Returned from Croatia at 0-dark-thirty this am. Had a wonderful trip. Have much to relate as it pertains to homesteading there on land usage, goats, chickens, rabbits and energy efficient homes. Stayed at the home of my grandfather's brother's daughter (who is also my grandfather's niece). They spoke no English and I speak no Croatia, which was interesting. Will take me a couple of days to work up my notes and memory.

Their method of raising small livestock is very different than ours.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 27, 2001

Answers

Welcome Home!

-- Nancy Bakke-McGonigle Mn. Sunset (dmcgonig@smig.net), May 27, 2001.

Glad you made it back safely! Yeah, I know, flying is one of the safer ways to travel -- but not risk-free.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), May 27, 2001.

Welcome back Ken! Looking forward to hear about everything.

-- Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania (KIRKLBB@PENN.COM), May 27, 2001.

welcome back ken hope here everything about your trip

-- myra gail akins (dakins@cottoninternet.net), May 27, 2001.

Howdy Ken! Glad ya'll made it back in one piece. Don't spose ya'll brought any apple pie back? Didn't figger so. Anyway--welcome back. Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), May 27, 2001.

Welcome Home! Looking foward to hearing about your trip!

-- Mark in N.C. Fl. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), May 27, 2001.

Glad your back. Look forward to hearing all about it.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), May 27, 2001.

Glad you made it back safely! We managed to not burn down the place while you were gone!! Can't wait to hear all about the trip, country, people, etc! Bet is was really interesting. We had some strange "converstions" with our Korean landlords when we lived there, and they spoke no English, and we no Korean! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), May 27, 2001.

Welcome Home Ken!

We're glad to hear you made it back safely, and can't wait to hear what you've learned : )

-- Kristin, in La. (positivekharma@aol.com), May 28, 2001.

This is going to be long, so go get yourself a cup of coffee or something.

My routing to Croatia was Nashville, to Dullas, to Munich to Zagreb, with layovers of 2-4 hours between flights. While at the airport in Munich I notice how somewhat drab it looked. Beams and piping exposed on the ceiling and the decor basically in black, white and gray. I mentioned this to another American I met there and she commented it was probably the basic German love of function over appearance.

When I arrived at the airport in Zagreb we had to walk through a carpet saturated with a disinfectant for foot and mouth disease. Getting out of the airport took only minutes for my passport to be stamped and my bags X-rayed by customs. I saw no bags being opened for inspection. From the airport it was by bus to the bus station, then tram to the railroad station. I caught a 5:05 pm train north to Virovitica, where I had hotel reservations. The two-hour trip cost about $9. From the station in Virovitica I took a taxi to the hotel which costs 50 kuna – about $6.50. I quickly learned taxis are expensive in Croatia.

Even though I had been up for over 24-hours I was still too keyed up to sleep, so went to the outdoor café-type area for a couple of beers. While there I met a guy who spoke English, having lived in California for about 14 years. He asked the purpose of my trip and I said it was to do genealogy research in Suhopolje, from which my grandparents emigrated. He asked if I still had relatives there and I said I didn’t know, as no Saraboks (European spelling) were in the Internet phonebooks. He said he would find out and used his cell phone to call a dentist in Suhopolje. Turns out this dentist said a woman, whose maiden name was Sarabok, had babysat his daughter starting when she was six-weeks old. Armed with a name we set out for Suhopolje where we picked up a local bar owner who knew this couple. I will admit on arrival at the village of Suhopolje, tingling went down my spine to be in my ancestral homeland.

This is a bit complicated so bear with me. Turns out the woman is the daughter of my grandfather’s sister-in-law and niece. His older brother, later in life, married a Barbara Obermayer, mother of this Matilda. Barbara was also a daughter of my grandfather’s younger sister, Ana, and Adnrija Obermayer. Apparently it was a marriage of convenience since her uncle was 32-years older; however, the union produced a daughter Matilda. Matilda is maybe 5’ tall, and he mother was even shorter. I noticed this among some of the older population.

Matilda asked, through the guy acting as an interpreter, where I was staying and I said a hotel in Virovitica. That simply wouldn’t do, so I was told to bring by my luggage the next morning as I would be staying with them, the fact they spoke no English and I spoke no Croatian notwithstanding. They bumped a daughter and granddaughter out of their room for me to use. They did have a granddaughter who was in and out and she spoke very good English, which was a blessing.

