Szia! Greetings from Pápa, Hungary. Szia is a wonderful Hungarian word that means both “hello” and “goodbye.” If I’m greeting multiple people, it’s sziasztok. Simple, right? Not so much. Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages to learn. Each noun has 18 different forms. There are 44 letters in the alphabet, with many sounds difficult to produce for an English-speaker. Sometimes it seems like an insurmountable hurdle. But what’s even more frustrating is not being able to communicate. Not only can I not have meaningful conversations with people, I can barely form a sentence. Though I understand much more than I can articulate, that isn’t helpful when I require assistance or have a question.

About a month ago I attempted to travel to Kaposvár (a 2-hour drive, or a 5-hour train ride) to visit a Hungarian family that I know and that HFL had worked with on a previous trip. I rushed out of school on Friday to catch the one train that would get me there at a reasonable hour. I missed it, due to not being able to find the rather nondescript train station. Worse things could’ve happened, so I planned on catching the earliest train out of Pápa, making it to Kaposvár by Saturday morning. Woke up at 4:15 am, walked 25 minutes to the train station, and caught the 5:05 train with ease. 2 train transfers and I would be there by 10:00. No problem. Except there was one problem- the train I was on was running late. As a result, I missed my connecting train in Györ. I had no idea what to do. I’d taken trains in Hungary before, but never by myself. And now I was stranded in a town 50 kilometres away at 6:30 am in the pouring down rain with no idea how to get where I wanted to go. Talking to the person at the ticket window proved fruitless, because I couldn’t adequately explain in Hungarian that my train was late, so I obviously couldn’t have caught the train listed on my ticket. The train is great for going from a small town (like Pápa) to a major city (like Budapest or Vienna). It is not so great going from a small town to a non-major city (like Kaposvár). I had no options, because that train was it- my only chance. Due to the current refugee situation, there were about 20 police officers at that train station and given the fact that I was visibly upset and confused, I was worried about attracting attention to myself. Luckily, no one really noticed me. After a quick phone call bearing the bad news that I would unfortunately not being able to make it, I decided that since I was already packed, I would head into Budapest. Make lemonade out of lemons and all that. I might’ve moved to a different country, but I was still the same me- positive and looking for the bright side. So I got on a train to Budapest (no transfers this time!) and spent the weekend getting to know my new country’s capital. Fast forward three weeks: I did it! I successfully took a train to and from Kaposvár. I spent Saturday with the church community in Vése (HFL did work there in 2013) and with the church in Kaposvár, where I got the opportunity to share why I decided to call Hungary home. This was the first weekend of many to come where I got to share the HFL mission and invite others to come alongside and support us in our journey.

Many have asked how my transition has been, and I always say “good” because it truly has been. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been worth it. Even when it takes thirty minutes to try to figure out how to call my credit card company and finally giving up and paying to use Skype, when going to the post office is a big deal, when I get condescended to by the cashier at Interspar because I didn’t bag my produce properly, and even when I still haven’t taken the bus because I’m terrified of ending up who knows where. I’m thankful for all the support I’ve received from friends in America, and for all the incredible people here in Hungary that have made it more smooth. For me, my next step is to spend the school fall break at Debrecen University taking an intensive Hungarian language class. And when I return I have a grammar tutor so I can perfect one of the world’s hardest languages. Maybe they can also teach me how to bag produce properly.

-Love, Lily