Sunday, January 9, 2005, 2:24 A.M. I�m a little tipsy. David is passed out again. We had a really good day though. He slept until 2:00 P.M. but I was up at 9:00 having breakfast with his mum & Jack and then the three of us went to the baths which were very relaxing and interesting, however, I saw far too many naked women. I know it�s an American hang-up to be weird about nakedness�but whatever the reason�I just really have no desire to see naked women. I had my first ever, in 34 years of life, topless experience. I paid 3,300 forints (about 16.50 American) for a 30 minute massage. Everyone else in there was BUTT naked, from head to toe. I�m sorry but I just couldn�t do it. I don�t care what everyone else is doing�I could not have my crotch out for all to see on a table while some big woman massages my ass. No. She was PISSED off too�she told me in Hungarian to take it ALL off and I said �no.� This went back and forth about three times until I told her thank you in Hungarian, then she gave up. But my boobs were still out. It was weird. I am still traumatized by it. After all was said and done however, it was heaven. Around 3:00 the four of us went to a shopping center in town and I bought a few more gifts. So far everything I�ve purchased on my trip has been hand made by locals except a few things for the kids. After shopping, Francoise took a nap and David and I went to the hotel bar. We had a blast. I talked to one of the guys from the front desk for awhile. He has the same first name as my father did, Laszlo. I told him this when we were asking about renting a car tomorrow to visit my father�s home town of Jaszapati. After that he rolled out the red carpet for us. I heard him say on the phone to someone that it was �Latzi� calling�and that is what my grandmother used to call my father so I got really sentimental. Either that or the �swimming pool� kicked in. (see photos). Latzi answered an old question of mine as well. I always wondered if Nagymama and Nagypapa were names that our family (because of the surname) alone called our grandparents. My last name, Nagy, (pronounced Nod with a little bit of a g sound added to it at the end) means grand in Hungarian. (Also big or great). Anyway, I always wondered if all Hungarians called their grandparents this and it was just a coincidence that it was our family name (which is correct) or if our family just sort of made it up and it was unique. He answered this for me�and also said though that most people commonly drop the Nagy part and just call their grandparents �mama� or �papa.� That of course raises the question then, what do Hungarians call their parents? He told me �Anu� or �Apu.� (The N in Anu is pronounced as in Spanish with a tilde like �On-you.�) I was sooooo excited at this point because I had forgotten until now that this is what my grandparents used to call each other so I was feeling REALLY sentimental and nostalgic! (Add two vodka sodas to the swimming pool and one coffee). Josef the bartender was way cool too. He told us a little about Joszapati. He said that it will be quiet tomorrow since it�s Sunday. The main events will be church and the bar. He advised us NOT to accept a drink unless we plan to drink ALL day and be very drunk. He said the people there are different from the city and very, very nice. It should be fun, but we have to be back here at the hotel around 4:00 to catch a concert. It�s Wagner, I forget which symphony, but it�s at the oldest Opera House which is a tourist attraction in itself. I am hoping though to find some gifts for my brothers in Jaszapati. For me to be able to give them something (preferably work of local artists) and say this was made in the town where our father was born, would be priceless. Also at the bar before dinner, I saw this ridiculously cute guy and the minute he walked in David looked at me and said �uh huh.� He just knew what I was thinking. He looked like Al Pacino about 20 years younger with long hair. HELLO. We all know how I feel about Al. So he was standing behind David at one point and I took a bunch of photos pretending to take them of David. They are hilarious. (See David_sneaky series). At first we thought he was Italian, but then we heard him say he was French. His accent was clearly English and something else as a second language. Anyway, my boyfriend is such a good sport. He said the only retaliation is that he has a credit now for a photo of a hot chick when he sees one. After dinner, we went for a few drinks at a bar around the corner from our hotel. I walked in first to see if it was closed (a lot of places close early here) and asked the man behind the bar �are you closed?� He says, �Yes, closed,� but looks very confused. Then we notice a sign on the door stating they are open until 1:00 A.M. and it�s not even midnight. We ended up drinking there for about an hour and a half. The language barrier is funny.
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