Three months down

I have now officially been in Hungary for three months! It's very odd to me, however, because on one hand, I feel like time has flown by. On the other hand, I feel like so much has happened in these past three months--I can see the growth in so many different areas of my life.

I am behind on updating you on a few major things that have happened since Matt's visit ended one month ago. In no particular order, they are as follows:

1. I am part of a small group in the church now. We meet every Tuesday night in someone's home. Our small group is comprised of lovely, lovely people, and fortunately for me, there are a few who speak English very well, so they can help me to be in on the discussions. Csilla Steiner is our small group leader.

2. I found a private Hungarian tutor! Her name is Mirjam (pronounced Miriam) and she is my age. She has taught Hungarian to other Americans in Debrecen. She attends another Baptist church in Debrecen, and it really was a God-thing that we met and started this relationship. She's a wonderful teacher and I've learned so much already! We meet at least once a week {we try for twice a week if we can} for two hours.

3. I officially have ten private language students. I tutor nine individuals in English and one in French {Rachel Steiner, who is beginning to learn French in school this year.} Six of the nine English students are kids and three are adults. I am really enjoying tutoring privately!

4. I had to go to the hospital two weeks ago because of a problem with my left eye. I had been helping the Steiner family move firewood in their garden and the wind blew something large into my eye, which then went back behind my eyeball. I couldn't get it out myself and I was hoping my eye would push it out eventually, but five hours later, my eye was red, swollen, watering profusely, and I couldn't keep my eye open. God provided a kind eye specialist at the University hospital who then removed three tiny objects from my eye--two tiny stones and a tiny sliver of wood. The three things had scratched my eye ball, and were contaminated with bacteria, so I received a prescription for strong antibiotic eye drops to use five times per day for a week. After the incident, my left eye was blurry a little for the first two days, but since then, it's been fine!

5. The biggest piece of news I have for you...I am now teaching two mornings per week at a high school! Yes, that's right--a high school, called Euro Baptista. It's odd for me, given that I have had absolutely zero training on how to teach a classroom, but I am teaching English conversation, so there's not many strict guidelines for the course. The school was pretty desperate to find a native English speaker to teach this course {clearly!}. Essentially what I'm doing is volunteering as a teacher there, and in return, the school is "donating" to the Bridge Ministries. I teach 9th, 10th, and 12th grades from beginner English to advanced. I like it a lot so far, but the students can be challenging, as they are teenagers. I told my family that I feel a little like I'm "playing teacher," in the same way that little girls like to "play house." I think I've managed to hide the fact from the students that I've never taught formally before! The biggest challenge is trying to get the students to speak in English. The advanced students have no problem, but the students in my other classes are either afraid to speak in English, or they just plain don't know how. I certainly didn't envision teaching at a school during my time in Hungary, but I'm glad for the opportunity and the challenges of it are stretching me. Jozsef is very excited that I can be a branch of the Bridge and Trinity Church, outreaching in this school and establishing further involvement of the church and ministry center in the local community.

As you can see, the above things, on top of my normal responsibilites with the Bridge and the church, keep me very, very busy!

Nagyon boldog vagyok Magyarországon {I am very happy in Hungary}. :)