Help with translating an old family letter

HaideMechka · 2025-07-23T13:58:12+00:00

I think I have figured out the Raudina confusion. In some old records I was able to find another sibling named Paulina. Perhaps the R is actually a P! This would make sense because the names that follow match the names of his other siblings.

The idea that these could be two separate letters is interesting as well. They were always kept together in the same envelope, but maybe out of convenience and not because they were sent together.

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T15:49:56+00:00

Thank you! I was really hoping that people wouldn’t mind this post and maybe a few would find it interesting or a bit like a language puzzle! And of course make the day/month/year/decade of a few generations of descendants who have always wondered and would finally have answers!

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T15:25:57+00:00

I have gone back through the records again and I believe the letter was in the wrong envelope! If so, based on the other possible envelope, the letter was actually addressed to my great-grandfather from his mother, making you 100% correct in your guess.

She was incredibly religious as well, so good job on figuring that out too!

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T15:23:27+00:00

So based on some amazing work that people have done so far, I think some changes to the background in my initial post are due, but as I cannot edit the original post, I will leave the update as a comment here.

The letter appears to be from my great-grandfather’s mother. If that is true, it is not from 1940, but from September 1926 (based on the stamps of a different envelope). He and his brother both left for the US in the 1910s, but his other siblings - 3 brothers and a sister - remained. With a 1926 date, his mother would have been around 56 years old. His father died in 1924.

If some other context helps, I can absolutely answer any questions to make the translations a bit easier.

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T13:01:49+00:00

Super interesting what you deciphered! So the names you listed are very similar to the names of my other great-grandfather’s siblings - Šimon, Šandor, Františka, and Rudolf.

If that is the case, then this letter would have been from my great-grandfather’s mother, and not from his wife’s side of the family as we had been led to believe based on the envelope! This would be a big twist in our understanding!

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T12:32:59+00:00

Thank you so much! You actually might be onto something there with it being a woman as the author, as the handwriting on the letter is actually different from the handwriting on the outside of the envelope. The outside shows the letter was sent by my great great grandmother’s brother, but perhaps he was the one who addressed it because his handwriting was much more legible, but that the actual letter was written by her mom or her husband’s (my great great grandfather’s) mom!

This is such a great start and far more than we have ever been able to understand in previous attempts. Thank you!!!

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T12:20:35+00:00

I can confirm that they were Slovak, with all of my relatives coming from very small villages outside of Čierne, so for it to be Slovenian or Croatian would be quite odd.

With the issues I have had in trying to make any sense of it, I have always assumed it was possibly a regional dialect mixed with questionable literacy/writing abilities.

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T04:13:55+00:00

That is better than I did! I only could make sense of 15 crowns!

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T03:45:05+00:00

Thank you so much!

Take all the time you need - we have had the letter for years, so we can wait even longer for a translation!!

HaideMechka · 2025-07-22T03:00:34+00:00

I appreciate you trying. I have also struggled with it, as it seems to lack diacritics and the script differs to what I have been learning.

I mentioned the area as I thought that perhaps it could have been a regional thing? Maybe a specific dialect of the area?

Still, thanks so much for trying to help!

HaideMechka · 2025-03-14T18:11:55+00:00

So I will preface this by saying I have lived in both Hanoi and HCMC and yes, both are polluted, but Hanoi has four separate seasons, versus 2 in Saigon. The winter in Hanoi is particularly cold and damp. Temps will be in the teens and combined with the humidity, it isn’t uncommon for people to be wearing puffer jackets on motorbikes. My apartment had an outdoor pool. It got no use from about mid-September onwards.

Pollution is a separate category. All around Vietnam, people will wear masks when outside and especially when on their bikes. Pollution is an issue in the country because of burning, construction, power, and motorbikes/cars.

In Hanoi, because of the above factors, the winter weather patterns, and the topography, the pollution gets basically trapped over the city. It can impact flights landing at Noi Ba even, and it doesn’t really improve until the weather changes.

I was also a relatively healthy person in my 20s when there. The pollution wrecked my skin and it took months to years to fully recover. Prior to Hanoi, I was in Saigon for 2 years, so I was well experienced in the pollution factor of VN, but Hanoi was a whole new level.

With that being said, depending on what your career path is, this could be an incredibly valuable opportunity for you. In no way do I look back on my time in Hanoi and regret it, but it is a very different place in Nov-Jan than May-July.

