Last Field Trip

Saturday the 9th, our language classes took a trip to Kassa, Slovakia, just across the border of Hungary. Along the way, we stopped at the Muhi Memorial. Here, in 1241, the Hungarian army was defeated by the Mongols. The Mongols devastated the country, wiping out approximately 60 percent of the population. We spent a short time here and then crossed the border. Since both countries are in the European Union, we didn't even have to stop at the border.

Kassa is in Slovakia, but was once part of Hungary. Here we visited a museum and learned
about Ferenc Rákóczi II who lead a fight for
independence from the Austrian Hapsburg monarchy in the 1500's. Although the freedom from Austria lasted only a short time and Rákóczi had to flee to Turkey to live for the rest of his life, he is still a Hungarian hero.

Next we visited St. Elizabeth's Cathedral, a magnificent Gothic church built in the 1300's. Rákóczi is buried here. There was a wedding in progress in the church, so we only got to see part of it, but this old building is really cool. It rained a lot almost all day, so our tour was abbreviated somewhat. That was quite a change from our tour last week when it was very hot. We said that last week our clothes were wet from the inside out and this week they were wet from the outside in!

We made another stop on the way back in Gőnc, Hungary at what is called the "Hussite House."
This house was built by followers of John Huss, a "heretic" who was forced from his native Bohemia along with his followers. Huss was a Spirit-filled born-again Christian who was eventually burned at the stake. Some of his followers, however, moved to Hungary where they lived and worked. Some years later in this little village, a Hussite wrote the first translation of the Bible in Hungarian.

Well, we have just one more week of classes in this intensive Hungarian language course. Please keep praying for us. We'll let you know how we do on our tests.