Another game

This past shabbat I joined the Americans on their way to Camp Szarvas (if you don't know what that is or why it's important to me, then I have no idea why you are reading this...) and I helped fill in at a few tourist points for the group. Actually, it was tons of fun for me-I got to show off my mad skillz in Hungarian pronunciation, as well as completely indulge in my history nerdiness to a captive audience. As we were walking up to Heroes Square, I played another game with the kiddies that my original Szarvas counselor had taught me my very first time in Budapest, affectionately (and tastelessly) called "Communist or capitalist?" We would point at cars and guess when it was built, either before or after 1989 and entrance of Hungary onto the world capitalist markets. Essentially, if it didn't look like it was about to break down, there was a damn good chance it was 'capitalist.' If it was just scary to look at and spouting dark fumes, it was most probably 'Communist.' Politically correct? No. But super fun!

There are reminders like this all over Hungary of bygone days. While most of the statues of Communist leaders were relocated to a non-central location at Statue Park, there are remnants everywhere. One main drag in Budapest is called "Rakosi utca" after the Communist leader, a fervent follower of Stalinism, often referred to as Stalin's "right hand man" and deposed in 1956. Imagine if in the year 1809, British tyranny still fresh in the young nation's consciousness, there was a street in DC just a 20 minute walk from Capitol Hill, called "King George III Avenue." Bizarre.