Day 53 Wednesday 13 July 2016

Up at 6am & an early start as we want to beat the heat driving to Magyar Itabej, a small village that is the closest civilisation to where Tereza was born on her grandparent’s farm a few kilometres out of town. We would have needed a 4 wheel drive to get to the family farm so we give it a miss, the farm house has been pulled down a long time ago so it is only the fields & we have seen many of those. More endless fields of corn, sunflower & soya bean with the roads in poor condition, apparently the local taxes are all going to Belgrade (Beograd in Serb) & not being spent locally. They are telling them that they will make Beograd one of the most modern cities in the world (ha, ha) by 2030. There is such a lot of poverty most people barely have enough to exist, many beautiful old houses are falling into ruin. The beautiful old Hungarian towns are planted full of Serbs & most of them don’t seem to have the knack, care or maybe it is just the poverty. The 2 nationalities coexist harmoniously. We pass through a few small villages & the old mud brick houses are in varying stages of neglect. It is only a bit over 30 km to Magyar Itabej & it is already warm, 28C when we pull into the driveway of Katica’s parent’s old house around 8am.

I notice some round holes in the plum trees next to the driveway & Antal tells me they are woodpecker nest holes. Katica opens the house to air, Anti starts pruning & tidying the grapes & I prune the mulberry & other fruit trees down the back where there are dead branches & starting to get overgrown. Tereza & Katica then go picking fruit & also some corn cobs from the crops next to the house. Inside is a nice old pendulum clock that belonged to Tereza’s parents & was left behind when they fled the country. We would like to take it home with us but the case is wooden & is full of insect borer holes so that Australian Quarantine would not let us bring it in to Australia. I will have to do some research & see what procedures need to be done so tat we can.

We take a rest from the heat, it is 36C & only 11am, while Tereza husks the corn cobs & prepares them for lunch. Lunch is a feast of fresh corn on the cob plus fresh bread from the local Itabej baker & some local Hungarian sausage. After lunch it is siesta time as it is so hot outside, the thick mudbrick walls keep the house cooler inside (it is a pleasant 24C). Anti & I sleep for a few hours while Tereza & Katica chat. Before we leave I climb up into the attic to see if I can find where the rain is leaking in as the ceilings inside have a bit of water damage. I find that the chimney has a gap along the uphill side so that when it rains the water would just run straight inside the roof, so I think that is the major problem, unfortunately I can’t fix it, not enough time, material & too hot. There are a few other small holes but I don’t think they will cause many problems. It is stinking hot inside the roof & I fix a few loose tiles before I head back down, saturated with sweat. It is 40C outside & a lot hotter inside the roof.

The car shows 38C as we drive along the street to the cemetery to visit the graves of Katica’s parents & also Tereza & Katica’s joint grandparents, where they place some fresh roses they cut from the garden (they will only last a short time in the heat). We also visit the grave of cousin Bela’s parents & tidy that up a bit as well. They meet up with an old Hungarian woman that Katica knows, she is caring for around 30 different graves of relatives in the cemetery & has ridden her bicycle here in the heat. On the way back to Kikinda we spot a few pheasant in different spots picking at the side of the road, it is around 7pm & a bit of cloud is coming over, cooling the air down to 31C.

The apartment is warm, about 27C but cooler than outside so it feels pleasant. Dinner is hot soup, with a slice of very hot chilli pepper in hit, followed by a hot stuffed capsicum. It is all delicious & typical Hungarian, but by the end of the meal the sweat is pouring out of us, our shirts are saturated. They believe that in the heat one should still eat hot food. An early night tonight as we are all tired from the work & heat, so bed by 10pm. Another great, although very hot, day.