Christmas Catch Up

There has been so much going on since the last time that I've blogged that I'll do a quick recap:

Illnesses on all accounts are completely recovered and I have to say that it's very refreshing and alleviates a lot of stress.

We were able to give gifts to the homeless last week and that was amazing. We collected so many things (way more than I thought we would be able to) and we able to give out so many gifts to so many thankful recipients. The bags included: apples, oranges, peanuts, scarves, gloves, hats, socks, toothpaste, a toothbrush, hand wipes, candy, tissues, and deodorant. We met a huge group at one of the train stations where they were all crowded in a warm room to sleep together. The were so thankful and the celebrated even the small things like the hand wipes. It's just so amazing to see how much small things can brighten up the weeks of these people.

Christmas is tomorrow and we're all excited. Joanna's family is here visiting and they brought so many goodies with them. Tomorrow is going to be a great day of just hanging out, exchanging gifts, and skyping with family/friends here and there. I'm really looking forward to it. I have to admit though that I'm torn about spending my first Christmas away from home. Even though with all the stuff going on as of late, it's been almost too busy to be homesick.

Last, but not least, I had a great time with my students the other day when we traveled to Vienna. I also got to hang out with a few of them at my house the night before and it was a great bonding experience. It was fantastic to be able to sit down with them in an intimate setting and just talk with them and continue to build our relationship. They even invited me to hang out with them to get some hot chocolate after Christmas- so I'm really looking forward to that. I've also had the chance recently to witness to one of my colleagues and share my beliefs about marriage, etc. We didn't get to talk about too much because we were under time constraints, but it was a great way to open the doors. So keep praying!

To Remain or not to Remain?

The question that I have been asking myself non-stop for the past week is whether or not I'm thinking about come back to Hungary next year or not. I don't have to give my answer for a bit longer, but I've started thinking about it and praying about it already. Although I'm currently homesick because of the holidays, that surprisingly hasn't played too much a role in my decision so far. My main concern is finances.

I'm struggling so much with my finances because I've started paying back my student loans. It's tough. I put myself on a really strict budget and I'm trying my best to follow it, but it's really difficult with holidays being around. I know that we're called to rest in God and not worry about anything, but I can't help but to stress out in this particular situation.

As is stands right now, I really want to stay another year. I think that it would be great to go into my second year now that I'm finally settled and have a handle on things. It would also be fantastic to truly build up those relationships that I've worked so hard to establish. But, I'm just not sure if it's financially responsible for me to stay here when I make such a small salary. It's something that's been on my mind lately and something that I've been praying about fiercely.

My students asked if I was coming back next year and I told them that I might not because I don't make enough money and they were so upset. They were like "you're not staying to see us graduate!!!" Although they were upset, I must admit that it made me feel pretty good that they want me to come back. :)

Improvement

On the health front we are all improving greatly which is a huge deal. We're all on medications of one sort or the other and they are helping a lot. We're still on the road to recovery, but we're doing much better already than we were a few days ago. Unfortunately, I bruised all of my muscles in my right rib cage from my excessive coughing which makes it painful, but that's improving slightly day by day too.

We're all pushing hard for our last week before Christmas break and then we finally all get a chance to rest and relax for a little over a week! We're all so excited for Christmas coming though, it should be super exciting. :)

Health

...or maybe I should say lack thereof. Our team is falling apart medically and somehow it all managed to hit at one time.

I got sick a few weeks ago and couldn't seem to shake the cough that accompanied said cold. Well, after coughing for 4 weeks (with the last week of having my cough out of control because it was so bad) I finally decided to go to the doctor. This was also with much persistence on behalf of the others that I see on a daily basis. I know, I know.. someone hacking up a lung during your whole dinner is annoying to say the least. Well, the doctor didn't know what was wrong with me, so she sent to me a specialist. After spending four hours there and a few tests later, it's officially been diagnosed as acute bronchitis with full blown asthma to accompany it. FUN! So now I'm on 5 different meds and feel like I constantly have an elephant sitting on my chest.

Joanna started getting sick a few days ago and couldn't seem to shake it. Now, this is a big deal considering she's half Asian and has a stellar immune system. So she went to school yesterday to attempt to teach (even though she had lost her voice at this point) and could only make it through her first class. She hit up the university doctor and has been diagnosed with tonsillitis. DOUBLE FUN! So, she too is only medication to see if they can't get that taken care of.

