Paper People

This week was the the end of our first two major classes, Bible Study Methods, and Systematic Theology. Both of them were amazing classes and I have to say that after these past several weeks I'm happier than ever that i chose to come here. I will say though that of the two Systematic theology was the one that left me really thinking. Sitting around in class for two hours a day and discussing the unfathomable mysteries of God was honestly one of the highlights of my day. I am convinced though that until we realize and can accept that we are two dimensional paper people attempting to understand a four dimensional world that is beyond our comprehension then it will do nothing but frustrate us. My teacher, Alex Konya used something similar to this illustration, and it's sort of become the theme of our class.

In other news life here at WOL has continued to move along much faster than most of us are okay with, we spend most of our time just trying to keep up. We've had a number of birthday parties and fellowships to break up the stress of school, homework, and ministry preparation. There is never a dull moment, mostly because if things never slow now quite enough for that and on the rare occasion that they do it because we are all getting much needed sleep.

Sing team, my ministry, will be going out for the first time on this Sunday with three songs and a pantomime. I have one solo and am the main character of the pantomime. All the songs are in Hungarian, so it is interesting not having any clue what I'm singing about. I would appreciate prayer this area of ministry though, it's not always easy, and is usually very time consuming, but I know God can use this in great ways.

Fall break is just around the corner bringing on a new country to my list: Romania! I'm so excited, I'll be traveling with my RA, Yana and a staff couple. It will be a much needed vacation and I cannot wait!

~Pictures of lately~

The castel is currently undergoing a massive restoration project so that in the near future we will be able to move the whole school into the castle, dorms and classrooms included. Here what I and one of the interns Dan are wroking on is covering one of the staff apartments in plastic so that their things wouldn't get ruined by all the dust when the workers replaced the heating system. Needless to say it was quite the undertaking!

Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire at on of the first fellowships at the Konya's.

The Sunday school team, plus me and a few others just hangin out in Budapest


Johanna, Hanna, me, and Yana at one of my rommie's 19th birthday! One of the staff ladies had a bunch of us over to celebrate to occasion. She is an amazing cook, and needless to say we were very happy to have chilli and corn bread over lunch meat sandwiches =)

The birthday girl, Miri, blowing out the candles on her beautiful cake!

Birthday girl with Timea and Randall (this is the couple that will be taking Yana and I to Romania next weekend)

Tea, tea, and more tea!

Yes in Hungary we like to drink tea. Now this tea is usually not of the iced sort, nor is it of the hot and steamy sort. It is just tea. No one is quite sure exactly what flavor it is, although some have suggested that it is some sort of fruity mixture. In any case this tea is served at every meal, and I must admit that while I was not particularly happy about this upon my arrival, it does grow on you. This is just one new aspect of life here at WOL hungary, and while I certainly miss my daily dose of Brasilian coffee, I think by the end of the year I could very easily find myself addicted to tea.

~A typical day at WOL hungary~

In other news school has officially started! After two weeks of easing us into the new schedule we are finally into what the second year students call normal. Devos are at 6:45 which means getting up around 6:00 or 6:15, much to my dismay. Then breakfast follows at 7:20 where we have 40 minutes to stuff our faces (with cereal and whatever else they happen to be offering) and grab our books, laptops, and names tags so we can make it to class on time at 8:00. Then after two mind boggling hours of systematic theology (currently my favorite class) we have an hour of chapel, to be followed by another two hours of class. This time the course is Bible Study Methods. The school day concludes with lunch at 1 pm. Our afternoons are free for the most part. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are Language classes (my new theory is that if i can master Hungarian I can do anything!), and for me those are also my work days, where I spend 2-3 hours of the day up to my elbows in soapy water scrubbing everyone's dishes. Then also, there are usually ministry meetings/practices depending on what your weekend ministry is. Since I'm on the sing team we have practises at least three times a week although the days differ. Supper is at 6:oo followed by required study at 6:45. This was another thing I was not so excited about..."a whole hour of just sitting in a class room studying, no talking, no music? I'd rather study on my own time." I must say though, that lately I have been very greatful for that hour of peace and quiet when you dont have to wander what fun thing you're missing out on, because everyone is sitting right there studying right along with you! After required study we have the evening free to do with as we please, usually some people go play basketball, others sit around the piano and make music, others just relax in their rooms, or continue working on their homework. But what ever people are doing at 9:15 everyone is in their dorms for room devos, which I have found to be one of my favorite parts of the day. At least in my dorm we have all become very close partially because of this time we spend together. Lights out/in rooms is at 11:00, I have yet to hear anyone complain about that curfew since school started, by the end of the day we are all so exhausted all we want to do is fall into bed anyway. So there you have it my day in a nut shell.

Here are some pictures of life in my little corner of the world for the last three weeks or so.

Yes, that is a cat on my bed. During my first week here we had a very cold little visitor wander into our room (the door has a nasty habit of opening on it's own) she was affectionately name 'princess costa rica' by our RA and is currently residing in one of the missionary homes, after she got kicked out of our room.

Costa Rica dorm! you can sorta see how each person has her own little corner area. Straight down the middle to the back in the Bathroom, which I didn't think I really needed to share.

Our room in the other direction, otherwise known as the kitchen area.

The living room area.

Now i would put up pictures of my little corner, but it's rather hard to get it all in one picture so if you really want to see those you can see them on my facebook =)
Hanna and I on our way to Danube international church in Budapest last Sunday.

Me and some of the girls from my room shopping in Budapest last Sunday (me, miri, marie pier, marianne)

Then last sunday night--yes we all had a rather busy day that day-- my RA (who happens to be a professional hari styleist) attacked me and whacked all my hair off! she crazy and I'll admit I was freaking out a little during the process, but I really like it now.

We're getting our first hints of autumn here in Hungary...of course i'm just a tad more excited about that than anyone else =) And as you all know with the fall come the cold, it always takes me a few moments to remember to breath again when I am greeted by the frigid (to me) air every morning on the way to breakfast!

Our attempts at study parties usually turn into silliness...this one for instance turned into walking around campus taking pictures =)

Just a bit of goofyness on the tire swing, this is my favorite spot on campus =)
(me and Abi)