I think I know the only Hawaiian in history who has a summer home in Hungary.
Hell, just the concept of a Hawaiian having a summer home is a bit odd.
The fact that it's on the other side of the planet makes it especially wacky.
Hungarian and Hawaiian couple
played volleyball with Steve Rodgers, a Hawaiian, at Amherst College. He married a Hungarian, Zsuzsa, and now they have 3 adorable kids. We hung out for 3 days and I had a chance to meet another Hungarian couple.
One reason Europeans fight each other
I mentioned to Steve and Zsuzsa that I was going to Romania in a month. And Steve's wife said, "Yeah, they used to be part of Hungary."
Kaman, one of Steve's friends, said that the Bosnians don't like the Hungarians partly because the Hungarians used to rule them. Indeed Hungary is a third of a the size it used to be and it seems they think about that fact often.
But Hungarians aren't the only ones who look back at their former empire. So often in Europe I hear people say things like, "That region used to be part of our country."
- Finnish people lament that Russia took a piece of their country.
- In separate time periods the Third Reich of Germany and Napoleon's France had a huge chunk of Europe until the Russians beat them back.
- Over the centuries Poland has expanded and contracted like an accordion.
- Even little Lithuania was once an empire that went from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Perhaps Estonia is the only country has always been tiny. OK, sometimes it didn't even exist.
That partly explains why Europeans have been fighting each other for centuries. After all, if you go back far enough, nearly every country in Europe was bigger than it is today. It just takes some guy who really resents this and rallies other like minded people to join him. And then, presto! Instant world war!
Americans would have similar laments if the Mexicans took California back. Oh wait, that's happening already....
Why Prague is Better than Budapest
Lonely Planet ranks Budapest as the #1 attraction in Eastern Europe and Prague as #2. Prague should be #1.
Kaman said Hungarians are baffled why Prague gets far more tourist than Budapest. The answer is simple:
- Budapest has a fraction of the pedestrian zones that Prague has.
- Prague has most of its attractions compressed in a tight area, whereas Budapest has them spread out.
The car exhaust in Budapest made my eyes itchy and watery. Meanwhile, Prague has a myriad of quiet and charming streets.
Of course, Budapest is still incredible; otherwise, Lonely Planet wouldn't have ranked it #1. But Prague is best.
No more racism against me
When I roaming the northern countries (Finland, Baltics, etc...) I went through this conversation a couple of times:
"You know, Francis, some people won't trust you and will look at you suspiciously."
"Why?" I ask.
"Because you're dark."
"Huh? I'm as white as a toilet bowl!"
"No, look at your skin," they say. "It's dark. And your hair is black."
"I suppose I should be glad that I'm getting so many gray hairs...."
Many people thought I was Turkish. I flashed them my Al-Queda ID card and assured them I was just from Saudi Arabia.
At least I'm not darker. I was so shocked to see one black dude in Belarus that I had to talk to him. He was from Nigeria. He told me that every 2-3 hours a policeman would harass him for documents. One time he interrogated him for 4 hours, trying to squeeze some money out of the poor student. The Nigerian didn't give in and they finally let him go.
Now that I'm south of those northern countries, I blend into the populace. But that doesn't mean discrimination is non-existent. I'm about to enter Serbia, infamous for its ethnic cleansing of the Bosnians, Croatians, and Albanians.