Will is our last sick contestant of the day and his involves his tooth. He had been struggling with some tooth pain for a few days. He went to the dentist and they said that they needed to do an emergency root canal. Even though this came as a surprise, he didn't really have any choice in the matter. So, they operated and sent him on his way with some pain killers. A few days later, at his check up, they realized that the swelling had not gone down and he was still in pain. They gave him some iodine to put into his gum a few times a day to kill any infection that may be causing the swelling. No luck. On his third check up, they cut open his gum and realized that the tooth was dead, the gum was ridiculously infected, and he was in danger of his healthy tooth being infected as well. TRIPLE FUN! Consequently, his tooth was pulled and he's on the mend.

As you can see, we're all pretty much falling apart in one or another. It's strange that it's all happened at the same time and all with very different things... intense things too (it's not like we all have the common cold or something). But, we're all determined to beat this and come out on the other side victorious.. and healthy.

Thanksgiving #3

I realize that I didn't post about my first thanksgiving, but at least I'm making up for it by posting about the other two. Our Thanksgiving that we hosted was my favorite. We had so much fun during the entire process and it was a huge hit. We kept it small which I tend to prefer for intimate holidays anyway. It was our typical group (Me, Joanna, Jo, Will, and Matt) and then Joanna had her Hungarian friend, Flora, over while I invited Liza and Eszter. Liza had class that she couldn't miss, so she wasn't able to come, but Eszter came and seemed to enjoy it. We cooked and cooked and cooked some more (we did ourselves a favor and started the night before) and finally had dinner around 3. It was soooo delicious. We had a 11 pound turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, baked mac and cheese, pumpkin pie, apple tart, jello, and I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting. We even topped off the day by streaming the Macy's Day Parade to my computer and watching it while we all dozed.


I was just reminded that I have so much to be thankful for even if I was away from my family for Thanksgiving- more than I'm worth of, that's for sure. I'm so incredibly thankful for the family I have (even if they drive me nuts sometimes) and for the friends that still support me in America and keep up with me, also the friends that I have here and the new friends that I've made. I am unbelievably thankful that I am in Europe and get to spend some time here while I'm still young and can get the most out of it. I know that sometimes I feel like I'm overwhelmed sometimes and that certain stuff doesn't go my way, but I'm still thankful no matter what. It was a good holiday to say the least. But the best part is that now I get to prepare for CHRISTMAS!! It's my absolute favorite.

Thanksgiving #2

Tonight was the second thanksgiving that I've had so far and I still have the main thanksgiving to go on Thursday. :) I've been so blessed with new friends and an impromtu "family" here in Budapest. Tonight we had dinner with the Ballantynes and had a chance to get together and all share our experiences about the blankets for the homeless. Not to mention that I may or may not have had a 45 minute discussion/debate about Harry Potter with some people. It was quite invigorating.

Tomorrow is going to be the start of a glorious Thanksgiving. After I teach for the day, I get to come home and watch Harry Potter 6 to prepare for the midnight premiere, have dinner with Ester, go to Harry Potter 7 at midnight (which I am beyond excited about), come home and sleep, make dinner, eat dinner, nap, and celebrate the fact that I don't have to teach on Thursday... it's good to be American. Only the American teachers get to off :) So I'm incredibly blessed and I get three days in one week in order to remember and share with others why I am. HERE I COME HARRY POTTER!

Blanket Drive/ Care Package

Well, the blanket drive was a huge success!! I am so thankful to everyone who donated- we were able to give out 48 blankets, 80 packs of tissues, and a few pairs of pants. We split into teams and went to metro stations all around the city (since that's where most of the homeless sleep for extra warmth) and we met some amazing people. There were so many awesome experiences from every single team and every person we met was so different.

One man in particular touched my heart- Joseph (as his name translates). This guy has been living in this particular metro station for 10 years, got picked up by the police the night before and treated horribly, and hasn't seen his 3 children in 6 years. We gave him a blanket and some hot tea and he just opened up and poured his heart out to us. At the end of his story, we asked if we could pray with him and he said that we could. During the prayer, he started balling and was so grateful for everything that we had done for him. I really hope to see him again soon.

A little side note- I've received an AMAZING care package today from the Encouragers Class from my home church. It brought me soooooo much joy and excitement and I can't wait to use everything. They gave me 10 movies, SIX packages of cookie mix, snickers, reese's, equal packets, medicine and some crystal light as well. I'm so incredibly excited about it and even more blessed. SO- thank you encouragers class for pitching in and truly blessing me (and my roommates as well since they get to enjoy this goodness too) :)

Why?

Yesterday in class, I was chatting with my 9th grade students and talking about some random things just to get them speaking in English. While, I was talking to some of my students, the other ones were of course talking in Hungarian. Then, all of a sudden one of the kids looks up and was like "Kirsten, do you believe in God?" I of course replied yes. Without a seconds hesitation he said "Why?"

