Hel'pa is OFF THE HOOK!

Over the last few months, I’ve gradually been getting discouraged by my inability to find really “Slovak” people or traditions. Everywhere traditions and heritage seems to have been diluted by the internet, TV, or Socialism. I was starting to reconcile myself to the fact that the Slovakia I thought I was after is already dead. You can’t predict the results of research before you do it—that’s why you do research in the first place—but I was starting to feel like many of the people around me just weren’t Slovak enough. This past weekend, I found the Slovaks. They are all hiding in the Upper Hron region, and more specifically, the village of Hel’pa. I was invited to the village before Christmas break by one of my “colleagues” from the Hotel Academy in Brezno. When I told people about my planned visit the first thing they usually said was, “you are going to hear people singing folk songs!” They made it sound like I was going to encounter some old guys full of a little too much pivo or Slivovica yodeling old drinking songs in the village square at night. What I found instead was a population of normal people incredibly well versed and incredibly active in the traditions of folklore. The Siman house amazing— it is composed mostly of wood and built by Lydia’s husband, Pavel. Warmness emanates from all the blonde wood and stone, and of course the wood burning stove incinerates freshly cut logs around the clock. The walls are lined with Pavel’s art work, and his sculptures are placed in corners or hold potted plants. Most people have a ‘junk drawer,’ but the Siman family has a flute drawer. It overflows with plastic recorders, handmade wooden flues and pipes, and even special clay folk instruments. Basically, if you can blow air into it and hope for a sound to come out, the Siman’s have it in their drawer, and it gets a lot of sweet lovin’. Heidi, a fellow American (same one from the zabiacka) is a flautist so she even had a few play-offs with Pavel. On top of flutes, the Siman house also has a symbal (sp? Instrument), upwards of 10 violins, a guitar, and even sticks for clapping out rhythm. I asked one of their family friends how many instruments the Simans have, to which he replied, “The whole house!” That first night some of their family friends came over for a little get-together. The beast of a coffee table in the family room was covered with an impressive spread of little munchies, and anything you could ever imagine drinking was set out as well. When the company arrived it didn’t take long for the guitar to come out and the folk singing to ensue. See videos. The next day Heidi and I went skiing at Telgart with Pavel and Lydia. I had ski boots and clothing, but needed skis and poles. Heidi needed most things. We expected to rent, but the Siman’s outfitted us entirely from their attic. I rocked a pair of 150 RC4 Fischers that had little more edge than a cross country ski, but it connected to my boot and allowed me to ski, right? And I didn’t pay a euro. Beggars can’t be choosers. We only purchased a two hour ticket but that was the perfect amount of time because there were only two runs open and neither were very long. Afterwards we had a little picnic of bread, sausage, and hot drink out of the trunk of the car before setting off to the headwaters of the Hron River. We took pictures, drank some water straight from the source, and piled back into the car to continue our afternoon of sightseeing around the region and periodically stopping to drink coffee. That evening we went to Lydia’s mother-in-law’s house with Dominica and Alenka (Lydia and Pavel’s daughters). Before we went Lydia told me her mother-in-law was an expert embroiderer, and that she would show us some kroj, or traditional Slovak costume if we wanted. Not much later I found myself suited up in 47 year old kroj, talking about korj and learning all about it. Talk about primary research… I am DEFINITLEY coming back and talking to this woman more for “These Slovak Lives.” I digress, and there is soooo much to write about these people and this region but I just can’t muster it right now. Let the images speak for themselves. Hel’pa is awesome; I want to hang out there more!