Bronya Duhanova is glad that she visited the United States. "It showed me a different way of life."
The 25-year-old from Slovakia has been in this country for a little more than a year, working as an au pair in Georgia.
Before returning to her native land this December, she decided to visit her relatives in the Mon Valley. Duhanova was the recent guest of Margie and Russell Kirby in Charleroi.
The two women share Sedlacek ancestors. Katarina Sedlacek Surovchak was Margie Kirby's grandmother. Pavel Sedlacek was a great-great-grandfather to Duhanova. Katarina and Pavel were brother and sister.
When Duhanova arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport in mid-September, the Kirbys treated her to a night view of the city. They took her through the Fort Pitt Tunnels and up to Mt. Washington, where she took a ride on the incline.
"The city is so beautiful at night with all the lights and the rivers," Duhanova said. "Pittsburgh is a large city, busy, just as I imagined it, but a little bit dirty compared with Europe."
She described the countryside in Pennsylvania as similar to Slovakia's --- "beautiful."
Duhanova's Sedlacek roots also touch Karl Polacek, of Belle Vernon, since Katarina Surovchak was his grandmother too. Polacek is employed at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review office at PittsburghLIVE. Duhanova has a journalism background.
Polacek arranged a tour of the offices and printing facility of the newspaper. PittsburghLIVE Managing Editor Mark Whittaker, along with Polacek, conducted the tour. She was fascinated with the facility and said the technology looked much like that in Slovakia, but different in some ways. "Reporters," she said, "look the same all over the world."
Duhanova said the Internet edition here is more developed. "In Slovakia, the Internet is not as developed because it is so expensive, few can afford it. People use it mostly at work." She said telephone service is also expensive.
When Duhanova returns to Slovakia, she will go to Bratislava, the capital. Her mother, Olga, is a radio producer for Slovak Radio there. Her parents are divorced. Her father works in Prague, Czech Republic, as a television producer.
Duhanova graduated from Bratislava University as a journalism major with specialization in television and radio. "TV journalism is my favorite." She spent six years writing scripts for children, "educational and for fun." She has also worked for a political party and for a newspaper, writing show business and cultural articles.
Duhanova loves to travel. She has been to many countries in Europe, to cities like Paris and Moscow, and to Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
Duhanova decided to sign on as an au pair and went to a family in Atlanta. It was an exciting year, with four young children, two boys and two girls. There was a stay-at-home mom "but she was very busy."
While working in Atlanta, Duhanova signed on for language classes. There she met a young man from Brazil who speaks Portuguese. "Erley wants to go back to Slovakia with me. But he doesn't speak the language and I don't know if he would be happy there," she confides.
The Slovak language can be difficult if you have not been raised with it. "You write what you hear," said Duhanova.
At age 3, children attend a preschool, kind of a blend between day care and kindergarten. Five-year -olds must go to school, then there are nine years of primary education. Secondary education prepares one for a trade or for more specialized education at a university.
There have been changes since the government changed.
"We have a different system now. Ask 100 people and you will get 100 opinions," said Duhanova. "If you catch the wave and can go into business or have a good job, freedom is wonderful."
But for those who lost their jobs, "It was better in socialism. Thank you for freedom, now I can travel but I can't afford it."
She explained that is how it affects some people. With socialism, taxes were high but the government took care of and controlled everything and everyone. Now people must pay for schooling and their own health care, she said.
Since freedom came to Slovakia, Duhanova has been able to travel. While visiting the Kirbys and other relatives, she prepared a Slovak cake, like her grandmother makes, rich with cocoa and walnuts, and topped with whipped cream.
"It's kind of like your brownies," she explained.
"Only lighter and not as sweet," said Margie Kirby.
Duhanova also prepared a Slovak recipe, Brindzove Halusky, a main dish with potatoes. She said it's one of their national dishes. Kolacky is a favorite dessert pastry. "I cook all kinds of stuff," she said.
"Bronya is just delightful," said Kirby.
"I love to laugh," Duhanova said. "We must make fun of ourselves." With her travels, she has learned to worry less now and to trust in herself. "You have to feel strong, to be proud that you did it. It is the power of self."
When she left the Kirbys, Duhanova flew back to Tampa, Fla., to rejoin her Brazilian boyfriend. "He misses me."
