Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Hot, hot, hot!

Its been crazy hot here for the last two weeks. This article should give you an idea of just how hot its been:

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 12:25 AM

BUDAPEST (AFP) - The heatwave in central and southern Europe killed an estimated 500 people in Hungary last week, the country's chief medical officer announced yesterday.

Ferenc Falus said that during the week from July 15 to July 22 the heat in central Hungary "contributed to the early death of 230 people, which nationally means about 500 deaths".

The announcement of hundreds of deaths comas as heavy rain and extreme temperatures continue to batter Europe.

Britain was experiencing its worst flooding in living memory, while across the continent in the Balkans people were warned to stay indoors to avoid searing temperatures with deaths reported in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, and Romania.

Temperatures in the region were recorded at 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and above, with Greece expecting a high of 45 Celsius on Tuesday and Italy just behind at 44 Celsius, hours after Rome recorded one of its warmest nights ever on Monday at 27.1 degrees.

Bulgaria has also experienced its hottest temperatures since records began with the mercury shooting above 45 degrees Celsius in parts of the country, and more than 860 people reportedly fainting in the streets in Romania.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Magyar vagyok, nem turista!

After many months of bureaucracy, my perseverance has paid off, and I now have my settlement papers in Hungary (like the equivalent of having a Green Card in the US)! Until now I was here on a Missionary Visa, which prevented me from being able to do many things, including getting a job or signing certain contracts.
Today I got my Hungarian Identification card in the mail, so now I don't have to show people my Colorado driver's license anymore - which is always met with confusion and 5 minutes of discussing with the colleagues about whether or not that is acceptable as a form of ID.

Although things are coming together, although I still have to get 2 more important documents before I am finally finished with all the paperwork, and I am having a lot of difficulty getting these papers. For example, you can't get the TB card (National Insurance), unless you have a job; BUT you can't get a job unless you have a TB card! Lovely!
Then the office that is supposed to give the TB card told me that I need to go to the Unemployment office to get my TB card, but at the Unemployment office they told me that they can't help me with anything until I get a TB card.
Anyways, please pray that God will put it on someone's heart at one of these offices to actually help me out!