Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Lessons in Pizza


My internet has been down for two days, so I am playing catch up...


Last night Reagan and I walked to the pizza place to get dinner. We usually do this on Sundays, but Reagan was sassing me yesterday on the walk to the restaurant so I turned around and walked back home. Made her eat ramen for dinner. Hahahahahaha. So last night we headed out again. Right when we were crossing the street by the pizza place someone ran up behind me and grabbed me around the waist and squeezed me really hard. I turned around to see this little gypsy girl hugging me and smiling up at me. (She is the girl in the brown shirt in the picture). She goes to my school, but I do not have her in my class. None of the gypsy kids get to be in my class at Racozi, which is baffling to me since they are the most eager to learn. The gypsy kids here are what the mexican kids would be back home. Painfully poor and very much segregated by the community at large. I adore these children. I am amazed that everyone else can't see what I see when I look at them and talk to them.


So anyway, this little girl did not speak any english, but I indicated that we were going to the pizza restaurant and asked her to come too. She told me that she had to go tell her mother and would be right back. (Yes, my hungarian is getting good enough that I could understand her!) So we went in and sat down and then she came running back in. I asked her in hungarian if she was hungry and thirsty and she said yes. So I asked her if she would like pepsi and pizza and she said yes. Then I saw out the door of the restaurant that two more little children were outside and I pointed at them and asked her if they were her brother and sister. She said yes and I told her to invite them in. So the other two joined us. They were Szandi, girl age 11, Alvin, boy age 12, and Domi, girl age 5.


So we spent the meal with me speaking to them in whatever Hungarian I knew and they taught me a few words and then I taught them a bit of English. Domi was extremely shy and just kept peeking at us but would not say anything. The other two were chatty and friendly... very excited to be there. I ordered the largest pizza they had, which is not very large at all, a large salad and pepsi for all of the children. The woman who runs the pizza place was very amused, and quite pleased with how much my hungarian has improved since we started coming there. There were also two men in the restaurant who sat and watched us and listened to our conversation. I think they were trying to figure out why two americans were sitting there with a bunch of gypsy children.


The food came and I doled it out to the children. The pizza was only eight slices, so I gave each of us one and then the children split up the rest. I made all of them take a bit of salad as well. The kids devoured the food very quickly. It was obvious that they were quite hungry. After we finished I asked if I could come to their house to meet their mother. It was dark out by then, and they led us down a dark street in a very poor section of town. They took us into a unlit backyard where a group of teenagers and men were loitering. I felt like I was in "Dangerous Minds". I greeted the group in the yard as formally as I knew how, and they answered me with the proper formal greeting "chocelum", which is what men and children say to women. It translates to "I will kiss your hand".


Then the kids took me into their house. House is a term I use very loosely, because it was a two room shack, easily the poorest home I have ever been in or seen. There was a kitchen and a room that had three beds in it. That was it, the whole house. The father came in and I introduced myself to him, and he offered us refreshments. The hospitality is a form of pride in this country, but for me to accept anything from them would have meant robbing nourishment from their children's lips. They clearly did not have money enough to properly feed, clothe or support the family. I politely declined and told him I was the english teacher and that I wanted to meet him, but that we had to go to the store. So we said our goodbyes.


I know that the children had been embarrassed to show us their home, but I am very glad that they did. For one, it was a huge eye opener for Reagan. She finally understood how badly some people are forced to live. She has always been very open to people of all races, but now she sees the disparity in income and lifestyles that can come from the racial differences. She expressed her concern and gratitude after we left their house. Both of us were very glad that we had been able to provide a meal for the children. After all, we got so much more out of it than pizza.

2 comments:

Hanna said...

What an amazing story!!! I loved reading that. Kudos to you for going out of your comfort zone to help others. Beautiful.

Christie said...

great post.

is the girl on the right in the picture with the brown-shirted gypsy girl a giant or what?