(The bed was two singles pushed together. Didn’t use sheet per se. On top of the combined box springs and mattress was a wool blanket for each bed. Covering was a comforter with a washable out sheet. Have absolutely no idea if this is typical.)

The next morning I was taken to the travel promotion office in Virovitica, through which most of my local arrangements were made, to find two reporters waiting for an interview for two papers. A story appeared in both a couple of days later to the effect, “American farmer returns to Croatia to find his roots.” Before that I was known in Suhopolje as ‘the American who takes a lot of pictures.’ After it appeared it was my 15-minutes of European fame as I would be stopped on the street to be told, in Croatian, they had a brother, sister, cousin or whatever in one of the states. The state or city name was about all I could understand. When asked where I was from, I found it easier to just say Milwaukee as that city name seemed to be known by all. When Nashville did come up and they had a blank look, I would play the air guitar and say country music. This always brought nods of understanding. One guy tried to tell me the name of his favorite female singer and when he made the universal male gesture for large breasts, I said Dolly and he nodded. For some reason Dolly and Chris Kristoperson (spelling) seemed to be local favorites.

(I was probably the first American probably 90% of the population of Suhopolje had met.)

Even with the language problem, I found staying with Matilda and Alouz (A-low-ja) Kuaternik most interesting as they, from what I could see, lived on a fairly typical Croatian homestead. The land was very narrow and long and was less than one-half acre. The front of the house came to the front sidewalk and was narrow. Connected to the house to the other side of the lot was a combination root cellar, animal stalls and workshop/storage. Drive through doors on the back once allowed access to the garden area.

About half the lot was in an intensively worked garden. As soon as one crop was harvested, another took its place. Grapes had been trained over the patio area by the house and there were two rows on trellises on one side of the garden. Once the grapes were harvested, they were squeezed for the juice, which was bottled as grape juice and some made into wine. The squeezings then had water added to them and were fermented for about six weeks. This was then distilled down to make brandy. Let me tell you, the grape brandy Alojz made could be used to strip the paint off of cars.

On gardening they use a half-moon weeding hoe which is perfect for raised rows. I was so taken, I brought home two. They are about 6” high. They are kept sharp and Alojz had sharpened some so many times they were maybe 10% of what they started out to be.

At one time Matilda and Alojz had a milk cow and raised a couple of pigs and chickens, with the pigs and cow in confinement stalls with no outdoor exposure. However, I was told if you had access to an unused field, the cow might be staked out for part of the day. Now, because they are in their mid-seventies, they just have rabbits and chickens. (Alojz said he remembered at one time a herdsman would come down the street blowing a horn. The family cow would leave the stall and follow him to where they would be grazing that day. In the evening as they came to their house the cows would peal off and go to their stalls for the evening milking. Young heifers would be trained by being tied to an older cow.)

The rabbits will be the subject of another thread as I want it to go into that category. The chickens were raised on a small, bare lot between the barn and garden. Their feed consisted of corn off of the cob, occasionally ear corn ground up cob and all, stale bread from the local bakery and garden scraps. They also had access to a compost bin. As near as I could tell, no feed was purchased for them. They had, I think, one rooster and four hens. Egg production seemed to be limited as I did not see them gather a single egg. (By the way, in the entire time I was in Croatia I did not see a single white egg, only brown. They were sold in cartons of ten and seemed to be between our medium and large.)

When they had pigs, they were raised on homemade swill from whatever was available, including freshly cut grass added to the mix. While at the home of friends, I saw two pigs being raised for meat (and the only pigs I saw were solid white). I asked if they grow them out to 100 kilos (our market hog of 220 pounds). I was told they shoot for 150 kilos as they like their pork to have fat in it, of which I can attest to. Apparently these hogs were also raised on stale bread and garden trimmings for the most part, supplemented with a purchased feed which was mixed with water to form something like bread dough. As near as I could tell, the hogs, when ready, processed and smoked on the homestead into sausage and smoked meats. From what I saw, fresh pork was rare, and then only pork chops. Neither of the places which sold meats in Suhopolje had any fresh pork, lamb or beef, only chicken. (More on this later.)

