English and ‘new’ music

I’m constantly amazed at the world—its languages and cultures. Mostly, I’m thankful English is the ‘internationally’ accepted language. I can speak, read and understand English:). 

However, the past month has brought varied experiences with other languages and I have enjoyed those VERY much!
1. Sitting in a hotel conference room in Albania listening to English but the ‘murmurs’ all around the room of translation (many wearing headsets) into Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Romanian!  Beautiful, humbling and music of a new kind. 

2. Riding in a bus to a volleyball game with a team speaking Bulgarian, Chinese, English and Hungarian in the back.  Then with the driver telling stories in Hungarian and a bit of Russian to an American understanding just the Russian but smiling and nodding his head for a solid hour. Classic - yes, but beautiful music. 

3. Walking the streets reaching out to the women working there and their ‘boyfriends’ driving up speaking in angry Hungarian—no understanding of the language needed, I got the message. Likewise, understanding the women asking why we were there and when we would be back—in Hungarian again but hearing and seeing their eyes—and soul. 

On that same night I saw a Budapest that was not so nice...not from ‘my’ favorite spot on top of Szent Gellert Hill and definitely not showcasing ‘my’ beautiful city. It was from a street that was not so clean and walked by women that are in the midst of various life circumstances that have them in a cycle very difficult to break. 

So—beautiful, not so beautiful and still life is good and God is waaaay better. 

Would you like an email each time I post a blog?...enter your email to the right on this website (http://yesletusgive.blogspot.com).
How about donating to my volunteer work in Central Europe?... click on this link pleaseJ….http://www.nazarene.org/eurasia/missionary-profile?id=412

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So it begins...Ethiopia

Image
New blogger here.  Not sure what I'm doing but I have some amazing people in my life that seem interested in 'following' me during my adventures this summer.  The name of this blog (letusgive) may seem odd but hopefully it will become clear through my subsequent posts - to me as I write it and also to those that read!  Here we go...together! Ethiopia...that is the place I am going for 5 weeks starting June 17th.  I cannot wait and I must admit I'm a bit nervous as well!  Have I been there before?  Yes...once in 2005 for 2 weeks and once in 2007 for 3 weeks.  The 3 week trip was to teach English to high school students.  I fell in love with their beautiful faces, smiles and ambition to learn.  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again! This whole year has been a whirlwind so far but bottom line is - I'm preparing to leave Pacific Coast (having worked there for 27 years) and moving onto more mission oriented work - more or less a second career!  Th
Read more

Thank you Momma

December 31, 2015 Life is good, God is waaaay better.   I’m starting with that statement this time – I am reassured of that each day – really each hour these past couple of days.   People – family, friends, folks on the street or in the store have all been incredible.   People know – they ‘sense’ hurt and respond appropriately.   That is so very treasured.   My Momma died on Tuesday, December 29th at 13:49 PST.   Dad, Phyllis, Bob via FaceTime, Susan, Nathan, Jesse and I were all there…holding her hand, stroking her arm, leg, shoulder, forehead, making sure she could ‘feel’ us and hoping she could hear us.   I whispered to her a lot that day…the nurses would kind of talk loudly to her as they swabbed out her mouth or did some routine on her.   I couldn’t do that – I wanted to be gentle with my Momma…loud noises would startle her at home recently.   She would wake up and say ‘what was that’…I didn’t want her startled.   I wanted her to go from this world gently, peacefully and walk
Read more

European Observations

It is difficult to imagine that I am actually over here for a while!  I still feel like I'm on vacation - I'm sure that will change with time but I am enjoying it here for sure!  Here are some 'reminders' that I have been going over as I go about my daily life here in Europe. 1.  Signs for restrooms?....Very American - look for 'WC' or 'Toilet' here.  By the way - I knew that WC stood for water closet but always thought it was old fashioned.  Not so much - the bathroom in many houses are literally that - the toilet is in its own room or closet - generally separate from the sink, shower etc. 2.  Metric everything!  I remember starting to learn this system in school, back in the day, remind me why America never converted?  Yes...I have new bookmarks and apps on my devices so I can convert. 3.  Dollars - another app I downloaded to convert.  Euro is popular of course...but Hungary uses their own currency (Forint), Poland uses their own currency (Zloty)
Read more