Here's what one of my classes said about
Jesus during the Famous Person Lesson #3:
Most of my 9A class. Karen's friend Cili
is in the middle row, second from left.
Every spring, the trees leading to the
train station are decked out in pink.
On Easter afternoon, we went to our friends'
apartment to celebrate the occasion. Eliza was
napping, but here are Joelle, Shannon, and Jarrod.
The Easter Egg Hunt generated lots of excitement!
Eliza with her loot.
Doug found a comfortable(?) place to nap.
Playing Ladderball was fun!
Karen during a pensive moment.
Our friend Ildi made these eggs for us.
She used onion skins to dye them.
On Saturday I went to Margit Island, Budapest's "Central Park,"
for my friend Laura's birthday celebration. A bunch of CEO folks
were there, too — lots of fun!
My camera and I got to walk the entire length of the island.
That was fun, too!
Saint Michael's Chapel ruins
Ruins of the Domincan Convent, where Margit, 11-year-old
daughter of King Béla IV, was sent by her father.
He had vowed to send her there if he could rebuild
Hungary after the Mongols had devastated it. He did,
and she went and lived there for the rest of her life.
Biker dudes enjoy playing on the ruins, too.
These apartment houses are at the edge
of our old neighborhood in Budapest.
Margaret Bridge is still under reconstruction.
The barge is labelled "Bridge Builders Special."
In Pest (the flat/east side of the city),
there was a sign advertising
Romeo and Juliet, á la Facebook.
A flower shop
Our favorite train station: Nyugati Pályaudvar.
More birthday photos:
Rebekah and Karen in the Choco-Café.
"Earth Hour" was on Karen's birthday,
so we played Catan by candlelight.
Petra and Cili celebrated with Karen
a few days later.
Yesterday Karen participated in her first poetry
competition. She did very well; I could tell
because the audience laughed at the right time.
I was glad that I could be there!
This morning all four of "the usuals" came to
our Ladies' Prayer Group! Having all "the usuals"
is unusual, because two of them have two
little kids (each) and are pregnant with their third.
Sára, Grace, and Shannon are such a blessing to me!
Saturday was a big day! That morning,
several people worked on the baseball field (below).
Most importantly, Karen celebrated her birthday!
Her friend Rebekah came up for the weekend.
Rebekah brought her flute, and the two of them
played music for a few hours. I loved it!
Field of Dreams
One dad, two moms, three coaches, and four kids
came out for a long morning of manual labor.
Here's Barbi, one of last year's players.
Here's Coach David McBrier,
with the boys working in the background
Zsolt and Doug try to attack an acacia tree,
which apparently has tentacles deep in the earth.
After Doug got home, our cat Pascal
was very interested in the smells
emanating from the wheelbarrow.
It has been a full month since I have posted pictures!
I've whittled the many events down to fifteen pictures.
It wasn't easy.
I spent the first weekend of March with old and new dear friends,
most of whom are related to our missions partners, CEO.
Our time together was full of good conversation,
good food, laughter, and encouragement.
On the day before Lent, the zero-year class celebrated
Pancake Day. The idea of maple syrup was new to them.
Later that day, for their media and communication lesson,
my kids created commercials for random items.
Here Bali and Gergely try to "sell" half tennis balls.
The Thai pillow became a pen holder to Encsi and Rebekah,
and a disciplinary device to Bálint, Lóránt, and Marci.
There was a school presentation for the March 15
commemoration of the 1848-1849 revolution
against the Habsburgs.
Karen took this picture of treetops.
Here's one of Karen and her best buddy Rebekah.
My mom sends the Sunday Comics to Karen every week.
I save them and use them with my kids
when all our brains are fried.
This is how my kids "take notes." Apparently
writing down what's on the board is passé.
We are incredibly blessed to live in a town with
two missionary families whom we enjoy greatly.
Last night we got together for Grace's
incredible food and a lot of fun.
This week, instead of pictures, here are a few thoughts on love from some of my students, most of whom are 14-15 years old.
Sally Jackson, Jubilate alumna from WAY after my time,
came to visit us last weekend. She has been teaching
in Prague, and left us on Saturday to go see friends
in Budapest. It was great fun getting to know her!
On Saturday morning, we took a quick tour
around the center of Vác.
Some of my kids cutting up before class:
Lee Hlavka, head coach of the Budapest
Wolves
American Football team, came to talk with my seniors today.
We all learned a lot!
We live two blocks from the Danube River,
but I rarely see it up close. According to
the marks on walls, grasses, and trees,
the river had already gone down two feet.
The bike path was pretty muddy....
Vác has always been a very Catholic town.
Several hundred years ago, the Catholic church
kicked out the Reformed/Calvinists/Presbyterians,
who had to build their church half a mile north of the city.
We met some friends in Budapest this past Saturday.
On the tram across the Danube, we saw this new (?) building.
Budapest, looking north from the Petöfi Bridge
During the first week of school, Luke Stannard from
Campus Crusade came up from Budapest to talk with
classes in several area high schools. He came to Boronkay
on Friday, January 7. During my culture class, he took
the kids through an exercise about choices.
The kids "paid" for their choices with colored pieces of paper.
The first choice was between a large house and a Porsche.
Other choices included relationships, sex, a fulfilling job,
a happy family, and being loved forever.
That evening there was a youth meeting
in a local cellar, at which a transformed Luke
talked about "The American Dream."
Several of my students attended,
as did Karen and her youth group.
Photos below are courtesy of Facebook,
used without permission.
They did lots of fun activities.
One of these was the Evolution game,
of which Rock-Paper-Scissors is a key part.
Here are three of my beloved girls:
Karen and Cili and Petra hung out together on New Year's Eve.
By the time this picture was taken, Karen's parents were
happily sound asleep.
Last night the main square of Vác was beautiful!
