A little update

Spring is definitely coming. More and more are the number of those sunny, warmer days. This coming week promises to be beautiful. At least until Friday. They say it is gonna be low 70's and sunny Yay!! :)

I have never experienced a more mild winter before [than here in Southern Italy] but I havent been looking forward to spring this much either. 

I love how everything is coming alive again, the wonderful and "gragrancious" spring flowers are out and the morning sun full of Vitamin D. I like to sit out on our piccolo balconcino in the mornings and study. Also one of my favorite things to do in the morning is to hang clean clothes out to dry. As the breeze softly waves the fabrics, I inhale the wonderful smells of spring, and the sun is warming me up. From the outside in. :)

A tavasz hatarozottan itt van. Egyre tobb a szep, napos, kellemes nap. Jovo het gyonyorunek igerkezik. Legalabbis pentekig. 21 fokot mondanak Jaj de jo!!!! :) Soha nem volt meg ilyen enyhe telem, de ugyanakkor soha nem vartam meg a tavaszt se ilyen nagyon. Nagyon szeretem a tavaszt, ahogy monden eletre kel, a tavaszi viragok bodito illatat es az egyre melegedo nap tele van D vitaminnal! :)Nagyon szeretek kiulni delelottonkent az erkelyre tanulni, ahol melegen sut a nap. Egyik kedvenc elfoglaltsagom, hogy reggelente kirakom a vizes ruhat szaradni az erkelyen. Itt mindenki "kiteregeti a szennyeset" szo szerint! :) 

What has been happening with us since the last blogpost? (which was in February..shame on me)

Well, probably nothing very interesting according to your measure, but for us every day is an adventure, a challenge, a joy. 

Mi is tortent a legutobbi blog post ota? (ami februarban volt...szegyellje magat). Ha't...nem tul sok erdekes a mas merceje szerint, de nekunk minden nap kaland, megprobaltatas, orom. 

Here are some highlights: 

Ime nehany esemeny:

1. On a daily basis we are:

praying in the morning with our team, Benjamin is in kindergarten from 9 to 3:30, Scott and I are studying the Italian language and culture in every free minute of the day, I (Edina) am trying to learn more and more about the Italian cousine, learning the use of the ingredients available here, the usage of the 1000 kinds of cheeses in the deli's etc. 

Napi szinten amit csinalunk: Reggel rovid megbeszeles es imadkozas a munkatarsainkkal, Benike ovodaban van 9 es fel 4 kozott, Scottal a nap minden szabad perceben tanuljuk az olaszt, en (E.) probalok minel tobbet megtanulni az itt kaphato elelmiszerekrol, etelek elkeszitesi modjairol, az 1000-fele sajt felhasznalasi modjairol...

Sunday school for the little ones
vasarnapi iskola a picurkaknak

2. On Sundays we go to church and meet the local believers.

Vasarnaponkent imahazba megyunk es talalkozunk a helyi hivokkel

3. We said goodbye to our beloved co-worker, Emmanuelle who following God's voice went back to Germany to serve in his home church for a while until God directs him otherwise

Bucsut intettunk szeretett munkatarsunknak, Emmanuelle-nek, aki az Ur szavat kovetve visszament Nemetorszagba ahol az otthoni gyulekezeteben fog szolgalni egy ideig

(he is in the far left    o a balszelso a kepen)

4. It is a big deal for me that we have finally found the public library in Termoli. The set-up is a bit different...well..from any other library I have ever been to.... but it is probably just because I dont know the system here yet :) LOL Love it!!! :)

Szamomra nagy esemeny, hogy vegre megtalaltuk a varosi konyvtarat Termoliban. Az elrendezes egy kicsit....hogyismondjam....ma's, mint amit egy konyvtarban varna az ember...de valoszinuleg ezt csak azert erzem igy, mert meg nem ismerem jol a rendszert. :) Haha nagyon jo!!! :)

5. Benjamin is learning so much in school. He understands a lot and his teacher told me that he is speaking a lot in Italian already with his friends. Probably not on Goldoni-level, but perfectly enough for what he needs. We are very excited about this, because we just got a phone call a few days ago that Benjamin cannot do another year in kindergarten (which we originally planned on doing so that his Italian would be much more advanced by the time he starts 1st grade), he is starting 1st grade in the fall!

