A few things...

Sziasztok! I have a few random things to share with you...

First of all, of course with today being Veteran's Day, I am extra proud of Matthew and his service to America. I truly have a whole new perspective on what it means to serve one's country. I'm also thinking of my Grandpa and Grandma Moss today, as they, too, endured a period of separation when my grandpa served in the Korean War. However, their separation was much longer and they had hardly any communication the whole time they were apart. I am so grateful for what they gave.

This past Sunday, we were discussing the topic of thankfulness at church. Some children in the church went to the front to share with the congregation something they were thankful for. Little 7 year old Agi {whom I mentioned gave me a teddy bear in an earlier post}, and whom has become a dear little friend to me, was the first to the microphone. She said {in Hungarian}, "I am thankful for Deanne." Oh my goodness...my heart just melted!

I just arrived back to the Bridge building this evening from a concert: Michael W. Smith. That's right! Michael W. Smith came to Debrecen, Hungary, to give a concert during his European tour! For those of you who don't know, Michael W. Smith is a Christian recording artist who has been gracing the world with his talents for over 20 years. I had some of his cassette tapes when I was a little girl and have loved his music ever since. His music is also very dear to my heart for another reason. Michael W. Smith released an album entitled "Freedom" which is entirely instrumental, performed by an orchestra. He wrote all the music on this album and it's just hauntingly beautiful. It sounds a bit like a movie soundtrack. At me and Matt's wedding, I chose to not have live music because I wanted all our wedding music to be Celtic-themed, chosen specifically from my very large library of Celtic music I own. From Michael W. Smith's "Freedom" album, I chose the song I walked down the aisle to with my daddy on our wedding day. The song's title is appropriately called "The Giving." Anyway, this concert was so incredible and was a very meaningful worship experience. It will be such a special memory from my time here in Debrecen.

Tomorrow evening I am traveling to Budapest to meet my friend Jane who is visiting from England! I met Jane in 2008 when I worked in England for the summer at Richard Language college in Bournemouth. {incidentally, this period of time in England was the reason I originally started this blog, so go back to the 2008 archives if you're interested in reading about my summer in England!} Jane is about 45 years old, single, and one of the sweetest and most generous individuals I have ever known. We'll spend the whole weekend in Budapest and come back to Debrecen on Monday evening. Jane will spend a week here before she returns to England. I'm so excited to see her again!

Finally, last night, I went to a friend from the church's flat for dinner. Her name is Noémi and she comes from Transylvania originally. Another friend of ours from church, Zsuzsi, was there also. Noémi prepared delicious traditional Transylvanian foods for us and everything was superb. It was a wonderful evening with lots of girl talk and giggles! And it was a great language practice evening as well because Noémi doesn't speak any English. Zsuzsi speaks English fluently, so she could translate if needed, but Noémi speaks German and since I studied German for several years, we mostly speak to one another in German with some simpler Hungarian mixed in. Our evening was a jumbled mixture of English, German, and Hungarian! I also tutored Rachel Steiner in French yesterday afternoon, so my day consisted of four different languages which is something that couldn't have made me any happier. :)



The table is set with appetizers {all homemade}: bread, delectable jam
made from rose hips, cheeses, and an eggplant spread.



My dear and beautiful friend and hostess, Noémi.

I can't remember the name of this traditional Transylvanian entrée, but it
was pork covered in a French cream sauce and topped with a fried egg.
It was served with rice and was absolutely scrumptious!