Month: August 2010

(More than) Russia in color

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Some beautiful images from the early 20th century, taken throughout the then-Russian Empire.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/08/russia_in_color_a_century_ago.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1_HP

It’s amusing, though, that the post is called “Russia in color” when only a handful of the images are actually from Russia. Most are from areas that were under the Russian Empire but are not “Russia” – never were and still aren’t.

Sadly, some of my own friends and relatives still think I live in Russia – even though Ukraine was never and is not today “Russia.”  Ukraine celebrated it’s 19th year of indepedence from the Soviet Union yesterday, and it’s been over 90 years since the end of the Russian Empire (and I repeat – Ukraine was not Russia then, and is not now!).

But I digress. The photos are really stunning.

I’m in Armenia this week, so the Armenian photos get extra kudos from me today.

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And this guy, well, I just really like him (he’s Uzbek, by the way)

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Check out the full Prokudin-Gorskii Collection at the US Library of Congress.

Ohio History online portal

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A colleague turned me onto the Scout Report, a publication of Internet Scout, sponsored by University of Wisconsin – Madison Libraries. It’s a heck of a compilation of interesting sites and news on the web. To subscribe to the Scout Report, go to: http://scout.wisc.edu/About/subscribe.php

Some month’s ago, the highlighted they the Virtual Museum of Iraq, and Igor was lost for days giddily wandering the site (ever the historian!). There’s at least one treasure every week, and my only regret is not having more time to pursue all the incredible sites they deliver to my mailbox.

This week’s newsletter highlights the Ohio History Online Portal. I can’t resist re-posting the Scout Report’s synopsis of the site. Check out Ohio! http://www.ohiohistory.org/

The Ohio History website has grown by leaps and bounds since the Scout
Report last reviewed it in 1999. The site is maintained by the Ohio
Historical Society, and it serves as “an entry-point for all things related
to Ohio history.” Here visitors can perform detailed cross-institutional
archive searches from over 300 member institutions, look up news items about
Ohio history, and peruse their calendar of events. Educators will find that
the “Resources” section is a good place to start. This section includes
information and lesson plans for Ohio history teachers, information about
Ohio history day, and a set of recent keyword searches, such as “Neil
Armstrong” and “Appalachia”. Further along, the “Research” area is a great
way to learn about the tremendous archives held by different institutions in
the state, and scholars will like the fine details offered here. Finally,
the “Places” section offers a cornucopia of sites in the state dedicated to
preserving local history, such as the Youngstown Center for Industry and
Labor.

Donate to help in Pakistan

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People in Pakistan need your help. As I’ve blogged about before, giving money to established NGOs is the best way you can help in emergency and humanitarian situations. The UN is calling for donations, and I would send them money if I could figure out how to. The UN Mission in Pakistan’s webpage is full of press releases calling for donations, and lots of photos of their staff in action, but not a single “Donate Now” link. Brilliant.

I’d rather donate to a local organization anyway, one that has been working in Pakistan for years, has programs and distribution systems already established, will get help quickly to the people who need it, and will spend my donation effectively. How can you find an established, trustworthy local organization, you may be wondering? Ask a Peace Corps Volunteer, a United Nations Volunteer, family members and friends and colleagues who have lived or traveled in the area. I asked my colleague who’s been living in Lahore for several decades who she recommends, and I am sending money to Education, Health and Development (EHD) Foundation.  I encourage you to do the same. Your bank or credit union can do an electronic bank transfer with all the information provided below. You may have to pay an international wire transfer fee, but you can be assured your donation will help people immediately.

Education, Health and Development (EHD) Foundation
1. A team of experienced and competent doctors provides free medical treatment and medicines for a single Free Medical Camp at PKR 20,000 (about $ 235).
2. The cost of providing one family with a basic 38 kg ration, crockery and bedding pack is PKR 5550 (about $65). This usually lasts at least a week, depending on family-size and members’ ages.
EHD Foundation
Bank Account # 01-200-3482-9,
Beneficiary Bank: Allied Bank Ltd.,
G-9 Markaz Branch,
Al-Rehman Plaza,
Islamabad.
Branch Code: 0681
Swift Code: ABPAPKKA

Address:  EHD Foundation
                  F-3 Al-Falah Plaza,
                  G-9 Markaz,
                  Islamabad 44000,
                  Pakistan.
Phone/Fax:  92-51-2281708
Email: ehd@isb.paknet.com.pk