When driving through a nearby village I saw an older woman (scarf, apron and all) cutting grass along side of the road with a scythe. We stopped and asked if I could take her picture. When asked what she used the grass for, she said goats and invited us to her home to see her goats, which appeared to be Alpine (at least when I said Alpine she nodded and said ya, ya, ya, ya, ya – their version of yes). I would guess her age to be at least mid-70s, but she could sure pull a wheelbarrow. Throughout the spring and summer she would gather several wheelbarrow loads each day. What wasn’t fed to the goats, weeds and all, was placed on a pile in the barn. I asked about the danger of mold from putting up basically unwilted grasses like that, but was told a little a day and adequate ventilation produced a nice, green hay for winter use without molding. Here again I was told the goats got eared corn, fresh grass or good hay, garden trimmings and no purchased feed. No where did I see salt provided to animals and the idea of medicated feeds seemed to be unheard of.

Knowing of my interest in cows, the local priest took me to a homestead which had three milk cow. They were apparently Simmentahls and were huge – over 1,000 pounds. The woman said she got 30 liters (roughly 7-8 gallons) of milk a day from all three of them combined, which seemed to be a very small amount (roughly 10 liters per cow). I noted their bags seems more like beef bags than a dairy cow bag. She had no bull, having the local vet AI them. She noted of the three calves, two had died and the third was sick. I tried to ask about whether or not the calves had received colostrum, but was unable to phrase the question so my interpreter could ask it. She used a portable milking machine manufactured in nearby Virovitica. It was very compact - I'd say 12"x24"x30".

Speaking of which, I had an interpreter for about half my stay. However, one spoke only high school English and the other a bit more due to having spent eight months in England. I would ask a question, they would spend about two minutes asking it, the reply was longer, then they would tell me an answer in about one sentence. This was probably the disappointment of the entire trip – my not being able to speak fluent Croatian. I had probably 1,000 questions left unanswered. (Croatian cannot be read phonetically and is spoken about as fast as Spanish.)

I learned outside Suhopolje, an easy bicycle ride away, was a cattle feedlot with a 3,000 head capacity. This I had to see and was taken there. Let me tell you this operation would have received the endorsement of the SPCA and possibly even the PITA folks. The cattle, about 95% of them were intact bulls, were kept indoors in stalls of 14-16 per stall. They had plenty of room to move about, and access to fresh water. Each stall was equipped with an outdoor area which was no longer used. The reason given is there would be the extra effort of manure disposal from the concrete floor and, with fresh manure on it, they were having a problem with the cattle falling and injuring themselves. The cattle didn’t seem to mind. The only bellowing I heard was at feeding time and seemed to be “What is taking you so long to get to my feed trough.” The stall floors were slotted so manure and urine fell into a pit, which then went by gravity, as near as I could tell, to a mixing/pumping station and from there to one of three large manure lagoons. There was no manure odor in any of the operation and the cattle were clean and seemed content. The cattle were fed a mix of about 65% corn low-moisture content silage, 34% spent brewing malt from a beer plant and a bit of mineral supplement. Since they had areas not suitable to corn silage production, it was put into grasses and square baled. A couple of square bales would be added to each mixer load. Again, no antibodies or other medication in their feed. If an animal appeared to be sick, it was sorted out into a sick pen to be treated there. However, I was told this was a rare occurrence. Although maximum capacity was 3,000 head, they normally only run 2,400 – 2,600 with ten permanent employees, and others hired as needed for custom field work.

Overall I found the Croatian people to be generous almost to a fault. Apparently they thought I was too skinny (ha, ha, ha, ha) and decided they needed to fatten me up. But then there was the aspect of my being a special guest who should be treated accordingly. A couple of the days I was mildly sick from so much rich food. On this aspect, Croatians love to eat and rich foods at that. However, while there was middle-age spread, I did not see a single Croatian I would call obese.

The one night I stayed at the hotel in Virovitica the room charge came with a breakfast. I was surprised to find it consisted of cereal, a platter of cold cuts, bread and rolls. Croatians don’t use the standard American version of a sandwich, but rather an open-face one of meat or cheese on top of a piece of wheat bread – I saw no other grained breads, such as rye. This was also the standard fair at Matildas. One evening they asked if I might like eggs for breakfast and I said that would be nice. The next morning I was served four farm-fresh eggs, a platter of cold cuts, a bowl of what appeared to be cottage cheese, bread, coffee, a 16-ounce beer and grape brandy. I ate what I could, waited about a half-hour and then went behind the barn to vomit in the compost pile.

