parvengles3

We finally made it to Henc's house where I met his wife Melania. What a riot! A super person! She needs to learn English at her place of employment and I need to learn Rusyn. Too bad we don't live closer so we could help one another. First time I met her, it felt like I had known her all my life. We had a late supper (I hate to eat after 6 P.M. but you don't insult your guests) and then went for a walk. We headed over to the school for the Cervena Ruza festival. I hadn't come to see the festival but since we were there, why not? The groups we saw were Ukrainian, however. When I go to Rusyn areas, the least I should expect to see are Rusyn groups, so I was disappointed.

Early Saturday morning (2:30 A.M.), I was awakened by of all things, doves. Couldn't believe it! Sounded like hundreds of them! Couldn't get back to sleep so I stayed in bed and then got up early to go for a walk. I was to discover that Ruski Kerestur was unlike any other village which I had visited in eastern Europe. It was a walled town, in other words, most houses had brick walls around them. In eastern Slovakia and much of Zakarpathia, people have metal fences with fancy gates around their homes. This is of course to keep their animals out of the neighbors' yards. I had never seen anything like what I saw in Ruski Kerestur. The walls made it difficult to photograph the houses because they blocked off the yards.

When I returned from my walk, Henc and Melania were up and as soon as we had breakfast we headed off to the marketplace. I thought it was funny that after Melania locked the door she placed the key under a rug on the front stoop. The market place is typical of those elsewhere in Eastern Europe - a combination flea and outdoor market. Before visiting any places in Ruski Kerestur, I went with Henc and Paul to the offices of Dzovni. It seems that unbeknownst to me, Pan Koljesar on his visit in May had informed them about my visit and they wanted to interview me. I wanted to strangle Pan Koljesar when I found this out. Needless to say, I was not happy about doing this. At least, they didn't take any photos because I wouldn't allow it. Can you guess the first question that they asked me? What were my first impressions of Ruski Kerestur? I don't think they were happy when I told them about the damn doves that got me up so early. Paul later told me that Italian hunters used to come and shoot them and take them home to eat, but that the hunters hadn't shown up for several years, so the dove population has exploded. I also told them about the brick walls. I was uncertain what else they wanted me to tell them. Of course, the very first impression I had of the area was how flat everything was plus driving past all the burning fields the night before. When the interview was finally over, we headed over to the Petro Kuzmjak High school. I got a royal tour of the high school and elementary school by the principal and Henc. We also went into the museums that are found in both schools. I really liked the museums. It interests me to see how the people lived, the type of farm implements they used, types of embroidery and all the old photos. I had hoped to buy some embroidery but never saw any for sale.

I was surprised at many of the desks that the students have to sit at. They looked very uncomfortable. It was obvious that the school needs repairs in certain areas. It would be nice if the Rusyns from Ruski Kerestur who attended these schools but now live elsewhere in te world would help to make them a masterpiece for the worldwide Rusyn community. They are something which we cannot let fall into disrepair. I don't know if a non-teaching professional would have noticed what I did, but I felt that compared to many of our schools in the U.S. (especially the one I teach in), they could use a little sprucing up. Henc showed me the physics rooms and pointed out all the posters that I had sent to the school but we couldn't get into the chemistry room. We then had lunch in the cafeteria with the junior girls' judo team of Serbia, which was practicing at the school. The ladies who served us even left candy bars for everyone. I can't say enough about the people who I met at the school or for that matter in Ruski Kerestur. They were all so nice and made my visit a memorable one.