Now, let me me tell you that this kid asks why for EVERYTHING. Literally. He's like a 2 year old child.

"I'm from America"
"Why?"

"Here is your homework"
"Why?"

Some students interrupted the conversation and were like "UGH. you ask why for everything!" and then the subject changed. But, that question did get me thinking. I mean, I know WHY I believe in God, but how do you explain that to someone who has never heard about God and to someone who has limited English. Even if they spoke English fluently, how would I explain that to someone in a country that pretty much despises God? I've been thinking about it pretty much non-stop since then, and I'm still wondering. I think it was a wake up call for me and to be honest, it was a blessing just so my students know where I stand :) I'm very lucky.

Small Blessings

This week has been a bit of a rough patch for me. I have been really struggling this week with different stuff, including my first bout of homesickness. So tonight, when I was walking home from babysitting and I was sulking about how rough my life is. Then God had other plans. When I turned the corner to my house, I saw two homeless people huddled up together under the porch of a closed down restaurant in sleeping bags, trying to stay warm and out of the rain.

I just started crying and realized just how truly blessed I am. I know that we all have struggles in our life and I know that there are genuine hard times that we all suffer. But in that moment, when I was moping and feeling sorry for myself, God opened my eyes to those that are suffering more. It was an excellent opportunity to pray for those people and just to thank God over and over for all of the provisions that He's given me: a warm house, food to eat, shelter from the rain, clothes with no holes in them, etc.

It also motivated me more for our blanket drive that we're doing next week. Joanna and Will are a part of a Tuesday night church and they've decided to collect money in order to purchase heavy blankets for the homeless for the coming winter. The blankets will be purchased and then next Tuesday, we will hand them out to the homeless around the city. So I'm very excited for that next week and can't wait to tell all about it.

Also... Munich

I forgot to add that I had the amazing chance to go to Munich for 3 days this past week and I enjoyed myself to the max. It was nice to see another beautiful city here in Europe. Here are a few pictures from my trip (now that I've finally discovered how to add pictures to my post)

Prayer Walking

Today I had the awesome opportunity to walk around the city and just pray over it. The weather has been absolutely fantastic for the past two days, so I wanted to enjoy it to the max... especially since the sun has been setting around 4 now. But I just walked around the city and prayed for the government, the connections that we've made with locals, my students, and also for my Dutch friends Liza and Ester.


I came to the sad realization that I haven't been praying for them nearly as much as I should be since they're leaving in December. So God really laid it on my heart to do that for a while. But I also got the awesome chance to just talk with God one on one with no distractions and it was simply amazing. It's been a while since I've been able to do that and it was so refreshing. God convicted me of a lot of stuff and I had to face some harsh realizations, which is never easy. But I am so thankful for the time I had today and I hope I get another chance to do it again really soon.

Halloween!

Wednesday was a really long day for me, but a truly fantastic. I had quite a few students from my 11th grade class come over to help me bake some cookies and other goodies for the Halloween party that I was in charge of that was taking place on Thursday. We baked for about 3 hours and then ordered pizza for dinner and had a blast with it. It was a great chance for me to get to bond with my students and really let them get to know me outside of the classroom.


Thursday was our awesome Halloween party. I don't think anyone knew what to expect since they've never experienced an American Halloween before. We had bobbing for apples, pin the tail on the black cat, pumpkin seed spitting contest (which they loved) amongst other things. The treats that my 11th graders baked were gone in about 30 seconds and enjoyed by all. I hope that Matt and I get the chance to do something like this for other American holidays too.

International Friends

I've really been thinking lately just how lucky I am to be in Europe and making friends from so many different places around the world. I've been going to an English Conversation Club every Thursday and I've made quite a few friends from there. The three main friends that I've made are 2 girls from the Netherlands and a guy from Germany. Liza and Eszter are some amazing girls that I hang out with on a pretty consistent basis. Schekeb is a really funny guy that I enjoy spending time with as well. They all have a great sense of humor and can bring a lot of laughter to the night.



I'm really sad, though, because I just found out recently that they are only going to be here for a semester instead of a whole year like I originally thought. So, I've been pretty bummed about that recently because then I'm going to have to start all over making new friends in January. But right now I'm trying to enjoy the time that I do have with them. But then again, it's great because next semester I can go visit them when I have time and have some awesome people to stay with!