As intimidating as it sounds we are excited and happy for him. 

Benike nagyon sokat fejlodik az ovodaban. Mar ert nagyon sokat olaszul, es a tanito nenije elmondta nekem, hogy mar sokat beszel is olaszul a kis barataival es tanaraival. Mi nagyon orulunk ennek, kulonosen mert most hallottuk, hogy szeptembertol iskolaba kell mennie es nem maradhat meg egy evet az oviban. Eredetileg azt terveztuk, hogy nem kuldjuk elso osztalyba, amig nem beszel folyekonyan olaszul, de a kora miatt muszaj kezdenie az elsot. Ez egy kicsit ijeszto, de ugyanakkor izgalmas is. 

6. We hit the city a couple times this month again. What for? To do more paperwork of course :)

But Thank God we can see the end now. Other than a couple more things we are "all settled".

Ebben a honapban is el kellett menni ketszer Campobasso-ba hivatalos ugyben. De hala az Urnak mostmar ugy tunik, hogy hamarosan a vegere erunk a sok papirmunkanak, ugyintezesnek. :)

7. Our hearts are bleeding for millions of Italians who dont know the Lord yet. Please pray for them today!

A szivunk nagyon nehez azokert az olaszokert, akik nem ismerik az Urat. Kerlek imadkozzatok ma ertuk!

8. Carnival season is officially done. We had some fun parades in our little town too

A farsangi karnevalok ideje hivatalosan is veget ert. A mi kis varosunkban is volt par erdekes felvonulas

Ciao! 

Carneval time in Italy

February is Carnival time in Italy. You have all heard of the famous Carnival in Venice. The Carnival ends with a Christian celebration of Lent, 40 days before Easter, on the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival is famed for its elaborate masks. Carnival in Italy is a huge winter festival celebrated with parades, masquerade balls, entertainment, music and parties. Children throw confetti at each other.

Masks, maschere, are important part of the carnevale. 

The kids had a carneval party today at school. They all brought their masks to school and had all kinds of fun. They even had some professional clowns come in from Termoli. Benjamin said they were really funny and they had laughed their butts off. :) 

So how do you like Benjamin's polar bear mask? We made it last night.
Februar = karneval Olaszorszagban! Mind hallottunk mar a hires velencei karnevalrol. A karneval 40 nappal husvet elott er veget, egy nappal Hamvazoszerda elott. (katolikus unnep) A fesztival gyonyoruen keszitett maszkjairol hires. Ebben az idoszakban paradekkal, alarcos balokkal, zenevel es mokaval unnepelnek az olaszok orszagszerte. A gyerekek konfettit dobnak egymasra. Az alarcok, maszkok fontos kellekei a karnevalnak. 
Benikeeknek is volt egy kis farsangi unnepseguk ma az iskolaban. Hivatasos bohocok is jottek Termolibol. Benike szerint nagyon viccesek voltak es sokat nevettek. :)

At the cemetery

I have this strange double feeling about cemeteries. I am horrified and excited at the same time.

When I was a little girl my grandma used to take me with her to the cemetery. She attended to my grandpa's and great grandpa's graves. Then we always walked around and she told me all these curious stories about the people in the graves. She seemed to know a whole lot of people. It is customary in Hungary to put a picture of the deceased on the grave so it was easier for me to imagine the person as my grandma told me about their life, and how they died. I especially "liked" the children's section. I was horrified and chilled as she told me about the babies and young children who died in different diseases and accidents, but I always wanted to hear more! 

Today my heart still skips when I enter a cemetery. Something strange drives my steps forward one by one... but inside...I just want to run away. 

When we moved to Petacciato one of the first things I wondered...Where is the cemetery!

It took us 5 months to find it! It is outside of town. 

In Italy they place the coffins in vaults in the wall. Families can buy a "room" where the family members' coffins will lay.

Found a section where there were many sticks in the ground with numbers on them. The number plates look really old. Anybody? Any ideas what they are for? (The numbers repeat themselves)

And then there is the section where the graves are in the ground. There are photos on every grave of the person who rests there.

