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Background: Ukraine was the center of the first Slavic state, Kievan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kievan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kievan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. The new government presents its citizens with hope that the country may at last attain true freedom and prosperity.



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By BenjF
May 31st 2008

Kiev, Ukraine

 Europe » Ukraine » Kiev
Fountain in Independence Square
Fountain in Independence Square
The fountain of the four legendary founders of the city (brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and sister Lybid)
Yo dudes - finally getting the blog thing going! I met up with Brad at the airport in Munich for the last leg of our respective flights that took us into Kiev at 11pm at night. Things went quite smoothly on arrival. An airport staff member assisted us through immigration and customs so we bypassed the line-up and were met by a driver from our hotel. With a small miracle we were able to squeeze 2 wheelchairs, 3 large suitcases and sundry hand language into his Renault and made our way to the hotel. I did fair bit of research trying [View Full Entry]

BenjF - Benj Fayle | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
468 Words | 7 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: June 4th 2008 | 128 Views | [diary=283707]

Friendship Arch
Independence Square
Yarislov

By anyse
April 9th 2008

Downhill Slide

 Europe » Ukraine » Kiev
So I am officially past the halfway mark. Next Monday is 3 months! My routine was smashed into oblivion, as I moved in with a new host family. They have 3 boys, and I am sharing a room (and bed) with one of the other English teachers. The family is very nice, and well to do. So I have internet access! I do have to say I miss all of my alone time.. but I like the fact that I've had both experiences now- living pretty much on my own, and with a family. I really enjoy trying Liliya's cooking :) [View Full Entry]

anyse - Anyse | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
136 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: April 9th 2008 | 86 Views | [diary=264608]


Next week is when ILP's directors are coming for the mid-semester visit.. I can barely believe it. Time passes so fast. I hardly know what to write when I have the time to. So this will be very random and out of order, but will hopefully make sense anyway. Maybe I'll start with my routine, what a normal day is like for me (in depth, I am happy to say). I wake up around 9 am, my roommates gone to work already. I peer out the window to ascertain the weather, and sleepily shuffle into the kitchen to turn on the [View Full Entry]

anyse - Anyse | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1209 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: March 7th 2008 | 111 Views | [diary=253695]


Found this funny feature - just pop in the countries you have visited at some point and 1-2-3 you get a map Visited Countries Map [View Full Entry]

Kariushka Mariushka - Karen-Marie Kragelund | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
39 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 23rd 2008 | 51 Views | [diary=249238]


By Kariushka Mariushka
February 23rd 2008

Wow .....

 Europe » Ukraine » Kiev
Deathly poisoned by uranium from Chernobyl .... killed in car crash crossing the dangerous streets of Kyiv .... well, no, still alive actually! A whole year has passed and you haven't heard from me at all, so I can't really blame you if you have given up on me, can I?? When I moved here to Kyiv, I had no idea what to expect - and that was probably good, because I have certainly been challenged during this year: I am on my second job, lasting 4 months only in the first one I am on my second apartment, as [View Full Entry]

Kariushka Mariushka - Karen-Marie Kragelund | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
349 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 23rd 2008 | 75 Views | [diary=249232]


some of the kids
some of the kids
Dima, Daniel, Evanka and Andrey
Alright so I am way behind, and apologize. Busy is an understatement! Things have been crazy still, but mellowed out now that I don't have to worry so much about where exactly I am at. I think I will start with talking a little bit about teaching. We only have to teach 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. Planning takes a bit more time, but not too much. The kids are cute, though I think my home group is a bit of a menacing thought sometimes. It consists of 6 kids: Daniel, Masha, Anthony, Katya, Evan, Bogdan and Sasha. [View Full Entry]

anyse - Anyse | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
721 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 9th 2008 | 145 Views | [diary=244555]

tanks at rodina mat
andriyivsky uzviz
st. sophia

So I am here! The past few days have been so crazy I can't even begin to write it all.. I will post it all when I have my journal with me. I have had some adventures already, and am finding adjusting a little bit harder than I expected. Ukraine is more than I thought- more noisy, smoky, dirty and everything else I had imagined it as. I have already gotten lost for several hours, but was assured that it happens to everyone once at the beginning of the semster. So hopefully it won't happen again. I miss ice cubes terribly.. [View Full Entry]

anyse - Anyse | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
295 Words | 9 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 17th 2008 | 167 Views | [diary=236810]


So this is a little late, but I have made it t an internet cafe, and will transcribe this from my journal entry. When I can find a USB port, pictures will follow :) I have finally made it to Kiev! It took a very long time- but I am here. My flight left NOLA at 12:36 pm (I was lucky- some teachers left their houses at 3 am!) I ran into Ryan once I got into DC, and then found the rest of the group taking up most of the gate's seating area. I think there are about 25 of [View Full Entry]

anyse - Anyse | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1424 Words | 2 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 23rd 2008 | 77 Views | [diary=238766]

a fifth story flat
the kitchen
flatmates

By vkramer515
December 17th 2007

Short Trip to Kiev

 Europe » Ukraine » Kiev
Kiev 1
Kiev 1
I did not get to see much as it was dark, but it seemed like a great time to visit.
This was a short business trip to Kiev to visit another poultry company there. I did not get to see much of the town so I only have a few pictures and they were all at night, but it was enough that I would like to go back and visit some more during the day. The town was much more "European" than I thought for. One could still see a lot of Soviet in it, but it has a lot more color and design than you normally see in Russia. We also learned the country is very divided between the pro-EU [View Full Entry]

vkramer515 - Vince Kramer | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
708 Words | 3 Comment(s) | 4 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 17th 2007 | 185 Views | [diary=228342]

Kiev 3
Kiev 4
Kiev 2

The idea of the long day that laid ahead kept us in bed slightly later than I wanted. This led to me having a go at Rob who took too long packing his bag (i did mine the night before) and overshot my planned leaving time. We caught the metro one last time to the train station which was rather uneventful apart from one man who seemed irritated that we'd dared get on the metro with backpacks. The next seventeen hours were possibly the longest and most painful we've been through in our later lives. The beginning of the journey lulled [View Full Entry]

Steph and Rob - Steph Duke, Rob Cridland | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
475 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 2 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: October 4th 2007 | 107 Views | [diary=208232]

Hard To Believe It Is A Bed