First Time Visitor, Possibly Moving To Croatia and...

[jpaschich]

Hi all!!! I'm a 50 yr old US citizen. I'm taking my first trip to Croatia in a few months. My grandparents (maternal and paternal) were all born on Molat. I'll be visting Molat and as much of the country as possible in the three weeks or so while there. I'm hopeful to someday, in the next five to 10 years, move to Croatia at least for a short term stay - maybe a year or two. 

My first question - any advice for my initial visit and subsequent possible move to Croatia? I know this is a broad question but figured maybe someone had some good advice.

My second question, and more importantly, is I'm I'm trying to understand the language and/or dialects. My grandparents spoke "slavonian". They have all passed quite a while ago so I'm not able to ask them but as I start my journey learning Croatian I'm realizing I dont think they spoke what we now call Croatian. At least I dont recognize any of the words I always heard them speaking while I was growing up. Can anyone explain this??? For example, the only word I can 100% guarantee I have correct that they use to say is "prasic" which means pig or quite possibly some curse word As far as I can tell this is slovenian for pig anyway. which would make sense for how they used it. That and my very old grandpa always told me "allah" when I was sitting in his chair. I just knew it meant to get the heck out of his seat.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Jason Paschich

I'll be looking for any Matulic's or Spanic's on Molat by the way

[Anna]

Hi Jason, the best advice I would give is to just come to Croatia (for a holiday first) and check it out! Obviously, it's absolutely amazing in summer, but you may also want to visit in off season to see what it's like in winter (for example) and see if you would be okay with that too.

Molat is a tiny island, and I'm afraid I don't know much about people from there. But I am sure you will be visiting and perhaps you can ask around to get some leads on your family.

There's a very helpful Croatian Genealogy group on Facebook - www.facebook.com/groups/croatianheritageandgenealogy - I'd suggest asking on there and you may well get some info on how to start tracking your family, language and so on. I'm sure they can also give you advice on how to visit from a genealogical and future-move perspective too!

Obviously, we have our site - www.visit-croatia.co.uk/ - should you need any general travel info. 😊

Good luck with your search/visit/eventual move!

[garitransfer]

Hey Jason,

How awesome that you're heading to Croatia, especially to Molat, where your family roots run deep! Exploring Molat will be a fantastic start on your trip. As for moving there later on, I'd suggest diving into the local culture, connecting with the community, and getting a feel for life in Croatia during your visit. It might give you a better sense of what to expect.

About the language, it seems your grandparents spoke a regional dialect, maybe from the Slavonia region. Learning Croatian is a great idea, but keep in mind there could be differences from the dialect they used.

Enjoy your journey of discovery in Croatia, and good luck in your search for relatives on Molat!