Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from May, 2006
Estonia: Interview With Aili Jogi
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about Aili Jogi, who, at the age of 15, together with a friend, destroyed the first monument to the Soviet soldiers in Tallinn, the Estonian capital.
Russia: Ethnic Uzbek in Moscow
Moscow-based LJ user gr_s (Grigoriy Sapov) hitched a cab and ended up having a conversation with the driver, an ethnic Uzbek (RUS): An Uzbek Driver Yesterday. The driver is elderly, respectable, speaks without an accent: *** The conversation began when we were getting out to the embankment through Neopalimovskie Lanes....
Czech Republic: Trying to Fix a Gas Heater
Dana of My Czech Republic Blog reproduces an exasperating phone conversation about a heater that seemed to be broken.
Serbia & Montenegro: Belgrade Pictures
annabengan of Tirana-based annasblog posts photos from her recent trip to Belgrade: “We went to Serbia a week end to visit Belgrade. Cheap tickets from Tirana, leaving early Saturday morning and coming back late Monday night (May 1st).”
Romania: Sarmalele Reci
Romerican writes about a Romanian band called Sarmalele Reci: “Sarmale is a traditional Romanian dish. Basically, it’s rice, pork, and spice rolled into cabbage leaves and baked. We can haggle over recipe details another day. Sarmalele is the articulated plural form of sarmale, yet they are pronounced the same way....
Serbia & Montenegro: Kosovo Documentaries
Mat Savelli of Roma Roma notes two documentaries on Kosovo, one of which is a must-see: “Easily the best documentary produced on ex-Yugo that I have ever seen, the film covered the issue from a broader regional perspective, i.e. correctly.”
Ukraine: Books on Ukraine
Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine has started a Ukrainian book section of his blog: “[…] a list of good (or at least popular) reading material about Ukraine or involving Ukraine. The section includes a number of useful links and things for each book, and categorizes the books a number of...
Belarus: Russian Ambassador on Pipeline
TOL's Belarus Blog writes about an interview with the Russian ambassador published in the Belarusian edition of a Russian paper: according to him, “Russia […] is firmly determined to take away the gas pipe (Beltransgaz) from Belarusans and have it under Gazprom’s control.”
Russia: Protest Over a Federal Police Unit in Chechnya
David McDuff of A Step At A Time translates an article about a recent protest in Grozny, where about 30 local residents accused of a federal police unit of human right violations and demanded its removal from Chechnya. Prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov wants the same, only for a different reason.
Poland: The Pope's Visit
Kinuk reports on the Pope's visit to Poland: “Civil servants have been given Friday off, at least in Warsaw. Schools have had to cancel lessons. There is a complete ban on alcohol sales in the whole of Warsaw. Nudie and sexy ads are banned from television. It’s all gone a...
Hungary: Pension System Imminent Collapse
Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the gloomy prospects of Hungarian pension system: “Without mass immigration of workers or a raising of the retirement age, the Hungarian pension system will, in all probability, collapse within the next 15 years.”
Ukraine: New Parliament's First Day
LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about the first day of the newly-elected Ukrainian parliament.
Belarus: Dzerzhinsky Monument Opens, Airspace Closes
Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about tomorrow's opening of a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky at the Military Academy in Minsk: “Throughout his 12 years in power, Lukashenka has paid homage to “the best” that the Soviet Union had to offer. He does it to feed the nostalgia for Soviet...
Serbia & Montenegro: Life After Referendum
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes on what to expect now that the referendum in Montenegro has taken place: “There is the possibility that I may arrive to one country and leave from another. The independence referendum in Montenegro appears to have succeeded, just barely, in one of those underwhelming...
Russia: Relations with Sweden
Vilhelm Konnander writes about a diplomatic dispute between Russia and Sweden, and the past and the future of the relationship between the two countries.
Ukraine, Russia: Financial Aid for Mothers
As Vladimir Putin promises to increase financial aid to Russia's new mothers in order to change the demographic situation for the better, Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes points out that in Ukraine, the significantly increased payments have not led to a baby boom.
Russia: Putin Helps WWII Veteran
Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about a Russian WWII veteran from Voronezh who had been left without his veteran's pension by the local government, until the TV – and Vladimir Putin himself – interfered.
Russia: Ad Agency's Owner Advertises Himself
Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about a new entertainment for Smolensk residents: they are making bets on whether the guy who put billboads of himself all over town manages to win his wife back this way.
Ukraine: President's Son Misbehaving Again
Andriy Yushchenko, president Yushchenko's son, seems to be making trouble again: this time, he, allegedly, almost caused a car crash, verbally abused a high-ranking law enforcement official and didn't prevent his bodyguard from shooting the man in the leg with a rubber bullet. LEvko of Foreign Notes reports on this...
Russia: Translating Joseph Brodsky
David McDuff of A Step At A Time has posted an interview with himself, in which he talks about what it was like to work with Joseph Brodsky on his poetry and prose translations: “I think it needs to be remembered that for Joseph the process of translating his own...
Russia: Krasnodar Encounters
Brigid of Laughter in the Dark writes about the well-meaning but racist director of Krasnodar’s archive; a Krasnodar woman whose dream is to move to the United States; and a Kuban State University historian who would really love to have a map of the world made in the United States....
