yay for budapest friends :-)

remember this post from yesterday?... it's about how i plan to go to hungary in august and now have set tentative travel dates... i emailed 9 of my closest (hungarian/expats living in hungary) friends yesterday to tell them i hoped to be seeing them in august... so far i'm 2.5 for 4:

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from the american guy (who married to a hungarian girl and now lives/works in budapest) who co-led the international Bible study I attended while there:
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Hello Lara,

It's good to hear from you. Thanh here. I'm glad to hear that
you will have something productive to do this summer to keep you out of
trouble...Congrats! Unfortunately Melinda and I, if all goes well, will
head back to the US from early August to early September so we will miss you
while you're in BP....bummer. It would have been good to get to catch up
with you again. At any rate I think many of the other people will be here
like shalom, henk, etc...
Have a good time then...and thanks for keeping in touch.
Thanh

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from my hungarian friend rita -- psychology grad student while i was there, now psychology graduate looking for a job anywhere in europe she can find one
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Lara,

I'm waiting for U!!!! I don't know if I will in Budapest in August or not,
but happy to hear that You come to Europe :))))!!!

Hugs, rita

p.s. I've finished my studies and looking for job in Hungary and abroad.

p.s.2. I hope you like this mandala..
[lara's note: she attached a cool graphic file she made herself]

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from my friend zsofi, who is about my brother's age and was one of my best friends while i was around
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yuppeeeeee yupppeeeeeeeeee yuppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

;-DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
[lara's note: *that* cracked me up :-P]


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from bernadett, who is 10 years older than me, almost to the day, but was my "prayer partner" through my church in budapest while i was there... so we met at least once a month to chat over dinner and hang out... we got to be pretty close and have been fantastic pen pals since then
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[lara's note: this email came in HUGE blue font, in bold face... can you hear the excitement in it? :-)]

HI DEAR LARA!

I AM SO HAPPY FOR THE NEWS YOU HAVE JUST SENT ME!

OF COURSE I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING YOU AGAIN ¢¾ !

I AM GOING TO TAKE SOME DAYS OFF AND SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOU. I CAN ALSO COOK SOME HUNGARIAN FOOD FOR YOU! AH, SO NICE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR VISIT!

LET ME GIVE MY MOBILE PHONE NR: [deleted from mass publication ;-P]

MY BIG NEWS FOR YOU IS THAT OUR SECOND BABY IS COMING AND I AM EXPECTING HIM/HER BY THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER - SO YOU GONNA SEE ME WITH A BIG TUMMY.

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?

GREETINGS, BERNADETT
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you can't tell that my hungarian friends love me as much as i love them, can you? ;-) i sooooooooooo can't wait to see them all again.

yay.

now to get on with my work for the day :-P