And the winner is....

Budapest, Hungary

Eger, Hungary

We went to Hungary again. This time to Debrecen, Eger and Budapest. There is a tiny town right outside of Eger called Monosbel. That is where we spent our first Easter. Our Hungarian contacts have a house there. The mama-baby home that is in the works is there in Monosbel. (don't know if I've mentioned on here yet...but helping with the building of this home is what we had lined up for the second half of the year, while in Hungary) Due to the lack of funds the actual building will most likely not get started this summer but there are still little projects on the property that need taking care of. We had a wonderful Easter. Very very laid back. It was raining quite a bit so we just sat around all day...and ate of course. The traditional hungarian ham and eggs. It was great to finally meet our contacts Sandor and Patricia face to face. We've known each other close to a year now but hadn't officially met. We also got to meet some of the kids (now grown) from the orphanage in Monosbel that Sandor and Patricia have been family to for many many years. Mike got an idea of how the place looks and what he could help with. So that was good.

Spa, Budapest

After Monosbel we drove to Budapest! That city is so beautiful! All the buildings...so unique. I loved it!!! We went and saw an apartment to possibly rent! I can't wait to live in such a pretty city! We already found our favorite restaurant. I'm really excited! We spent 2 days in Budapest. We spent the night in our potential apartment...trial run. That was really nice of them to let us. We know the people. Day one we got mike's passport taken care of. He looks like a cave man in the picture. The lady doing the paperwork left for quite some time. She comes back and says there is a problem...the forms of id that mike provided were his US passport and CA drivers license...on both the pictures are close to 10 yrs old (really short hair, shaven). Well they were having a really hard time believing that he was the same person. We had a laugh. She ended up putting a note in the file stating that the reason he looks so different is because of all his hair.:) Day two we wandered a bit and then went to the #1 spa in all of Hungary. More relaxing. Im in love with the places...all of them. And I thought David Walleys was nice.

Spa, Budapest

Went back to our home in Arad and the following 2 days went like this...discussing thoughts and opinions, talking about percentages of which way we were leaning, making multiple pros and cons lists, praying, flipping coins even.:) And this is what the dilemma was. We had been discussing and praying about weather or not we should go to Cambodia for two months now. I've been hinting at it and begging almost since the first time we skyped with Stevee and Lyg (4ish months ago). Mike got on board when we left bulgaria and found that we have some time that we need to fill. It was pretty much a set thing until we went to Hungary this last time. Patricia had found some work for us to occupy ourselves and everything was working out perfectly with the apartment so we were at a crossroads. Moving to Budapest start of may or going to Cambodia for all of may and beginning our time in Budapest when we return in June. I don't know why this decision was so hard for us to make but it definitely was. Here are some of our thoughts (directly from our pros and cons lists)...-The flight alone costs as much as it would to live in Budapest for 3 mos. -If we don't move into the apartment now we risk losing it altogether...and it's really nice. The location is awesome! -Some projects for us to do in the coming weeks were already in the works. -We'd be missing mike's cousins and his brother that will BOTH be in Hungary (Budapest) in the month of may!! (that one was tough) And side 2...-Stevee and Lygia are there! -Arella and wolfie are there!!! -Jimmy might be there. -Getting plugged into a mission is so much easier than figuring that out on our own. And it takes a lot of time, planning, connecting with others. (all of which we can do while we're away. So when we return to Europe we can just jump right into something). -We will probably never again have contacts in that part of the world that could take us in and things. -We can be certain that we will be used. They have things happening daily...Sofia was just whenever things came up. Budapest will most likely be the same. We liked that we would be worked in Cambodia. -The most important one is what they're doing...the issue just breaks my heart and to have an opportunity to help and so closely would be nothing but a blessing to us.

So after much deliberation the choice we made was Cambodia!!! It was a tough decision but we feel that is where God wants us right now. We are so excited to go! I can't stop thinking about how great it will be to see our dear friends and their kids whom I love so so much!!:):)

We spent our 2nd Easter here in Romania with the family. The food was the same as in Hungary. Ham and eggs. The family doesn't all get together...there isn't enough space. The orthodox have this tradition...On the official start of Easter morning...at 12 midnight....they gather at the churches and light candles and sing in that pope way. We went to see it. There were so many people it was ridiculous! At every church in the city there were huge crowds. Streets blocked off. There were policemen at every gathering. The cousins tell us that the week after easter the orthodox people (to honor their dead loved ones) will hang out at the cemeteries and sometimes just on streets and hand things out. Food and candy and easter eggs. They also leave money on their tombstones and such. Mike's little cousin would go to the cemeteries and collect himself a little allowance:) and fill his belly while he was at it...and stock up on candy. Between here and our time in Bulgaria we've heard of some strange traditions these people have. It's so interesting how I never met or even knew of any orthodox people in the states and here there are so many!

We're not doing much now; just waiting until it's time to leave! Picking up little things that Steve and Lygia can't get in Cambodia. Figuring out logistics...how we're gonna get to Budapest (to fly out) and back here when we return. We're leaving our car here and all our winter clothes too. Gonna do a practice pack tomorrow. Just tying up loose ends. 

Lygia-see you in less than a week!!! Yaayyy!!! :):)

Little Miri called him Baa

Oradea, Romania

We got the appointment date we've been waiting for. And well...we have an official Hungarian citizen on our hands! He's so very proud! And I'm proud. It was a long process and a complicated one. Considering all the moving around we've been doing. This would have been done months ago if we were back home. We were in Sofia for the appointment...just for the weekend. Too short. We were out of there as soon as we got the papers. Didn't want to risk any fines at the border. We thought we had 4 days left in BG but with careful counting and recounting found that we only had 2! Well we shouldn't have been so stressed...no one cared at the border that we were one day over! It was really great to be back in Sofia! It felt like home! I loved seeing everyone. I understood people...it was wonderful! Emo and Luba were so amazing in taking us in and feeding us. The Kostinbrod families that we've grown to love had us over and fed us a ton. My cousin had us over and fed us again. The youth got together to welcome us! We had a very nice time!


The citizenship ceremony was formal! We were underdressed to say the least. The room was beautiful! Chandeliers and old style furniture. In the center two fancy chairs and a table for the people of the hour. Everyone was required to stand the minute the consulate entered the room. After mike shook her hand he sat back down...well that was a no-no. All the documents to be signed and pens were aligned neatly on the table before we came in. There was a photographer and a guy dedicated just to playing the music. He didn't even walk two steps from the stereo the whole time. He'd switch the music on and off. The national anthems. There were 2 we had to stand and look at the flag for. We were all served wine after and took pictures in front of the flag. Now we can stay here forever!

We're still hanging out in Arad. We have our own house! It's pretty neat. Mike's cousin Yanchi is building a house and a few of the rooms are completed. He put in a shower for us and it's totally livable. We have a ping pong table and a drum set and a keyboard. Entertainment a plenty. We like it. Its just an empty house that the family uses for things that they'd rather not do in their homes. Or dont have space for. Music practice, ping pong tournaments and they have a huge bible study that gathers once a week. Suits us perfectly. We're still going to the Aunt and Uncle's house for food everyday. They've been feeding and housing us for a month! We've really started working on a plan of action. It'll all come together soon.

Gyula, Hungary

In the meantime we've been taking some mini trips to nearby cities. We went to the cities Szeged and Gyula in Hungary for a weekend of thermal baths. It was so nice! Like a mini vacation...from our 5 mos vacation.:) Also went to Lipova, Cluj and Oradea. There is alot more of Romania we want to see like Sibiu and Bucharest but I think this is all we'll do for now. We came home from the day trip around RO pretty late and got woken up the next morning to loud baa-ing. The house is located in a really new development, no roads and fields all around. There is a pastor with I think 500 sheep that hang out in the fields next to the house. So I thought "one of the babies has wandered off and is trapped somewhere! We HAVE to rescue it!" So we follow the baas downstairs to our backyard. Turns out he's ours!! Yay! He's really cute...has a heart on it's side! I'd never even touched a sheep before this. Now I feed him milk from a bottle! I was scared at first but once Yanchi's kids came over and were all hugs I saw how harmless the thing is. The kids wouldn't leave it's side. They were asked to name him...5 yr old Miriam is sticking with "Baa". Yanchi decided to keep him here for a while. I like him. He can stay.

Getting ready for Easter. Here in the Orthodox countries it's a week later. Thanks so much for reading! Come back soon!:)

Baaaaaa