coolness

At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was experiencing a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian’s personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities; he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann.

When he finished, Von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. “My son,” he said, “when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, ‘Take good care of this kiss—it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play.’ I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it.”

Source unknown

One of my class assignments was to surf www.bible.org and I found this article on there. Thought I'd share 'cuz its cool.

In other news, the dean's wife keeps assuring us that there has never ever been anyone who died from over reading or over studying. To which I say, records are made to be broken, and there is always the exception that proves the rule. ;-)

~PrincessOuch~

pictures finally

These are all WAY out of order. Sorry about that. They are inversed. Oh well. Hope you enjoy them anyway.
The subtitles are on the bottom so you know what is what. :-) Except the picture above is a Gypsy wagon. :-) And if my English is wierd, it's because I've been speaking in Hungarian all day,k so don't judge me. ;-)

Me and some Hungarian Gypsy friends chillin' on a cold day. Down comfortors and feather pillows. I can live with that. ;-)

A mall in Debrecen, Hungary, where my dear hostess Johanna (blond girl) arranged for me to meet my dear friend Rebeka and Zsolt Gergely and their cute daughter Arien.


Countryside. Can you imagine a hoarde of Huns galloping at breakneck speed down those hills in full battle gear? ;-)Johanna says in this picture I am not wearing an American smile but a Hungarian or Romanian smile. :-D Well, it never hurts to be mistaken for a native.

The main building of Johanna's University where she is getting a Ph.D in molecular biology and research. The steeple is of a Reformed/Lutheran church on campus, that has a sweet coffee shop in the basement where I met the IMB missionary. Anyway I think this picture looks like something out of "The Sound of Music."

Me and the train on a street in Debrecen.

Hungary from the view of the plane.

Train station and interesting lesson

So I should update u once again. The keyboard is English, so hopefully I won't type with an accent. So far jetlag has not been too bad, which is nice. I'm talking to my friend Magda, who is Hungarian, and so if I suddenly start typing in Hungarian, az amert. Szerretem magyarul. :-) Szep, igaz? Okay I'll stop now.
Funny story, when I was going from the airport to the train station, I had four heavy bags, and I had to cross the street. However, to get across the street I had to go up several flights of stairs to get to the bridge - with four heavy bags. I was jetlagged and I confess a rather horrid word in German which I cannot repeat went thru my head. So out loud I prayed, "Oh Lord, how am I suppsoed to get up THAT?"
"Lady, I'll help you." I heard from behind me. A man was pointing to my bags and pointing to me and smiling. I smiled and thanked him and he helped me get to the train station and explained how I could get to Debrecen, where my friend was going to pick me up. (Debrecen is a city in Hungary close to the Romanian boarder, where I was going to meet an International Mission Board missionary and get over jetlag) I thanked him and he went to join some friends.
In Romania, Gypsies usually dress in their traditional clothes. Very colorful and baggy. However in Hungary, especially in the cities, they don't do this as much. But with some practice you can tell who is a Gypsy and who is Hungarian, etc. I suddenly realized that the older gentleman who helped me was a Gypsy, and the girl I was sitting next to was also a Gypsy.
There was an older Hungarian man keeping an eye on me as the older Gypsy man talked with a younger Gypsy man. I tried talking with the girl but like many Gypsy women she was silent when men were nearby. The men saw that I was trying to speak Hungarian but not getting very far so asked where I was from.
I tried to avoid saying I was from America and said I spoke Romanian. They raised their eyebrows and said I didn't look very Romanian, was I of Hungarian heritage? No? Well German then.
Finally I just gave in and said I was American.
"WHAT! You are American, and you speak Hungarian AND Romanian? Why?!"
I said I just liked the languages, and the older Gypsy guy asked if I had a Transylvanain boyfriend. The younger Gypsy was looking at me so I said I had a tall, handsome boyfriend in America, and the guy stopped looking at me.
The Hungarian man came over and asked rather sincerely why I had first gone to Transylvania and I said that I went on a mission trip. He nodded and grew thoughtful.
The train came and the older Gypsy man helped me move my luggage onto the train. I thanked them and wished them a happy journey in Gypsy (or at least I think I did. I said "Latcho Drom" :-D)
I sat down in the train and had to keep from laughing. Here I come, thousands of miles away from home to help Gypsies hear the Good News of Jesus, and the first people who help me are Gypsies. A Hungarian or Romanian (and probably some of you, my readers!) would say to never trust a Gypsy, they never help a person unless it is to get something for themselves. yet the most helpful people to me when I landed were Gypsies. God indeed has a sense of humor!!

In other news, my friend Johanna and her boss who is from Germany have informed me on almost an hourly basis that I am crazy. Worthy of earning respect for what I do, but crazy none-the-less. :-D

not the first nor last time I'll hear that, I'm sure.

Anyway, sorry no pictures yet, maybe this evening I can load some of Hungary.
Please pray for me as my dreams have been rather intense and odd lately, and I think it is some Spiritual Warfare.

Thanks again for your support and prayers! God bless,
or as the Hungarians say,
Az UR aldjon meg!!

~Princess Ouch~