There were many more things that I needed to see in Futog. Here they are:
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| My neighbors house |
When we were young right across from our house was this neighbor (he passed away long time ago) who used to stand in his doorway and watch what was going on in the street. When he saw the young people do something inappropriate, such as be intimate or kiss, he would report it to the parents. With his, and many other people's help there were no secrets in our little village - everyone knew everything about everybody.
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| My old high school. Before WWII it was referred to as castle |
This is the high school I attended between 1955 and1959. It was an agricultural school. We studied everything from taking care of animals to growing grapes and making wine. Every day, and in the summer we had "practice" work. That meant we worked in the fields or in the stables with pigs, cows, sheep and horses. The morning work started at 5am and the afternoon work would be after the classes were over. I did not like getting up at 4am to go to the stables, but once all the kids were there the work become fun. We would clean the stables, feed and milk the cows and than go to our classes. We, from the village walked to school but the out-of-town kids stayed in the dormitories and had their meals in the cafeteria.
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| The Danube River |
And than here is the mighty Danube River. I would come here after the "practice" work in the high school to take a bath and clean up. The river bank was the big hang out for young people. We would walk the levy for hours and socialize and on a hot summer night we would skinny dip. During the day our parents and us would do the laundry in the river and dry it on the bushes and trees by the river. In the winter we would sled and hang out on the levy just the same.
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| Shatzi, in the background and my brother Elemer in front |
I had to visit my old friend Shatzi. Our families spent a lot of time together in each others homes and us children played together. We were the same age, I even remember his birthday: March 31st. Shatzi was a successful business man and retired in his late 50's. Since than he and his wife are living from March to November in this little summer home, weekend home, dacha or call it whatever you want, right on the banks of Danube River. The home is maybe 250 square feet and when the the floods come he just moves to the upper level. Once the floods recede he cleans up the lower level and life goes on. He is not interested in traveling or going abroad (he did this in his younger years), he just loves fishing, boating and socializing with other people in the compound. It is kind of living in a motor home, but better. He is expecting his first grandchild any day now. Shatzi, I am so glad I visited with you.
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| Shatzi's fishing and boating area on the Danube |
And finally, here is the Catholic church that played a big role in everyone' life in Futog. Every Sunday, my mother would play the organ and the children had to pump the organ in the back. This was a fun job because there was something else to do other than listening to the Latin mass.
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| Back of the Catholic church |
The front brings back the memories of all the baptisms, our first communion and confirmation. It was always a huge and beautiful event.
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| Front of the church |
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| One of the many stained glass windows |
During the mass I used to love looking at these windows. They colors changed depending on from which direction the sun shone on them. On the bottom of each window is the picture of the person who funded their creation.
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| The confessional |
And here is the confessional. The priest would sit in the middle and then there were two booths, left and right. It was a pretty scary experience entering the confessional.
Again, after seeing these things, and knowing that so little changed in all these years I felt at peace. But, than again, I wondered, did I do the right thing by leaving all this and coming to the United States? Is my life any better here than it would have been there? I do not know....
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