Back from the wilderness to society

Jakob thought Ceric consisted of only one street, but as it turned out, the village is built like a crossroads, so we couldn't find the house immediately. Our disorientation was noticed by a group of older gentlemen who then approached us in Croatian. Jakob only had to pronounce the name 'Ivic', upon which his Croatian grandma's brother was immediately called. 2 minutes later, he warmly welcomed us and led us to the house on the side street, which was only 10 meters away. There was already a meal in the form of soup waiting for us, cooked by his wife Ana.
Shortly after, Braco (cousin of Jakob's mother) and Patricia brought us homemade sausages, eggs, and cheese. Their son Marko also came to visit us from time to time. Together with Braco, we explored Ceric and the surrounding area on his tractor, where we were allowed to ride in the trailer.
Overall, everyone was very friendly and in the village, it is customary to have a short conversation during the day without having to announce it beforehand. So everyone already knew that we would arrive by bicycle. The doors of the houses are always open and anyone can visit from 7 a.m. onwards. This mentality impressed us and we enjoyed the sociable community, even though as a German, you have to get used to having little privacy and sometimes being thrown out of bed.
With the arrival of Jakob's extended family on his mother's side: Dubravka, Norbert, Johanna, Ida, Lucia, we suddenly went from being two people in our tent to being seven with only one bathroom. But living together surprisingly worked well and it was nice to have the family around.
We were able to visit and be visited by Marko, Patricia, Braco, Nina, Ivanka, Tamara, Ivic, Ana, Marina, Davorka, Damir, Pero, Dario, Dario, Angela, and many came together again at Franka's to celebrate a village festival. See also the family tree in the photos for a better understanding ;).
For communication, Jakob's mother and grandma had to translate or use gestures. Jakob could also understand a little and speak some words.
In addition to a trip to Osijek, Vinkovci, and Vukovar, we also heard impressive stories from Jakob's maternal grandma about the war and her childhood in Ceric. She traveled by bus and joined us towards the end of the week (now we were 8).
Overall, it was an eventful, interesting week with many likable and warm encounters that we will not forget easily.
Now we have traveled overnight by bus to Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina.