Ukraine
by: Elizabeth Dickerson
Culture
- Ukrainians celebrate a number of holidays, namely Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, New Years and Ivana Kupala (St John's Eve). They also hold a festival every autumn to celebrate the end of the harvest.
- Easter egg dyeing is a traditional thing to do.
- Holiday bread is made alot at Easter.
- At the height of the vyshyvanka’s popularity, Ukrainians could tell which village a person was from simply by examining the garment.
Young girls and unmarried women, on the other hand, traditionally wore flowered wreaths around their heads. Known as a vinok, the wreaths date back thousands of years and played a vital role in Kupala Night celebrations.
On this day young women would place their wreaths in a river or lake along with a lit candle. If a woman’s vinok drifted away, she would marry. If the wreath remained in one spot, she would not. A vinok that sank was thought to represent the woman’s impending death, while an extinguished candle represented misfortune. Young men took matters into their own hands by diving after a special lady’s wreath. Some Ukrainian women still participate in this ancient fortune telling tradition.
The language spoken is Ukrainian and 97% of the registered religious communities in Ukraine are Christian. About half of them are Orthodox. The other half is split among Catholics and Protestants
Ukraine's Government
*consisting of a single chamber, as a legislative assembly
Landmarks
Tunnel Of Love
- The Tunnel of love is a railway in Klevan. It is a railway surrounded by green arches and is mile long. During the spring, the trees create a green arch over the rails.
Valley Of Ghosts
- The Valley of the Ghosts under Mt Demerdzhi (1356m) contains some stunning rock formations created by the wind erosion of sandstone. The freaky pillars have vaguely human features and are certainly memorable. The nearby village of Luchistoy
Memorial
- On a pedestal stands a pillar on the top of which there sits a human head in a helmet but without the lower jaw. Local lore has it that it is the monument to a young man who was captured by the Tartars during one of their raids in the times of old, but who made it or when, is unclear. Not far from this monument there is another one that commemorates an epidemic disease that struck the village in the 1830s when hundreds of people died.
Current Events
- President Petro Poroshenko tried the Dozor out."Dozor" is an armored vehicle of Ukrainian production. The vehicle has an increased protection from 7.62 mm bullets, larger elements, mines. It is also equipped with surveillance devices and satellite navigation system. The powerplant generates 197 hp, which allows speeding up to 105 km/h. The volume of the fuel tank equals 300 liters.