Early on Monday morning, we loaded up the bus and headed out the back roads of Hungary to Slovakia. Shane and Dianne McNary (CBF Field Personnel to Roma in Slovakia) made arrangements for their delightful friend, Jaroslav, to meet us in Kosice, to translate for us, and to guide us around Kosice and Jasov so that the Gandhi Choir could sightsee and sing.
The Gandhi students were charmed by the city of Kosice, interested in the walking tour of the old city, and fascinated by the Gypsy beggar children who followed us down the street. Although they tried in Hungarian and two dialects of Romani, the students couldn’t ask about these Roma because no one could speak Slovakian! The fascination lasted until the little boys started grabbing at the female students. At that point, I had to step in and take charge. It was an interesting experience.
After lunch and shopping, we traveled to the village of Jasov to sing in a nice Roma school (K-12). The Gandhi students scattered, trying to see everything about this different Roma school before they changed into performance clothes. As they gathered in the dining room of the school for the performance, they wondered why the crowd was so small. The Roma leader (Oto—friend of the McNarys) explained that locals were afraid to venture out into public venues because of anti-Roma incidents in the area. Determined to continue, the choir performed very well. Jaro was a wonderful translator and the small audience responded enthusiastically to the music, so we had a nice afternoon. Then, we were all rewarded with a lovely Slovakian dinner hosted by Oto.
After another warning from Oto about driving with a bus of Roma teens through the Slovakian countryside, we headed directly back into Hungary. I know that I felt a profound sense of relief when we pulled up to the Sarokhaz Pension on the outskirts of Budapest.
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