Work and play

In the past 9 days, we have had 18 lessons in the Hungarian language. Most of these have been in a crowded, spartan fourth floor room in 95 degree temps, high humidity and no air conditioning. And painting and construction in the hallways outside the room. The Hungarian language is extremely difficult, and this fourth floor room is arrived at by us walking about a half mile, riding on a crowded and warm subway car for about ten minutes, then walking again for a bit, then boarding a (strangely beautiful and efficient) squeaky, jerky, yellow tram car and riding (usually standing up) for about another 25 or 30 minutes, before getting off the tram and walking a block to the dorm building where our students are staying. Did I mention it has been hot?

Thanks for reading the above paragraph - I'm really not complaining. But it seems right for you to know, if you're following this blog, that we are not just here for vacation. Not really here for vacation at all, at least not until late December. So in addition to the beautiful surroundings, and delightful smells, tasty gelato, and incredible architecture, there is an element of work and discomfort to our new and temporary existence.

And now that I've got that off my chest, I can post a few photos from our first train adventure this past weekend. 12 of the 18 students, along with our family, took to the rails at mid-day on Friday and left the extremely hot city for the shores of Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe. Before we left the station, we had all nearly finished all the water in our water bottles, and we were baking. Just over two hours later, we had thrown our stuff in our hostel room, put on our bathing suits, and we were swimming alongside other lucky travelers who had also decided to visit Balatonlelle, a beautiful lakeside town on the lake's southern shore.


Suffice to say we had a great time there. A very good time.

Here you can see Bastian and Abi on the train, and then a group of the Calvin students wading into the waters of Lake Balaton. Refreshing!