View of the Danube and Parliament from Buda Var (Fortress) "I am a 56er"–this identifies me immediately to Hungarians. Whenever they ask me how it is that I can speak Magyar, I use this phrase to explain…but it goes far beyond just language acquisition. Those three words also encapsulate the experiences of a nation and an entire generation. The 1956 Revolution of the Hungarians against the Soviet-supported government was the cry of a peoples for freedom and self-determination. After a few days of euphoria, the tanks rolled back into Budapest, and the new regime ruthlessly crushed the uprising, killing thousands and sending scores fleeing across the borders toward the west. The phrase indicates both those who left and those who stayed…their lives bound together by this common experience, but also dramatically different. After I tell them who I am, they ask me how I like it at home…if you look at the photo that I posted, you will know that even though it was a cold and snowy day when I took the picture from the top of the Var (fortress), I like home just fine.
Before we leave Budapest, we intend to visit the House of Terror (real life monsters – namely the AVH or Hungarian Secret Police) and Statue Park (a field on the outskirts of the city where the monuments to Stalin and his successors have been discarded). We will go not just because it’s history and interesting to see, but because we must.
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