We have now been in Miskolc for a little over 1 week. I say "we" as my teammate Alyssa and I have pretty much become a married couple overnight. We do the same things together, learn together, and share everything we have! This situation has turned us into a unit. So...
Our first night ever in Miskolc was an unbelievable cultural experience for us. We were invited to a “welcome goulash” by my very precious colleague named Yudit (Edith in English). She is the head English teacher at Frater, the Catholic school, which houses our flat and I also teach there.
When we arrived, we were directed to the backyard which was so quaint and picturesque we were literally smiling from ear to ear as we sat on their comfy swing and watched Yudit and her husband cooking the goulash in a large black pot in the middle of the backyard. (It was really surreal!)
They said that the goulash is traditionally cooked outside over a wood-burning fire as it dates back to the times of the shepherds. The goulash tastes better when it has been cooked in the open air she said. If we looked out past their yard we could see the beautiful village full of houses built into the hills. The northeastern part of Hungary is very mountainous.
Yudit's mother-in-law has a vineyard where she grows grapes and makes Toakji wine (said to be the best white wine in all of Hungary). The Toakj region of Hungary is famous for its wines (to give you a small Hungarian grammar lesson, when you add an “i” to the end of the word it means “from” so Toakji is from Toakj). We enjoyed some of this wine with our meal and as a tradition before we ate, Yudit's husband gave us Palinka (the most famous Hungarian liquor and loved by many countries) the situation was already hilarious because we were alone with him and none of us spoke the other's language. We kept saying “Jo!” which means “good” even though it was not very tasty, it did seem to clear out my sinuses as it has been said to do.
As we stood next to the fire we were so hot, I said “Melek van!” which is a phrase that I had recently learned that means “It's hot!” After saying this Alyssa said “Melek vagyok!” because “vagyok” means “I am” so it would seem to make sense, but oh those grammar rules. I will continue this story later.
I really enjoyed talking with Yudit at dinner, we discussed our families, the history of Hungary, language acquisition, and teaching at Frater. Alyssa and I didn't leave her home until late in the evening. I decided that I may be able to have a natural ministry with women that are mom's age, like Yudit. It seems random but God has seemed to put some people like that into my life recently that I can encourage and glean wisdom from too.
While we were talking, Yudit's husband leaned over and said something in Hungarian. They laughed and laughed and I asked her what he said. She asked if we had spoken to him while she wasn't there and we said that we used some Hungarian words to talk about how hot the fire was. She told us that when you say “Melek vagyok!” you are saying that you're homosexual. Alyssa inadvertently told him she was gay. We had a great laugh about that one.
More adventures to come...
Please pray that,
God continues to show up like He has already. It is amazing what can happen in your life when you step foot into the unfamiliar; you must fully cling to Him!
Pray that I cling to Him when I am frustrated with not knowing my way around here and the barriers created because of language differences.
Pray that He will make our minds be absorbant of more and more Hungarian language each day.
Pray that I will not be anxious about teaching and all the unknowns that coincide with that!
