I was never much interested in knowing my ancestors but others around me have been; ignorant tree creators I call them. "I'm going to see my family in Strassbourg," I announced to a small group of friends. "I heard they serve warm beer in Germany," John answered. "I spent 3 weeks in Europe, Spain, and Italy, and I don't like Germany," Colene said, shaking her head. How to answer this? When Americans travel abroad, they come back and say, "I've been to Europe." It's so very strange. :-)

My name is Krista and these friends inspired me to become a genea-holic. Genealogy: "Where you confuse the dead and irritate the living."

I don't know about the dead, but this obsession of mine is starting to irritate the living: my family. I'm not stopping now, and my progress will be posted on this site.

Where I come from, some territories are acquired and/or lost, some borders change, names change or are altered. Because territories and borders are populated with real people, they end up as human ping-pong balls. A French becomes a German, a Polish becomes a Russian, or a German becomes a Polish. Eeeek! Okay! Enough!

Stay tuned, as I will post the history of our Matriarch...Marie Bartz from Sarreguemines. The image above is a write up about her in a newspaper in 1945.

I will post information about Robert Nicolas who was executed in 1945 by Americans. And I will post in detail about my 2 family members who were prisoners in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and that, dear hearts, is in Germany.

Look in my photo album (below) to see my family and I  in Reichshoffen (near Strassbourg) that's FRANCE you nit-wits! As you can see, we are an interracial familia.

My Family Photo Album
 

My travel stories and other stories I have written:

Yemen: One Tale in a Thousand

Journey to Sudan

Africa's Eritrea Revels in First Tastes of Peace and Freedom

The Mecca of Mocha

Walking in Moses' Footsteps

Recalling Our Days in Yemen

Where Have All the Friendships Gone?

Ethiopia Promises Wild, Primitive Adventure

A Journey Back in Time

Hello, Are You There?

Coming Face to Face with Little Saddam

Coming soon......

The Island of Sukatra

My trip to Morocco, May 2012
             I am in Morocco now. Check out this youtube video to see the process of making Argand oil. Argand oil is a highly valued oil from southern Morocco.
The oil is hand-pressed by women working in a co-operative.  The nuts are crushed with a stone and then cold-pressed in an old way of producing the oil. The women make 2 kinds of oil, one for cosmetics and the other for food.

     http://youtu.be/vDmDKgcduS0

Check out my YouTube videos here:                                                  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcyZ9QoQzCzyQ0YlpXfkfxQ

Visit my blog at http://absolutelykrista.blogspot.com