I have a theory about this relative speed of time. When everything is brand new to you (like it is when you're a young child), you pay attention to everything because you have to. You don't know what is important and what is unimportant. You don't know what comes next and when next will be. So you are noticing and taking in everything, drinking from the proverbial fire hose. But when you start to know a place, a schedule, a routine, you no longer concentrate on every little detail, word, and moment. It's not necessary anymore. Your attention is grabbed only by the things that deviate from the norm, and so time seems to flow by more quickly. Well, that's my theory, anyway.
Some things that stand out in the last month:
Lena Vida and Nora Takács are two students from Károli Gáspár Egyetem (one of the universities where Calvin students study here). They immediately got in touch with our family and spent time with us even before the students arrived. They have done an amazing job of making the students feel welcome and at home. Lena and her friends Zsolti and Bori helped introduce the students to some Hungarian folk culture on their very first day by performing some folk dances in traditional costume, and also taught us all a dance (or part of one, at least) whose name means "The Path of the Devil".
Lena even invited all of us to a surprise birthday party for her sister at their home in a town outside the city. It was a beautiful evening with lovely people who extended very gracious hospitality to a large group of strangers. (You can read more about it from Abi's perspective here.)
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| Birthday party in Lena's backyard |
Lunch with Kata Kallay, a Károli Gáspár professor and Calvin's liasion at the school. She took us to a restaurant where she has her office hours because Károli Gáspár is squeezed for space and not all professors have private offices. She is a wonderful, hospitable woman, and after hearing her describe her class on Holocaust literature, I wish I were a student here so I could take it.
An afternoon with Tibor Fabini and his wife Delinka at their lovely home in Budakeszi on the outskirts of the city. Tibor is another Károli Gáspár professor, and Jeff had the pleasure of spending time with him in Grand Rapids when he was there for a conference in 2013. We got to enjoy an afternoon looking out at the landscape from the patio of Tibor and Delinka's hillside home.
A lunch with Kati Fügedi, the woman who teaches our students basic Hungarian, at her home. It was so fun getting reacquainted with Kati, remembering how forthright and opinionated she can be, and being treated to a good trouncing in the game of Scrabble by someone who really knows how to play. (More about this experience from Abi's perspective: here.)
Dinner with our friends Zoltan and Andrea and their son, Peter. We drove out of the city and into the area of the Pilis Mountains. It's a beautiful area for hiking, and overlooks onto the Danube and into Slovakia. We had time before our dinner reservation, so we drove a little further into Esztergom and got a quick look at the Esztergom Basilica, the largest church in Hungary and the seat of the Roman Catholic church in Hungary. Just a little something to pass the time before dinner. You know.
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| Ceiling of the Esztergom Basilica |
Dinner was a really nice time of getting caught up with Zoltan, Andrea and Peter. We ate at an inn and restaurant called Kislugas which means "little trellis". It had a simple, timeless feel as though we could have been in a scene from a fairy tale (if people in fairy tales drove cars and could order pizza).
Those are some of the highlights of the past month. There have been many more grace-filled experiences, large and small, but I know that you can't spend all your time reading about my life even if you wanted to. I wish I could share it all with all of you whom we love, though, because that would make it all that much better. Though we are quite obviously enjoying our time here, please know you are missed.
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