Format: Download Audio - MP3 Audio File $9

Presenter: Alexander Dunai

Are you considering a "roots trip" back to your ancestral shtetl or have you already been back to the old country but want to return to document a cemetery or research in the archives and need expert advice? This talk will cover planning a trip from A to Z including arrangements before travel, interviewing relatives, collecting documents and photos, and contacting officials, institutions and Jewish communities in the "old country." How to handle language issues and cultural misunderstandings? How to get to your final destination in the most efficient way: by air, train, bus or car? How to deal with Illusions, expectations and local reality? What about hiring a guide/ and/or interpreter? Eastern and Western Ukraine, what's the difference? How to anticipate local mentalities, language issues and dialects-important details? What to take with you and where to stay? Pleasant and unpleasant surprises. Skill of interviewing local people, plus useful tips and common mistakes.