Day 25 and 26: I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.

Well, here we are on our second full day here. The children have warmed up to us so much, and that is a blessing. We played a lot of sports with them yesterday; well Katie played volleyball, and I played something comparable to tennis, haha, but we had a lot of fun. I had a breakthrough yesterday when a boy asked me if I wanted to play basketball in Hungarian, and I knew what he was asking! I still haven't learned as many verbs as I would like - but Orsi gave me homework on our last day in Reghin, so as soon as I get the chance, I will start to work on it. :)

Katie taught the English class yesterday, and I will teach today. It is a little more difficult than any of the other classes we've taught because these children learn very slowly. Although our children from Apalina have a terribly attention span, they do learn fairly quickly. Mirjam informed us that most of these children here quit going to school after fourth grade, so that causes difficulty in teaching them, but I think as long as there is a lot of interaction and they are having fun, they will learn something.

Yesterday I surprised myself. I haven't eaten a banana in at least 12 years. Anyone who knows me knows that I pick bananas out of banana pudding because I hate them so much. :) Well, yesterday at lunch, they had bananas, and Katie was going on and on about how good they were...I was curious. So I tried one, and it was actually pretty good haha. I don't think this is the start of a long-lasting relationship or anything, but at least my opinion has been improved of bananas. However, all of the fruit here is better than the fruit in the States, so I really doubt I'll be eating any when I come home.

I went on a walk with a couple of the older girls yesterday and had a somewhat decent conversation in Hungarian until the end of the walk, when they started asking me a question that I didn't know. They persisted for awhile, but then gave up, so I was a little discouraged, but I have to remind myself that I am learning. This is SUCH a learning process, and I'm finding so many things out about myself. For one thing, I have never felt so vulnerable for such a long period of time and it is taxing. :) But I think it is a good thing as well, because I am finding that some things are easier - like prayer, for example. And love. It is so easy to love these children when I feel that I have nothing else to offer them. And I think they are beginning to love us in return, which is comforting. God works in mysterious ways, and even when I feel that I will never learn this language, I am still able to establish relationships and see Him working through them.

'I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help, that I may sing of the Lord, "How good our God has been to me!" '
Psalm 13:6