Lake Balaton, Hungary

Our first few days in Europe were spent in Lake Balaton, Hungary. It really is a beautiful lake and is slowly emptying of its last Hungarian tourists for the summer. We have had the chance to learn some Hungarian (Magyar), relax by the lake and get to know some people at the Roma camp where we are staying. We have particularly enjoyed playing gypsy music and dancing with our translator Jozsi, our friend Gyuri and his son Gyurika. (If you search for “Romano Glaszo” in youtube, you can see some videos of their performances!)




Also, here are three fun facts about the church services at the Reformatus Church in Lake Balaton:

1. The services last no longer than 30 minutes.
2. If there are 12 verses in the hymn of the day, you will sing ALL of them.
3. The backs of the pews actually lean forward to the point where it would be impossible to accidentally doze off or even relax during a service.
4. There are about six rows of pews, holding no more than four people each. The effect of this is that having 35 people in the congregation made me feel like I was attending a mega-church.