The Very Beginning

A few of you have been making noise about my silence since I left the country nearly two weeks ago. Today I begin to answer your request. Due to storms on the East coast, my adventure began with a false start. I spent the whole day at the airport and did'nt manage to leave the city of Cleveland. Since my family was out of town and I had given away my phone, I was left to navigate my way back home, praying that the house-sitter was present,or that she had left the door unlocked. I was in luck and was able to enter the house and get a good night's rest before starting the same process the next day.

Despite this rocky start,my subsequent travels have been without a glitch. I made it safely to Budapest and got to see a few sights and talk with a missionary there about what to expect from my experience. The next day we drove East and crossed the border into Ukraine. Eight km later I was in the charming town of Beregszasz, and within another hour I was at a desk beginning my Hungarian lessons.

The subsequent week and a half has been a blur. At last count, our class had learned over 500 vocab words, but it still seems that I have been making little to no progress with this peculiar language. My eight fellow volunteers are all German, and all but one are now scattered at placements throughout Transcarpathia. Two of us remain in Beregszasz where are primary (or perhaps sole) occupations have been studying, sleeping, eating, and exploring the place that is now our home.

I will have much more to say about this place, its people, and its ways in coming weeks. As all my mental energies are subsumed by language learning and generally finding my way around, that is as much as I have to say for one day. I would love to hear from you in the meantime!