Hungary from Elliot's Perspective (Saturday)

Our arrival to our new place was nothing but a blur. I remember being in a large, brightly lit cylinder filled with seats, 3x3. I fought for a while but finally realized I was completely exhausted and passed out. I remember a somewhat familiar New Jersey / Hungarian accent when I was moved to a car seat and then being plopped into a small crib. That's about it.

Friday Mom [Megan] and Dad [Danny] met with a couple people, some who I had met before and some I had not. I sounded like they were called Janos and Ildiko who were the missionary family in charge of the upcoming week's camp. Ildiko brought some pretty cool toys to play with while the adults played "plan the camp." In the afternoon I took a solid snooze while the other team arrived. [After a little confusion with the cars, we got to the airport and collected the rest of the team. Everyone looked really tired but we pushed them late into the evening to try and force a time change.]

Saturday was a morning of sleeping and afternoon of some new sightseeing. We got a late start and enjoyed a typical Hungarian breakfast: rolls, cheese, salami, pepperoni, tomatoes, Hungarian peppers, coffee, and homemade preserves. They also provided some yogurt and a cereal/granola for us Americans. We wee Americans also enjoyed a delicious bottle.

I was taken to the Paulus Haz (Paulus House) for a brief team orientation. Not sure what they were talking about because there was a box of pens on the table that provided endless fun. [We talked through the daily schedule of 9a-4p. The day will be quite full of different activities, but we are very excited about what this new camp will look like.]

After the team meeting we loaded up on the Kazar's van and Kiss' hatchback to head north. On the way to Vishegrad (Vee-she-grod) Castle, we stopped in a small town right alongside the Danube to get something incredible delicious called langos. It is a potato dough that is flattened into a thick pancake and then deep fried. They are often topped with sour cream and cheese but Mom and Dad elected for it to be stuffed with pepperoni an smoked cheese: smart choice. After Mr. Nathan got a second one, I was carried up a hill to get some of the best ice cream the world has to offer. I thought Bruster's was good, but oh how my 9-mos have provided so little experience. The ice cream here is extra fluffy and creamy. I tried to tell everyone I was willing to eat my share so that they didn't get sick walking back to the car, but they didn't seemed interested in taking me up on my offer. We did all make it back safely to the car though to finish out our trip to Vishegrad.

Janos holding Elliot

Elliot enjoying some Hungarian ice cream

Being my second castle to see in a week, I'm pretty much an expert, and this one had quite the view! Some of the castle had been reconstructed for preservation since its original construction in the 12th century. It was one of many castles built during that time period. It is located at the top of a hill/small mountain right next to a bend in the Danube. Such a beautiful view.

Visegrad Castle

View from Visegrad Castle

Lila Kiss (Janos and Ildiko's daughter) and Lizzy

Sarah and Elliot at the top tower

Before heading back south for some dinner and bed, some of us decided to go on an Alpine Slide. Mr. Mike had seen signs during the drive and after asking Mr. Janos, we realized it was a short drive up the street. Many of the team went on the bobsled or roller coaster (two types) slides down the side of the mountain. It looked like a lot of fun but I wasn't able to join in the festivities.

"Feel the rhythm, Feel the rhyme, Get on up, It's bobsled time.
COOL RUNNINGS!

Nathan's in the Eye of the Tiger

Haley preferred the brake

Jackie found screaming resulted in a better time

Ildiko and Lila racing down the mountain

After a solid nap on the ride home, we hit the Campona (mall) for some dinner at the food court. Gyros were popular among the team as well was some traditional Hungarian dishes like fruit soup (a dessert), fried meatloaf balls (the taste a lot better than they sound) and cucumber salad with dill.

[The team enjoyed a good evening laughing together since Sunday morning was a little later start than the rest of the week. God has really blessed us with a group of people that can not only work well together and has such a diverse set of strengths and skills, but we all enjoy spending time together when we have some free minutes. One specific prayer request is for Elliot and his sleep schedule. He is actually sleeping better here than at home, when he has the chance, but the problem is that finding large chunks of time for nap time is challenging. Please pray that we find the time and cool, quiet place during the week for him to nap so that even if he gets shorter stretches at night, he is able to stay rested and healthy. Many of the team seem to have adjusted to the timezone, although some were tired at breakfast this morning. Please pray that we are wise with our evenings and that our sleep is deep and restful so that we can recover from these longer days with what we expect to be high-energy kids :-) !]

-- ESB [and Danny]