Hungry for English

This morning we took the subway to the other side of town to the mall. We did much better in stores and have learned somewhat to keep our hands in our pockets! In the afternoon we went to the park again....... not that it ever gets old becaues every day is a new day at the park! We have to pass lots of STUFF to get to the play area and each day is a test for us. We played some ball until N kicked it to the grassy area and woke up a homeless man sleeping soundly. The park makes me feel so uneasy because they begin talking to other kids parents and I have no idea what they are saying! Sometimes when people walk by they say and yell things but I don't know what they are saying. If I tell them to stop and it was something nice then I am a jerk! If I allow them to continue then I am a horrible parent. Right now I just watch their body language and smile. It's funny when people talk to the kids then turn to you to speak and you have no idea what they are saying. When you respond in English they give you the funniest look becaues they can't figure out why you are with two Hungarian children. Yes it's a big mystery. If I could wear a T-Shirt everyday that said "I am adopting these two siblings" written in Hungarian - I would! I did hear N say something to another kid about going to America and it made me smile. Today I actually spoke with a couple from Seattle who were living in Amsterdam for almost 2 years. N and Z played with their 3 children for several hours while we visited. I guess I did not realize how starved I was for English. Z is so smart, she figured out that the children were speaking English and they must belong to the lady I was talking to.... She approached the adults talking and said "English?" When I told her yes, she pointed to the kids and said "English"..... Andy and I have decided that Z will pretend she does no understand what we are saying so she can listen to our conversation when she starts understanding English more... LOL. SHe is already understanding more than we think she is so we are starting to spell things out.... It is amazing how kids playing is universal. Yesterday N and Z were playing with a little Chinese boy. He was speaking Chinese and them hungarian. They had no problem what so ever communicating and playing. I was sitting on the park bench watching them interact with other kids when N came over for a drink. He drank the water too fast and spit it all over Z and two ladies on the park bench. I wanted to crawl in a hole. I will take today as progress! The kids played nicely with other kids and Z only got one face full of sand for smarting off to someone. We even jumped on the trampoline and got off when it was time.... As I payed for the kids to jump I was embarrassed because the two guys remembered us.... or remembered me having to climb in and yank Z out because she refused to leave the trampoline when her time was up. Not only did I have to drag her out of there, she was screaming that I was hurting her or killing her one...... not sure but we got a LOT of looks! At any rate, everyone was holding their breath for our second debut...... and we did it!!! It's the little victories we celebrate! Have I mentioned how thankful we are for these two yet? Until Tomorrow all- Goodnight from Budapest!