After lunch, Paul went over to his father's for a nap and I returned to Henc's. I decided to explore more of Ruski Kerestur and went for a walk on the outskirts of town where some woods are located. No matter how you look at it, the area is still flat. I then headed to the church to take photos and went back to the school where I noticed many youth groups coming in for the afternoon performance of Cervena Ruza. Most were dressed in ethnic costumes. Upon returning from my walk, I sat outside in the front yard with Melania. I kept noticing these black particles descending on us. Wonder where they came from? Melania started to have a conversation with someone in the house next door (the houses are very close to one another). The voice of a young person was coming from a small window in the building. A short time later, the source of this voice showed up – twins in fact. Sonja and Maja Medjesi. These two little girls totally floored me. They were only 2 1/2 years old talking in Rusyn like adults and holding a perfectly good conversation with Melania. Couldn't believe it! You don't see many children this young in the U.S. who are capable of this. No baby talk here! These two made themselves quite at home. In fact, you would have thought that they lived at Henc's house. They would just walk into the yard or the house with no parents around and make themselves at home.

We also had a visit from a lady formerly from Ruski Kerestur, but now living in Australia. She had come to visit her ill mother. We spent about two hours talking. Relatives of Melania also showed up but since they didn't speak English, I could only say dobri dzenj, dobre rano, hej, dzekujem, and a few other miscellaneous phrases. Upon Paul's return, we headed to Kucura where we came upon a wedding party walking down the center of the street. I had seen something similar to this earlier in the summer in a village in Lemkovyna. No tuxedos here. We were to meet Dr. Mihajlo Fejsa who had been in the wedding party. We went to a small café for something to drink. Dr. Fejsa teaches Ruthenian at the University of Novi Sad (one of his students told me that he is very good). I have his book, Let's Speak Rusyn – Vojvodinian Edition, and wanted to know why it differed from the Presov edition, i.e. Rusyn pronunciations are not given, only English. Dr. Fejsa stated that this was more practical for his people but I told him that it was not practical for us Rusyns in America who wanted to learn the correct way to speak. He told me about problems with the Ukrainians in the local government. Even though the Rusyns are a recognized minority, it seems that the country is giving a lot of credence to what the Ukranians say. Rusyns have to become more vocal in Yugoslavia, as they are doing in Slovakia, Poland and Zakarpathia.

Dr. Fejsa then took us to visit the Greek Catholic Church. I was surprised to see how the pews were arranged - many of them along the walls. I had never seen anything like this in my travels in Eastern Europe. He also told us that the people pay to sit in particular pews. I had never heard of such a thing in regard to Greek Catholic churches - Protestant, yes. I took many photos and a video of the inside of this beautiful edifice.

We then made a stop at Dr. Fejsa's home in order for him to present me with a book of poetry and then proceeded on a tour of Kucura to photograph some of the old buildings whose architecture fascinated me. Kucura has some excellent examples of Hungarian architecture, unfortunately many of these old buildings are in need of repair. After this we headed for Verbas to see one of the bridges which NATO had bombed and which had been recently replaced. Verbas has a lot of chemical factories plus a canal in which all the waste from the factories is emptied. What a stench! Reminded me of Newark, N.J. I realize that a lot of people work in this area, but the air pollution was overwhelming. I wondered if the people cared, considering the political and economic climate. Down the road, people’s health is going to be severely affected if it hasn’t already. Paul and Henc wanted me to taste Yugoslavian ice cream so we parked the car in town and went to a small ice cream shop. I love the ice cream in Eastern Europe - so many flavors with one as good as another one. Since it was getting dark, we headed home. Before going to bed we watched the festival being broadcast by TV Novi Sad. I was disappointed because again nothing but Ukrainian groups. When the program ended, we went for our nightly walk over near the festival grounds. Paul procured one of the festival's posters for me from one of the local stores. I had noticed them earlier in the day and stated that I would like to obtain one. I had it framed and it is now on the wall in my office.