Petya and Marina at Kent State

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Long-time readers of my blogging surely will remember my best friend from my Peace Days in Moldova, Petya Popov. We met one fateful day in December 2005, when I sat in his seat on the bus. I knew right away he was a different – instead of snapping at me for not knowing the bus “rules”, he started a conversation with me that has been going on for five and a half years now. He was sixteen years old then, in his second-to-last year of school. Now he’s a university graduate, having completed his bachelor’s degree in physics at Ivanovo State University in Russia. And he’s a married man, having wed his college sweetheart while in Hilliard, Ohio, during their first Summer Work & Travel program.

And he’s a graduate student at Kent State University in the Liquid Crystals Institute. And he’s blogging about it. Check it out.

Back in Kyiv

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We had a great week traversing around western Ukraine. Finally, a chance to use our Toyota 4-Runner in the conditions it was meant for! Dirt roads, steep mountains, and lots and lots of potholes. Just over 2000 km (1200+ miles) covered in 7 days.

We went first to Kamianets-Podilsky, one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine. (I’ve been to six so far, still haven’t made it to Khortytsia.)  We stayed at the Hetman Hotel, a fabulous place that I highly recommend to anyone visiting K-P. It’s right in the middle of the historical center of K-P and a hop, skip and a jump from the castle.

Photos are slowly uploading to Flickr now. I’ll post more later.

(PS: if you’re reading this on Facebook, it’s better to go to my blog and read there, as it looks like the embedded links and photos don’t show up on FB, http://anka.posterous.com/)

Miscellany

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It’s really, really hot. I’m not complaining, definitely not complaining after the awful, awful, awful winter we had this past year. But it’s really, really hot.

It was 30C (86F) IN the Azor Sea on Friday. IN THE SEA WATER. The fish are literally being cooked, and there was a report of a dolphin jumping out of the Black Sea and onto the beach in Crimea in an attempt to save itself from the scorching water. 

We’d been planning to go visit a friend in the Carpathian mountains this month, and were super happy when she said it would be better to visit her sooner rather than later. Let’s hope the temperatures are more comfortable at higher altitudes!

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One day this week, we saw a passanger in a car spray some kind of smoke into the driver’s window of a van stopped next to it at a traffic light. We didn’t close our own windows fast enough, and we soon discovered it was tear gas. What the hell was that about? The car sped off, and the van drove a few meters and then pulled over. As we drove past (windows tightly closed), I saw the driver getting out. I hope he was OK.

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Igor was called in to some inspection office in Korosten to review the documents for the NGO he is president of. He and the executive director were grilled by a low-level bureaucrat who had reviewed the NGO’s by-laws, election protocol and meeting minutes from the past 5 years in scrupulous detail. She noted several “discrepancies” and “mistakes”, which were mainly just grammatical errors and typos, and said the NGO’s registration was invalid and they would need to reapply for registration. Igor pointed out that her office had approved all the documents, grammatical errors, typos and all, so he didn’t really see why they needed to re-register.

Of course, our suspicion is that this just part of the developing crack-down on civil society in Ukraine, under the Yanukovych administration. Ukrainian and international NGOs are being harassed, and their leaders even detained. I was scared when Igor was called in for this meeting, but thankfully he walked away – this time.

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Apartment renovations continue. We thought the demolition phase was done, and all the rubble was trucked away on Friday. But after meeting with the designer again this weekend, she/we decided a wall should be moved. So, a bit more demolition and then the actual renovation can begin. The design is looking pretty awesome! Once we have the final blueprints, which will hopefully be after she incorporates the changes we made this weekend, we’ll scan and post here.

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Did I mention it’s hot? There’s not much to do but lay still and let the fan blow the sweat off your body. Time to turn off the computer, which is only generating more heat, and hit the hay. Tomorrow we take off for a week-long car trip, and we want to start early (before it gets too hot).

An international student is coming to Lima, Ohio!

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Exchange student to join the Glee Club in the 2nd season

Fox announced today that Chord Overstreet (iCarly) will join Glee as Sam, Finn’s protégé who quickly becomes the New Directions singer’s competition. Overstreet’s role will be recurring. Other newcomers for season two include Charice, playing an exchange student who joins the glee club, and John Stamos, playing a love interest for Emma (Jayma Mays).