The village of Suhopolje is dominated by a large Catholic church built in about 1810. No traffic lights and traffic passing through didn’t seem to even slow down. Might be a one-horse town as I saw only one pulling a wagon and even the locals seemed to think that unusual. The shops were small and included two small general grocery/household goods, a green grocer, a hardware, two garden supply, a bakery and several caffe bars, which served basically latte, beer and brandy. Beer seemed to be a standard breakfast fare. I didn’t see a barber but apparently there were several hairdressers.

What struck me was the number of red-haired women. I would guess maybe 25% of them. However, logically there should be an equal number of red-haired men, of which I noticed few, so I suspect it is preference, not nature at work. I don’t remember seeing anyone with freckles.

The impression I got was the local population was not well off, but lived comfortably. Each house I was in had an entertainment center with remote-controlled TV. Most of the programs were in English with Croatian sub-titles. However, I got the impression they weren't necessarily American programs or movies. Seemed more like they were produced by another country to pretend they were American. For example, one was reported to have taken place in California. Yet, all of the vehicles were European and three times I caught a glimpse of the front license plate and it was from Europe. Another involved what were supposed to be American teenagers from maybe the early 70s doing one one-liner after another. I don’t remember such a program and even the jokes didn’t seem to be American in nature.

On wages, I was told a hamburger flipper at a McDonalds (and yes I saw a couple in Zagreb) started out at about $1 an hour. A beginning school teacher in Suhopolje made 300 kunas a month (about $38). However, it was for only one-half day, nine months a year, with 12- months pay. I got the impression school was more of a formality than an effort at intense education. I spent one morning with the school's headmaster, who also oversaw about a dozen outlying elementary schools (1-4). One he took me to in Borova was about 125 years old. Since I had family living in Borova at one time, chances are good some Saraboks attended this school. Then it probably went 1-6 with schooling stopping there.

The house I stayed in was never locked, but I notice almost everyone locked their cars even just to pop in to buy something. Finally figured out that a car was a major investment for them. Most were compacts and I saw a number of Yugos – which is considered to be a bummer of a car even there now. I suspect most were 3-4 cylinders. The cars we would consider to be luxury, such as BMW, Mercedes, and Audi, were the smallest models and then only the basics. My interpreter used his father’s Mercedes and it had roll-up windows and cloth seats.

The standard mode of transporting within Suhopolje was the bicycle. Every place was probably within five blocks on each side of the major road through it. The train station was an easy walk or bicycle ride. Probably 90% of the bicycles I saw were what we would consider girl’s bikes. Some are three or five speed, but most are one-speed. One I saw cost about $125, which isn’t much here, but a significant investment there. But even then, bikes were left unlocked and unattended.

I was taken to the lot of the house in which my grandfather was born, but the original house has torn down in the 1960s and all structures replaced with new. However, I also got to get inside the house in which my grandmother was born, plus my two Aunts. As near as I can tell at least six generations were born in this house, as late as the mid-1960s, which is the first time a baby from Suhopolje was born in a hospital rather than through a mid-wife. The first houses built had adobe bricks made on site and thatched roofs. In the church and at the firestation is a shrine to St. Florin, the patron saint of firemen. I couldn’t figure this out until I realized how frightened, with thatched roofs, they must have been of fires.

For the most part the Croatian people were well dressed, including the teenagers. I saw almost no piercing or tattoos for that matter. Piercing is considered to be unsanitary and severely looked down upon. I was told tattoos were not uncommon, but were generally small ones in areas not exposed in public.

A common question I was asked is if we had crazy cows in the U.S. First time it took me a minute to convert that to mad cow disease. From what I can tell mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease has really put a scare into Europeans to where meat consumption is still way down, even though there has not been a single case of MCD or F&MD in Croatia. The feedlot I mentioned above is having to hold cattle ready for the market as there is currently a limited market for them.

The one-day I spent sightseeing in Zagreb happened to be the last day of school in which students descented on Zagreb to make absolutely as much noise as possible with whistles, horns and yelling as loud as possible. They roamed in packs. Rather took the edge off of an otherwise pleasant day.