Birthday

Today is my mom's birthday! I'm sad that I'm not going to be there for the first time for her birthday ever, but I'm hoping that she gets the present I sent her in time and loves it. I mean, she's had a birthday when I've been at college, but I always went home for the weekend closest to her birthday to celebrate. This year, I'm stuck with a phone call.

It's also SUPER weird to realize that October is more than half way over. Seriously, it just started and I swear that yesterday was October 1st. It's ubber surreal. Our Halloween party at school is next week and I feel like the time is literally just flying by. My students have asked me to throw a Halloween party for them outside of school because they've never experienced a real, American Halloween before, but I'm not sure I'm willing to take on such a large responsibility. We'll see I suppose.

Residency

I'm an official resident of Hungary now! My school has been so great in helping me get all of my paperwork done and everything. Yesterday, Thursday, I missed school and went to go pick up my permit. The ride over to the office literally took me over an hour and a half and I then I was in and out of the office in less than ten minutes.... then another hour and a half home. But I'm so glad that it's finally over.

I now have medical insurance because of it and I will soon be getting paid by my school! Woot! So it's been a very exciting week. I am so happy it's the weekend though. I had to sub today at school so instead of getting my 9th grade students (who are nothing but pure energy) for the usual 3 class periods straight, I had them for four. That means thirty 14 year olds for FOUR hours. I'm so tired. But it's been a good week and I'm looking forward to a great weekend too.

Oops

So it's been over a week since my last post. There hasn't been a lot going on- I've just been sick for the past week and now it's to the point where it's just annoying because it won't go away. I mean, it's always annoying to be sick, but trying to teach when you've completely lost your voice gives you some new challenges to face... and some new movies to watch with your class.

Today was an especially rough day at school, but it got better as soon as that last bell rang and I was home free. I taught five classes today (3 of which I administered exams) and they were all little devils. No matter what I did, no matter how loud I yelled, no matter how much homework I gave.. it didn't phase them. In one class I just held my breath and started counting down from ten in my mind to calm myself before I went off on the students. One student saw me and was like "uh oh, i think she might be ready to blow up on us."

Then after teaching for five classes, I had a few hours of staff meetings to look forward to, all of which are in Hungarian and I wouldn't understand anything. (Keep in mind I hadn't eaten anything at all during the day, so I was extra grumpy). So after my class and before my meeting, I ran out with a colleague and got something to eat which improved my day. Well, when I went back to school for the meeting, a teacher ran up to me and said she had talked the administration into letting me leave since I wouldn't understand anything. HALLELUJAH! So I ran home and may have accidentally took a 2 hour nap. Then I've been eating my share of chocolate and Skyping with friends.

So the day has gotten better, but I regret the nap since I'll never be able to sleep, especially with all the sugar loaded in me. Now if I could just get rid of this dang cough and get my voice to stop squeaking... :)

Visegrad

Today was spectacular. I went to the first Conversation Club of the year on Thursday which is when a bunch of foreign students from the local university get together and just hang out... we may or may not have also participated in some karaoke afterward too. :)

So, today we went to Visegrad which is a castle about 45 minutes away. We all got together, rented a bus, and headed out. We spent some time touring the castle and such and then we went to a local park nearby to enjoy time together. We cooked some stew over a fire and just hung out, played frisbee, and had a pretty good time. It's fantastic getting to meet people from all over the world AND still be able to communicate with them.

Just off the top of my head, I've met people from: Cypress, Columbia, Russia, the Netherlands, more Hungarians, Korea, China, etc. So it's been an absolutely fantastic time. The majority are around my age, so that makes it even more exciting for me to finally get to connect with some people that are my age (and it doesn't hurt that I have a blast with them too). I can't wait for next Thursday!

Joy In Teaching

I have to say that I am have been completely overwhelmed with the joy that I get from teaching. I feel like I can't stop smiling because I just know that I'm in the right profession and I literally have so much fun doing it everyday.

Yesterday, in class, I was signing some of the questions from the homework to the students in order to wake them up and get them paying attention. We were all laughing and having a good time when one of my students stopped me. She asked, "You really love and enjoy teaching don't you?" YES!!

I really want these students to see my passion for teaching overflowing everyday, but more importantly, I want them to see my passion for THEM overflowing as well. We're on the right path and I hope that it keeps going that way. :)

GDC

Tonight we are having our first official Gourmet Dinner Club dinner. Joanna decided she wanted to start this thing for the women here in Budapest, for us to get together one night a month and cook a really fancy meal and just enjoy the company.

Joanna has been cooking all day while I was teaching and now I am in charge of decorations. Woot! It's going to be a good one. I'm pretty excited. I'll post some pictures hopefully of our absolutely fabulous time.

