This past weekend we piled into our now beloved vans for our third and final trip with Janos and Robbie. It was only half the group this time since the other half went to croatia the previous week. I was blown away by the beauty, history and sorrow of Southern Hungary and Croatia during this trip and learned a trillion times more than I had previouly known about the conflicts surrounding the former Yugoslavia. I also took a whole ton of pictures which I am about to post, as well as some more pictures that a guy who that came along with us took. 
The first day we spent most of our time in a tiny town in Southern Hungary where the Ars Longa Foundation house is. This is the foundation that Janos and Robbie volunteer basically their lives to and that organize our group trips. As it says on their website, "the Ars Longa Foundation was established to identify issues, opportunities, and needs in the Christian churches and communities of East Central Europe and to address these concersn from the perspective of a Reformed Christian world view." In the yard behind this house (where many volunteers stay during the summer when they run children's camps throughout the area) we eventually planted 60 walnut trees. It was really fun digging holes and snacking on biscuits from the neighbor lady. Later that afternoon a couple other people and I took a unbelievably beautiful bike ride through through the sun setting in the surrounding fields.
The next day we drove into Croatia and stopped at this monument up on a hill. You could see across the Danube to Serbia and the only bridge that was left unbombed during the Yugoslav Wars in the late 90's. It was also the site where the Russians choose to fight the Germans in the 1940's killing 50,000 people.
We then drove to another town and went into an abandoned and rotting ethnographic museum once full of Hungarian artifacts that was owned by the church and never restored after the wars. Since communism it has been left to looters and not given back to the church.
Behind this musem we walked up a hill to beautiful vineyards where we could look over and hear a bit more about this church and community which Ars Longa is working with. This is one of the few reformed chuches which has actually been (at least from the outside) restored. The Reformed church recieves very little support from the Croatian state unlike the many surrounding catholic churches in perfect condition.
You could see the cellars from the back yard of the church that led under the vineyards.
For lunch we stopped for some local fish and paprika soup. It was not delicious although Janos and Robbie devoured it. Whole fish just cut up floating around in red broth sadly isn't my favorite. 
We then went to another Reformed Church where we helped out with church school, played games, and made crafts with the local kids.
On Sunday we spent most of the day at one of the larger Hungarian Reformed churches in Croatia where Robbie used to be the pastor. Although most of the outside has been restored, the inside still lies in ruins. This whole village was completely destroyed by the Serbians during the most recent war and literally bulldozed into the back yard of the church where we once again were recruited to help with the planting of trees.
Diggin holes in dirt full of rubble gets a little tricky. 
The hospitality of this congregation was unbelievable. The ladies brought out the best homemade pastries I have ever had as the men kept bringing out new bottles of their homemade Palinka to drink with them. It was pretty unreal taking numerous shots of Palinka with these fantastic old church men before 11 am on sunday morning in the back yard of this church waiting for the venicin soup to cook over the fire and the church service to start at 2.
Everyone there had once fled the city only to return years later with loved ones, as well as houses lost... and yet they were some of the most kind and jolly people I have ever met.
Still waiting for the service to start we walked to the train tracks where Serbian buildings were still left in ruins next to the new homes the government built for the people.
I had no idea coming into this semester that this is what the group trips would be like but I so happy they were. It was incredible to travel with Janos and Robbie (two of the most jolly, knowledgable, selfless and hilarious people I have ever known) and see these communities in such an intimate way.
The first day we spent most of our time in a tiny town in Southern Hungary where the Ars Longa Foundation house is. This is the foundation that Janos and Robbie volunteer basically their lives to and that organize our group trips. As it says on their website, "the Ars Longa Foundation was established to identify issues, opportunities, and needs in the Christian churches and communities of East Central Europe and to address these concersn from the perspective of a Reformed Christian world view." In the yard behind this house (where many volunteers stay during the summer when they run children's camps throughout the area) we eventually planted 60 walnut trees. It was really fun digging holes and snacking on biscuits from the neighbor lady. Later that afternoon a couple other people and I took a unbelievably beautiful bike ride through through the sun setting in the surrounding fields.The next day we drove into Croatia and stopped at this monument up on a hill. You could see across the Danube to Serbia and the only bridge that was left unbombed during the Yugoslav Wars in the late 90's. It was also the site where the Russians choose to fight the Germans in the 1940's killing 50,000 people. We then drove to another town and went into an abandoned and rotting ethnographic museum once full of Hungarian artifacts that was owned by the church and never restored after the wars. Since communism it has been left to looters and not given back to the church. Behind this musem we walked up a hill to beautiful vineyards where we could look over and hear a bit more about this church and community which Ars Longa is working with. This is one of the few reformed chuches which has actually been (at least from the outside) restored. The Reformed church recieves very little support from the Croatian state unlike the many surrounding catholic churches in perfect condition.
You could see the cellars from the back yard of the church that led under the vineyards. For lunch we stopped for some local fish and paprika soup. It was not delicious although Janos and Robbie devoured it. Whole fish just cut up floating around in red broth sadly isn't my favorite. We then went to another Reformed Church where we helped out with church school, played games, and made crafts with the local kids.On Sunday we spent most of the day at one of the larger Hungarian Reformed churches in Croatia where Robbie used to be the pastor. Although most of the outside has been restored, the inside still lies in ruins. This whole village was completely destroyed by the Serbians during the most recent war and literally bulldozed into the back yard of the church where we once again were recruited to help with the planting of trees. Diggin holes in dirt full of rubble gets a little tricky. The hospitality of this congregation was unbelievable. The ladies brought out the best homemade pastries I have ever had as the men kept bringing out new bottles of their homemade Palinka to drink with them. It was pretty unreal taking numerous shots of Palinka with these fantastic old church men before 11 am on sunday morning in the back yard of this church waiting for the venicin soup to cook over the fire and the church service to start at 2.Everyone there had once fled the city only to return years later with loved ones, as well as houses lost... and yet they were some of the most kind and jolly people I have ever met.Still waiting for the service to start we walked to the train tracks where Serbian buildings were still left in ruins next to the new homes the government built for the people. I had no idea coming into this semester that this is what the group trips would be like but I so happy they were. It was incredible to travel with Janos and Robbie (two of the most jolly, knowledgable, selfless and hilarious people I have ever known) and see these communities in such an intimate way.
2 comments:
this all looks so sweet. trees, children, old men, and palinka. all good things.
i'm pretty jealous lydia. sounds like a good time
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