Prague, continued

Well, we continue with our trip to Prague....


Sign with the different ways to spell Prague

In Hungarian, Prague is spelled Praha. To say, "I am going to Prague", I would say, "Prahaba megyek" or "Megyek Prahaba", depending on whether I wanted to put the emphasis on going to Prague or the fact that I'm going. Rather confusing to me since I can't remember whether the emphasis should go at the front or the end of the sentence!


Glenn speaking on marriage at Ebenezer

Our main responsibility at Ebenezer was as counselors but Glenn did lead one session on keeping your marriage strong on the field. He used a very creative idea correlating international driving signs with signs in your marriage, and how important it was to be able to read and understand those signs to avoid mishaps. It was good.



Fortunately, the week in Prague was not all work :) We got to eat out for lunch and dinner (paid by IMB with limits, of course) and Prague has some of the most amazing restaurants! We ate at a Columbian restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, an Italian one, and Greek one, in addition to an American one called Buffalo Bill's!



They were ALL good but Buffalo Bill's was my favorite because it had something I haven't seen since arriving in Europe almost 9 months ago, and that is FREE REFILLS! At $3 for a bottle of Coke Light (Diet Coke)everywhere else, free refills was a real bargain! I think I drank 3 large glasses of Coke Light just because I could! This restaurant was also the first one I've ever gone to that advertises ICE for their drinks. Can you tell that Buffalo Bill's caters to Americans in Prague???

We didn't really do any sightseeing due to lack of time, but we did enjoy walking and catching public transportation to and from our hotel, restaurants, and the regional office where we had the conference. The weather was cold and misty, but it felt good since we were always in a hurry and walking FAST.

I loved being able to read some of the signs-about phones

Looks Greek to me!

Parking on the sidewalks

Christmas season begins in October in Europe too!

One block from our hotel was the Flora Mall. It looks just like any American mall, but some of the fashions were a little strange. The big thing is wearing long shorts with tights and pointed toed high-heeled boots. Not a look just anyone can carry off!

Glenn wants these shoes for Christmas

On our way to the train station to return to Budapest, we went to the Flora Mall food court to pick up a bucket of KFC for lunch on the way home! I'd been dreaming of KFC ever since our trip up to Prague a week earlier when a guy carried a bucket onto the train for his lunch! We got 9 pieces of chicken, 2 coleslaws, and 2 pieces of bread (they don't do biscuits here). It was really finger lickin' good!

We got back to Budapest on Thursday night, and hit the ground running. The time in Prague was a good. It was a mini-vacation, just what I needed, but it is good to be back "home".

This is the view outside our front yard and all up and down our street. One day a year in every neighborhood (on assigned days) everyone puts their broken appliances, furniture and other trash out on the sidewalk for the garbage company to pick up. It is fairly common to see people in their cars parked next to the large piles of discarded items, wanting to be the first one to see what others are throwing away so they can claim it. You know, one man's trash is another man's treasure!

Schatzie is Hungarian!

I also found out that Schatzie is Hungarian, and her name is spelled Saci. In Hungarian, the letter S is pronounced "sh", and the letter c is pronounced "tz". We are enjoying babysitting Saci, and she enjoys taking walks with Glenn and me. She is also a great jogging partner! She jogged non-stop for 55 minutes with me yesterday. (This is my subtle way of telling you I jogged non-stop for 55 minutes (!) and the fact that Saci was with me is secondary!)

One of our guests at the Eden House is an expectant mother who is due to give birth in a couple of weeks. Her husband and 5 children arrive tomorrow from their country to join her for the birth of this 6th child. This is our first baby to be born at the Eden House (well, not AT the Eden House) since our arrival in Budapest, and I am so excited!

If you recall, two couples in the recent past have been in the process to come as host/hostess of the Eden House but it was evidently not God's timing. Well, we should find out this week if another couple who has expressed an interest was approved to come manage the Eden House. If this is THE couple and everything continues as it should, they would arrive in April. Continue to pray for God's provision for this invaluable ministry, and for us to wait patiently for His timing.

This Thursday is All Saints Day. In Hungary, families clean up around the gravesites of their loved ones and place flower arrangements and candles on them. It is evidently a big deal here because of the abundance of flowers and wreaths for sale everywhere (particularly at the entrance to cemeteries) AND we were encouraged by our language teacher to walk through the big cemetery in town just before dusk and admire all the beautiful flowers and candles. I'm sure it is beautiful, but since we don't have a loved one buried here, I would kind of feel like a tourist intruding in their grieving! Maybe I will just walk around the outside of the cemetery and peer in through the gate.

THANKSGIVING is right around the corner and then IT WILL BE CHRISTMAS!!