Sickness

So sickness came upon me this past weekend starting on Friday and has haunted my presence continuously. My longest days are Mondays in which I teach 5 classes in a row, but God definitely got me through it. I'm not sure I would have survived otherwise.

I have finally met all of my students and they are a hoot. I'm going to need to pray for some extra help with students who are more trouble than others, but I really want to make an impact on everyone..not just the good kids.

We had our first Bible study as a team tonight which was awesome. We got a chance to encourage and challenge one another as well. We are going to each be prayer walking at a place that we feel led to pray for over the next 2 weeks. Then we're going to come together and figure out something that we can do as a team (and with other missionaries in the area) in order to serve the community.

In other news, I was supposed to run a 5K this Saturday at night where you run through the main part of town and all the lights are on, but unless my lungs miraculously heal.. that probably won't be happening. Bummer.

First Day

God is so good.

Last week I was reading in the Bible and I came across the verse that said "if you ask this in my name, it shall be given to you". Well, I've heard this verse a million times, but have never really put it to practice (foolish of me, really). So I prayed that the Lord would take away my anxiety and worry for the school year.

Today was our first day! It was a little pointless since all we did was have a small ceremony to celebrate the 100th anniversary (and when I say pointless it's because I couldn't understand a single word they said) and then I met one class for literally 30 seconds. One of my colleagues pulled me into his class just to introduce me since I'd be teaching them eventually and that was all.

I know that it was a small day, but it was nice in order to sort of break the ice and get a look at what I'm dealing with. I'm still fighting over what I should do tomorrow. I mean, it's only introductions, but first impressions last you know...

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. AND hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon- I've been seriously lacking in that department.

Perfect Sunday

Today was fantastic. I got to finally relax and have the Sabbath that I've been so desperately craving!!!

Joanna had a friend in for the weekend and it was great getting to know her. We had everyone over for lunch today and had so much fun cooking, laughing, and eating together. All the girls took a trip to the grocery store and as lame as that sounds, it was actually a lot of fun. After dinner, three of us went down to the center of Budapest since I've never seen it at night. We just hung out, talked, and exchanged stories.

The weather was perfect, the company was beyond fantastic, and all in all it was an absolutely great day and something that I will cherish for a long time.

Updates

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late. It took forever to get internet, but we finally have it! It's been a crazy week too. The rest of our team is finally here and I'm loving it. Everyone gets along great and we are working together pretty well.

I had my first day of school today. Granted, I wasn't teaching anything... it was just faculty meetings. On top of it just being faculty meetings, they are meetings that I don't understand a single word of. A lot of reading took place for sure.

We've pretty much got our flat all settled and everything purchased. There are still a few small decorating things that we'd like to get, but we're going to hopefully get those with time. It looks great though and hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures up ASAP- I've been lacking in the picture postings..sorry.

I love my school. The faculty is absolutely fantastic so far. Most everyone came to welcome me today, even those who didn't know English at all. That made for an interesting conversation to say the least. They were absolutely great and really interested in getting to know me. God has definitely answered my prayers when it comes to having great colleagues, we'll just have to see about the students now. ;)

Ministry

Today we had an awesome Bible study together as a team and it was pretty encouraging and challenging at the same time (aren't those the best?). It was about ministering to the poor that are in our communities and how necessary it is. I think a lot of time the church tends to overlook this.

In the Bible study there was a quote from the Bible (I think from James) that I VERY roughly remember. It was something like: "When we fail in one part of our spiritual life, we have failed in them all" I know that this was written more eloquently and the quote makes more of an impact, but I don't have it handy and don't remember it word for word.

When I first read this, I was discouraged. I knew that there was always going to be an aspect of my life that I failed in and so I didn't know how God could have this expectation of humans when we're all bound to screw up everyday. Then I reflected further and came up with something like this:

I think this was written to prevent us from justifying our inaction. God calls us to minister to the lowliest people and do it with a happy heart. Most of the time we don't minister and we find any excuse: I teach a Sunday school class, I volunteer at my child's school, I go to church 3 times a week, etc. But James was saying that when we fail in ministering where we are supposed to (to the poor) then the rest of our works are considered worthless.

I thought it was very interesting. The entire time during the study I thought about a homeless man that lives about a block and a half away and I see him everytime I walk to the bus. I'm praying now that God would show me a way to minister to him and slowly but surely show him the love of Christ. I don't want him to rely on me for his daily bread, but God only.

Sabbath

Man, I really need a Sabbath. Last semester, I was convicted of truly participating in the Sabbath and taking it to heart. It was fantastic when I actually disciplined myself to honor that and the Lord really helped me to keep my life in check. The sense of relaxation was just absolutely fantastic and definitely from the Lord.