One can see most of the sights in Zagreb within an easy walk from the central square. I was particular fascinated by a multiple-level produce/meat/fish/flower/etc. market. I got the impression very little was homemade or home-grown, being purchased from wholesalers. Starting at street level there were shops which specialized in meats, bread, chicken, and some, but not much, rabbit. For the most part there were more smoked meats than fresh. Lamb was sold by their cutting up or off of a carcass what you wanted – and the carcass included the skinned head. Prices for produce and meats seems to be comparable to those in the U.S. as near as I could tell since I had to mentally convert kunas per kilo into dollars per pound. Next level up was the produce/egg/cheese sellers. Next level up was flowers. Next level up was clothing. From what I saw, the typical Croatian residence has only a small refrigerator and purchases were made on a regular basis for produce and fresh meat as smoked meat did not require refrigerated storage. All stalls were small and the typical produce sell had a table maybe 3’x8’. The fresh fish area was really interesting. Never did identify some of them. Sourkraut was also make differently there. They ferment the entire head and then cut it up as needed.

While taking the walking tour of Upper Town, I passed a Chinese restaurant. Later that evening decided to go back and found it after about a half-hour of searching. Ordered cuttlefish with mushrooms. Chewy and quite good. The owner spoke several languages, including English and she sat with me until the meal arrived to freshen up on her English.

Croatia is self-sufficient in beer production, which is brewed to be served at room temperature, although some is chilled. Cost is about $1.10 for a 16-ounce bottle. I suspect I made a significant contribution to the Croatian beer economy while there.

The area in Croatia I was in has a climate roughly comparable to Kentucky. Suhopolje translates to Dry Field. I thought it was due to originally being swamp-like which was drained to create fertile fields. However, I was told Suhopolje has a micro-climate to where rains fall much more to the north, east, west and south. It is somewhat a pocket of limited rainfall.

Probably my single most lasting impression is how energy efficient the typical Croatian home is. They are built out of a locally manufactured block of red clay which is roughly 7’x9’x14’. These are used to create exterior and interior walls about 10” thick. Very, very little wood is used in typical construction, just roof trusses and 1”x3” stringers from front to back, plus doors and window and trimwork. These hold a roofing tile of the same material which has ears on them to hold them to the stringers. The tiles are held on simply by gravity. I was told a well-built roof like this could last 100 years. Between floors the floor was also built of blocks of this nature with a system to hold them up and a layer of concrete poured over them to lock them into place. In the one I saw under construction, this concrete was hauled up a bucket at a time. Since labor is cheap in Croatia, very little equipment is used to build houses. Standard is a tankless, gas hot water heater. As soon as you turn on the hot water, you can hear the flame start. As soon as you turn it off, the flame stops. One think I liked is their bathtubs were about half-again as deep as ours. One could really take a soaking bath in one. All of the commodes I saw used only about a pint of water at the bottom. In the house I stayed in, there was no tank, just an value you operated until you were satisfied contents were flushed out. Others I saw had a tank, sometimes towards the ceiling, about half the size of a standard U.S. tank. For you ladies, in the house I stayed in you could not raise the toilet seat as it was somehow fastened to the bowl. Was told this is now just changing with the lift up seat. No air condition at all. Windows were, for the most part, equipped with an outside shade which could be rolled up or down, or the bottom propped out to get ventilation without sunlight coming directly through the window. Each major room was equipped with its own heater. In the house I was in they were gas except for one wood burning one. The kitchen sink was smaller than ours, but the bathroom one significantly larger. Both had the faucets on the wall behind them so, at least in the bathroom, it was easy to wash one's hair.

While mortgages are available, they are typically given to those who really don’t need them, plus the current interest rate was considered to be low at 12.5%. Most people built their houses a bit at a time as they can afford to and it might take 20 years to complete a house.

Firewood is purchased in lengths of about 4’ either one-half or one- third splits. It is up to the buyer to cut them to desired length. The wood appeared to be a type of softwood from a type of fir. Alojz had a large table saw to cut them to lengths. I asked what people in apartments, etc. did and he make a sawing motion with his arm.

