Hi, my name is Mary Orban. I live in Falls Church, VA. My paternal grandparents came from Hungary (pre-WWI). My grandfather was born in Potahaza (a small village near Szatmar) which is now in Romania. He came to the US in 1907, first working in Pennsylvania and then in Dayton, OH. I still have relatives in Potahaza as well as in Nagybanya (Baia Mare, Romania). My grandmother was born in Zdany, a small village close to Kassa (Kosice, Slovakia). My grandmother came to the US as a child in 1899. She grew up in Johnstown, PA. I still have relatives in Zdany as well as Kassa. I first visited all my relatives in 1996 and have been back at least 10 since then. I will be visiting them again next year.
I have studied a little Hungarian. I know a lot of words, but I’m not good at making full sentences. Fortunately, all my younger cousins speak English, and I use my broken Hungarian and an on-line translator to speak with my older relatives. It’s not perfect, but it works.
This is my first time participating in the Expo. I’m looking forward to learning more about the Hungarian culture.
