It's the Holiday Season!

Even though I'm already in Texas, I wanted to do a post about the first half of my December!  It was so fun enjoying the holiday season in Hungary.  

My school days with students were super busy! We finished several units before the quarter ended but we had plenty of time for Christmas songs and poems, learning the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible, eating Christmas cookies, and lots of fun and games! 

I know it's not visible in this picture but last week we had our first snow with big snowflakes!  The kids and I ran to the windows and just enjoyed it for a few minutes!  It was so fun and I was as excited as they were.  My 14 students are such a blessing.  They are truly such a precious group with so much personality!  

                      Gotta love Ugly Sweater Day at school! 

I finally busted out my winter boots in December when it felt like it was truly cold enough.  I am SO glad I bought these before I moved.  They keep my feet so warm!  Something different about living in Hungary is that I keep a pair of slip-on flats at school to wear while I am teaching, and then I put my boots back on before I leave! 

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The Christmas markets in Budapest are really cool. There are several but the one I went to the most was the market at Vörösmarty Square.  Lots of booths with really unique gifts and of course, lots of food!  This photo essay has better pictures than any of the ones I took, but here are a few of me with my friends! 

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My roommates and I hosted a White Elephant Christmas party! 

"Smiling" like Hungarians. :)  

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Our school had a lovely Christmas dinner party at a restaurant near Diósd.  This is the Elementary School Team. These ladies are so wonderful to serve with each day! 

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My friend Rachel and I were invited by another missionary family to see the Nutcracker in the city! It was such a blessing!  

This is me in front of the Opera House.  It is really spectacular! 

Christmas tree in the lobby! 

The production was absolutely beautiful.  I have never ever broken this important rule of attending a theater production before but I just had to take a picture during the Waltz of the Snowflakes (no flash of course).  It is my favorite piece of music in the entire ballet and this scene did not disappoint!  I loved every minute of it!  

Me at the "Opera" metro stop on the yellow line!  

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A generous family from our school treated the faculty and staff to a Danube river dinner cruise for Christmas! 

Before we arrived for the dinner cruise, my roommates and I 

found a Donut Library! What a great concept! 

My friend Zoe and I enjoying the cruise! 

It was cold and windy but the views were so beautiful! 

That is the famous Parliament building behind us.  

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The evening before I left to come home to Texas, we had "Roommate Christmas!" So much fun! 

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The three weeks after Thanksgiving flew by so fast. Before I knew it, this was my view out the airplane window!  

God has been so faithful to me during this first semester of serving at ICSB and living in Hungary.  It is the most challenging thing I have ever done but I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in a unique way!  Thanks for everyone's love and prayers during the first few months of this experience.  I have truly felt your support and encouragement every step of the way! 

Merry Christmas! 

Long Weekend in A'Dam!

I officially began the holiday season by celebrating Thanksgiving in Amsterdam with my roommates! It was such a fun and memorable trip.

Through our friends the Johnsons, we were able to stay the YWAM Amsterdam base in the city. If you are unfamiliar with YWAM, take a moment to learn more about this amazing worldwide ministry.  Both links have short videos on the home page!

We stayed in this building - you can see the "God Roept U/Jesus Loves You" at the top in blue letters.  It was such a blessing to stay in a very affordable place in such a great location - beautiful canal view, 5 minutes from the central train station, AND we had our own living room and kitchen!

We started our first day by visiting the Rijksmuseum, where we saw works from famous artists such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt.

This was my favorite thing in the Rijksmuseum - this beautiful library! It is a bookworm's dream!

You can see from the picture that it is actually used by people!  You can also just barely see the beautiful winding staircase in the right corner, which was my absolute favorite.

Right outside the museum is one of the "Iamsterdam"

 signs and an ice skating rink!

We did a little shopping at the Magna Plaza, where I could not get over this beautiful, suspended Christmas tree in the middle of the mall! We mostly wandered in to stay warm and window shop, enjoying novelties like a Yankee Candle store!

Cheese stores like this are everywhere!  We went into several each day and enjoyed samples! I love that this city is all about cheese and chocolate, two of my favorite things! 

We tried out famous Amsterdam fries at Manneken - voted the best Holland fries in the city. They serve them hot in a paper cone and you choose sauces that go on top. SO delicious!

On our second day, we visited the Anne Frank House. We were not allowed to take pictures but the website offers a really good virtual tour where you can see the rooms. This picture show the house in the background.

