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The Bonners had to leave Hungary on their scheduled flight the next day not knowing what the outcome would be. When the Bonners were back in Victoria, word came that Ancsa’s student visa was approved! Everyone was overjoyed but it meant that Ancsa had to get to the U.S. on her own. The situation was extremely difficult because she did not speak English.

Students in Hungary normally take German, not English, as a second language because, as Bill said, “German is the language of commerce. It helps them find employment.” When the Bonners and Ancsa communicated, it was with a “hybrid” language, as Maureen had explained. People at the airport and on the flight to the United States did not understand this hybrid language.

Maureen relayed the story about Ancsa’s very first time alone on an airplane to a distant land with a foreign language. “It was terrible,” said Maureen. “Security in Amsterdam is very thorough. It traumatized her. We were told by the stewardess that from Amsterdam to Minnesota, a nine-hour flight, she sat curled up in her seat for the entire time and didn’t eat or sleep or use the bathroom.”

Eventually, and ultimately happily, Ancsa was reunited with the Bonners in a new homeland. It was May of 2008. There was much adjustment to be made for everyone since Bill and Maureen no longer had children living at home, and Ancsa had a large room to herself as well as a continual flow of love and acceptance to which she was unaccustomed. The first order of business included attending the University, taking classes in English as a second language.

The Bonners drove Ancsa every day to the large Minnesota campus in St. Paul and helped acquaint her with her new surroundings. Said Maureen, “I went there with Ancsa for the first two weeks and then she did it alone. We took her to the transit station in Chaska and she managed fine.” Ancsa attended the University for one year.

Through another wonderful turn of events, Ancsa came to be a student at nearby Crown College, located at St. Bonifacius, less than ten miles from Victoria. Maureen explained that they heard from someone at Waterbrooke that Crown College needed a viola player. Ancsa was given the first viola chair with their Chamber Orchestra. Ancsa smiled at the accolade and informed her Mamamaci politely, “There aren’t too many chairs.”

Continued Maureen, unabashedly proud, “Ancsa was also invited to play in the string quartet at Crown College.”

Added Bill, “Crown is really a godsend. Ancsa couldn’t be at a better place. Their goals are mission and music.” The obvious correlations were left unspoken.

When asked if she had other favorite classes or interests outside music, Ancsa replied, “Yes, literature.” Ancsa’s poetry is reflective of her ability to write, and her need to write, to make sense of her life before Mamamaci and Papamaci.

Another of Ancsa’s talents lies in photography. As a matter of fact, Ancsa compiled a book of her photographs for Mamamaci’s birthday, most all of the photos centering on Maureen’s flower gardens. Some are taken from a distance with a good eye that blends color and composition. Some are close-ups with the delicate petals, the graceful curl of the blooms, the beads of moisture, the veins of the leaves, vividly prominent.

Click here to continue Ancsa’s story.

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