Deja vu!

Not only are Hungarians learning English at an alarming rate (or should that be "alarmingly good" for those of us here who haven't mastered the extremely difficult Hungarian language???), but they are becoming more and more western in their consumerism! When we were on our stateside assignment recently from September through January, I was surprised at some of the things that were popular in the United States.

These Crazy Bands topped the list of crazy things. I didn't get it. I still don't. Why does it matter what shape your rubber band is when it is in the bag with all the other bands, and what difference does it make when it is on something because it takes on the shape of the object that it is going around? I just don't get it. Guess it takes the mind of a 7 year old to see the value of it. Let's just say I was surprised to see them here!

My sister, Karin, and my daughter, Kari, would be proud of me. (Did you notice the name similarity?? Kari got her first name from Karin and her middle name from my other sister, Elizabeth.) I am learning to like coffee. Karin got me hooked on "low fat, with "whip", White Chocolate Mocha" at Starbucks while we were in the States. Unfortunately, the 3 Starbucks downtown don't carry White Chocolate Mochas. (Starbucks arrived in Budapest in August!!!) Fortunately, I've discovered Cafe Latte's!

We visited with one of our couples here in Budapest on a cold, cold day last week. As I took off my shoes just inside the front door (customary here--great idea as it keeps the house much, much cleaner!), the husband noticed me shiver and asked if I'd like a cup of coffee or tea. I was so cold, I told him I'd take a cup of coffee (even if I didn't drink it, I could warm my hands around the cup!) Anyway, they served me a latte and it was delicious! It had tons of sugar which I love, and it hardly had any coffee which I don't care for, so it was perfect. And the best thing about it is that it is healthy for me because of all the milk in it!!! On our way home, we jumped off the tram and hopped into Auchan (kind of like Walmart-- I know, now you don't feel sorry for me anymore) to buy this neat little gadget that is a battery-operated whip that froths the warm milk.

I mentioned previously that we had really cold weather earlier this week so we've been having fires in our small fireplace most of the week. I sure miss our big, beautiful, stone-walled fireplace on Big Oaks Drive, but I'm grateful to have this small one here. No one else we know in town has a fireplace so folks think it is really special, which it is. Anyway, Glenn found a source across the street from our house for firewood and bought all they had. (Now, I didn't say he found a cheap source.) They delivered it in this pallet, and then Glenn had to find a place to store all the wood that will last us for two more winters. We've got some in the basement and some under the house (but not under the kitchen window, which is how the burglar got into the house in January of 2010).

By the way, Glenn found out when he bought the firewood that the young man, 30-ish, spoke a little English. For those of you who have been here, he and his family own the construction business that is across from our house. This is the same company that loaned us the use of their forklift when we first arrived to download our crates from the truck-for $10!

At church this morning we had a guest speaker. He is an American (I didn't catch his name) and works with a Christian ministry in the U.S. He is currently in Hungary to teach some classes at a Hungarian Bible College. He was speaking this morning on the Old Testament prophecies and correlated some of them with what is going on in Egypt today. He was interesting...but I admit I don't know enough about the prophecies between Daniel and Revelation to know if what he said is true/interpreted correctly. I just know that when the Rapture comes, I'm going! It was good to hear the message in English. The Hungarian lady that translated is a member of our church. She and her husband speak English (though I don't believe we've ever met) and are home missionaries to the Hungarians.

We are going to attend a conference on Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills this week but I'm not going to tell you where it will be. It's a surprise so you'll have to come back to this site next Monday to find out where we are. I hope to have some interesting pictures for you next week. :-)