 Like many people, I first read the Diary of Anne Frank in middle school.  I have been fascinated with her story ever since. Being in the house was a powerful and sobering experience. The part that made me teary-eyed was towards the end.  There is a large portrait of Anne's father, Otto Frank, that was taken in the house long after the war.  Something about the look in his eyes...you can see the pain and sorrow of a man who lost his entire family The museum reminded me that Anne and her family represent millions of people whose lives were devastated by the Holocaust. It left me with a heavy heart but I was so glad I went.

Although I am not much of a beer drinker, I had to make a stop at the Heineken Experience in honor of my late grandfather and my brother (both in the business of brewery management)! :) It was really cool! 

Later we headed the A'dam Lookout where we had this awesome photo made upon arrival! We were there at night and the views from the top were beautiful.  I love seeing a city all lit up!

Ashleigh and I briefly lost our minds and decided to do Over the Edge, which is Europe's highest swing.  It was incredibly cold and windy up there!  Megan took a video of us where we (I) did a lot of hollering/almost-crying!  But we were proud of ourselves for doing it!

The next day we were off to the town of Haarlem!  We spent most of the day there but wished we could have stayed a night!  It was so beautiful.

We took a tour of the Corrie Ten Boom house (this link takes you to the old website but it is English).  She is one of my heroes of the Christian faith! My sister and I both read her book  The Hiding Place a few years ago and I read it again before this trip.  It tells the story of the Ten Boom family and how they saved many Jewish lives in Nazi-occupied Holland in the early 1940s. Her father owned a watch shop, so the front housed the business space and the back and upstairs were family's very small living quarters. Their family would take in Jewish people whom no one was else was willing to hide because of the risk they posed - such as an older woman with a terrible cough or a mother with an infant who cried often.

 The Ten Boom family was torn apart as they were almost all imprisoned and taken to concentration camps after being discovered.  Corrie and her sister Betsie spread the gospel throughout the women's units and shared the love of Jesus in the most horrific circumstances.  Several of her family members were later killed in concentration camps.   God gave Corrie many more years on earth, which she spent sharing His love and telling her family's story.

The opening to the actual hiding place was through the bottom of this built-in shelf. The hiding place could fit 6 people and they often did drills to practice.  Corrie's bed would have been where I am standing.  It was really inspiring to be in their home and remember the events that took place over the years. I left feeling inspired to be more like Corrie. She was bold in the way she shared God's love with everyone and she was faithful to spend her entire life serving Him! 

Haarlem has a beautiful market set up in the square near the main church - Grote Kerk.  We enjoyed walking around and of course, hot stroopwafel! It is basically two thin waffles with a layer of caramel in the center. So delicious! 

On our last day, we took a long walk and enjoyed the views just one last time. The city itself is so uniquely beautiful.  Canals and bicycles are everywhere!  There are literally more bicycles than people in the city.  And we learned the canals themselves are full of bicycles that have fallen in over the years!  

We found a cute cafe to enjoy one last meal before heading to the airport.  I choose ginger orange tea and Dutch apple pie and I was not disappointed!  It was a great way to end our fantastic trip!

I will say this was the most unusual Thanksgiving weekend I have ever had!  My family never travels for holidays so it felt really different, but I enjoyed it so much.  Being in such a lovely city with my wonderful roommates was a nice distraction from feeling even farther away from my family than usual. So grateful to God for the gift of this trip!

My Dad's Visit to Hungary!

All Saint's Day is a national holiday in Hungary so I had 4 days off over the weekend of Halloween! My dad came to visit and we had the best time!  This post is quite long but I wanted to record all that we did so that I can look back and remember it.  Such a special weekend! 

We met in the city on Friday afternoon and I cried SO many happy tears upon our reunion! We just sat and talked for over an hour at the hotel before doing anything! 

Here is what I loved about having my dad around:

1.  He is such a good listener! I told him 1 million little things about living here, the good, the "different" (aka the bad) and everything in between! 
2. He is almost always in a good mood, but he is especially jolly when he is in "vacation mode!"  
3. My entire life, my dad whistles a happy tune all the time. I never hear anyone whistle here and didn't realize how much I had missed it! 
4. Being able to talk about my mom, more than just a comment in passing. 
5.  Getting to introduce him to my friends! It's still very strange to me to have close friends whose families I don't know at all, and it's strange to me that my friends here don't know my family.  It was so fun to see my dad with the people I love here! 

Later we walked around for hours, including across the Chain Bridge and back.  The weather was really nice, which was an answered prayer! 

Then we met up with friends from Texas at Gresham Palace.  The Pearsons live in Budapest and I am so grateful to have connected with them! I didn't get picture of the four of us, but here we are with Jeanette! 

