Hi all,
We went to the big semi-annual market in Topolya this morning. (An indication of how far things are going to have to go before things stabilize here politically can be found in the city identification signs that proudly display the name of their berg in Cyrillic, Serbian, and Hungarian...with spray paint if necessary. Needless to say the other guys version is frequently "X-ed" out.) The market covers about four city blocks and has all kids of stuff. Clothes, tools, replacement parts, livestock, produce, toiletries, etc., you have to see it to believe it. Things are pretty cheap and a certain amount of bartering goes on.
On the way home we passed a wrecked building. Peter told us that it was wrecked by a guy who swerved his car to miss a bicyclist and lost control of his car. He, miraculously, was in great shape when they loaded him into the ambulance and took him to the hospital. You know, check and release. Regrettably the attending nurse was drunk and fell on top of him. Broke three ribs.
Lunch this afternoon is at the home of Lajos (Loy-osh) and Bori. Bori is Peter’s sister. Also in attendance were Zia’s cousin Lali, his wife Adrianna, and Feri, and his wife Ani. Lali and Feri are a couple of self-made business tycoons. Lali, whom Zia refers to as the "Bicycle King," started his business by driving to the Hungarian/Serbian Border, selling his car, buying 28 bicycles, and paying school children to ride them across the boarder into Serbia, where he sold them for a handsome profit. He then sowed the money back into his business (see www.Capriolo.com, nice bikes with parts from all over the world). Feri, in addition to doing some form of work "for the government" that gets him diplomatic immunity that he won’t talk about ("If you get in trouble with the police, don’t do anything stupid and I can fix it." A comfort...), also runs a very profitable grocery store chain. These guys are a couple of characters, and I can easily see them getting into mischief as kids, although Zia assures me that is not the case.
From there to Feri and Ana’s Villa for kaffee mit schlag, champagne, an inground pool for the kids, and an opportunity for the tourists to gawk at some world class woodwork. The family have this guy on a retainer that is an artist with wood. The centerpiece of the house is a stair case constructed with branches to match the trophies hanging from the walls. All very rustic and amazing to look at.
Home to sleep off the schnapps, beer, champagne, etc., and then off to see the "Hungarian Idol." The warm-up band was a local group (the lead vocalist is a sister of the Idol) that did such varied Hungarian Folk Tunes as "Sweet Home Alabama," "All Right Now," "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door," and the classic, "House of the Rising Sun" (I’ve been around many a poor boy, and God I know I’m one.). To be fair, their English is was better than my Hungarian, and they spent their entire set competing with the big screen showing the World Cup Final. (Italy beats France after double overtime and penalty kicks to much rejoicing. France hasn’t been popular here since the world wars.) The "Mega Stars," as they are referred to in Hungary, wisely waited until after the game to start their set.
Now I thought that we were just seeing the winner, but in Hungary the whole troop lives and dies together, and when the show ends, they all go on tour together. They are a very talented group of Karoke artists, and pretty entertaining to watch. The hometown hero is now referred to as "Mega-Magdi." People around us consider her to bring honor to the region and the whole community is proud of her. Tough to imagine that kind of community support for an American Idol winner. The crowd response was good for pre-80’s pop tunes, but the absolute best response was for rock covers of Hungarian and Serbian folk tunes!
Dave
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