Day 10,11&12 - In Keszthely

Buenos tardes :D

No, we haven't forgotten how to speak Spanish even though we've been dabbling in Russian and Hungarian. We realized that we left out a lot of what we did Sunday afternoon! Everybody from Speak Out headed out to see some sights here in town. One of the most famous is the Festetics castle. The camp covered our entrance fee, so all we had to do was walk in, slip these goofy shoe covers on and enjoy the ELABORATE decor.

Next we all went to supper at a restaurant a few blocks away that specialized in Hungarian food, we sat at mixed American/Hungarian tables and enjoyed comparing cultures and learning about the types of food we were eating. The Hungarians especially enjoyed hearing about the types of pastries Ben works with at Central Market. After supper, we walked down to Lake Balaton for a one hour cruise. (not a three hour tour) Megan took a sweet photo of Ben eating

the sun. On board we had a chance to meet and talk with Victor and Gaby, a young married couple from Slovakia who are on staff with Campus Crusade. They wanted to know why we were at Speak Out and we wanted to know about ministry in Slovakia. At one point, Ben asked jokingly, "So why is Slovakia better than Hungary?" Megan and Victor laughed but Gaby had something much more profound to say, "It isn't better, that's why you should come."

Megan promised pictures of our little room, so here they are. You're probably not impressed, but we're enjoying being able to claim a little space for ourselves since we most likely won't be able to again until we get back to Dallas 26 July.

Yesterday we spent most of the day in various break out sessions with the counselors learning what the camp is all about and some culture training. It was very informative and the staff was doing an excellent job. At the end of the day, however, we decided that we needed a day off. We have been going pretty hard since we started our trip and hadn't really had a day of rest in 10 days, so that's what we did today. We went to breakfast, stayed for the first morning session on the importance of your personal relationship with the Lord (VERY good) then broke off for the

remainder of the day. We took a nap, went to lunch then walked down to Lake Balaton and enjoyed the wonderful weather for a while. Of course, we stopped on the way to get double scoops of the most excellent Hungarian ice cream! We then walked up to this nice little coffee shop we had been shown Sunday night on the way to the castle where we enjoyed some cold fizzy drinks and what was basically a french bread pizza. The coffee shop sits next door to a 14th century Catholic church which we wandered around until we found a small playground with swings and a see-saw. Guess who was up in the air more often. :D We wandered around some shops half looking for some new sunglasses for Ben but ended up leaving empty handed. Supper was pizza at a place called Donatello's and yes, their logo was the Ninja Turtle. We're just planning on getting cleaned up tonight and enjoying some relaxing time together. Tomorrow is a full day of break out sessions we plan to attend and Thursday morning we head back to Budapest. Have a GREAT Tuesday!