Budapest…a glimpse of our first week

The Arrival.
Budapest, Hungary.
It’s
been a week…to say that we’ve been working our badonkadonk’s (as Katie
would put it) off would be quite the understatement.  We hit the ground
running when we got off of our overnight train from Romania
and met our contact Ed who led us straight to the metro to catch the
line to the new office which would also double as our home for the next
few weeks.  After about two miles of walking (packs and all) we finally
made it to the office.  It was empty with freshly polished wooden
floors that Ed told us to be very, very careful with.  Right away
Audrey and Katie jumped in a car with Ed and Braedon to become live- in
nannies for Ed and Susan’s four children for the next four days. 
Steph, Bekah and I went right to work cleaning bathrooms, showers and
the kitchen in the new office.  All this on a travel day. 

The
next four days seem like a blur now…all I remember is that we used our
super strong muscles to haul heavy couches that seemed like they came
out of a 1970s showroom, about a million chairs (okay maybe 20 or so),
wooden desks, giant Ikea
bookshelves, boxes and boxes of baby clothes and huge trash bags of
prenatal vitamins…oh yeah and a refrigerator.  Somehow the days flew by
and we were reunited with Katie and Audrey at the mission expo that was
being held at the mall a few blocks away.  Ed told us that we would
have the next couple of days off before he came back and we would start
work on renovating and organizing the office.  We were so excited to be
free and reunited that we went out to PARTAY!!!  Syke.  We were so
exhausted that all we had energy to do was eat gyros at a hole in the
wall restaurant in the ghetto side of town.  Oh well…at least we would
get to sleep in tomorrow…

Our First “Day Off”

Ed told us that
he and the family wouldn’t be back until Tuesday morning so Monday was
going to be our day off.  Although we’d pretty much banked on having a
slow and uneventful day…at some point, in the wee hours of the morning
a valve broke in the kitchen and proceeded to flood our flat.  Being
the heavy and not so heavy sleepers that we are, we were completely
oblivious to the problem until Steph (the early riser) woke up and
realized that as she walked into the hallway towards the kitchen she
was wading in about an inch and a half of water.  We all pretty much
jumped out of our sleeping bags and ran to the front waiting room to
find Ed’s precious floors soaked (did I mention Ed really likes the
wooden floors?).  Braedon went right to work trying to stop the water
from leaking/gushing, Steph grabbed a mop, Bekah and I used dustpans to
scoop water into buckets and Katie and Audrey ran outside to find
someone who knew anything about plumbing. 

That’s
how we met Antonne, the landlord, who seemed extremely calm, even when
he found out that the water was leaking into his restaurant directly
below our flat.  He offered us all the towels he owned along with some
delicious coffee.  It only took us a couple of hours to clean up the
mess so we opened up all the windows we could to complete the drying
and sat down to rest a little bit.  After a short while we decided to
go on a search for a dinner within our budget.  As we were on our way
out Bekah noticed that something just didn’t smell right.  She followed
the scent and it got stronger somewhere around the showers.  She called
us over and we realized it was a gas leak.  Good thing the windows and
doors were all open.  Braedon shut off the valve that somehow got
turned on and we left ASAP.  We finally came home after eating
something cheap and were in the waiting area laughing about the crazy
“day off” when Audrey decided she wanted to experiment hard boiling
eggs in the microwave.  To make a long story short, she put the eggs in
for over ten minutes and all of a sudden the microwave door burst open
spewing egg everywhere.  It literally sounded like a gun shot and my
immediate response was to duck and cover so I jumped out of my chair
and put it over my head…yet that still did not keep egg from getting
all over my hair. 

The Children…

The next morning Ed
and Susan walk in with all four children in tote.  He asked us how
things went and Braedon laughed a nervous laugh and bravely told him
that the flat had flooded, gas leaked and the microwave exploded…all in
one day.  Ed didn’t seem surprised that so much happened while we were
left alone…kind of makes me wonder if that’s why he spends the night so
much. 

Anyway, in walk Sophie, Miriam, Tony, and Susan
carrying Joseph the youngest boy.  Miriam, Tony and Joseph are their
foster children.  They all have the same mother who has visited them
once since we’ve been here.  Sophie is adopted and quite the drama
queen with an imagination that runs wild.  I wouldn’t be surprised if
she grew up to write children’s books.  She can play with a simple mop
for hours and it seems like she’s not even in the room anymore. 

Miriam
is the next oldest.  She loves to test authority by doing something she
knows she’s not supposed to be doing and then turning around to see if
anybody is going to do anything to stop her.  She speaks perfect
English when she wants something and has more energy than a stinkin’
can of redbull.  She’s the revolutionary.  Not afraid to push the limit
and willing to take the punishment when she gets caught. 

Tony
is next.  Tony is so gentle and happy.  He’s got huge bug eyes and
wears wannabe chacos with socks all the time.  He loves his flannel
shirt and baggy pants…and the kids only three!  Tony is going to be the
push over dad…he gives his sisters whatever they want because he really
just doesn’t care to put up a fight.  On the playground he’s the social
butterfly mostly stealing toys from unsuspecting younger children and
hitting on the older girls at the water fountain.  Tony is a
heartbreaker.