was dark by time we got to our house at 5:15 pm. Just two weeks later, it is now light at 5:15 pm when we get home, and there are signs of spring right around the corner! Trees and bushes have buds on them. This has been an unusually warm winter for Hungary. We hate to break it to all these people; God knew Cile didn't like cold weather and wanted to make her transition a little easier. He isn't promising her that it will always be this comfortable, but she is grateful for every blessing He will give!

Szia!

Szervusz!

This is the Eden House, the guesthouse for our 400 missionaries who live in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest probably has the best overall medical care in this part of the world, and so missionaries that cannot get appropriate medical care where they live come to Budapest and stay here. We are staying in the basement apartment while we wait for our crates to arrive, which we have no idea when that will be! Cile loves it here because there are always people coming and going!



We've just finished our first week of language study and are trying to use what we've learned as much as possible. So far, we've mastered the basic greetings, which we think are very difficult to pronounce!



Agnes is our language teacher. She speaks very good English, which is extremely helpful when we need something explained. She is also very patient, which is definitely needed!!!



Hungarian is a very difficult language for Americans to learn but we're giving it our best efforts! (Read between the lines: pray, pray pray for us!) Hungarians add prefixes and suffixes to add meanings to the original root word. This 21 letter word is just one of the many long words that we see on signs all around us! I took a picture of this sign so that Agnes could tell us what it means. The word means plants and growing and the things that pertain to them. (This building houses a research center for plants.)



Thursday evenings we meet for Bible study with 2 other couples. Coincidentally (or is it?), all 3 couples have previously served as missionaries in West Africa so we share a common bond and have lots of fun telling "war" stories. We are currently studying the book of James.



In our spare time between walking to the grocery store, studying Hungarian, going to church and Bible study, riding the bus and trams into town to learn where everything is and visiting with missionaries as they come for medical care, Cile responds to emails and Glenn plays Solitaire on the computer.



Early Saturday morning we went to the outskirts of town to go to the large, well-known flea market in hopes of finding some real bargains for our house. We were disappointed with the fleas, but enjoyed walking, being together, and trying to use our kicsi (little) Hungarian. When it closed, we caught a couple of buses and trams and went into downtown Budapest to take some pictures. We then walked and walked and walked. On the way home, we hopped off the bus and went into a "mall" that had an Office Depot! Very cool. Very expensive!


Beautiful, old buildings in Budapest!


Walked on the sidewalk down the Danube River

We left the house that morning at 10:00 am and arrived back at the house at 5:30 pm, having walked 8-10 miles that day. Cile's feet were exhausted and all they wanted to do was watch a movie. She didn't move off the bed the rest of the evening and was sore on Sunday but it was worth it!


Isten Ha'za-God's House

We went back to Budafok (that's the name of our neighborhood) Baptist Church on Sunday, and again, Gabor translated the whole service for us. We met the pastor and his wife, who, fortunately for us, both speak a little English! Next Sunday, they want us to "speak" during the service and tell a little about ourselves. They will have Gabor translate for us, but wouldn't it be great if we could work with our tutor and learn how to say it in Hungarian!?!

In closing, we'd like to ask you to pray about the sale of our house in Marietta. So far, the only interested buyers we've had have been folks wanting it for rental property or wanting to "fix it up" and resell it, both of whom want to buy it at a "fire sale" price (as Cile's father says). We ask you to pray that God will give us peace to wait on the right buyer, or let us know whether to lower the price, or that He has a third plan for it. We're asking you to pray for this for us because we want to be able to focus on our work here, and not be distracted by an empty house there. Thanks!