We walked around and just enjoyed the city before finding a spot for dinner where I introduced my dad to palacsinta.  It is a Hungarian dessert that's like pancake/crepe that's rolled up with a filling.  So yummy! 

On Saturday we took public transportation from the city out to Diósd where I live.  My dad had brought a huge bag of goodies for me that we needed to deliver to my house! It was like Christmas morning opening up that bag!  Most of the stuff were things I wished I had brought when I moved (like more boots) but also a random assortment of things I had ordered on Amazon since I moved here.  He also brought lots of fun stuff from my sister like Yankee Candles and canned pumpkin!  Oh and magazines! I had several sweet friends that sent thoughtful gifts with him as well.  So many treats! 

On our way we stopped at Johnny's Bistro for milkshakes and french fries! This is an American-style restaurant in Diósd that is very close to my school.  I like to think of it as "The Max" for our little school community (for all of my fellow Saved by the Bell fans)! :) 

It was so fun showing my dad my school and my classroom since this is where I spend most of my time! Since it was Saturday, no one was around and it was strangely quiet! 

We also caught the sunset leaving school - this a view from one of our second story windows.  Can you believe I live here?! 

We went back to the city and headed towards the St. Stephen's Basilica area to find a spot for dinner.  We took so many bad selfies but the next picture show your how beautiful the basilica is all lit up at night! 

So incredible!  

We ended trying out a restaurant that night that became my immediate new favorite - Akademia Italia!

What stood out about this restaurant was how bright and white it was on the inside.  Most restaurants I have been to here are much darker inside. I loved all of the decor, especially the whisks hanging from the ceiling.  

And, obviously, the food was incredible. Italian food is my love language (if Sandra Vassallo Smith were your mother, I promise it would be yours, too).  I was that girl who took a video while we were there so I could show my sister, my cousin and my aunt how much I loved this place! I wish my entire family had been with us! 

On Sunday, we started our day at the church I've been attending in the city called Golgota (Calvary Chapel). I knew my dad would love the music and the message!  

After church we met up with my roommates Megan and Ashleigh at a Georgian restaurant (like Georgia the country, not Georgia the state in the USA). :) It was really good and I am bummed that I did not take a single picture of us there!  We must have been too busy chatting and eating! 

In the afternoon we did a river boat tour on the "Duna Bella." It was a fabulous view of the city!  

Budapest has an island in the middle of the Danube river called Margit Island.  It's basically a huge park with tons of stuff to see and do!  Our boat tour dropped us there for an hour and then we took a boat back later.  We mostly just enjoyed the beautiful trails! It gets dark very early here so we enjoyed the sunset while we walked around. 

Our ride back was beautiful seeing the city all lit up! 

After we returned, we met up with some friends 

from my school for dinner! 

Zoe and I simply could not just walk past these spiral potato chips. They were so yummy! 

On Monday, we did a big bus tour that took us all over the city.  It was SO nice to explore and see more sights.  I truly spend most of my time at my school, so this was really like a little vacation for me even though I live here! :) These were the highlights from our tour!

Hero's Square 

St. Matthias Church 

Fisherman's Bastion 

Guided tour of Parliament 

Shoes on the Danube Bank 

 St. Stephen's Basilica

We went up to the top for a gorgeous view of the city at sunset! 

The mummified hand of St. Stephen,

 the first king of Hungary

(Yes, this is a thing!)

I knew I would be so sad on Tuesday because it was our last full day. So I grieved the end of our visit on Monday evening.  We had dinner and I cried and cried - both happy tears and sad tears!  And laughter through tears (my favorite emotion)! :)  Happy tears as I told my dad about my students and how God has confirmed my call to serve here.  Sad tears telling him how much I miss home in Texas and my family and friends who have known me my whole life!  

On Tuesday we did lots more walking around and sightseeing!

City Park 

(Where I plan to go ice skating this winter!) 

The pictures shown are just one part of this huge park! 

Vajdahunyad Castle

(which is in the park)

Looks like something out of Sleeping Beauty! 

Walking back from the park - my dad loved these 

trees that line Andrassy.

House of Terror - it was closed so we just saw it from the outside. I have toured it before and it's really interesting. My dad loves history and would have really enjoyed it! 

Hungarian Royal Opera House

(where I'll be seeing The Nutcracker in December! So excited!)

On Tuesday afternoon, my dad walked me to metro where I headed back to Diósd. I was sad but had already shed so many tears on Monday in anticipation!  It was a fantastic weekend and I am so grateful for it!

  If you made it to the bottom of this post, thanks for reading and caring about my life!  I know so many of y'all prayed for my dad's visit to be a time of rest, refreshment and joy -- it truly was!  Thank you God, for blessing me!