Meridian senior, 84, travels to meet European relatives
A chance to renew family ties sent 84-year-old Ray Yovanovich on a trip to Hungary and Croatia.
“I have relatives in Croatia that I had never seen before,” said Yovanovich, of 154 Heather Drive, Meridian.
“My father was Croatian. He was born there. I am first generation. My mother told us we had family there. She was in correspondence with them.”
“My brother had gone over there 17 years ago to visit them. He told me about it, but I never thought I would go there.”
But, he said, after his brother, Steven, passed away in December, he decided he would like to get to know his cousins in Croatia.
So, the retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and his friend David Frost of Marienville, whom Yovanovich had met through kickboxing, and Frost's fiancée, Jacquetta Conants, flew out of Pittsburgh Aug. 15 to Toronto, and from there to Frankfurt and then Budapest, Hungary.
Yovanovich and his friends rented a car and drove to Pozega, Croatia, which was about seven miles from Pleternica, where his cousins lived.
“There was some religious festival going on. There was a Mass on a hill with a cross,” he said of his arrival.
After spending the night in Pozega, the Americans met their interpreter, Ivan, whom Yovanovich hired, and the party traveled to Pleternica, a rural village of just over 3,000 people.
Meeting his relatives, Yovanovich said, “was very emotional. There were a lot of tears, a few of them mine. We hugged and kissed.”
“I met all the cousins, brothers and kids,” said Yovanovich. “The senior was Juro. He retired as a lumberyard foreman.
“He had two sons, Stephen, who was working in Germany, and Bronko, who fought against Serbia in the 1990s and was wounded,” he said. “From what I heard it was really vicious on both sides.”
The long-separated family members traded stories, pictures and prayer books.
“We talked and shared pictures,” he said, and he brought along Pittsburgh Steelers hats to give to his relatives.
“I had sweatbands, little flashlights, cloth shopping bags and Steeler hats,” said Yovanovich.
“I had questions. I told them about my father, Steve, who came to America in 1910 when he was 15. He didn't speak any English,” he said. “I wanted to tell them how he worked at Armco.”“He was picked on. He didn't speak English and he was a little guy. They'd tell him, 'Go tell that guy he's an SOB. It's a compliment.' And then he'd get stomped,” he said.After sharing stories and a meal, the Yovanoviches went to the village cemetery.“We went to a cemetery and we said farewell. We would like to go back again,” he said.Ivan, their interpreter, pointed to some homes in the hills around the village and said Yovanovich could buy a home for 30,000 American dollars.Declining to buy a house, Yovanovich, Frost and Conants returned to Budapest in Hungary.Yovanovich said Budapest is really two cities: Pest to the east and Buda to the west with the Danube River running down the middle.The city is home to 1.7 million people, the capital of Hungary and a major center for banking and finance, real estate, retailing, trade, transportation and tourism.
“We stayed at the Continental Hotel and did some exploring. I'm an old man and my mobility's limited. But we did travel in tuk-tuks,” he said. A tuk-tuk is a three-wheeled motorized rickshaw.“Aug. 20th was St. Stephen's Day which is a big holiday in Hungary. He was the first king of Hungary,” he said. “There was a big festival down along the Danube. There were food and beer stands.”The Hungarian cuisine was a big hit with him.The paprikish dishes, the goulash, the stuffed cabbage and the barbecue all proved to be delicious, he said.“In the hotel, they had a breakfast buffet. I never had scrambled eggs and spinach,” he said. “It was a really fantastic buffet.“We went out to restaurants. Down the street was an Italian place. They could put out a pizza in five minutes, really fast compared to the United States,” he said, adding he sampled duck eggs, goose liver and paprikish dishes so named because of the generous use of paprika, a spice commonly used in Hungarian cuisine.He was impressed by Budapest's Great Market Hall.
“It was 100 yards long and 80 yards wide,” he said. Stalls on the ground floor offer produce, meats, pastries, candies, spices, and spirits.“The streets were clean. People take pride in their city,” Yovanovich said.“We liked it, the food, the sights. We took the tuk-tuks and toured the city,” he said.“The one driver was a Colts fan, but I gave him a Steelers hat,” Yovanovich said.“We asked the tuk-tuk driver what his income was for a year and he said he made about 800 euros a month,” he said, which works out to about $910 a month.Hungary and Croatia made a really favorable impression on him, Yovanovich said.“I want to go back again, God willing,” he said. “The plan is we are going to go to Zagreb (the capital and largest city in Croatia) and then go along the Dalamatian Coast,” he said of the 300-mile strip of coastline overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
- Hungary became a Christian kingdom in 1000 A.D. and for many centuries served as a bulwark against Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe.The kingdom eventually became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under communist rule following World War II.In 1956, a revolt and an announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow.In 1968, Hungary began liberalizing its economy, introducing so-called “Goulash Communism.” Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free-market economy. It joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union five years later.- Hungary is landlocked in Central Europe and is about the same size as Indiana.- Hungary's 9.8 million people are categorized as Hungarian 85.6 percent, Romani 3.2 percent, German 1.9 percent, other 2.6 percent and unspecified 14.1 percent.Percentages add up to more than 100 percent, because respondents were able to identify more than one ethnic group.The official language is Hungarian, the mother tongue of 98.9 percent, of Hungarian speakers.Roman Catholics make up 37.2 percent of the population, Calvinists 11.6 percent, Lutherans 2.2 percent, Greek Catholics 1.8 percent, others 1.9 percent, none 18.2 percent and unspecified 27.2 percent.- Hungary is divided into 19 counties administered by a president indirectly elected by the National Assembly with a two-thirds majority vote in the first round or a simple majority vote in the second round.The last presidential election was 2017. The next is set for spring 2022. The prime minister is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president. The unicameral National Assembly has 199 seats. Members serve 4-year terms.SOURCE: CIA Factbook
