Russia - yesterday, today and tomorrow

FEMEN

2011-05-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

For the Portuguese speakers only: Exclusive interview with FEMEN on my website: http://www.tudosobrearussia.com.br

Rent a kitty just for a few hours

2011-05-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

In Russia, some superstitious people (almost everyone) believe that when you are buying or renting a new place to live, the first who should enter the "sacred walls" is the cat (the most popular pet in Russia, as you know).

Lately, one agency from Novosibirsk (a city in Siberia) decided to earn money with Russian traditions and created a service which allows you to rent a cat just for a couple of hours. Basically, just for the ritual for cat to enter the new house.

Acording to the tradition the presence of the fluffy animal brings good energy to your new place, so now you don't have to actually own one to "babtise" your corner, but simply - rent one!

Meow!

Ukrainians vs Russians

2011-04-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

When I was living in Ukraine it was really obvious that Ukrainians never liked Russians. It was always this quiet hatred towards their mentality, their habbits, their lifestyle. How strange is this? We all have same Slavic origin and we are all coming from the same nonexistent anymore union, how can we be so different, up to the point of hating each other?

Yuriy Lutsenko - former interior Minister of Ukraine, who was on the side of Yulia Tymoshenko's government explains what kind of differences he sees between Russians and Ukrainians.

According to him, for the Russian people the main thing in life is state, their own country. A typical Russian person is described by him this way: "A roof leaks in the house, the cow is not milked, the goat died, the children are hungry, but the Russian citizen stands on his knees in front of an icon of Jesus Christ and prays to Moscow and to the Tsar and to the State, because for him those are only things that are able to protect him.

At the same time, for the Ukrainians, in his opinion, the main value - is their own freedom. "Ukraine is the a country of fugitive slaves. They were always running from the tsar and a king and a prince and a wife and any type of chaos in general. In Ukraine, if the family works well independently of the state, it will survive without any interference,"- shared his thoughts Lutsenko.

Mikhail Zurabov, a Russian ambassador once in his interview stated that Ukrainians and Russian in fact, are the same. This has outraged the Ukrainian nationalists, who declared the Russian diplomat as persona non grata.

Sashlyk or Russian meat skewers

2011-04-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

Shashlyk it's a type of meat skewers that are really popular in Russia and other Eastern European countries.

This dish originally is coming from Central Asia and Caucasus. The Russians are normally preparing Shashlyki in the open air, duruing the hot seasons. There is a tradition, for example, to get together to eat meat skewers on the 1st of May (Mayovka), the celebration of the International Workers' Day, or Labour Day. Normally the first warm days are coming with the month of May and it gives an opportunity for the russian people meet some friends and celebrate this event.

I prepared a recipy for you guys of the shashlyk that my father used to do, it's really delicious! But there is one thing you have to remember, the best meat for the skewers is lamb, no doubt, but there are many people that are using pork as a alternative of a soft and juicy meat (my father prefers pork). I have never seen people preparing any beef shashlyk, at all.

So, here it goes:

Pork skewers with vodka

Take the 5 kg of pork and cut into large chunks, cut the 5 kg of onions too, as rings, put spices: salt, pepper, garlic. Poor 300 grams of vodka on the top, close the meet with some lead or simply another plate and put away in a cool place for 24 hours. After it has been marinated fry it on the grill and enjoy your meal, it will come out delicious, trust me!

You can also add some seasoning to the fried meat:

Seasoning with garlic & vinegar

To prepare the condiments you'll need: a couple of teeth of garlic, 1 onion, one-third cup of the white vinegar, some herbs like dill, basil, parsley, coriander, cilantro or tarragon and a third cup of boiled water. Crush garlic and mix with salt. Add the ground spices. Dilute vinegar with water and add it to your garlic weight, then mash everything thoroughly.

For the Portuguese speakers

2011-04-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

Guys, for those of you, who speaks Portuguese, my new website: Tudo Sobre a Rússia

Chernobyl - 25 years

2011-04-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

Chernobyl as a challenge to Europe

Today is 26/04, the 25th anniversary of the reactor accident at Chernobyl. Since then, the "Chernobyl" means a huge environmental disaster whose devastating consequences caused deep shock for half of the planet. Atmospheric emission of radioactive substances at the time of the explosion and the post-impact accident resulted the contamination of many European countries.

