A day in the sun!

On Sunday, I was able to go downtown for just a couple hours and hang out in a park. It was a sunny, warm spring day and it was fun to just soak up the sun. I was with my friend Ruth. I got some ice cream and then we found this bench beside a pond to sit on and visit. The only problem was that the bench was out on a small pier. You had to climb over a fence to get to the pier. Now there was a sign (in Hungarian) beside the fence you had to climb over. We have no idea what it said, but others were sitting on these benches on different piers. It wasn't so hard getting to the pier, but getting back over the fence posed a problem for my friend who was wearing a very long dress. There were some ladies nearby and they must have gone home laughing, because I literally was holding onto my friends waist helping her not fall on her seat. It was a very fun afternoon. Pictures, soon to come.

Hearts for Hungary!

Here in Hungary the transportation system is regularly on strike. The buses, trams or trains will go on strike for a day or more in order to get better working conditions or pay. Usually it is announced, so people know to plan ahead. This past week there was a strike and therefore there were many more cars in downtown than usual. This affects many of our school's students who live in downtown and come out of town to the school.
One time I was coming back from visiting my cousin in Germany. I went to fly back to Hungary and the ticket clerk informed me that there was a . . . riot in Hungary (she was unsure how to translate strike, so she told me it was a riot). I wasn't shocked because in addition to strikes, riots or demonstrations, are pretty common here. Later I learned that one of the airports was on strike. Good thing my flight went into the other airport.

This week!

This week I would like to ask you to pray for the elementary students. Many of them are struggling to follow directions and respect their teachers. Although these attitudes are so important, the heart is much more important. Pray that God will touch their hearts and challenge them to care and honor Jesus in everything that they do. Please pray for me and the other teachers as well. I want to give grace but lovingly correct and discipline. I need wisdom on how to do this the best way for each student.


On a different note, I bought a crockpot (or slow cooker) here and am so excited. The other day, while walking home from a friends house, I met up with a parent. We began talking and somehow cooking came up. She mentioned that she had seen slow cookers at Tesco and I got so excited. I had wanted one of these this past fall, but didn't really know if they existed here. Apparently they are hard to find. Well, I got one for around $20 and tried it out today for the first time. It was wonderful and such a save of time for a busy teacher like myself (see picture).

Also, this past week I have had major progress with my 6th grade class. They will be singing one song and playing a few songs on recorders. It took a while for them to understand and catch on to what we were doing in class. I think my expectations were a little high. So I reconsidered what I wanted them to accomplish and they practiced. They sounded great today! I am feeling much better about the concert on April 30th.

I will be heading out on Friday for Vienna. I am helping with a highschool German field trip (they will be practicing their German in Austria). Please pray that as I hang out for 2 days with the highschool students that I will be able to get to know some of them better and be a good encourager and listener. Please pray for great spiritual and life conversations to occur during this trip. Love to you all, Hannah