Trip home was uneventful except by the time I went through U.S. customs and USDA check and got to another terminal I was too late to check in for my flight from Dullas to Nashville and got bumped. Only problem was I had arranged to be picked up at the Nashville airport, but my guy waited about six extra hours for me to get in. Funny, to finally get from Dullas to Nashville I had to take a flight north to Philadelphia, then south over basically the same route over Washington D.C. to Nashville. However, ended up with $600 in coupons to use towards future United flights within the next year. Talked to one guy who said he almost always volunteers to be bumped as these ‘inconvenience’ coupons cover most of his airline flight costs. Coming through customs was somewhat of a joke as I didn’t see the first bag searched, not a sniffer dog (but that may have happened elsewhere). Since I indicated I had been on a farm, I had to also go through a USDA check, but he merely asked to look at the soles of my shoes. No dirt, no problem. (By the way, ‘No problem’ seems to have become an international saying.)

This rather exhausts me, but I am sure you will have more questions so ask away and I’ll try to answer them.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 28, 2001.

Wow Ken, what an adventure. Did you see any computers? Did they grow food in the garden just for any animals, and not for themselves? Here, a Simintal is a beef cow, funny being used as a dairy cow. It took me 2 cups of coffee to read thru it, but it sounds like you found what you were looking for, at least finding the old homesteads and all. Maybe they like Milwaukee cause of Laverne and Shirly and all the beer! Glad you are home safe, kiddo.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@hotmail.com), May 28, 2001.

Cindy:

I had access to a computer with Internet at the travel office in Virovitica and used it to keep my relatives informed. The guy I hired to upgrade my great-grandfather's headstone said he had a PC he used to make up the weekly church bulletins. There may have been others in Suhopolje. The computer keyboards are the Eastern European version. For example, y and z are reversed. Have extra keys for the pronounciation signs above letters. Really slowed me down.

The garden produce is intended for their own use. Trimmings to livestock is a bonus only. Because of their low incomes, they have to be as self-sufficient as possible. Matilda's and Alojz neighbors recently torn everything down and rebuilt on their lot. Every inch of ground not taken by the house, storage shed and driveway was being tilled up. In back, concrete poles with eyehooks had been put around the garden to eventually become grape tressices. This house is different on the street in that it was set back about 20 feet. However, the front yard had been tilled up and smoothed also. Doubt it will become a lawn.

Milwaukee is where most of the people who immigrated from Suhopolje went to, so they were familiar with the name. I was born near Milwaukee. Probably an initial destination because there was a Croatian enclave there.

Forgot to mention there is a window in the wall in which the stalls were. Manure, etc. was tossed out of it into a walled pit. When I was there the compost was maybe two feet deep. In the spring it will be lightly spread on the garden before being incorporated. Was also told the outhouse (no longer used) contents were also periodically buried in the compost pit.

Also, if you went to visit someone, either a table and chairs were brought out of the yard or you were invited into the dining room. You were always offered something to eat and drink, which they always seemed to have on hand.

Croatian kids love a bottle of spray paint as much as American ones. However, for the most part, streets, etc. were clean of trash. I felt completely safe there and was told there was a low rate of crime. Suhopolje was so small, probably the police knew who committed a crime as soon as they heard about it. Speaking of which, Suhopolje is a small village, yet seem to have about a half-dozen police officers. In Zagreb, the presence of police officers is very noticeable.

I also went over to Borcs, Hungary for a couple of hours, more to say I had been in Hungary than anything else. One of my uncles came from there, but his family house was torn down to become a shopping center since the price of goods in Hungary is lower than that of Croatia.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 28, 2001.

Hi Ken,

Missed you, so thats where you have been. Glad you had a good trip. I'll read your post on it after chores this morning. We made it to AR and our ner ranch is just beautiful. Take care.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), May 28, 2001.

Wow, Ken! Sounds like you had an interesting trip!

I am glad you were able to find some relatives there. Did you meet any relitives that knew your Grandparents? Did you learn any interesting facts about your family that you did not know before? It sounds like the Croations are nice folks. What are the Croations feelings about Americans. Did they find you to be what they thought a typical American would be? Or were thier views about us Americans distorted by the bogus TV shows?

