Did NOT See that Coming! - expat tells us the strangest things about Hungary

Billboard of Dalbir, the new spokesperson for Budapest Bank

It’s been a challenge to unearth information about Budapest Bank’s reasoning behind their choice of spokesperson. One new acquaintance said that it was a social experiment to demonstrate that Hungarians are not racist. Upon voting among a Finish, a Spanish, and an Indian Sikh, the overwhelming choice was for Dalbir. And I’ve also seen a Chinese man modeling clothes in a storefront poster, the anomaly next to the other three white models, yet posing confidently and with a dour expression meant to convey his sex appeal. So I was not surprised then when I saw an Asian woman, flesh and blood, walk into a gyro eatery. In a little less than a week, that was about the extent of my exposure to non-Hungarians. It’s not exactly a melting pot, but perhaps it’s getting there—slowly.

An entire aisle of herbal remedies: patients come to this store after their
doctors recommend the best combination of herbs to quell or lighten the pain of their ailments.

Eye-openers abound. One of the aspects of U.S. living I believed I would miss most is access to healthy food. Yet our first grocery-shopping outing was to a market that sells primarily organic and chemical-free products: fruits and veggies, toiletries and cleaning supplies, coconut oil, Himalayan salt, herbal remedies for various ailments, and vitamins. I learned from the produce lady that in addition to nurturing the natural interrelationships between soil, plants, and animals, some biodynamic farmers in Hungary also meditate, requesting that the universe infuse their crops with good energy.

Hmmm...

Even after ten days of Vipassana meditation, not scoffing at this idea is difficult. Old habits. But at least their intentions are pure. It harms nothing to make a request for good energy. Governmentally regulated definitions, particularly of "organic", allow for some contamination. In the U.S., where organic means ninety-five percent untainted, a five percent margin is left for pesticide and chemical use. Would you drink a clean, pure glass of water with only five percent of crude oil in it? (I read that somewhere.) Not so pure anymore. I’m definitely open to try fruits and vegetables imbued with the good energy of meditating farmers.

There were, of course, exceptions to the store’s organic stock: some candies and familiar bottled drinks, like Arizona brand teas. Most notably, they sold Kentucky Moonshine Whisky Painmaker BBQ Sauce. I swear I never came across this in the States.

Painmaker BBQ Sauce

Thanks for the contribution to Amrit Chima, an American novelist living now in Budapest

Read her blog: http://www.amritchima.com/Amrit_Chima/My_Blog__Whatever_That_Means/My_Blog__Whatever_That_Means.html