Imola and Noémi
In our neighborhood, as in any other community, tragedies existed. They were an inseparable part of our lives, however as children we did not always understand the degree of tragedies.…
Deaf Borbála
Not everybody in the neighborhood was tolerant with our constant yelling and playing all day long. As a grownup I can very much understand that now, but as a child…
Saved by Tennis
Being a school pupil in my communist country was almost the equivalent of building a career in our days’ modern society. We had a very busy calendar and schedules that…
For God’s Sake
Even if going to church and religious practices, in general, were forbidden in our country, we still went to church every Sunday. My mother is a very religious person, and…
Pioneers
Growing up in a communist country meant constantly being an integrated part of all sorts of communities. Among other things, there were different organizations that you were automatically merged into…
Snow Adventures
Winters were always very cold and full of fresh snow when I was a kid. The very first thing I and my friends did after breakfast was get dressed and…
Landing Lane
Weekends on the vikkend complex were very loud and busy in summer. It was a very popular place; in fact, it was the place to be if you were an…
Communist Titanic
Ten minutes’ walk away from our neighborhood there was a fun resort place called vikkend complex. The name comes obviously from the English “weekend” and had been transcribed to this…
Secret Places
The sense of adventure and of experiencing something new has always been my life companion. This is nothing particular to me, I am sure: all of us humans are curious…
A Matter of Lice and Death
The lives of the residents of the neighborhood always evolved in parallel. Since it was a new neighborhood, most of the families were young people with small children. We always…
Time Traveling
I recently went back to the neighborhood. It has been over ten years since my parents left it and never looked back. It had been even much longer since I…
The Tent
Summers were endless during my childhood. The days were always very warm and busy with us inventing adventurous plays, fantasizing, being outside all day long, and not wanting to leave…
The Visit
I was so excited! My cousin Mira´s* parents allowed her to come and visit for a few days. We had made meticulous plans in our weekly letters written to each…
The Town Chickens
One hot and sunny morning in June a piece of strange but interesting news began to spread in the neighborhood: there were live chickens sold at the gostat*. There was…
Bananas
The first time I came in contact with the concept of a banana was while my mother was reading me a story from a children´s book. It was about an…
Our Apartment
Our neighborhood was a busy and loud place, built in the 1970s for young families who were looking to find a place of their own, and for those who had…
Lilla and Timi
Lilla and Timi* were locked in their small room again and were crying their hearts out, banging the walls with their fists and calling “édesanyja!” “édesapja!”** I could hear each…
The Store
I am sitting by the kitchen window daydreaming about what a wonderful thing it would be if the Angel brought me a real barbie this time. I mean, this character…
The Fresh Sand
It was one of those singled out events that may or may not happen. You know that the concept exists and that it could happen to your neighborhood one day,…
The Flying Kid
The five-member Kovacs* family lived on the ground floor of the apartment building directly opposite to ours and it delivered plenty of material for entertainment. You need to know that…
The Elastic
"All right, I am telling you now: take all the toys with you that you need. I am going to take a long relaxing bath. Do you hear me? Take…
The Candy Man
He never had a regular schedule, but he very often came around 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. On some weeks he came almost every day, other times we would not see…