The territory of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, within the area of 150 km2 has got into a danger zone. As a result of long-term decay of radioactive substances, amount of disease in infected areas didn't not reduce, but rather increased. Which still causes cancers, infant mortality, and genetic defects in many Eastern European countries. The Chernobyl disaster - is a large-scale threat to both social health and the economic development.

Video: 25 years of the Chernobyl, didn't make the problems disappear

Why FEMEN is protesting topless?

2011-04-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

The FEMEN girls are back breaking the traditional feminism. The members of the group affirm that an ordinary feminists' protest is for women that want to be equal to men. In their they want to be placed as women. Therefore, showing how sexy they are. Currently FEMEN has 300 members - 30 of them are topless "warriors" of the group. The average age is 22 years old, but there is also one 63 years old lady.

In the interview for a Brazilian news website G1, FEMEN group is sharing their secrets. Why actually protesting topless?

Isn't it on the contrary: to show the body, attracting million of eyes, humiliates the woman instead of appreciating her?

Inna Shevchenko, 20 year old leader of the movement and a journalism student says that before girls used to organize protests dressed uo normally, but it had no effect, so they decided to make it really extreem. "When a woman takes off her clothes, it's because something very serious happened and people want to know what is it," explains the leader.

Her mother cries every time she sees her daughter in the press, being arrested, as it happens quite often. "My mother grew up during the communism, for her even the ordinary protest is already a serious one, she would never understand women protesting and naked women protesting is something totally crazy for her" adds Inna.

According to the Ukrainian law it is prohibited to show genitals in public. "But it is not about genitals," argues a young activist. "Men may walk with no shirt on the street and women are sunbathing topless during the summer, so why cannot we protest this way?" - questions.

Source of the article and the photo: G1

On the photo, FEMEN is protesting on the 19/04 against the use of nuclear power due to the 25 years of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

2011 got an Orthodox and a Catholic Easter together

2011-04-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, first of all, I would like to warn you, that there is no Chocolate on the Orthodox Easter and the eggs are brought by the hen and not by the rabbit!

The main Orthodox Easter tradition are the three kisses on the cheek saying: "The Christ is risen." The response from the other person would be: "Truly risen!" People in this day give to family and friends painted eggs (they are real boiled chicken eggs that are painted with vegetable dyes) and also bring the rest of the eggs to the cemetery for the dead relatives, it's a tradition, showing respect and remembrance for those who are no longer present. On the Easter table, after a religious fasting for seven weeks, will appear: cakes, like panettone, with nuts and raisins (the other symbol of Easter) cheese, meat, painted eggs. It is believed that the Christian festival of Easter has a duration of seven-eight days, the celebration continues until Monday, which is the holy day of St. Foma (St.Thomas).

The egg is the main symbol of Easter and rebirth, because it means the life of a new creature. The red-painted egg are called "Krashenki," the egg painted in various colors and decorated with flowers and traditional ornaments, called "Pisanka", wooden eggs are mentioned by Russians, as "Yaychata". The red-painted egg (usually painted with brown onion peel) brings the idea of rebirth and symbolizes the blood of the Christ. There's even a ritual: you hyave to wash your face with water where the egg were dipped in order to be painted, it will definitely bring you health and beauty. The Orthodox Easter Mass continues all night long and if you are able to be awake that whole night before Easter, you will have a protection against diseases, a happy marriage and a long life full of happiness.

Hristos voskres!

Medvedev is a new American boy

2011-04-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

After a serious Putin that doesn't even smile for the press pictures, we have a President Medvede dancing "American Boy".

Difficult to say what do I prefer more...serious preseident or the one that allows himself to have a little fun with friends...

Some peculiar Russian dog breeds

2011-04-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

1. The Borzoi Hunting Sighthound is definitely the most aristocratic Russian dog. Having a rising reputation of a glamour pet, this Russian wolfhound often accompanies celebrities and takes part in luxuries commercials. Translated from Russian, the Russkaya Psovaya Borzaya means a swift dog. For several centuries the Borzois were bred by Russian nobility to hunt wolves. A pair or trio of Russian wolfhounds would strike a sighted wolf, force it down and hold until the hunters arrive. After the Bolshevik revolution this Russian dog, being one of the symbols of the “tsarist past”, was ousted for quite a long time from communist life.

2.The Black Russian Terrier, commonly known as Russian terrier or just Blackie is quickly gaining in popularity in Europe and North America. Another name for this black Russian dog is Russian Pearl, given to it in the West not only for its appearance but for its rare working abilities. This breed unites the energy and mobility of Schnauzer, cleverness and upbeat nature of Airedale, strength and courage of Rottweiler, and firmness of Newfoundland. The Russian terrier is extremely efficient and reliable, and makes an excellent watch and guard dog.

3.There’s no other Russian Dog that can smile like the Samoyed with its always upturned mouth corners. It is an old dog breed, which took its name from a Siberian tribe of fishermen and hunters "Samoeyedy". It's covered in a long fluffy and weather-resistant double coat, with black eyes, lips and nose. His heavy, weather resistant coat is suitable for very cold climates and should be pure white, white and biscuit, cream or biscuit. It also common to find other breed nicknames for the Samoyed: Bjelkier, Nenetskaya Laika, Sam, Smiley, Smiling Sammy, Sammy. For me, it's the cutest Russian breed!

4.The Caucasian dog is the most brutal Russian dog breed. It is a large, even-tempered dog with powerful and muscular body and a bear-look face. It has a thick and water resistant double coat in shades of gray, brindle, yellow, rust, red or white. The coat may be longer or shorter depending on the region the dog comes from. The Caucasian dog is one of the oldest mastiff-type breeds, originating from the Caucasus Mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It was used for centuries to guard flocks, kill wolves, hunt bears and protect properties against trespassers and thieves. During the communist era this dog guarded prisoners of the Soviet Gulag camps and served as a border patrol dog along the Berlin wall.

The Caucasian dog only 38 days old:

5.A miniature terrier known as Russian Toy is the smallest Russian dog and one of the tiniest dogs in the world.

There are two varieties of this breed: Russian Longhaired Toy Terrier and shorthaired Russian Toy Terrier. Their hair may be black and tan, red, brown and tan, blue and tan or pale-yellow. It is not allergenic and doesn’t have any odor.

Its long-haired variety became especially popular in Russia because the Russian Longhaired Toy Terrier was suited for walks in cold weather.

Despite its pocket size this Russian dog is typically known as a healthy and very easy to train breed.

Russian Longhaired Toy Terrier:

and shorthaired Russian Toy Terrier:

Shiny happy old Russian people are hitting all the records!

2011-03-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

A photographer Vladimir Yakovlev together with the SNOB project is showing us the Russian secrets of longevity

Andrey Chirkov, a marathon runner, 71 y.o.

Igor Goldman, athlet heavy weightlifter, scientist, 77 y.o.

Yegor Mishustin, an athlete weightlifter , 81 y.o.

Aleksandr Rozental', actor and a mountain-skier, 95 y.o

source: snob.ru

International Women's day

2011-03-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

This beautiful day of the spring started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe and Russia. As the time goes past in many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women and the children express their love for their moms. So in a way it's somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St.Valentine's Day.
On the eve of March 8th, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has congratulated the female journalists' team and all the women of Russia with the upcoming holiday, describing them as very different, but always beautiful.

"Woman gives us a life. We should all be grateful to the woman for what she gives us. But it’s certainly not everything what a woman does. We look first to the mother, the grandmother, then, when we grow up, we have a girlfriend, wife and then a daughter or a daughter in law. Women are always accompanying us throughout our life, everywhere. And of course, we men, really want for the women to be a beautiful decoration of it,” – said Putin.

On this day men are giving small presents for their mothers and girlfriends/wives, like firts spring flowers "podsnezhniki" (the snowdrops), "mimoza" (the mimosa) or "tyul'pany" (the tulips).
Children give to their mothers, grandmothers, nannies and teachers handmade postcards that they fill with lots of love and of course spring.
It's a very important day for every woman in Russia or Eastern Europe. Every woman does feel REALLY important on this day! You cannot really forget about 8th of march and do not give to your loved one a small gift, showing attention and care.
Some single women go crazy on this day!:) There are lot's of theme parties, where women are allowed to do everything! Because like the famous poem says:

Тебе поет сегодня лира,
Сегодня для тебя цветы,
Сегодня ТЫ царица мира!
И королева красоты!

Translating: Let the lyre sing for you today! And all flowers are just for you today! Because today YOU are the tsarina of the world and the queen of beauty!

P.S. Unfortunatelly the such an important date on the calendar does not liberate the woman from cooking a lot for the whole family and friends that will come to celebrate this day with her. And afterwards there are also dishes that noone will wash, but you. So from the tsarine of the world and a queen of the beauty you'll turn the tsarine of the kitchen and the queen of the dishes. And that what you call a Russian Woman fate, to serve the motherland, to serve the society, to be a mother and a wife and a cook and a lover and the most perfect woman you imagine she could ever be. We are like this! Happy Women's day!

photo source: HuffingtonPost

Birthay habbits in Russia

2011-03-04T07:57:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday!! And I wanna share with you how people celebrate their birthdays in Russia!!

It's not really different from the other countries, but...

1) Everyone gives you presents! At school, at work...even if it would be just a card or a chocolate bar. Presents is something cultural there.

2) If you are inviting people for your birthday you pay everything! So make sure that you really have money for this! Because you would have to pay the restaurant, the food, the drinks, the entrance if you are going to a nightclub for EVERYONE who you invited. So be aware, there is no way back! To celebrate your birthday in Russia in a circle of close friends is expensive.

3) If you are invited to a birthday you can never appear there with the empty hands! Obviously, the birthday girl/boy would be spending a fortune on you, so respect her/him please - buy an expensive present to compensate the financial loss due to the party.

4) What to do people give as presents? Normally perfumes, expensive lighters i.e. Zippo, leather wallets with some money inside, money itself (not less than 100 dollars), books' collections, make up or cosmetics of a good brand, but only if you know the person quite well. Jewelery is another good option. Gold, Silver or even some pieces from the Swarovski collection would be accepted with the great pleasure. Expensive drinks like champagne Don Perignon or Veuve Clicquot, vodca Grey Goose, The Macallan Fine & Rare 40-years old whiskey, cigars Romeo y Julieta and other luxury goods would be always welcomed!

5) Remember that the birthday celebration in Russia is something really huge and important with lots of fun and dancing and entertainment! Some birthday parties can even go on for three days! So if you are invited for one prepare yourself for partying "til you see the sunlight"! Yes, it might be a bit expensive for you, but trust me it's a worthy investment! Happy birthday!

Russian nightclubs are the craziest ones!

2011-03-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Renato Krauzs, the senior editor of the VIP magazine in Brazil went to Moscow in January and almost stayed there forever...

Visiting the best nightclubs and bars Rai, Rolling Stone and Soho rooms he took also the best pictures!

"When outside was -20, inside was pretty hot!", tells Renato in his article "Russian nightclub" ("Balada Russa"):http://vip.abril.com.br/boa-vida/festas/balada-russa/ and images:http://vip.abril.com.br/fotos/boa-vida/festas/baladas-russas-em-imagens/

Material and photos: Renato Krausz, VIP

Everything is big in Russia

2011-03-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

A huge penis of 65 meters was painted on the drawbridge in Saint Petersburg!

A group of artists who painted a large phallic object on a bridge in Russia was disqualified from winning a major prize this week.

The piece was a symbol of protest by the Russian art group called Voina (War) which was against a meeting of international leaders.

“A Penis in KGB Captivity,” masterpiece was also entered into a Russian State Center of Contemporary Arts competition and initially eligible for the organization’s innovation award.

That was before St. Petersburg leaders ordered the painting be washed away by firefighters.

Because it was visible to thousands when the bridged opened, officials deemed the painting inappropriate for passersby.

A Voina spokesman said banning the group from the contest besmirched the name of the arts community and organizers of the competition.

Source: metro.co.uk

Russian pancakes recipes

2011-02-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

Maslenitsa is here already, so let's prepare at home some traditional Russian pancakes!

How I do them!

