The Idiot

This chapter describes Selin’s experiences in the Hungarian village where she is stationed as an English teacher. She lives each week with a different host and spends an additional, fourth one at a summer camp. Her first host, Margit, is a friendly and energetic English school teacher, who is married and has two children. Her husband does not speak English, and he tries to teach Selin Hungarian by showing her his collection of hunting rifles and accompanying bullets. The second host is a very serious and responsible young woman, Rozsa, who is training to become an English teacher. Rozsa wants everything to be done by the book and expects to have deep, meaningful conversations with Selin. The last host is another young woman, Juli, whose father manages the local disco club.

Selin meets up with Ivan on the first day of summer camp. Ivan and his mother driver out to the camp to pick her up. Selin and Ivan make their way back to Budapest in a kayak, while Ivan’s mother drives the car back to the city. Selin and Ivan end up going further than planned, so Ivan searches for a phone to ask his parents to pick them up.