I found your story about the Feedlot most interesting. Were the cattle in the feedlot also Simmentahls or were they a crossbred? How old (or weight) are the cattle when they enter the feedlot? How long are they kept for? Did they seem to have a revolving cycle of cattle in the feed lot or were they all the same size? Did they have hay or silage in front of them at all times or were they fed on a schedule? What was the average size of the pens? Did you learn anything about the purchase or sale of the cattle (auction?)?

Your story of U.S. Customs scares the heck out of me. No disinfection. No baggage search. Did you do any disinfection of yourself before returning to your farm?

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! Hope I havn't asked too many questions! Glad to hear you had a Good and Safe trip. I look forwod to hearing of other things you learned on your trip.

Beer for Breakfast that could be a Good thing, Warm Beer for Breakfast YUCK!

-- Mark in N.C. Florida (deadgoatman@webtv.net), May 28, 2001.

Mark:

I'll try to answer your questions.

My grandparents left Suhopolje in 1903 (grandfather) and 1904 (grandmother with two surviving daughters). Third one died at eight days old. Too long ago for anyone to know them, but some people knew who they were. At one time there were so many Saraboks living on one street it was referred to as Sarabok street. Brought back some photographs of my grandfather's siblings. Was able to tie some aspects of the genealogy puzzle together. For example, we didn't know some relatives came to the U.S., then went back to Suhopolje. In addition to Matilda, I found the granddaughter of my grandmother's brother.

Really couldn't tell the Croatian attitude towards American. I was invited to speak to a small group of junior high students for a question and answer period. One asked if all Americans lived in big cities. Failing to speaking the language I couldn't ask many complex questions.

The cattle in the feedlot were predominately beef breeds. About half polled. Many breeds. Their goal is in at seven months and out at 14, pretty well regardless of weight. However, they are having to hold cattle longer due to the depressed meat market for the MCD & F&MD scares. From what I could tell, their practice is to buy and sell on a regular basis so all ages are represented. Helps to level out the market. They were fed on a schedule, either two or four times a day, couldn't communicate to foreman on this point. Also, language barrier prevented my asking about buying and selling and a lot of other pratices. I eyeballed the size of pens at about 25' square. 14-16 head per pen, with access to two fresh water fonts. They were not crowded. If anyone wants I'll send a copy of a draft article for another magazine on this feedlot.

By baggage is still in Nashville. Will wash everything in it just in case. I disinfected my shoes leaving the feedlot - and there has been no F&MD anywhere near Croatia.

Actually, I thought warm Croatian beer to be better than chilled American beer. Remember their breakfasts are more like lunch, with the cheese and meat on a break slice. My philosophy is beer is made from grains and cereals and bread are made from grains, so it is just a different form. I did drink the local water with no effects. By the way, DUI there starts at .005 - half of the level in most U.S. states.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 28, 2001.

Pleased to hear you got home safely Ken. I think you did a real good job of recording everything you saw!

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), May 29, 2001.

You really packed a lot in ten days! Wouldn't surprise me if you sleep for 3 more. The intensified farming sounds quite interesting.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), May 29, 2001.

Ken -

Welcome home!! Glad you got to do and see so much... Its a whole different world over there, isn't it, lol!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 30, 2001.

Great Ken! Keep um coming,,This is the closest I'll get to a vacation. L.A.

-- L.A. Romsa (lromsa1@state.wy.us), May 30, 2001.

Ken, I was very interested in the "set-up" on their land. My great- grandparents (on mother's side) moved to the USA from Sweden, to Rockford, Illinois, where there were quite a few other Swedes. I didn't see their property until years after they died, but my mother drew me a diagram of it, and they had the same arrangement of buildings and garden plot.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), May 30, 2001.

A P.S. on laundry in Croatia.

The standard Croatian washing machine seems to be a front-loader, about 2/3rds the size of the standard U.S. machine. They do not mix hot and cold water, but rather there is a temperature setting dial. Apparently there were two cycles, wash, with gravity drain, and rinse, with gravity drain. No spinning cycle. This meant the wash would be taken out wet and hung on the line to drip dry. It also left a strong soap smell in the washed items.

The brand of detergent I saw was Calligon (spelling? - a U.S. brand). I could read enough of the label to determine it was both phosphorus- and sulfur-free. I know some people in the U.S. are severely allergic to phosphorus, but I know of none sold in the U.S. which is phosphorus-free.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 31, 2001.