Highlights of the week

Last Friday we went back to the Immigration office(after our first failed attempt) and this time we passed and now we are legal! I felt like I was at the MVA because you sit there and wait a really long time until your number is called and then the actual process only takes a few minutes! i was so thankful though that the school helped us with this because I would be pretty helpless by myself, since I don't know much hungarian! Libby and I met a really awesome friend while we were waiting and we actually had her over for dinner last night! She is from Armenia and she is studying business and economics here, she's so sweet and I know God crossed our paths for a reason!

It was a pretty rainy and yucky day so Libby and I decided to go to the thermal baths that are so famous here...in the city there are tons of thermal springs overflowing with warm to scalding mineral water so this is a huge part of the culture here! We went to the Szechenyi baths in City Park, its so big, there's about a dozen thermal baths and 3 pools! It was quite an experience, they have a kind of locker room area and all the women are just so free with their bodies, it was kind of awkward because I am not used to that...there are also men of all sizes wearing little speedos and I'm not a big fan of this, a lot of the men were very large too but not ashamed at all! Different baths have different temperatures and minerals but they all are supposed to be very beneficial and good for your health, I could have fallen asleep if I stayed in one too long because they are so relaxing! They smell kind of funny because the minerals but I got used to it and by the end my whole body felt so relaxed and loose I wanted to go take a nap...I think my favorite part was the huge bath outside surrounded by a beautiful courtyard, by this time the sky had cleared up and it was so awesome to swim surrounded by the statues and fountains and the sky above us : )...I was a little sad after though because the men working there tried to rip us off, you are supposed to get money back when you leave and they knew we were Americans so they were just going to keep it, thankfully I had read about how this works in my guide-book so I asked them about it and they acted like they had forgotten...hmm...that's okay this was only the first time something like this happened and I was a step ahead of them!

When we got back a group of us went out to dinner and got some classic goulash, it was incredible! There are different versions but the kind we got (székelygulyás) had sauerkraut in it and potatoes and beef and vegetables and it was in a huge kettle with bread, for some reason it reminded me of the story Jack and the Beanstalk haha, because I felt like this would be the kind of meal I can picture the giant eating! It was a very relaxing night, I am so thankful to have my Fridays off!

Saturday we went to this Hungarian Design market, which is held once a month...it's a chance for young Hungarian designers to try and promote their creations and get their business off the ground. There was some really neat stuff, but a lot of it was pretty expensive, I walked away with a handmade skirt for only 3000 HUF which is like $15 so I was pretty excited about that! It was outside a museum and theater and there were all kinds of neat statues around the area, we even got to go in a hedge maze, haha, I think I like corn mazes better though, this one was kind of lame but thats alright we still had fun!

I went to church again on Sunday and met some more really awesome people, I even met a man from Uganda, it's so awesome to worship God among so many different nationalities and cultural backgrounds! I'm very excited because I am going to meet with the youth pastor on Monday and try and get a bible study started for college age/young adults, so keep this in your prayers! Sunday afternoon I went grocery shopping and then we went out for dinner at this place called Nagyi Palacsintazoja, which translates into Grandma's pancake place! it was so cute and palacsinta are a Hungarian specialty, they're kind of like crepes but I like them even better...I tried one with sourcream and cheese, one with broccoli and chicken, one with chocolate and one with cottage cheese and fruit, they were all amazing and the whole meal only cost me like $3, we will definitely be getting these again!

So on Monday after Libby and I were finished with classes we went out for spicy chicken gyros and then we went on a hike up Gellert Hill in Buda...we got to see fortresses and the Independence monument(which is like our Statue of Liberty) and the view of the city from the top of the hill was amazing! We went up to the Citadella on top of the hill which was a fortress that never did battle...The Hapsburgs built it after the war of Independence(1848-9) to help defend the city...the monument is a woman holding a palm leaf , she is proclaiming freedom throughout the city, it was built in 1947 to honor the Soviet soldiers who died freeing Budapest in 1945...we also saw the statue of St. Gellert, who was an Italian missionary, and the statue marks where he was martyred by Hungarians who were resisting Christianity

...it's pretty sad because many of the statues and monuments are kind of depressing, and Hungarians in general are often very solemn and many are still depressed because of the rough and unstable past of their country...this memorial is in memory of the victims shot into the Danube river by Arrow cross militiamen in 1944-45...

...one of the bridges is nicknamed suicide bridge because of how many have jumped off, and I found out that Hungary has one of the highest, if not the highest, suicide rates in the whole world...There's just so many lost people in need of a savior, but so many are either bitter towards God or they just think of their faith as religion...Well on a positive note, the whole day was so beautiful and I am excited for all God has in store for me here...it has been so incredible and I am just keeping my eyes on the cross day to day...I am so thankful for the grace He has poured out on me!

Well my roommate Didi is not used to homemade food and cooking so Libby and I have decided to try and change this...we've had so much fun cooking and creating and I think Didi has enjoyed it too! On Tuesday we made turkey burgers and homemade french fries!

Then last night I had everyone over for a "family" dinner and there was about 10 people in total, but I had found a Hungarian recipe called Turos Csusza(which translates to cheesy pasta) and cucumber salad and I was feeling brave enough to try it out...so I bought all the stuff and then Libby and I went to work and it was very successful even with all the improvising we did!

Everyone loved it and I was so happy, I will definitely have to make this dish at home for people to try...for dessert, it's kind of funny, Libby and I had tried to make hot milk cake and one of our friends lent us measuring cups and spoons but they were a little different than what we were used to so we measured everything about half of what it was supposed to be and it kind of ended up very flat and interesting...but people still liked it and ate it all, haha, we also bought some of this sweet braided bread that is very good to buy fresh over here and we made our own spread by melting chocolate, it was very yummy! It was such a fun night though and such a joy to have everyone over, and we didn't even have to do dishes, two of the guys jumped up after we had finished and took over, it was great! We didn't have a dry dish towel though so they used a new bath towel it was pretty entertaining!

Well it's Thursday and another end of a school week! I am off to statistics class and salsa, yay! ~I will put the rest of my pictures up on facebook so check them out!