Settling In ... A super long Blog Entry
Grab a cup of coffee and settle in to read it :)

Yesterday took this picture of the sunrise out the side window of my living room. It was such a beautiful morning...peaceful, quiet, no trace of city traffic...just a quiet Sunday. I'm loving my new place.

I've been trying to settle in while keeping up with the rest of life. Here's a short synopsis of the past week. (I'm so glad that all the ministries start up next week and that I could rearrange my schedule to accommodate all the craziness of moving).

Some pictures of the cats - settling in...

This window is between the kitchen and the glassed-in porch. Gus is on the kitchen side of the window and Finn is on the porch side.

Gus is always where he is not supposed to be!

Finn is worn out from exploring the new place.

ABOUT MY WEEK:

Sunday: I went to the early service and rushed home to meet the movers. The district that I lived in had a law about bringing trucks of certain sizes into the district. The movers were only allowed to be there on weekends or after 8 pm. The movers were all booked for Saturday so the move had to happen on Sunday since I had to be out of the apartment before the next weekend. I was back home at 11 and the movers were supposed to come at noon. At 11:10 they showed up at my apartment, but they didn't bring a big enough truck so they only were able to take half of my things.

Monday: I headed out early for an appointment at the residency office. My residency permit is expiring and I had to turn in all my papers that morning. All went well with only a few questions. I am praying for a two year permit this time instead of just a one year. I didn't have all of the signatures needed for the move so I will have to have papers sent to the owner of the new place and have them sign and send them back. (They live in Germany). After my appointment I rushed home to meet the movers. They were coming for the second load with a smaller truck that was within the limits of the size that they were allowed to bring into my district during the day. I came back out to the house and everything was unloaded. Some of my furniture wouldn't go through the doorways (this is an old country home). The old apartments in the city were originally made for families that were wealthy and most stairways and entryways can accommodate a grand piano. This means some of my things entered my house through the windows and my large wardrobe is in the entryway instead of my bedroom.

Tuesday: I had to be up early again and head into the city to my old apartment. I met with my former landlady about my deposit. She also had a refrigerator and washing machine delivered for the new tenants. I had to buy my own when I moved in. I wonder if they are willing to pay higher rent so she bought them for them? After that meeting I rushed back out to the new place to meet the gas man. Then Erika, Cathy and Geraldine (visiting Cathy from the states) helped me put up a screen on the living room window and a shower head in the bathroom.

Wednesday: I headed into town again. I had originally planned to spend Wednesday through Friday cleaning and touch-up painting in my old apartment but my former landlady suggested someone who would do it for me for such a small sum of money that I agreed to have her arrange it. It was better for both of us because the lady could come that day (Wednesday) and then the new renters could start moving in on Thursday instead of waiting until Saturday. So I went to the apartment Wednesday morning, payed for the cleaning and gave over my keys. Then I ran some errands and met my friend Tracey for a late lunch. It was a perfect moment of rest and fellowship in a busy week. That night, I decided to start a load of laundry and got quite a shock when I touched the metal drum of the washing machine. Thanks for praying for my saftey! It could have been much worse!

Thursday: Headed into town again. I went out to Cathy's house which is on the far south side of Budapest (Buda - a town called Erd). It's a long story, but until I process my papers about this move I am officially registered at Cathy's house and some important papers were waiting for me at the post office in her town that I had to pick up in person. Then we dropped the car off at the mechanic. Yes, there are mechanics closer to me, but this one is a believer and trusted to be honest which is a huge deal! Then, we headed out to Pecel for an ESL meeting. There were 5 accidents on the way and it took at least an hour and a half, maybe longer, to get there. We had our meeting, went back for the car and then I came home to meet with my new landlord about the electrical problem. He looked everything over and couldn't find the problem. The washing machine closet is newly built and wired and he expected that something was wrong with the wiring but maybe something in my machine got damaged in the move. A professional electrician is coming tonight (Monday) to take a look.

Friday: My first day at home where I don't have to run all over the nation doing things! Yeah. I unpacked and unpacked and unpacked some more. The T-Com guy came at 1 to install my telephone. He got it all set up and told me that my Internet could work within 24 hours or 30 days - no promises. Oh well. I finally unpacked my dishes and pots and pans so I can start eating real food again. But, then I went to McDonald's for three hours. They are the only place locally where I can use wireless Internet. I looked for a graphic for the ESL poster that Jenn needed to print the next day, wrote some e-mails and ate dinner. :)

Saturday: The unpacking saga continues. My kitchen is getting to the point where it looks normal but I don't have anyplace to put my food. There is a cabinet for dishes and such but not enough room for food too. I might have to look for a small cabinet to serve as a pantry. The Internet company called saying my Internet was working. I was SO excited. Then I tried it and it didn't work. I gave it a couple of hours and tried again. No such luck. I called them and hit the buttons for the English speaking line. I was directed to the Tech area which wasn't in English. We walked through it all and got it set up. Praise God! Saturday evening I headed into town to church. This was the kickoff night of a week long outreach called City Mission. Saturday was Open Church Night. Every year museums in Budapest have an Open Museum night were they are open all night and people can come for free. This was the first time for this type of event for churches. Starting at 6 and going to 4 am we had worship, testimonies, "I'll listen to you tables" just for talking, prayer groups and food tables. I admit, I didn't stay all night, but it was wonderful. Every day this next week there will be associated outreach events. Pray that God will use this week to reach people for His glory.

Yesterday/Sunday: I was running late for church. Getting up for the early service after a late night wasn't so easy. This was my first time driving to church to park around that area. It is a section of narrow streets and parallel parking. I arrived in the area only ten minutes before the start of the service and I didn't see any parking spaces, so I decided to go to the parking garage I saw just down the block. This was a crazy experience for me!!!! I pulled into the entrance, went up the ramp and there was a big metal door. Hmm.... A man walked out and pushed a button opening the door and told me to drive forward. I did, as he shouted directions, "a little left - a little right, straight." I was driving onto tracks like at an oil/filter change place. I rolled down my window and asked him if it was a parking garage (maybe I was mistaken?) He said, "Of Course." He told me to set the parking brake and lock the car. This was seeming more like some off the wall TV episode every minute. He handed me a ticket, told me the price per hour and said something to the effect that everything was automatic. I walked away as the metal gate closed behind me and I heard funny track moving noises. I made it to church in time wondering about the fate and state of my car.
Church was wonderful. I realized that I had been so busy trying to balance life this week that though I hadn't forgotten God, I hadn't spent time just being quiet before Him. Over the weekend I realized just how hungry I have been simply for His presence. He truly renews my soul.
After church I got my car back. The man programmed in my ticket, I paid and my car came to me through the big metal doors transported on little tracks. Then I went with a group to lunch celebrate John's birthday and Tracey came over to see my new place (even in it's current state of disarray). I ended the evening by spending some quiet time reading.

This morning is catch up time - all those e-mails that haven't been answered...work that hasn't been done...blogs needing to be written...expense reports to file, meetings to schedule, etc. Maybe I'll also get some unpacking done as tomorrow my week starts to look a bit crazy again. :) I hope to be at the city mission events Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Please pray for these events as outreach is happening every day this week!

Thanks for reading my long post about my week. God bless and keep you!
Rachelle