Slovak Camaradarie

While gallivanting through Slovakia in May, Marty and I stopped in the town of Zavar where we found my gr.grandfather's grave.  Once I returned home, I began searching for more information pertaining to my heritage.  I contacted a couple of people on facebook who looked like possible connections.  The one young man was definitely related and I was able to determine that his grandfather and my father are first cousins.  My other query led to a Mrena family living in Finland.  They had, indeed, emigrated from Slovakia, and this man's sister, Marcela,  was living only about an hour from my home.

My information was passed onto Marcela, and within no time I was speaking with this extremely entertaining woman, who is convinced that we are related.  It is certainly hard to resist her enthusiasm, particularly when she is excitedly speaking to me in her thick Slovak accent.  I promised her that we would get together, and tonight was the opportunity that she was waiting for.

We drove to her home where we were greeted with hugs and welcomed as if we were best friends.  Amy was along for this adventure, and believe me, she'd have quite a story to share with you regarding our visit. We heard family stories that had us howling.  Marcela's husband, Villo,  is from Denmark with Canadian citizenship.  The emigrated during the Communist regime, and although they were permitted to return to the country for visits, they were under extreme scrutiny by the Czechoslovakian authorities.  When Marcela's mother died, and she wanted to return to Slovakia, the authorities would not issue Villo a Visa for entrance into the country because his passport showed a photo with him sporting a beard that he had shaved off.  So, Marcela and Villo came up with the idea of using Marcela's hair to fashion a beard on Villo's face.  As she told the story, she mentioned that she was not sure what they should use to secure the hair.  They had considered superglue, but decided against it.  Then, honey came up as an option, but she thought that would be way too sticky.  They decided to use regular school glue to adhere the hair to his face.  She showed us a photo, and I must admit, it sure looked convincing to me!  Apparently the authorities thought as well, because they issued the visa to Villo, and while he was in the country, he was able to grow a real beard to satisfy them when it was time for them to leave.
It was heartwarming to hear these two people laugh about an incident that must have been quite traumatic for them at the time, since Marcela had been very close to her mother and had missed the opportunity to be with her when she died, due to the rules that the authorities had established.

Another entertaining moment was when we were issued into the dining room for dinner, and Marcela proceeded to crawl under the dining room table while we watched in wonder.  She came out with  a hammer in her hand.  Apparently, a hammer under the table on Christmas Eve assures good health throughout the year.  Who knew?

We enjoyed a delicious Slovak dinner of sliced potatoes with onions, pork tenderloin and roast tenderloin sandwiched in between.  Marcela and her husband were so welcoming, you'd have thought that they had known us for years!  So, are we related?  Marcela will tell you that the Mrena surname is extremely unusual and that there are only a few of us out in the world.  I can tell you that I have traced back the name to my gr.gr.grandfather, and so far, I can't see the tie between her family and mine.  So, if we are related, the relationship would be fairly distant.  But, if this woman is so excited thinking that we are blood relatives, why ruin her fun?  After all, she just may be correct in her assumption.  Only time will tell.