Mustache and garden

When I picked Benjamin up in school today he had a big grin on his face. And a mustache! :)

Apparently all the little boys in the class got a handsome mustache from the teachers. :)

And all the little girls faces were painted as butterflies.

My garden. Oh. 

The Fact: I am The plant killer. No plant has ever survived my care before. 

Watering neighbors plants? Dead by the time they got home.

Gift basil plants? Dead in 2 weeks. 

Etc.

So now you see this is my history with plants. 

We have a piccolo front yard with a couple trees and a flower bed. I finally got tired of looking at it getting weedier every day and have decided to make it a nice little garden. Yes, you heard me right...weeds out, flowers and herbs in... I dont know the outcome but I am hopeful. We had a few very nice days last week and I started weeding the flower bed. Well I gotta tell you it was a back-breaking work. But it feels so good looking at the part where I already weeded. The weather turned chilly again and I had to call it quits for now, but I cant wait to get out there again and finish weeding. We got some flower seeds and herb seeds too today. I cant believe I am saying this, but I am sooo excited to start planting!! :)

Yaayy for gardening!!!

(again, I cant believe I just said that!)

You can see the part where I have weeded already. 

A walk in town

I love clouds. They are just so beautiful. They are always different.

I love how they cast their shadow on the surface of the water. 

This is a little park on the other end of town. Looks pretty old, they didnt seem to care to update it or anything. I NEVER see anyone in their. There are a few stone benches and bushes in there, but that's pretty much it. Oh, and a WWII memorial statue in the middle of it.They would have much more traffic in it if they put a few swings and slides in it. 

It is really too bad because the stone mosaic pavement is quite beautiful!

The only living creature I ever see in there (beside the bushes) is those two dogs sleeping in the flower beds. 

That is one of the mysteries of Petacciato, the "stray" dogs. Husband says they are not really stray, they have homes and masters, but they are let outside during the day to just run free. Well, I dont know... 

I am fond of walking. I love walking around our town, especially the old town. The houses are all tightly built together and have such a rich atmosphere. You can "smell" history on them. 

The little peach colored house at the end of the row is one of my favorites. I haven't mustered enough gall to snap a picture of the front of the house yet, but it is wonderful. It has a little English style "messy" garden in front of the house. It is facing the Adriatic sea. There is a little table and a couple of chairs too under the raised grape vines.

I walked down there the other day and the owner of the house, little old man, came outside. We spoke a few words. He had the heavy Petacciato region accent that still sounds like Portuguese to me. It has the solitude that I crave. It has the history that I admire. It has the view I could never get enough of. 

He was kind and polite. I complemented on his house. 

This one below is also a very nicely kept house. I took peek into their covered balcony the other day. It looks like a wonderfully secluded little place with a little table and a couple of chairs where you can "hide away" and read a good book. Alone. 

What we see here below is unfortunately very common in Italy. Having a little (or big) plaquette or shrine dedicated to one (or more) of the saints on the house or in the yard. 

This one here is Padre Pio who was a very influential "saint" in this area. Many believe he was actually demon possessed.

Just a neat view 

You can see many of these horse rings in the wall all over town. I pointed them out to Benjamin the other night when we were out on our usual passeggiata and I explained to him what they were for. Since then he can't help himself and he is counting them every time we are out. 

The wonderfully marvellous old church. Built in the 10th century!!! :)

Hungary trip briefly

1. The trip was good. 

2. What wasn't good: I was sick most of the time with a bad cold. Scott hurt his right shoulder, he has been wearing a sling.

3. We have bought a car. Renault Thalia. Finally. 

 4. Benjamin loved being in Hungary and see his Mita and Pita. (Hungarian grandparents)

He also loved seeing the demolition sites.

 5. With my brother. We are standing on the newly finished town square.

 6. Waiting for our train

 7. The guys....being all cute

8. I ate lots and lots of pastries during that one week. Poppy seed pastries (my favorite), sour cherry pastries, walnut pastries, cheesy pastries, cheese curd pastries...

9. It took us 16 and a half hour to drive back to Italy

Arriving to the Italian border felt really good. Like...going HOME! :)

Yes, I love cloud photos. This one was bellissima! :)

This little guy LOVED sticking his head out the window and have the wind blow in his face 

Budapest on an early Sunday morning 

10. We are grateful grateful grateful!!!