connections

It's so helpful to have highly extroverted friends! Today after church I was just hanging around the lobby talking when Austin ran over to us and announced that we were going out to eat with some Hungarians. He apparently just started talking to the people in front of us, and they invited us out to eat. We went to this really cool restaurant (and even cooler, the owner goes to our church and gave us a 30% discount!). I love it whenever I can actually communicate with Hungarians, and these guys spoke English really well. They tried to help us with our horrible pronunciation, and we laughed and talked and ate for a couple of hours. So I didn't exactly get a lot of work done today, but it was well worth it to make some new friends at church. Plus one of the guys is a salsa instructor, so I think we're going to try to take some classes! I know -- you're trying to hold back the laughter picturing me dancing the salsa. Go ahead; it makes me laugh too! but I think it will be fun -- as long as I don't kill myself. I've been hobbling around all weekend, but I believe my limp is a little less noticeable now, and I'm not quite so slow. How did I get so accident-prone????

Just finished reading Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, who was killed in the Holocaust midway through writing it. The manuscripts of the first part were just published last year. It's so good; I highly recommend it. It also made me more aware of all the talent and knowledge that was lost during that time period. We're reading Night right now in my Sophomore class, so it's all hitting home -- especially since they mention Budapest so often in the book.

Spiritual Emphasis Week was really great. The speaker, Don Stubbs, was interesting and genuine, and the kids were honest and open in return. He challenged them to take ownership of the school and rise up in leadership, and they responded to that. I got a lot out of it as well; a lot of what he spoke about was what I've been reading and praying about lately. I've been struck lately by what it means to have Christ dwell in us, to be identified with Him. Funny, that's a pretty basic principle of Christianity, and only now do I feel like I'm starting to grasp it! I also realized that this week marked 16 years (I think!) since my baptism. Who would have thought back then that now I'd be in Hungary? Weird.

Progress reports are due this week -- time to enter some grades!