I haven't had a Sabbath since I've been here and it's really taking it's toll on me. We've been doing language school everyday (which is great and really coming along) and going to the stores non-stop to get stuff to survive in our new flat. Even looking at my schedule now, it's slightly overwhelming and I'm not really sure when I'm even going to get a chance to truly spend an entire day in Sabbath.

So, please pray for me that I actually get a day of rest. A day (preferably by myself... even as much of an extrovert as I am, I'm really struggling with having no alone time recently) My daily quiet time is really keeping me going from day to day, but it's just not the same as being able to spend an entire day of rest every week. I am honestly and truly praying for my time of rest because I need it desperately.

Settling

Now that we're moved into our flat and making it home little by little, there are still some things that I'm absolutely loving that I have to get used to. Here are a few simple differences between the States and Budapest:

-The vast majority of people use public transportation (this is a problem for the directionally challenged like me)
-I am now the minority
-There are no dryers- you gotta do things the old school way and hang your clothes to dry
-Gas stoves only. I realize there are gas stoves in America, but I've never personally had one
-Seeing 1,000 pop up on the register isn't really that big of a deal
-Light switches are normally on the outside of the room
-Closets are a rarity
-More important than your birthday is your name day. They celebrate everyone with that name because they're usually named after celebrated saints
-Milk comes in a bag optionally
-Milk also comes in 1.5% and 2.8%, not the skim, 1, 2, and whole we're used to
-Bread is baked fresh everyday and since they make it with no preservatives, it only lasts about 2 days
-You have to bring your own bags to any store you go to
-Recycling is HUGE over here
-Everything is in Celsius, Kilometers, and kilograms over here

That's all I can think of for now, but there's plenty more. As much as there is to get used to, I'm loving every minute of it.

Moved In!

We're all moved into the flat- it's official. I'm so excited. Even more exciting than that- I went to my school today and signed my contract to teach. So, it looks like that school is stuck with me for a year :)

I don't have internet right now, so I've been boring from people, so I don't get internet consistently- which is why it's so difficult to update the blog as of right now.

We're in language school. It's a crash course in all things Hungarian basically. It's tough, for sure. The teacher is very encouraging and is great at what she does. She's a native Hungarian, but she typically teaches English at a school and as a tutor.. I think she's excited to finally be teaching some Hungarian.

That's all for now. I'm really hoping to get internet by next week (fingers crossed) but I will definitely update before then!

So close!

We're so close to being moved in!! We've been busting our butts the past few days to get everything that we need. Running all over the city to get to one store or another or to go pick something up.

Let me tell you- moving flats is quite the task when you have to use public transportation only! If we didn't stand out before to the Hungarians, we definitely do now. When I come back to the states, I am going to have some amazing looking arms, though, let me tell you. Hills everywhere and carrying 40 pounds boxes... woo!

We're almost there though. We have most of the big stuff done, it's just getting the little stuff done now. I can't wait to get stuff semi-together and post pictures!

Progress

We're so close to moving into our flat! I'm so excited. It's in an absolutely gorgeous part of town with amazing views and shops everywhere. God truly blessed us with this flat because we didn't think we'd be able to afford something quite this nice, but God definitely provided.

We move in on Saturday, but we're working hard to get everything settled before then. As we speak, Tom is meeting with the landlord to work out all of the furnishing which will hopefully be there shortly after our arrival. I can't wait to decorate :)

I will miss the closeness with the team in one central location though. It's been so nice being able to wake up every morning and share devotions together and really grow close together spiritually as well as emotionally.

Funny story- this whole money difference is difficult to get used to. Yesterday, we went to the restaurant and it was Jo's turn to handle the check to practice. After paying the bill, we told her to give the waiter 500 forents which is a little more than the average of 10% tip here. Before we know it, Jo is handing the waiter a 5,000 forent which is equivalent to about $25!!!! Luckily, I caught her right before the waiter walked away and got everything straightened out. It was so funny though!

I'm all too positive that these funny stories will be a regular occurence.

Busy busy busy

Well, today was quite a successful day which is always a great thing. We got several things accomplished today and according to Tom (our director), "If you can get one thing done in a day, you've accomplished something." So, apparently we conquered like 4 days of work today.

We have been walking and walking some more and sweating even more than walking. Man oh man is it warm over here. But that's ok. A new diet + lots of walking = getting into great shape. The hardest thing so far hasn't been necessarily beating the jet lag, but has been staying up past 8 pm. We wake up pretty early and then push all day, so we're pretty pooped by the end. We just try to stay up to an average of about 10 pm so that we can stay on top of the jet lag and not let it get to us.

