So Long Summer Home

I'm back in Budapest after a long day of traveling yesterday. It was so sad to leave Beius and as we pulled out of the town in our van, I had several tears streaming down my face. When I come to Beius in the summer, I feel like I am visiting my family. It's hard to put into words the connection I have with Habitat Beius - you'll just have to come next summer and experience it yourself! It's an emotional day leaving but I know I will be back next summer. I have to come back and finish the campaign for Emil :-)

Last night we had our final farewell celebration with the team and it was amazing! We had a private 2.5 hour boat cruise and dinner with live gypsy music. We were greeted on the boat with a glass of champagne to celebrate the end of another successful build. After feasting on another incredible dinner, we sat on the deck of the boat and enjoyed the beautiful sites of the city at night.

As we were all sitting on the deck and enjoying the beautiful sites, I became lost in my own thoughts. It truly is amazing how close you can come to complete strangers after building a house with them for a week. Michelle said it best during dinner on Saturday night - I came to Romania to build a house and I left with a family. I have gained wisdom from several wise parents/grandparents, have enjoyed laughs with my crazy aunts and uncles, and have created many memories with my new cousins/sisters. In a world filled with such negativity all the time from school shootings to train crashes to everyday violence, it is nice to see the good in society. I spent a week with some everyday heroes - people who are trying to make this world a better place one shovel of concrete at a time. I feel blessed to be a part of this experience. Many folks ask me why I do Habitat every summer and my answer continues to be - Habitat is my refresher course on life - it jump starts me and reminds me about all the good in this world that is happening all around us every single day.

So this morning as I said goodbye to Beth, Perry, Christina, and Michelle, I know that I will see them someday in the future.

As for today, I am enjoying a nice relaxing day in the castle district and then I'll head down to St Stephen's Cathedral for an organ concert and then dinner with the Nebraska/ Indiana crew.

I'm off to explore! Here are some more pictures of our adventures from last night: