International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th every year. While some take this to be a lighthearted day to celebrate the wonderful women in the world with flowers, others use it to fight for women’s rights. There are also people who are not huge fans. In fact, there are a lot of controversies surrounding…
Tag: History
The Real Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest – The Original Story
The other day I discovered Baba Yaga: Terror of the Dark Forest. I love a modern spin on an old-school legend, and the Baba Yaga is a great one. As a Ukrainian, I was born hearing stories about the real Baba Yaga. She was a magical old lady who lives in the forest in a wooden…
Voodoo Dolls: Everything You Know About Them is Wrong
When most of us think about voodoo dolls, we think poking a doll with a pin hoping that it hurts someone who caused us harm. As a European, I only know what I’ve seen in movies. In Lilo & Stitch, Lilo creates a voodoo doll of her friends out of spoons, puts them in a…
Zitkala-Sa: The Woman Behind Today’s Google Doodle
Zitkala-Sa (Zitkála-Šá) also known under her missionary-given name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and suffragist. Today would have been Zitkala-Sa’s 145th birthday. Among her greatest achievements was getting US citizenship for American Indians through the passing of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Thank you Google Doodle for featuring her!…
New Year’s Resolutions: Why You Should Make Them for 2021
“New Year, New Me” is, no question, a cliche. However, it is a great idea to make New Year’s Resolutions. Humans are different from animals because we need more than a belly full of food, a safe habitat and social interactions to fulfill us. Taking a look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we see the…
Vegan Thanksgiving: Plant-Based Recipes & Tips
Whether you are plant-based or are prepping for friends or family, these vegan Thanksgiving recipes can be a great addition to your feast. Last year I wrote an article on meatless turkey alternatives, but there is more to the meal than just the main course. These plant-based recipes are delicious, nutritious and will please people…
Jan Hus Day: Anniversary of Martyrdom
The name Jan Hus may not ring a bell to too many people who haven’t lived in the Czech Republic. Every year on July 6th, Czechs celebrate the day that he was burned at the stake in 1415. As shocking as it sounds, Czech history is full of macabre stories and holidays. To be fair,…
Sankta Lucia – Christmas in Sweden
St. Lucia’s Day is also known as the Feast of Saint Lucy or Sankta Lucia in Sweden. It is a Christian feast day that commemorates her sainthood. Her feast day also coincides with the shortest day of the year prior to calendar reforms. Scandinavians celebrate it. “In Scandinavia, where Saint Lucy is called Santa Lucia…
Kentucky Christmas: Japanese Tradition since 1974
Japan is not crazy about Christmas. Or at least it didn’t used to be. Westernization is bringing new holidays to all corners of the world. Bizarrely enough, the mention of winter holidays in Japan doesn’t make them think of Santa. It makes them think of Kentucky Christmas. Kentucky Fried Christmas Chicken is popular all over…
The Geography of Rhode Island
Encompassing only 1.212 square miles, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the smallest of the United States of America. Despite its size, it has a rich history, fascinating geography, and a diverse population of plants, animals and people. Rhode Island‘s landscape as we know it today was formed, along with much of New England‘s, by glacial erosion….
PRAGUE BUILDINGS WITH EXCITING HISTORIES (PART 3)
Prague is constantly developing and growing. Some of your favorite buildings have been there for hundreds of years while others have been re-purposed or completely reconstructed. Learn more about the history of this fascinating city! Read the full article on Prague.TV’s website. The best place to discover Prague, like a local! http://prague.tv/en/s72/Directory/c217-Sightseeing-Attractions/n7541-Prague-Buildings-with-Exciting-Histories-Part-3
PRAGUE BUILDINGS WITH EXCITING HISTORIES (PART 2)
Prague is a city layered with history and every building has a thrilling story. The places you visit, the restaurants you eat at and the clubs where you party all have their own secrets just waiting to be uncovered. Read the full article on Prague.TV’s website. The best place to discover Prague, like a local!…
PRAGUE BUILDINGS WITH EXCITING HISTORIES (PART 1)
One of the best things about Prague is the vast history behind every cobblestone, monument and building in the city. Prague’s two occupations, three independence days and constant social development have resulted in some exciting stories. Do you know the backstory of your favorite hang out spots? Read the full article on Prague.TV’s website. The…
November 17th 2014 – Romanians and Czechs Choose Democracy
In London, Madalina stood yesterday in the queue outside the Romanian Embassy for eleven hours and was among the last group of ten voters to be allowed into the Embassy to vote – with thousands left outside who were not able to vote…
100th Anniversary of WWI – DOX Front Line Exhibition
Today many nations are suffering and thousands of people are being killed. The major current conflicts with headlines all over the media include Gaza, Syria, Iraq and Ukraine. While some conflicts remain mostly regional, others like Israel-Palestine and Ukraine-Russia are becoming a threat to global peace. Obsessing over protecting the economy and continuing harmful trade cycles keeps preventing the success of peace talks and finding concrete solutions. Now more than ever we can see that history repeats itself. This is why we need to refer to the past when building a better future. That is the reason that DOX organized this exhibition…
The Politics Behind the Chinese Exhibition in Prague 2014
Looking at the two mighty soldier statues evoked respect and admiration for Chinese culture and history. It is clear why Zeman hopes to gain economic insight and profit from cooperating with China. But adopting some great ideas can lead to also adopting less desirable ones — and if Czech respect for human rights ends up traded for money, then more people will begin looking at both statue and flesh-and-blood soldiers in fear instead of awe…
Photos from Maidan: Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution
Here are some pictures from the very center of Kiev. They show the power and determination of Ukrainian people but they also show the terrible conditions that people lived in, and some still do. They show flowers and candles brought by all those who mourn the dead. They show what happens when people are pushed to the edge and have to fight back. If the conflict in Crimea escalates, there will be barricades, fires, flowers and candles there too.
Kora Smirinova a Russian Ukrainian
Kora Smirinova posted a photo of herself on Facebook on March 12th, and it wasn’t just an ordinary photo. Many girls take selfies and post duck-face pictures showing off their cleavage, but Smirnova did something a little different. She’s a modern woman and definitely no damsel in distress…
Brotherhood – War in Ukraine
Brotherhood was a word that I heard a lot yesterday at Maidan. Everyone there came on their own free will explains Olga Azzyz, a volunteer at a hospital, “we meet and we are like family.” During my first 10 minutes in the square, I heard a woman speaking in Ukrainian on stage and she ended…
Women at Maidan – War in Ukraine
Women have always played important roles in Ukrainian history. Whenever there was a conflict, women took up arms or found other ways to help their country. One of the active groups at Maidan were the Cossacks. They were mostly men but had a female Cossack group as well. Women who wanted to help but couldn’t…
Beagles for Peace: Puppy Protest
Today was a long and emotional day for me at Maidan so my first post about it will be a happy one. One of the first things I saw when I arrived in the square was a group of beagles with yellow-and-blue ribbons on their collars. Their owners were holding signs that read “Beagles for Peace” standing on the steps by the ‘Christmas tree’. Other beagle owners were coming from every direction and the cuteness was attracting a lot of attention from those passing by…
Yanukovich’s House – War in Ukraine
Today I attempted to enter Yanukovych’s house even though it is indefinitely closed by the government. They want to investigate what was found there and make preparations to turn it into more of a museum for those interested. It took an hour to drive there and I spent twenty minutes trying to get let in. Other people also came and argued with the guards – even when we tried together, the answer was still ‘no’… Under the old government, you could do and get almost anywhere even if it was against the law. The most common ways were name-dropping, bribing and threatening.
Hanna Herman – War in Ukraine
“It is clear that the deputies here today don’t want Ukraine to split apart, for half of Ukraine to fall away.” As I listened to the deputies in Verkhovna Rada, Hanna Mykolayivna Herman really stood out to me. She is a member of the Party of Regions and Vice Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee…
February 18th, 2014 Witness – War in Ukraine
This evening I met with Galika Olena Ivanivna. This 62-year-old woman with the energy and spirit of a college student was standing in Mariinsky park on February 18th. That day she saw like-minded people of all ages being shot at and murdered right in front of her. She was helpless and couldn’t stop it. It’s been almost a month since and she had trouble keeping her voice steady as she spoke about what she saw. She hasn’t been back to the park or Maidan since.
Remembering the Kent State Massacre – What is Freedom?
On Monday, May 4th in 1970 some students went out to gather by the bell despite the threat of tanks on their campus and being surrounded by the National Guard. They were asked to leave for their own safety, but they didn’t move until they were attacked with tear gas. They threw tear gas canisters as well as rocks back at the armed men that were advancing towards them. Once there, several of them got down and aimed their guns at those protesters who were the bravest and most vocal. The National Guard ended up the gathering and leaving and the students believed that they had won. They didn’t get a chance to celebrate for long, because out of nowhere a group of the guard looked back at the students, turned themselves around without provocation, and began to fire.
The Black Squirrels of Kent State University
Every time I step outside to walk through the Kent State University campus, I am on the lookout with my camera close by. In 1961 ten cages containing black squirrels from Ontario Park in London were brought to KSU. They were released on the campus and it became their home. The most unexpected thing was that the black squirrels could mate with the local gray squirrels and the black gene dominated which helped the population grow. The students and staff at the university took a liking to the cute black fur-balls right away and started the annual Black Squirrel Festival, the Black Squirrel Run, the Black Squirrel Radio and many more Black Squirrel Somethings.
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