That's all for now. Tomorrow, we're having a cookout with some missionaries and some great people that have been helping us get settled into the city. I've cooked dinner for everyone the past 2 nights, but tomorrow I get to make an American dessert for everyone to enjoy. Just have to figure out what that may be... :)

Safe and Sound!

I'm finally here!! It's so weird because I don't actually feel like I'm living here for a year- it's like I'm on a temporary mission trip or something. I know that it'll eventually hit me though and it'll be hard. The prayers are much appreciated.

Hopefully, I'll be able to start taking some pictures here soon. We started our orientation today and it's been both interesting and informative so far. We're learning about money and budgeting today and then after that we will be taking a trip to the grocery store to practice buying some stuff. I feel a little bit like I'm in Preschool.

Keep praying for us! We've hit the ground running pretty much and it's a little difficult when you're jetlagged.

Unbelievable

Today officially marks the time that says I have less than a week until I leave! My incredible mom through a luncheon for me at her work in order to get awareness out for my trip and to help raise support. It was incredible. Everyone in her office came to the lunch that my mom provided and they were all so inquisitive- it was fantastic! I shared as much information as possible with them to let them know what I'd be doing for the next year.

I'm leaving tomorrow for Maryland to hang out with my dad for the remaining time in the States. Even just officially leaving Virginia for Maryland is scary. I've done it a million times, but this time is seems to...official. I'll have a good time with my dad, my brother, and my brother's girlfriend though, so I'm pretty excited. Tonight I will hang out with my mom and make sure that I have everything together before I go to Maryland. Everything seems so surreal at this point, to be honest.

PS: We finally have our apartment picked out in Hungary! I can't wait to get there and take a million pictures :)

Prayer Needs

So, we all know that God has been absolutely incredible throughout my journey and has more than provided for me. Today, I spent the entire day trying to get sort of packed just so I had a general idea of what I still needed to get, etc. It's been a long day to say the least and I've realized that I have far too much clothing. During my time packing, though, I spent a lot of time praying for the things that still need to get done/happen before I leave.

I'm still praying about my fundraising. Even though God has blown my mind and provided so much, there is still a long way to go. I know that God will give me the perfect amount that I need, but doesn't mean I still can't be bringing it to his feet. The second main thing is my car. I really need to sell my car (preferably before I leave) but it's been difficult because it's been in the shop and can't show it to anyone. So please just keep these two main things in mind as you think about my trip and I would appreciate it more than you can know!

The Final Countdown

So, since today is technically Monday, that means in exactly 2 weeks and a few hours I will be shipping off to Hungary for an entire year. There is no point in hiding the fact that at this point I am more nervous than I have ever been in my life. Don't get me wrong, I am way beyond excited, but the anticipation is killing me. Even more than that, I am starting to realize that I am saying goodbye to friends that I will not see in a year...if ever again. It's a very hard realization to take in and makes me sad even as I'm typing this. I know that this is a God thing, though, and that I will make great friends overseas, but that doesn't ease the pain too much.

On a much lighter note, however, God is continually blowing me away with His faithfulness. A few days ago, I talked with Tom, the director of CEO, and he told me that I had passed the $3,000 mark. I was not too happy about that because I was hoping and praying to be a little further in my fundraising, but Tom reassured me that I was on the right track and that with $3,000 I could get started over there, but I would just have to budget a little bit.

Well, recently I went to go visit some of my closest friends (and my surrogate Aunt and Uncle..the Starkers) in KY for a week before I left. We were out for a car ride and they were asking me some more detailed questions about my trip. Fundraising came up as a part of it and how I had recently been encouraged by a former teacher that God would without a doubt provide the money that I need for my trip. The very next day, the Starkers handed me a check for $2,000 and told me that since they were lacking a home church at the moment, they prayed and decided to tithe their money to my trip instead. I was ecstatic to say the least. I logged on to my email to tell Tom about the donation when I received another email from the Reynolds family (another close family friend) saying that they too were lacking a home church and were writing a check for $1,500!!!

After being completely overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and goodness, I could do nothing but cry. I could not believe that after lacking in my faithfulness to God that he would still choose to bless me in such a HUGE way. This whole time, I've been praying to get at least $5,000 before I left and now I have over $6,500!! In one day, my donations literally doubled. God is so good and I just can't get over it. I'm sorry this is long winded, but I wanted to do the story justice and just show you that God truly does bless those who are doing his work. :)

Chugging Along

Well, graduation is done and so is the crazy, crazy wedding that I was a part of this past weekend. It's a huge relief, I must admit, that those are over. Now all I have to worry about at this point is packing up and moving out of my house before my lease is up. I'm telling myself to take it day by day so that I don't get overwhelmed.