Ingredients

2 eggs
pinch of salt
110 gr. of flour
200 ml of milk
75 ml. of water
2 table spoons of butter

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and the salt. Sift the flour into the bowl, and stir in along with the milk and the water. Add the butter too. Mix until smooth and well blended. The batter should be thin.
Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Lightly butter the pan. Remember the Russian pancakes you only fry on butter! It's a butter week, no?. Tilt the pan to spread the batter out evenly. Then you can start pooring the "dough". Wait until the edges of your "blin" are crisp looking and the center appears dry, slide a spatula carefully under the crepe. Flip, and cook for about few seconds on the other side, or until lightly browned.
Remove your "blini" to a plate. Put a little butter on top, (butter never spoils the taste) and continue to stack the pancakes on top of each other. To serve, spread with desired filling, then fold in half, and in half again to form a triangle or you can just roll them actually, creating a small tube.

Possible fillings:

Could be anything, really...cheese and ham (People who are doing the Easter Fasting during the Butter week cannot eat meat), fried mushrooms and onions, smoked salmon (my favorite one), the sweet alternative could be lemon juice with a bit of sugar or honey....mmmm!! I like all of them!!

Butter Week, Pancake week, or Cheesefare Week!

2011-02-28T02:47:00.000-08:00

Масленица (Maslenitsa)

(28/02 - 6/03 - 2011)

Cheese, or a carnival week is a preparatory week of the Fasting in the Christian society. It is dedicated to one purpose - reconciliation with others, forgiveness of injuries and the preparation for repentance towards the God. Butter week is a colloquial name of the last week before Fasting. During this time is prohibited to eat meat, but you can eat fish and dairy products. During this week you are free from the one day fasting, that you normally do every week on Wednesday and Friday.

In Russia, Maslenitsa was always a joyous celebration. In Ukraine for example was nothing like this, people have different traditions and well, we have to respect them. But even without any type of the celebration when I hear the word "maslenitsa" I already smell the pancakes, imagine a river of a melted butter, feel the taste of the salty smoked salmon wrapped in the warm crepes.

It is widely believed that the russian "carnival" week is a celebration rather pagan, and not Orthodox, but It's not quite true.

This preparatory week before the Fasting is like I have already mentioned dedicated to one purpose - reconciliation with others, so it is the time when you need to devote good communication with the neighbors, relatives and friends.

The Church of course calls to remember that at no time people should have fun, which leads to conscience loss.

The prayer during the Fasting period, unfortunately cannot be translated:

"Господи и Владыко живота моего, дух праздности, уныния, любоначалия и празднословия не даждь ми! Дух же целомудрия, смиренномудрия, терпения и любве даруй ми, рабу твоему. Ей, Господи Царю, дай ми зрети моя прегрешения и не осуждати брата моего, яко благословен еси вовеки веков. Аминь".

Source: GotovimDoma

Photo source: TheVoiceofRussia

Putin supports the leopard for the Olympics

2011-02-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

According to the voting results, the official mascots of the Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi would be: Leopard, Polar Bear and the Hare. Leopard received 28% of the vote (!!), the White Bear - 18% and the Hare - 16%. Mascots of the Paralympic Games in Sochi would be Fiery boy and Snowflake.

Famous athletes and Paralympians Alexander Alyabyev, Vladimir Kiselev, Margarita Koptilova, Ksenia Ovsyannikova and Igor Pustovit affirmed "Our chosen characters are fantastic creatures that resemble humans, have adapted among the humans, so people would perceive them as equals. They are fantastic characters, but apart from this, they have unlimited possibilities, like we do."

The remaining symbols, that won less points at the voting were: the fourth place - Dolphin (12%), the fifth place - Bullfinch (10%), the sixth place - the Sun (8%), the seventh place - Matryoshkas (the Russian Dolls) (5%), the eighth place - Brown Bear (3%).

President of the Organizing Committee of Sochi 2014, Dmitry Chernyshenko gave his final decision on the choice of the three mascots: "People say - God loves a trinity." Therefore, he decided to leave the three winners of the "race". Each of them would be confirmed as the 3 Olympic principles - friendship,respect and motivation to be the best."

