My grandparents, Ivan and Jelena, were known as Juan and Elena here. They were born in Trnbusi and Dolac Gornji. They arrived in Argentina by ship, but I couldn\u2019t find their names in the CEMLA records. I only found that they got married in 1909 in Acebal, Santa Fe province, on a hot January day. Ten months later, my oldest aunt, Maria, was born. And so their ten children were born in turn: Katarina, Petar, Stjepan, Mate, Dominga, Lucija, twins Ivan and Elena, and Andrija (who died as a baby). The last one born was my father, Norberto, in 1925. Unfortunately, when he was only 10 years old, his father, my grandfather Juan, passed away. Time passed, and eight siblings (5 men and 5 women) married Croatians. They all had two children each, except for my uncle Stjepan, who had three. Grandma Jelena managed to meet her grandchildren, but unfortunately not me, as I am the youngest in the family.<\/p>\n
I have wonderful memories of various large family gatherings. On my aunts Dominga and Ivana’s farm in Chovet, they would organize large barbecues for everyone. During the afternoon rest, my uncles and older cousins would play Truco or Taba. Sometimes, when I was a child, they would let me join the game. The years passed, and I remember weekends spent with my cousins. The house had a dirt floor, the kitchen was heated with wood or corn cobs. In the evening, I was bathed in a bathroom outside the house. They would carry me to bed so I wouldn’t get my feet dirty, and I would wait there before being sent to sleep. Under the bed, I had a chamber pot in case I woke up and needed to use the bathroom.<\/p>\n
Almost everything was produced on the farm: preserves, jams, cured meats, etc. We picked fruit from the estate, eggs from the chicken coop, and all the vegetables from the garden. In winter, we slaughtered a pig for ham, salami, sausages, blood sausages, cured pork loin, and cans of pork rinds and bones. Next to the kitchen was a pantry where cured meats hung, and on the shelves were jars of fruit in syrup and various preserves.<\/p>\n
When our visits were unexpected, my aunt would pick Swiss chard and turn it into an excellent SOPARNIK, slaughter a chicken, or prepare a large pan to fry potatoes in lard, followed by a dozen fried eggs. Breakfasts were magnificent: a huge cup of mate tea, a slice of bread (never fresh, we ate the leftovers) with butter and some homemade jam. In the afternoon, the ritual was repeated with snacks that included slices of ham (pr\u0161ut) and cheese; and when the sun went down, they lit the “sol de noche” (night sun) because there was no electricity. On Sundays, my uncle would prepare the sulky with the old horse, and we would visit other Croatians on neighboring farms. I found it interesting that they spoke in a “strange” language to me, but they were always cheerful. These are the most wonderful memories of my childhood.<\/p>\n
Griselda Zeljkovich, president of Croatian Association of Venado Tuerto<\/p>\n
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My grandparents, Ivan and Jelena, were known as Juan and Elena here. They were born in Trnbusi and Dolac Gornji. They arrived in Argentina by ship, but I couldn\u2019t find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-argentina-en"],"yoast_head":"\n