I've been doing a great Bible study with Tom, the director of CEO, and it's really challenging me, which I appreciate. I'm really learning to face my fears and the qualities that don't particularly glorify the Lord and I'm learning to change those so that they DO, in fact, glorify God as He should be. It's challenging and awesome.

I'm looking forward to the next 2 months; getting ready to leave, visiting people, etc. I'm not really looking forward to how fast it's supposed to move, to be honest. I know that it's going to be tough to pick and choose who I get to visit, but I know that those I don't get to visit will understand hopefully. Just pray that God keeps the sun up a little longer in the sky a few times between now and July ;)

Overwhelmed

I have to admit, that I'm a little overwhelmed at this point. Graduation is 2 days away, packing seems to never end, and not to mention all the craziness of the weekend that comes when there are roughly 20,000 in a single location on one campus. I'm really trying to enjoy all the time that I have with all my friends before I leave though because it's going really hard to realize that I'll most likely never see these people anymore and if I do, it won't be for a very long time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely excited to be getting ready to go and start a very new and very exciting chapter of my life, but it's petrifying all at the same time. I'm not necessarily overwhelmed with everything that I have to do, but I'm just overwhelmed with how much time I don't have left. It's going to be difficult to make all the visits that I want to make if I don't have an adequate amount of time to do it. Geez... so much to do, so little time.

Coming together

Well, I know that it's been a while since I've been able to post something on the blog, but things have been a little hectic and, to be honest, there hasn't been much to update. Now, that things are finally moving along, quite a few things have come to pass. First, I've officially purchased my plane ticket to go! YAY! I'm so excited. I'm also finally to pack a few bags that we're sending over a little early. So, with all these little things coming together, it's starting to make things a little more real.

Fundraising is still going on and still quite the challenge for my faith. When I got my first report of where I was standing financially, I didn't actually get as much as I was expecting. But, after talking with a few of my old friends and much wiser people, it really helped me realize that the Lord WILL provide exactly what I need for this trip. Not only will he provide, but He'll provide it with the perfect timing too.

So, for now, keep me in your prayers and specifically pray for my fundraising and my faith to keep growing during this whole process!

The Start of Something New

So here is the story of how Hungary came into my life:

For months now I have been praying about what I should do when I graduate in May. Should I go on with school and get my masters? Should I continue at the English Language Institute and see if I can manage to snag a position there? Should I go overseas for a while to teach? Should I move somewhere else in the US and teach? As you can tell, the options were endless and overwhelming. I prayed for months and didn't feel God pointing me or telling me which direction to go. It was frustrating to say the least. This semester, I chose to do my internship with the English Language Institute at Liberty- somewhere where I teach an English class to international students. Well, I can at least say that I'm incredibly blessed to have found my passion in life... it's just what to do with that passion that was the problem. My internship adviser, Joanna, is absolutely incredible. She asked me what I was doing after graduation and our conversation went a little something like this:

Joanna: So what are your plans after graduation?
Me: I have no clue whatsoever. I'm just as much in the dark as you are.
Joanna: Want to go to Hungary? (said with a laugh)
Me: Um....yes! (said with no laughter)
Joanna: I wasn't kidding.
Me: Who said I was either?

Just so you know, Joanna is the daughter of the President of Christian Educators Outreach (the organization that I'm traveling with). From this simple and slightly humorous conversation blossomed an idea that quickly gained potential. I met with her and her dad for dinner one day and discussed the possibilities of traveling to Hungary and teaching there for a year. What am I going to be doing? I'll mainly be teaching in a Hungarian public school, but with some part time missionary work. The main goal is to establish deep and meaningful relationships while teaching and using those relationships to eventually speak Truth into the lives of students. There will be various other missions opportunities, but that will be the main goal while in Budapest.

This is an amazing opportunity that God has given me in order to take his Gospel to another part of the world that I NEVER thought I would have the opportunity for. I will say that my biggest need right now is prayer and financial support. I need to raise $16,000 in order to go to Hungary to support myself for a year. The salary that I will receive as a teacher over there is not nearly enough to support myself, since most Hungarian teachers are forced to get a second job most of the time. So I ask you to join me in prayer that God will provide the money that I need and will start working in the lives of the Hungarian people that I will be in contact with. Thank you so much in advance for the part that your support and prayers have played in my new adventure!