Two weeks in Hungary

Hungarian Puli

- Two weeks in Hungary and everyone seems to be into a normal sleeping schedule and over our colds (except for most of us having a lingering cough)
- Just went by our house we're going to be renting and we should be moving in around Feb 1...looking forward to it
- I took Nathan by his new Kindergarten on Wed to meet his two teachers...one speaks some English and both seem very nice. I plan to go with Nathan the first couple of mornings for an hour or so, just until we feel comfortable
- The town of Papa is pretty small..it took us less than 20 minutes to drive all the way around the town
- The entire town reminds me of Charleston's Rainbow Row and our old neighborhood Hunt Club...the houses are all very colorful with purple, pink, orange, yellow and blue houses all in a row; it's very pretty and quaint
- Most of the houses are flush to the street with inner courtyards and/or backyards behind the front wall of the house...I'll have to take pictures to show what I mean
- The kids go to nursery school and Kindergarten until they are 7 when they start 1st grade. Up until that point there is very little teaching...it's just playtime. In 1st grade they start to learn to read and write
- There are dogs everywhere and one of the most common breeds is the Hungarian Puli (see picture above). They are everywhere...I saw about 5 just on our drive around this afternoon. Last week there was one at the house next to one we were looking at and it started barking at Sarah. She came over to me very concerned and said, "Mommy, the doggie is yelling at me." According to our new friends, both Hungarian and American, a lot of the dogs "yell" around here
- It has been cold and wet since we have been here...looking forward to the spring
- Gardens are very common here with many backyards consisting mainly of gardens. We plan to garden again this year. I'll have to research when to plant and what grows well here
- We started homeschooling this past Monday (week 23 of our 36 week year). It went really well.
- One thing I will miss here is not having the library, which in Charleston was a weekly trip for us
- I realize that cartoons are entertaining to the kids whether in English or Hungarian. They don't seem to miss out on much if they can't understand the language. News, on the other hand, is a bit harder to follow. Jeff has found that his German has come in handy.
- We went to a really cool swimming complex on Monday...it's huge with more than 6 different pools...many of them heated by underwater hot springs
- I'm sure there is so much more but these are the observations that come to mind. I plan to set my alarm and get up early for the first time since being here, now that my sleep schedule is back to normal...I've missed my morning quiet time with the Lord.
- Good night everyone!