Sunday I was up early in order to attend the 8:30 A.M. liturgy. Friends of the family the day before told me that a later morning liturgy was for the youth and that they liked this service. Since I am an early bird, it was the earlier one for me. I don't like going to church with a ton of kids. Upon arriving at church, I pondered where to sit because I wondered if the people in Ruski Kerestur also paid for their pews. Their church has the same kind of seating arrangement as Kucura with pews running not only parallel to the altar but also arranged along the walls. I decided to sit in one of the pews along the walls in the back of the church. However, it was extremely uncomfortable because you can't see the altar when you are sitting sideways. Most people only seemed to use them as something to lean against during the liturgy. I was impressed by the way that the priest and cantor sang together – almost like a choir. Where the cantor left off, the priest would pick it up and vice versa. The cantor sang Ize Cheruvimy in the fastest time I have ever heard it sung. I could at least sing along with the people because the liturgy was in Old Slavonic and the hymns for the most part were the same that I grew up singing. To top it off, even with a long sermon we were out of church in 45 minutes. For some reason, it seems that in the U.S. we are in church forever, whereas in Europe we are out in record time.

After lunch, Paul, Henc and I went on a tour of Ruski Kerestur starting with the cemetery. There is so much history in cemeteries. I love to walk through them and read the engravings on the tombstones. Ruski Kerestur certainly has the largest Greek Catholic cemetery that I have been to in Eastern Europe. Of course, this village is larger than most villages in Slovakia and Zakarpathia and is also very old so it would make sense that it was so immense. The fancy tombstones in Europe amaze me; most of those in American Greek Catholic cemeteries are plain and much smaller. They also must be inexpensive because everyone seems to have large stones. I know that many of our Rusyn people who have been to Europe can't get over the size of the newer tombstones in the cemeteries of their relatives. I walked through most of the cemetery - didn't want to miss anything. There was even a mauseleum that a local businessman had built for his family (he is still alive). This was the first one I had ever seen in a Greek Catholic cemetery.

From the cemetery, we drove to Vodica to see the area where the Blessed Mother is supposed to have appeared to a local villager. Paul asked me if I had ever heard of this site in the U.S. and I told him, no. Vodica consists of a chapel and on its grounds otpusts are held. We also visited the areas where the marshes were drained in order for Ruski Kerestur to be settled plus some other water features where one could boat, fish and/or swim.

We then headed back to the church so that I could film and photograph the inside of the building. One of Henc's cousins who spoke English came with me and even took me up into the balcony and pointed out specific features of the iconostasis and icons. This occurred before the 5 P.M. liturgy. This surprised me because I have never encountered a church in my travels in Eastern Europe that has Sunday evening liturgies. As elsewhere, you notice the large numbers of elderly in the village; however, you also see a lot of young people, something that is lacking in so many of our Rusyn villages in Slovakia.

Since it had rained on Sunday morning, the festival was moved indoors which meant that very few people would be able to see the last day of the festival. We walked into town anyway and went to a local café. Ruski Kerestur is a swinging place in the evening. It seems everyone and his brother is out on the town. The little sidewalk cafes were doing a brisk business. Young and old were out. We met some friends of Henc's and sat down for a bite to eat and something to drink. Surprise! The lady spoke English. She had wanted to see the festival on the last day but couldn't get a ticket. Instead, we had a nice conversation. She told me about her home and about her job.

The one thing I will remember most about Ruski Kerestur is her people. They were all so nice and hospitable, plus anyone who could speak English would come by and introduce themselves to me. I can't say enough about Henc and his wife who opened their house to a complete stranger and also about Henc's brother, Paul, who acted as my interpreter. Henc's neighbor was worried about my rental getting hit on their narrow street and told me to park in his driveway and keep it there for as long as I wanted. It was readily apparent that the residents of the village were proud of it and wanted to show it off. It is a pity that more American Rusyns don't visit Vojvodina. They only care to visit the regions where their family came from or live. They are doing a big disservice to themselves. Each of the areas where our people came from is unique, each has something different to offer. Vojvodinians also have to start reaching out to the Rusyn community in America, and invite them to their beautiful country. I hope someday to return because there is still so much to see that due to time constraints, I was unable to accomplish. Who knows, perhaps on my next trip I will find that elusive Rusyn embroidery.