Friday 28 January 2011

What is a friendship? I don't know how to find real friend in this great world. Today one my fellow (which I guessed a friend earlier) called me. I know this fellow almost ten years and thought that I really know him, so how I was happy of his calling! Because it's a difficult period in my life, especially from the beginnig of this year, but I shan't tell You details, sorry. So I just wanted to hear "How are you?" from him, but it wasn't interested him. He proposed me to travel in one Ukrainian region and said about tour's price and when it would be necessary to pay him. And nothing else interest wasn't in that calling.
Last week my fellow from university's group also called me and told about her new activity as a tailor and proposed to buy her things. I'm glad that she likes her new job, but it's a pity that after five years our friendship she wasn't interested in our relations, but only in money.
Another girl from my university's group, with whom I had closest friendly relations in the university and which I considered the best, so this girl also missed me and wrote Internet-message that she is a singer now! And she invited me to her concert, saying about ticket's price, of course...
And a few days ago one fellow invited me to his psychological course of destroying any depression! What genius he is, I thought. He knows that I'm a little bit depressed now. Just a real friend! But I mistook, because he didn't ask "How are your deals?" or other similar questions, but said a price of his course. And that's all.
I think it's good when people have a skill to "make money", but I don't like and don't understand when they're going craizy about money. I thought that a nice talking between friends is worth than money. Or these all people weren't friends!? Probably not.
Why is it night now? I would like to play on the piano, to have a nice musical conversation with my old piano-friend, which doesn't need any money for our talking...

p.s. this my blog is about themes more public, political, historical, cultural and touristic, than psychological, but this thread is a few another, sorry.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

This thread I dedicate to my favourite Lviv's paving, a great basalt paving which was in the majority of the streets in Lviv's centre till 2006. Since that year Andriy Sadovyy became a mayor of the city and he is Lviv's mayor till nowadays. In common there was and is a problem of the bad roads in Ukraine and Lviv isn't an exception in it. Yes, Lviv needs good roads in the streets. But the views of the decision of this problems were and are very "interesting" in Lviv's mayor. Instead of new roads' construction in the city he decided to re-construct the roads in the historical part of Lviv and almost all central streets, including centralest street Svoboda Avenue, which were paved with basalt paving earlier.
I must say You that tradition to cover streets with nice paving has yet begun since 1462 in Lviv. So Lviv's historian Denys Zubrytskyy in his "Chronicle of the city of Lviv" ("Хроніка міста Львова") wrote that in that 1462 year was constantly lasting a process of the paving of new streets. Because Lviv was one of the main cities in the Polish kingdom. But the biggest quantity of Lviv's central streets was paved since 1772, when Lviv became a territory of Austro-Hungarian Empire. And almost all roads' paving in the centre was made with black basalt, which is considered as a strong stone and as an expensive building material for roads. That basalt paving was laid out in semicircle's form and looked very amaizing. Till 2006 Lviv's paving of XVIII-XIX centuries was more than in Cracow and in many European cities, probably only Vienna and Prague had and have nowadays more ancient basalt paving than Lviv. It's a very pity, but a few Lviv' streets have such wonderful paving now. One of them is Halytska street, its photo You can see below (basalt paving after Lviv's rain on January 14th, 2011)

And since 2006 reconstruction was becoming in Lviv's central streets and some of them got a new paving from shareless stones or were asphalted. There wasn't a necessity in that reconstruction, because these more tnan 200-year-old basalt pavings were in the perfect state. And the streets got much worse appearance after that reconstruction. Here You can see the road of Rynok Square, historical centre of Lviv!, after such "reconstuction" (photo was taken myself after rain last week)

And after all the main questions are WHY mayor A. Sadovyy did roads' "reconstruction" and WHERE this perfect basalt pavings from many Lviv's streets went.
I can't believe that such "activity" was held in my native town. For what? Can You believe that the street on the next photo is a road before famous architectural monument "Chorna kam'yanytsa" ("Black building") on Rynok Square in Lviv? But that's true, here it is (photo of January 14th, 2011). And before "reconstruction" there was nice paving from basalt, such as You can see on the photo n. 1.


So in such way are good roads built in the world? I don't think so.

Monday 24 January 2011

An explosion of the bomb in the biggest airport of the biggest world's country killed 35 and wounded 152 people. Huge sorrow for the relatives of that people. As Ukrainians say "Вічная пам'ять"(eternal memory) for these people.
That bombing attack shows Russia has not only the biggest territory, but has also very much big problems inside its state. And Ukraine must be aware of such state's neighbourhood and must do all possible to protect itself.

Saturday 22 January 2011

In Ukraine the day of January, 22th is celebrated as Unity Day and the Day of the Union between Ukrainian People's Republic (Ukrainian abbreviation УНР) and Western Ukrainian People's Republic (Ukrainian abbreviation ЗУНР) in one state. Union's Act between two Ukrainian states was declared on January, 22th in 1919 on Sofiyska Square in Kyiv and proclaimed unity of all Ukrainian territories. Though this Ukrainian state lasted very short time, but its existence is an important page in Ukrainian history. United Ukrainian state was finally broken in 1921 when Russia got Eastern Ukraine and Poland got Western Ukrainian territories (Halychyna, Volyn' and Polissya) according to the Document of Riga's Peace, signed between Poland and soviet Russia. In that time Zakarpattya (Transcarpathia) was Hungarian territory and Romania had Bukovyna (Chernivetska region in Ukraine now). So big dream of Ukrainians to have their own state after the breakup of Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1918, that dream was also broken. The reasons were diverse. On the one side Russian Army was bigger than Ukrainian in the military operations in the Eastern Ukraine, on the another side Poland was helped with British and French Army in the war with Ukrainian Sichovi Striltsi in the Western Ukraine and finally Russia and Poland signed "peace".
But it won't be honestly when I shan't tell You about other reasons why Ukrainian territory was divided again in the XXth century. There were much differences in the views of how to rule of the country and what enemy is dangerouser (Russia or Poland) between the chieves of that Ukrainian state. That's why Ukrainian Unity Day is a few symbolic holiday too and today reminds citizens of Ukraine that citizens' unity exactly is that principal base against any enemy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD2utqoaH38

Celebration of Union Day on January 22th, 2011 in Kyiv. There is a tradition to take the arms each other in the streets of all Ukrainian cities and to create people's chain as a symbol of the nation's unity.

