Adrijana Gabriš

Adrijana Gabriš (b. Stambulić) spent her childhood and youth in her native village of Žejân. She's a true „Žejanka“ (Žejaner), on both her parents' side, and spoke her first words in the Žejanski language. She completed the first four years of elementary school in Žejân, and continued her elementary school education in Matulji. She was only fourteen years old when she started dancing with the Žejanan folklore group, and had represented Žejân with this group all around Croatia. Although she later moved to Kastav, and in spite of being away from her native village due to schooling and family obligations, she has continued to be firmly connected to Žejân in her thoughts and heart, and has returned to it regularly. Once she realized that her mother tongue is slowly dying out, this has become even more true. It provided her with a very strong motive to keep returning to her native village, her people, and her language.