Previously expressed his support for the Leopard mascot Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. According to him, it would be particularly symbolic, as the leopard species have been restored in the Caucasus after being destroyed in 50 years. Leopard is a strong, powerful, fast and beautiful. Leopard breed has been traced out in the Caucasus, but now has been revived, "- he said at the meeting with representatives of the student organizations of Sochi, answering a question about the most likeable supposed talisman of the Olympics. Russian Prime Minister highlighted that the choice of the mascot will be based on the opinion of the majority and would not be based neither on his, nor the Mr. Medvedev's opinion. "

Sochi paralympics: Fiery boy and a Snowflake

Photo sources: SportSegodnya, Allnewspoint

Article source: vesti.ru

"Russo turisto, obliko morale!" - "Russian tourists do not have morals!"

2011-02-26T13:52:00.000-08:00

...says the phrase of a famous russian movie. 43 years passed since the movie "The Diamond Arm", that mentiones the quote was filmed, but did we russian tourists actually changed?

Not everyone, unfortunately. This I can say because sooo many times there are situations that I am embarrassed to say: "I'm one of yours!"

For example, reading my favorite website www.snob.ru I found something that shocked me!

While Dmitri Medvedev had a meeting in Brussels with the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, Svetlana Medvedeva, his wife was getting around the Bruges.

- Svetlana Medvedeva was late for a meeting with the Governor of Bruges for two hours without even warning anybody beforehand. People that were accompanying her, said that she needed rest.
- She booked a table for 20 people at a Michelin three-starred restaurant Karmeliet, but never appeared there and didn't cancel the order either. Instead she came to Duc do Bourgogne and, according to the staff of the place, was changing the order several times, after the cooks were already starting to prepare it!

- Insisted on buying a eighteenth century's lace, which was decoration of the museum shop, and wasn't even for sale!
- Visited the museum of chocolate, accompanied by twenty bodyguards!

Since then the Belgians call her: "De grootste lastpost in jaren" - the biggest nuisance in years!!

When the local mayor congratulated her on Russia's successful bid to host the 2018 World Cup, she reportedly upset him by baldly stating: "The winner takes all." Belgium mounted a joint bid with the Netherlands to host the competition and was one of the countries that lost out to Russia. She also hit the headlines last month after a leaked US cable published by WikiLeaks claimed that she was causing tension inside the Russian government and had blacklisted officials who she thought should be made to "suffer" in their careers because they were disloyal to her husband. (telegraph.co.uk)

on the 1st photo: Dmitri Medvedev and his wife Svetlana
2nd photo: Svetlana Medvedeva
Photo source: allboatsavenue, telegraph/uk
Source: snob, telegraph.co.uk

Vila Zelina - a piece of Russian culture lost in the stone jungle

2011-02-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I went to Vila Zelina, a Eastern European neigbourhood in the Eastern part of Sao Paulo and I loved it! You can easily get there by metro, it's on the green line, same as Vila Madalena at the veeery end. The name of the station is Vila Prudente.

A big Ortodox Church where I met a father Georgiy, a biological father of Vladimir Petrenko, the priest from a nice and cozy church in Moema. There is also bakery that sells a real Russian black bread, some small off-licence stores selling salty and smoked hering "selyodka" and pickled cucumbers - "solyenye ogurtsy"! And a language school Yazigi which offers a Russian language course!I have met some really nice people, all of them speak very good Russian, especially the priest Georgiy! OMG, It seemed like he just got of the Transaero direct flight from Moscow!

The neighbourhood has it's own Russian association, which includes a folcloric band, a travel agency to Eastern European countries, a football team, a theatre group and a chorale!! It also has it's own small magazine called "Comunidade russa" and a website of the neighbourhood: http://www.portaldavilazelina.com.br

The area has some Catholic Churches too (one of them is Lithuanian) and there is even one Ukrainian Autocefalous, not counting other 2 Autocefalous churches in a different city - São Caetano, which is situated in 10 km. from the Vila Zelina.

The neighbourhood is growing, changing and willing to be better day to day! "We want to have traditional events organized here in Vila every 2 month! And we do not want to swap our neighbourhood for another one. Here are our roots, our culture, here is the spot that has been created by the hands of our grandparents and parents, here we have the opportunity to invest in our culture! It's the only thing we have got as a heritage from the post-Soviet society." - says Viktor Gers, the citizen of the Russian world in the "Paulista" capital.

