Boldog anyák napját!

Happy Hungarian Mother's Day!

I didn't find this out until halfway through the day, but today is Mother's Day here in Hungary. (Interestingly, they don't have Father's Day at all here). We were invited by our landlords to join them for church and a meal afterwards. Our landlords are the sweetest people, and they are really more like family than people we do business with. Their daughter-in-law, Kriszti, works as an OT at my school, and she is the one that told us about this place. She and her husband, Gábor, are fluent in English. Gábor's twin sister Dorá, who just had a baby, and her husband Belász, are also fluent in English. So the 9 of us congregated at the Baptist church down the street where they attend, and then after the service we all went to our landlord's house for a meal. This was no ordinary meal by my standards, but apparently this happens every Sunday for them. Here's how it went:

appetizer: "pig cheese" on bread with a slice of pepper. Okay, so pig cheese is only cheese in the way it looks encased. It is actually all the leftover parts of the pig, including the tail, ears, nose, and whatever else is not used for the oh-so-many things you can make from a pig. I seriously had to make myself think about anything BUT what I was chewing on. But now I know what pig cheese tastes like... not bad tasting, but I will never again eat it, know what it is!

1st course: chicken vegetable soup. So tasty and healthy
2nd course: beef stew on speatzle (dumpling noodles). Also very tasty. cucumber salad on the side.
3rd course: pork loin stuffed with kilbasa (sausage) with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies
4th course: homemade chocolate cream torte and coffee

They almost had to roll us out of there. It was all so good! The Hungarian kitchen is quite gourmet and complex, at least at Elszö's. I love these people. More than anything it was just so fun to sit around and talk, having the young couples be the buffer between Gábor and Elszi's lack of English and my roommates and my lack of Hungarian. We all had a great time, and nobody really wanted to leave 4 hours later. I am so blessed. God and His people are so good!


On a different note, I have lots to catch up on, I know! Be patient. This is crazy time at the end of the school year with every weekend holding some sort of event or obligation, so my time is being drained even faster than usual. Nonetheless, I have neglected this blog unnecessarily, and I intend to get caught up soon! So stay tuned. Coming up: Orphanage Trip, Travels, and more!