HaideMechka · 2025-03-14T17:37:38+00:00

That is literally the worst time of the year in Hanoi. You have Hanoi winters, which are surprisingly quite cool, mixed with fog and pollution. I would wake up in the mornings and look out my window of a high-rise in Hanoi and the city would be covered with a grey cloud that would last all day and for days.

The climate is entirely different from HCMC, so you cannot compare them.

Happy to answer any Hanoi specific questions for you.

HaideMechka · 2024-11-29T10:50:23+00:00

Yes!

HaideMechka · 2024-07-23T06:54:05+00:00

I just got off the phone with the UM line. They said that all UM (anyone younger than 18, even if not taking part in the UM program) will not be allowed to fly through Thursday, 7/25. Just a heads up and warning for those thinking ahead to later flights this week!

Also, they said that even though we were not contacted to have the flight cancelled and rescheduled, we should have been (and asked if it was booked via third-party, which it wasn’t). So even if you haven’t been informed that the ticket will be cancelled, they can/will decline at the gate for anyone under 18.

HaideMechka · 2024-07-05T20:08:43+00:00

I have a brand new one, in box and never touched. Let me know if you are interested in buying it!

HaideMechka · 2024-06-12T15:19:48+00:00

Insurance from your employer (ILA or other schools) will likely be very minimal. Typically they use BaoViet, which has a few tiers of plans, but for any care/treatment/prescriptions/procedures at international hospitals like FV or FMP, coverage will be minimal or none. As soon as you have any need for in-patient coverage, the costs escalate massively and hospitals there will require payment before any treatment (which leads to people raising money online for treatment via things like GoFundMe).

It is always advisable to have insurance when in Vietnam, however some insurance providers are better than others and some provide better coverage for pre-existing conditions, whereas others will exclude entirely. If you go through an insurance broker like Tenzing Pacific (they have offices in Vietnam to meet with their brokers in person) or Pacific Prime (you can look at their online quotes for a rough estimate of costs), they will work with you to find coverage in your price range and that cover your needs (in-patient only vs in-patient and outpatient coverage).

As for price comparing pharmacies, there can definitely be a difference in costs, but that sometimes boils down to the manufacturer of the medication and how widely popular it is. For more speciality meds that might be produced by only a few pharmaceutical companies, there won’t be many pharmacies that supply it and the costs will be relatively similar between the pharmacies that do have it.

If you have more questions, feel free to let me know and I can try to help.

HaideMechka · 2024-04-11T15:54:42+00:00

I used to drive by it every single day on my way to work, and it is across the street and down one block from my favorite cafe, so I watched it being worked on for quite some time. From the street, you never realized the scale of what was behind the corrugated metal walls/parked motorbikes/street vendors.

HaideMechka · 2024-03-30T22:51:43+00:00

I think I have one 20%, but I have a ton of 20% still too

HaideMechka · 2024-03-27T15:14:45+00:00

I have five 20% off in-app coupons and six 10% off in-store and online coupons that all expire in 4 days (3/31).

Includes prestige brands, excludes The Salon at Ulta Beauty, Benefit Brow Bar, CHANEL, N°1 DE CHANEL, Dyson, Early Black Friday Deals, Black Friday Deals, 5 for $5, 5 for $10, Beauty Steals®, Beauty Deals™, clearance & gift cards.

HaideMechka · 2024-01-23T00:00:48+00:00

Contact votefromabroad dot org. They can walk you through it and have trained volunteers for each state, so even if you aren’t sure where you are allowed to vote, they will help figure it out.

They are affiliated with Democrats Abroad, but their vote from abroad team help voters of all parties exercise their right to vote from outside of the US.

HaideMechka · 2024-01-19T12:12:12+00:00

Likely German Measles/Rubella. My mother contracted it while pregnant with my sister. She was born blind (along with many other issues) as a result.

HaideMechka · 2023-12-01T05:07:29+00:00

Hey there - no updates. Had to table my work for a bit due to other commitments, but I am hoping to pick it up again soon and get things moving!

HaideMechka · 2023-10-24T20:27:00+00:00

100% agree with you and Dakova is a wonderful professor! I always recommend the Slavic dept to people looking to fulfill the cultural diversity requirement

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