Sources of the photos: CoisadoAudrey
     Amoviza
     DouglasNascimento

About the Berlusconi's protest post

2011-02-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

On the 15th of February I have posted some photos of the FEMEN's protest in front of the Italian Embassy in Kiev.

And just in one day I have received over a 20 thousand views!! Am I lucky? Actually, I'm quite sad...because I really don't want for the Ukrainian girls have a reputation of whores. Guys, I am Ukrainian and I feel more than embarrassed of receiving 30 comments with the same content: "Horny! Nice sluts! I'd do that ass!"

I'm quite sure if it would be some Swedish or Dutch girls for example it wouldn't cause such a BOOM of views and comments. People would be like:"Oh, girls protesting in a different manner, ok, nothing about it, fine!" But just because they are Ukrainians, lets make their reputation worse! And let's destroy all the other women that have nothing to do with this! Lets make their entrance to the other countries even more difficult!

Until I will be bumping into the websites, that are providing this kind of information:

Most of Ukraine’s sex tourism takes place in Kiev and Odessa. Since Kiev is the capital and has a population of more than 2 million, it’s not surprising that it is at the center of the action. Odessa plays a unique role in the sex tourism because it has a waterfront location. Situated on the Black Sea, Odessa is a popular choice for many tourists who are looking to enjoy the beach, sea, and local girls. The seafront location also creates a sexual atmosphere, as sex workers walk around in swimsuits and are readily available for encounters in nearby hotels.
www.sextourism.net/ukraine/

I would never be able to say loud that I'm actually from there, because someone from somewhere would scream: "Slut!"
And can I prove that I'm not? NO! Because for the majority of people all the Ukrainian women are and if one of them isn't, she is probably well too ugly or a damn good liar.

The photo is from the: Bollylady

32% of Russians believe that Sun revolves around the Earth!

2011-02-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

The sun revolves around the Earth? Apparently in Russia it really does!

One third of the population rejects the idea of a system of planets revolving around the Sun, and it's 4% more (what happened?!) than in 2007, when a similar study was done by the Russian Research Center of Public Opinion.

The survey highlighted the scientific superstitions of the Russians and a few days later the President Dmitri Medvedev had supported the investments in space programs to explore the moon and distant points of the universe. (Yesss, finally!!)

The survey also reveals that 55% Russians believe that radioactivity is a human invention (wow!), while 29% say that humans actually coexisted with dinosaurs. (this one beats all the records!)

The numbers also indicate that women are more likely to believe in superstitions than men. (personal message to my Brazilian husband: I TOLD U that my paranoia was cultural!!)

The research took place in January 2011 and involved 1,600 people from the different regions of Russia. (that's a lot of people I tell ya!)

Source: Folha

Femen against Berlusconi

2011-02-14T16:56:00.000-08:00

"Italy isn't a bordel!" - say the girls revealing their panties during the yesterday's protest at Italian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine.

Photos by James S. Southers

Source:DEMOTIX

Photos by Sergei Supinsky

Source: RussianForum

The stylish politician

2011-02-14T04:03:00.000-08:00

Yulia Tymoshenko - The Ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine

I really like Yulia's style, but the only advice I would give to her: "Yulya, use the national brands, keep the ukrainian designers on the top of the fashion world! No need to promote Louis Vuitton, we are not in France! We have so many talented people in our country and they also want to have their chance in life!"

Terrorist atack in Russian airport

2011-01-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the arrivals area of the Domodedovo International Airport , outside Moscow, on the afternoon of Monday (24), local time. The terrorist added nails and metal fragments to the homemade bomb to cause harm. Thirty five were killed and 150 wounded, of which 20 are in serious condition.

Russia meets today a day of mourning for the victims of the attack. Even though the attack on Monday has not yet been claimed, it follows the methods of the double attack of March 29, 2010 against the Moscow underground system, where two women from the North Caucasus blew themselves up, killing over 50 people . This was claimed by the Islamist group self-appointed "Caucasus Emirate", led by former separatist Chechen rebel Doku Umarov.

Sources: R7, Publico