Four high school students from Croatia arrived July 2 in Watsonville from the Student Ambassador Exchange Program of the Slavic American Cultural Organization (SACO).
They are part of Watsonville’s Sister City program they share with Cavtat, Croatia.
Using Watsonville as their home base, their visit includes journeys to Yosemite, The Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Francisco, Driscoll’s, S. Martinelli & Co., the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and elsewhere through July 18.
“This is my first time to come to America,” said Nika Miloglav, 19, of the city, Gruda. ”There are so many nice things, and everything is so big, compared to Croatia. I was so excited; we went to the Boardwalk and we went on the Giant Dipper roller coaster. It was extremely scary—it throws you around and it was a little bit painful.”
Miloglav said she would “definitely come back to this country; there is so much to see. I just finished high school so I’m going off to college to study engineering.”
On Tuesday the students, headed up by chaperone Katrina Becir, got a behind-the-scene tour of the warehouse and packing facility of Sambrailo Packaging on Walker Street. Their guide, Mark Sambrailo, welcomed the group, which included one of his relatives. He said he was happy to introduce the group to the company that has been in the area for 102 years.
SACO was founded 1979, to promote and conserve the culture of the former Yugoslavian states. Through various events during the years, scholarships given to local high school students, they aim “to bring family, friends, strangers and community members together.”
“It’s a cultural experience we want kids from here to be able to share when they visit Croatia and other Slavic countries,” said Linda Pavlovich, former SACP president. “It’s about getting to know their legacy and their grandparents. This helps these kids gain camaraderie. Some of them may never get this opportunity to come to the United States. This builds depth to their cultural identity.”
This is the second group of students thus far to visit the U.S. in the program while Watsonville has sent three groups to Slavic countries.
