If you would like to be interviewed as a Surprising Expat, please write with a few details of what you do, to: Marion by clicking here.
 

“My dream was always to be an actress and a singer,” says Lina Chilra. “I was singing when I was six. When I was thirteen, I started singing with an orchestra in Portugal, but I never had singing classes or anything.”

Portuguese Lina has been living in Budapest since 2000, interrupted by six years working in Peru and Costa Rica.

“Initially I came with the Erasmus programme. I came with a scholarship for only six months, but I liked it so much, I just stayed. I was living with other Hungarians, so I immediately got into the Hungarian – let's say – lifestyle, and I liked it very much. Just the freedom of, you know, being able to walk at night in the streets at 2:00 a.m. You know, you can’t do that everywhere. I had a sense of freedom; I think that was what I liked the most. I got integrated very quickly.”

Lina also began to sing in Budapest. She auditioned for the Hungarian Megasztár competition which was then a top TV programme with large audiences, and which launched many a singer’s career.

“I don't usually sing in Hungarian, but I went to this Megasztár talent show, in 2005 I think it was, and I sang a Hungarian song. Hungarian is really a special language and beautiful for singing. They selected me, so I passed the auditions, but when the moment came to sign the contract, I did not want to, because it was too restrictive, and I was working at the time. I would have had to basically sell my privacy and everything to them. I didn't like the contract conditions, so I didn't sign it.

“But it was very funny at the audition because the jury all spoke Hungarian. So, I went with a friend of mine acting as a translator, but she was also Portuguese and she was translating to Hungarian with her accent and everything. And because everyone thought it was so funny, Blikk did a newspaper article about us!”

In spite of withdrawing from the Megasztár competition, Lina was still able to find a way to fulfil her desire to sing. A group of expat women had formed Budapest Sirens, a group performing a variety of music in pubs and clubs and private events in the city.

“We perform music from the 40s, pop music, all sorts. We do a little bit of everything. Everything we do is a cappella [unaccompanied]. I joined them in 2009. At that time, it was a big group, and they all had a musical background; I auditioned and they accepted me. But they were expat women, and they just kept leaving, so actually since 2016 or 2017 the group became just five of us – a few of them are local Hungarians.”

Budapest Sirens in 2017: Krisztina Fabry-Csontos, Monika Lautner, Petra Jeszenői, Lina Chilra and Judit Jouslahti with the Finnish Ambassador

Budapest Sirens in 2026: Judit Jouslahti, Monika Lautner, Viktoria Palfalvi, Lina Chilra and Julianna Kovács Gémes

In 2018, Lina left Budapest to work in Peru and Costa Rica, during which time the group disbanded. “But when I came back, the first thing I did was to get the group together, and we started singing again!” says Lina.

Lina recently sang solo at Music Train 2025.


This was in support of the Heartfelt English charity, whose volunteer teachers offer English lessons to young people in children’s homes, in order to give them greater opportunities for their futures.



It is now more than 25 years since Lina first came to Hungary, and she has seen many changes over this period. “In my first year. I was so in love with Budapest that for me everything was perfect. I was just learning basic Hungarian, but with that, I was trying to talk to people, and I think people appreciated it. I also started realising that the winter is a big problem. I remember I said every winter: this is the last winter I'm going to be here because it's so long, it's so cold. And people do tend to get more negative in the winter because it influences everything, right?

“Well, the cost of living went up very much: food, rent, concerts, cinema, everything is much, much more expensive than when I left in 2018.  Sometimes you still go to shops or restaurants, and you don't see a smile. Yeah, it's true. That's one of the things I miss from Latin America, you go anywhere and everybody smiles and everybody talks to you. But when I arrived in 2000, it was really difficult to find people that spoke English, especially in shops or restaurants.  Nowadays you can find speaking English almost everywhere!

“I think Hungarians are extremely cultured. They know so much about history! Many of them have two university degrees – they are extremely intelligent and cultured people. I was so impressed and I was so proud to be here and to witness this time [the recent election] because I think it will stay in history. This moment was so amazing! And it shows so much about the future generations of Hungary as well, how determined they are. I think many young people voted in this election, they were so interested in it.”


Lina with her son, Tiago

Lina expresses no desire to return to Portugal; her heart lies here, and in Costa Rica, her husband’s birthplace. Their son, Tiago, was also born in Budapest. But in spite of Lina’s obvious integration, some Portuguese habits die hard: “As a Portuguese, I tend to speak loud naturally, especially if I'm speaking in my language. So, a few times I was told to shut up on Budapest public transport! It happened three times because I was speaking too loudly. Hungarians are quiet people. You go to a market, and you don't hear a lot of noise. And you don't hear noise on public transport.  But you know, in Portugal everybody's always talking. We’re just louder people!”

Forthcoming concerts by the Budapest Sirens:

Saturday, 27^th of June, 7 p.m. at Pótkulcs (Csengery utca 65/b, Budapest).

Budapest Sirens are also available for private events – please contact them here: +36 30 1647499 or budapestsirens@gmail.com

Links: Facebook / Youtube

Marion Merrick is author of Now You See It, Now You Don’t and House of Cards and the website Budapest Retro.

If you would like to be interviewed as a Surprising Expat, please write with a few details of what you do, to: Marion by clicking here.