Thursday 13 January 2011

January in Lviv




















































































































Monday 10 January 2011

From the end of 2004 till 2010 there were much popular such slogans as "Poland is Ukraine's lawyer in Europe" or "Poland is Ukrainian friend" on the TV and in the majority of the Ukrainian and Polish newspapers. But the reality showed another side, showed that it was only nice slogans. Ukrainians can name Aleksandr Kvasnievski, the former Polish president, the friend of their country, because he was for good relations between two countries in his speeches and activity, except his speeches about Stepan Bandera. But in general that two slogans "about frienship" weren't truth.
It's not a secret that Poles enjoy to travel in Lviv (Ukraine) and till nowadays many Poles consider that it is or will be Polish city! Poles also very like to visit Lviv with Polish guides and without any Ukrainian guide. Even there is special courses of the guides for Lviv in Lyublin, Eastern Polish city! One of the finest story for Poles is the legend of Lviv date's foundation: that Lviv was founded in 1340 by Polish king Kazymyr Velykyy, but indeed Lviv was founded by Danylo Halytskyy, Halytsko-Volynskyy prince (then king), in 1256. Very much guidebooks about Lviv are publishing in Poland now, just "amazing". Even one guidebook of the best Polish sights, published in the 2006-2007 years in Wroclaw, included Lviv in the list! The Polish newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza" from December 29th, 2010 wrote very nostalgic article about Lviv and how much it was Polish city and what was a mistake when after the Second World War Lviv became soviet, not Polish. There aren't the words "territory of modern Ukraine" or just word "Ukrainian" in the article, but the article's title is "One atomic bomb - and we'll come back Lviv"!
I remember a program on the Polish TV-channel "TVP1" in 2007 about Polish demonstration against Poland's visit of the Ukrainians, deported during military operation "Visla" of 1947 from their native lands such as Lemkivshchyna, Kholmshchyna etc., former Ukrainian, present Polish territories. There were 70th-80th years old Ukrainians (in the majority) and much younger Polish people, which screamed slogans that it's their land and wishes to go home for that Ukrainians. And that old Ukrainians didn't want to take any land, but only to see the sights of their childhood. So I can't say about all these Polish activities as about friendly steps in the Polish-Ukrainian relations.
And also in European Parliament resolution of February 25th, 2010 was adopted the proposition, initiated by Polish deputates, to deplore the decision 0f the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko about the title of "National Hero of Ukraine" for Stepan Bandera, a leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) because of his so-called collaboration with Nazi. That was Polish lie, because S. Bandera wasn't for Nazi. Lviv's examlpe: Lviv was occupated by Nazi from June 1941 till July 1944. And on June, 30th the OUN proclaimed the Act of the Ukrainian Independence in Lviv. Nazi's power didn't like such Act and many OUN's members were arrested. Then S. Bandera also was arrested ans was sent into concentration camp in Zassenhaus (Sachsenhausen), East Germany, where he were from July 5th, 1941 till September 27th, 1944. And, yes, S. Bandera is Ukrainian hero, but I suppose that Poles (or their majority) not soon (or probably never) will recognize he as a hero. Because he also fought against Polish occupation of Ukraine.
But it's frequent situation in the world - not very good relations between neighbours: such was and such is. I guess it will be better to consolidate contacts in the political and economical sense with another european and world countries, to not concentrate only on the relations with Russia and Poland as it usually is in the state's power of Ukraine.
And I very hope in the best future in Ukraine.
Unbelievable events are happening in Ukraine: someone unknown blowed up monument to Stalin, soviet dictator, in Zaporizhzhya on December, 31th and today police is arresting members and chieves (15 persons according to "UNIAN") of the patriotic organization "Tryzub" in the different Ukrainian cities. Simple question: why are all that people arresting for the incident in Zaporizhzhya, when they live in the various regions of Ukraine and have just patriotic views in their life? Maybe someone from communists thinks that they all together arrived on the New Year's Eve in Zaporizhzhya to make this explosion? But few days ago the chieves of the organization "Tryzub" have already said about their unknowledge in the question who dynamited Stalin's monument. Some Ukrainian politologists and journalists suppose that this explosion could be organized by the same communists or even by the state's power. Why? "Because" can see nowadays - for arrests' beginning of those citizens, which can be just patriotic. So is cruel dictator Stalin worther for modern power than Ukrainians?...

Sunday 9 January 2011

I finally understood last year the next thing: news' and article's reading quiets me more tnan any shopping. Strange thing for many people, yes, I know it.
But...indeed I very wanted to write one special thread about Christmas and its traditions in Ukraine in this blog. But life did its sad corrections. So I promise You to write it another time.

Saturday 1 January 2011

I wish You very happy New 2011 Year and let dreams come true!