Monday, July 7, 2008

Day 40- July 4th: Soviet times and clam before the storm.


I had to catch up with some work in the morning and went to Sandor's apartment later in the afternoon.

We talked about gay pride and the festival from previous years. The news is not good on the street and they are expecting a large Nazi turnout this year. A few pipe bomb went off at a couple of gay establishments and violence are creeping around in and out of the shadows.

Sandor's apartment is unique to people of western cultures and gives a good glance of what it was like during soviet times. It's a 2 bedroom apartment with hospital like hallways (the ones in see in a bad horror movie) and centralized elevators. The kitchen is small and no room from a dining room table and according to him, this is the governments' effort to prevent family members to talk about politics while eating dinner together. Small kitchens and little eating spaces make the families eat in shifts and little chance for conversations.

There is also no living room or family room just 2 rooms for sleeping and it's a typical layout for a family of 3 or 4. People work and come home to sleep... like machines. The bath and toilets are separated in to 2 smaller rooms. This 17 story high-rise was built in the high of the soviet times in the 60's.

We than went to a movie at a art theater, the film is called" Come Back", American gay film with Hungarian subtitles. It was terrible and I was very embarrassed y the trash we make in the States just to try to make money from the gays. Low budget, bad scrip, bad acting, bad art direction, it was all around terrible. The theater was enjoyable with great art and assemblage all around; a wonderful space.

As I walked home the city workers are putting up faces on the main parade route. It's coming!

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