Second Time 'Round

What is it like to be back in Budapest?

Well, as you may have guessed, it is a lot easier being here for the second time.  While I wouldn't dare to say that I speak Hungarian, I recognize and remember a lot more Hungarian than I did the first time I arrived here.  We know how to get around and go to many of the places that we want to go.  Our first night here, I marveled at the fact that I knew where I was and how at home I felt when I woke up to use the bathroom.  Oh, the little things!

I find a lot things I'm experiencing falling into one of three categories:

• things that are the same
• things that are different
• things that are new 

The Same

I find Budapest to be as beautiful and enchanting as I did the last time.  I was not only remembering an idealized or romanticized version of this place.  St. Stephen's Basilica, Margit Island, the bridges, Castle Hill, the Parliament - all these and much more are lovely, lovely sights.

Some favorite places - Rose Gelarto (where the gelato is shaped into a rose on your cone) still has amazing flavors like Basil Lemon and Chili Dark Chocolate; the Belgian pub has wonderful beer, great atmosphere, and delicious risotto;  the stall at the market still has the same yogurt that we loved so much the last time - are just as good as we remember.

Hungarian friends, old ones and new ones, are amazingly kind and hospitable to us.  We've already visited two homes of Hungarian friends and had numerous social gatherings and been given many kinds of help.  Being in a different culture with a different language is always a good reminder of how dependent we are on others, and how many generous, giving people God puts in our lives.

The Different

Not surprisingly, however, in three years some things change.  Some changes are for the better.  Some changes disappoint.  Our neighborhood ABC (corner grocery store) was a delight to me last time.  Tucked into a very tiny space they had just about all your grocery basics.  Not a lot a variety or brands to choose from, but as opposed to US convenience stores, you could make a number of different meals from what you could buy there.  Now the ABC is half or less the size it was, and is no longer a tiny, adorable grocery store, but really just a convenience store.  Sigh.

A picture of the "magic fountain" in 2011

One of our favorite places near our apartment was a place we referred to as "the magic fountain".  It is a rectangular fountain that comes up out of the ground level.  When you step on the tiles just outside its edge, the jets right in front of you stop spouting allowing you to walk inside and through the (dry) center.  Unfortunately, a new and controversial monument has been erected just in front of this fountain, turning what was a fun place to beat the heat into a place generating its own entirely different kind of heat.  (For an explanation of the controversy, here is a link to an article that explains it: How Should Hungarians Remember World War II? )

Some of the changes for the better: the new, air-conditioned (!) cars on the red Metro line, the new pedestrianized area in front of Parliament, the opening of areas that were under construction the last time we were here (replaced, of course, by the closing of areas that are under construction now).

The New

There is a new Metro line - the number four green line.  Oooh, shiny.

We now have a whole new set of Calvin College students.  The students were such a huge part of the positive experience we had as part of this semester in 2011 that we couldn't help wondering how a new group could possibly compare.  This is the situation that faces most educators every year, of course.  This year's students have only been here a little over a day, but they are already showing us, reminding us that the supply of wonderful, thoughtful, inquisitive, fun and funny people is pretty much endless.  No comparison is necessary, really; just an openness to receive the new experience God is handing out.

Probably one of the nicest things about being in Budapest for a second time is that this time we have memories.  Many places we go, I find myself thinking or saying, "Remember?  This is where...

...we saw that dog wearing a leather bomber jacket.
...that lady was yelling at me to move out of the way and I didn't realize it because I don't speak Hungarian.
...they stayed.  It was so great having them here.
...we had dinner with him.
...we had such a fun night with them. (Do you know who you are? I think you know who you are...)

And that may be the best thing about being here again:  the reminder of how faithful God is to me, wherever I am.  "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentation 3:22, 23 

Relationships, Revelation, and Responsibility

We have been in Budapest for six days now, having left Grand Rapids a week ago.  And in the week here, we have been re-acquainting ourselves with this city - with its beauty mostly, but also with its difference, the smells, the unfamiliar language, the change in time zone, the many different customs and quirks.  I have had a few meetings with colleagues who will help me with the work of directing the program, I set up a new bank account, visited the dorm the students will stay in, re-connected with Hungarian friends, I ran three times for a total of about 15 miles - up and down the Danube and around Margaret Island - and I have done a fair amount of reading in preparation for the teaching part of this work.

I read one of our key texts, Steven Garber's book Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good, and in this book my friend Steve writes about how difficult it is for people in this time in the history of the world to simultaneously both know and love the world.  He offers three realities that he says always mark covenants when they appear in the Hebrew scripture - these realities are: Relationships, Revelation, and Responsibility.  In covenant-making, God always offers the people of God a relationship first, then a revelation, and finally a responsibility.  To God's people, God gives us promises, but also expects their response - a particular responsibility to act in the face of what we know, what we have learned.  There is more than tourism to study abroad, much more.  This fall I will work to introduce students to this balance - in our time in Eastern Europe, I expect that God will offer each of us an ongoing relationship, a revelation that is both special and general, as well as a set of responsibilities - some things to do with our knowing.  We will learn things both wonderful and terrible, as students always do.  And we will respond somehow.

Yesterday we took a long walk with the three of us around some of Central Pest's more interesting sites, and Abi took pictures along the way.  She caught some good essence of Budapest in our journey - I'll share a few of her pictures here:

This one is inside one of the more famous "ruin bars" of Budapest, SzimplaKert;

 This is Raday street, where we stopped for a beverage break on our walk;

 Julie and me inside Szimpla;

 Abi on a bench near our apartment;

 Our marketplace around the corner - Belvaros Piac translates Downtown Market;

 The famous Budapest Opera House, about a ten minute walk from our apartment

We have another week of getting ready ahead - I hope to meet with some contacts for the students' service-learning placements, do some more reading, get an orientation planned for students, meet with the Hungarian language professor, and continue to plan and pray for the semester ahead.

Return to the Danube

Once again on a Sunday morning in early August we have trunks and suitcases packed, and we are off to Budapest, Hungary.  We will live in the same apartment, become reacquainted with the city and friends we have made there, welcome a group of Calvin students to an off-campus learning semester, and experience cross-cultural living for the fall semester.

As we prepare to head out, we note that our flowers are just about at their peak around the garden beds - the cosmos, zinnias, sunflowers, cone flowers, day lilies, cannas, rudbeckia, hydrangeas, geranium, fuchsia, sweet potato vine, and oxalis.  We've only had a few of our cherry tomatoes, and none of our heirloom black krim are ripe yet.  We'll miss these glory days of August, though this way we don't have to watch the flowers fade away, and we won't miss raking leaves.

We will miss friends, many of whom have gone well out of their way to send us off with care - we've been in your homes, we've met at local places for breakfast in the morning, or for local craft beers in the evening, and we will miss you.  Keep in mind you have a place to stay in Budapest.

We will miss our boy, Bastian, who will not join us until after he finishes his first semester at Calvin College - we'll stay there for Christmas.  Thanks to the many of you who have offered to check in on him, or drop him off at college.  It takes a village, a church, a great group of friends to raise a child, and we're grateful to have such a great community to trust him to as we go.

So follow us if you like - we'll be back, Deo volente, God willing -  in a hundred fifty days, just in time to close out the year.  Meanwhile, we are off this afternoon, arriving in Budapest tomorrow afternoon.

Peace.