Paved with Gold

Coastlines

János slept for maybe 1 or 2 hours by the time dawn broke. Exhaustion had finally taken over his anxiety in the early morning hours and for that he was thankful. The steerage floor was already bustling with activity. Mothers were getting their children dressed and ready and packing their bags. János only had his one small bag that contained his ticket and a light jacket. He had been in the same clothes, his only clothes, since he left his small village in Hungary.

János sat on his cot with his tattered bag in his lap and watched as people got ready. He wasn't mentally prepared to walk onto a new land. He prayed silently for a smooth transition process. He had no idea what to expect or where to go. He couldn't speak any English other than the words "New York City" and "Ohio." He hoped there was some sort of translator to give him directions, or fellow Hungarians trying to get to Ohio.
Nagyapa had been told by the ticket salesman that many Hungarians go to Painesville, Ohio, so hopefully he would meet people to ride with.

János also worried about what he would do once he reached Painesville. He quite literally had no money. He assumed he would find a job as soon as possible and be homeless for a while.

A loud thud on the window next to János' cot lifted him from his trance. He jumped back in fright. A thick brown rope had slapped the window and was swaying.
Soon after a man crawled up the rope and past the window, presumably to the upper deck. Then another man, and another, and another.

Passengers started to panic at the sight and one of the head waitresses began explaining things in German, although János couldn't understand what she was saying. After the men passed, he peaked out of the window trying to see around the rope. A small coastline appeared with one large brick building. János assumed this island is where the men came from. In the near distance, however, was an even larger coastline.

Enormous buildings towered over what seemed like thousands of smaller ones. Ships were pulling up to the harbor as others were pulling out, and the sun sparkled off the deep blue water.

János tried to swallow the lump that had appeared in his throat. He hadn't even realized his hands had started to shake. Looking out at an unknown land that he would know call home was the scariest experience he had thus far. The city looked like a never ending maze. János couldn't see people, but he could see a lot of movement. He felt sweaty despite the frigid morning temperatures and had to look away from the window.

One of the waitresses hustled over to him and handed him a small slip of paper.

JÁNOS FODOR
24 JUNE 1886
MÁKO, HUNGARY

János read his date of birth and hometown as Sandor tapped him on the shoulder feverishly.
János turned around to face him.

"These are our identification tags," Sandor said out of breath. "To make the process in Ellis Island faster."

"Is that was this is?" János asked him, pointing out the window to the large brick building.
"I suppose," he replied, "but we have to wait for first and second class to go first. The men that climbed the boat are doing their authentication on the boat."
János just nodded as Sandor kept explaining.

"Then we will get on little boats that will take us to Ellis Island and we will go through the interview process."

János' eyes widened.

"Interview process?" János gasped.

"Don't worry, they have translators." Sandor reassured him. "They just need to know where you're coming from, where you're going, and how much money you have."

János listened in silence.

"How much money do you have?" Sandor asked bluntly.
"Not much at all. Once I buy a train ticket I won't have any."

"I don't have any. That's why I'm not taking a train. I guess I'll just stay in the city." Sandor said confidently. János wished he could be that confident about this situation.
"They don't want people coming into their county homeless and with no money. If they ask you who you're going to live with, make up a name and relation." Sandor advised János who was twiddling his thumbs.

János gave him a weary look.

"What?" Sandor asked. "They don't need to know if the person is real or not. I'll probably say I have an uncle in the city."

They both sat on the edge of the cot by the window and listened to the hustle and bustle of the upper decks as they were interviewed and shipped off to Ellis Island. They watched the little boats of families dressed to the nines with all of their luggage leave one by one.
The boats would pull up to the island and hefty men were there to pull the women and children up with their luggage.
They were only in the building for a few minutes, as János could see them come out the other end and get on another boat to take them into the New York Harbor. He guessed when they had enough money for first class, they didn't need to be interrogated by the US government like the steerage class does.
He didn't entirely blame the US government for this. Looking around, many people in steerage could pass as criminals, and everyone was filthy.

After what seemed like hours, the men who climbed the boat made it into steerage. They started lining families up first and singles at the end. János ended up directly in front of Sandor. They started walking up the stairs towards the entrance to the ship. Once out the door, they could see little boats lined up.
"Are you ready?" Sandor asked excitedly.
János swallowed hard, feeling like he could be sick at any time.
"As I'll ever be."