Settled In by Josie

Yes! We have our own apartment. We've been cooking our own meals, which has been awesome; we don't have to guess what's on the menu or whether it's anything like it is in America. Actually, we have to do that in the grocery store, too...but we do much better without any pressure from the waiters. Recently we've had Jeff's delicious omelets and I made a vegetable soup tonight—without any instructions at all! Just wingin' it. I'm sure you mothers do it all the time, but try to remember what it was like when you were first married. I wouldn't have said anything about it if it hadn't been delicious and one of the best soups I've ever made :) But that's not saying much...

Jeff loves houseplants, so we bought a few

Then we were out of bread so we walked around the corner, past the pub, into the little bakery in our complex. And Jeff picked out a dessert pastry. I need to learn how to make some Hungarian foods. When I made cookies for the English class, a lady there kissed my cheeks (still awkward, but they think hugs are awkward—so to each their own), and said something like, "you cake very good." Yes, my cookies were delicious. Even though instead of normal sugar I bought crystalized, and they DO NOT HAVE brown sugar over here...among lots of other things. We really miss Wal Mart. I'm going to have to get creative.

One of our many trips to the grocery store

I have been reading a ton lately, while Jeff is gone at work. And I've had some fun writing a few paragraphs of a new story each day. Then the next day I read it and delete it. I'm still having problems being confident in my writing. But heck--I could blog all day long! We haven't for the past week just because we still don't have Internet here. Jeff has to bring his work modem and computer home at night to do stuff for school, work, etc. By the way, I'm starting an online class next week. It won't keep me crazy busy yet, but I'm excited for next semester when I will finish my degree!

When we were buying appliances at a store, the girl that spoke a little English there was very chatty with us. She asked me if I had any girlfriends, then wanted my number so we could go get "coffee or someting." She really just wants to improve her English by talking with an American. Some people that come to the English classes have been coming for 6 years! They like the practice they get by talking with English-speaking missionaries. It really has helped them to learn or keep up with the language. There’s an English teacher that goes just so she can learn things that aren’t in the books. Our landlord, Zultan, is going to Los Angeles to visit a friend in a couple of months. He laughed and said, "I'll be in America before you will be!" I didn't think it was very funny. He's also the one who gave us wine when we first moved in. When we told him we didn't drink wine, he asked, "Do you eat?" Hahaha anyway. Funny people.

Here are a few Hungarian words we have enjoyed lately:

Oszibarack (oo-zee-bar-at-sk) = Peach

Kosonom (coo-sun-um) = Thank you

Yo = Good

Igen (ee-gan) = Yes

Nem (nam) = No

That's about all I know so far :)