Hi everybody! It's me Zalika Derrik, the new college graduate! Yay! In result of my graduation, I'm taking a European Vacation! Guess where? Italy and Belarus... interesting huh? Got to go, I'll tell you more about my trip when I get there!
[1] [2] Hi everybody again! It's Zalika here! I'm in... Belarus! How exciting!
Here, they speak all kinds of languages! They speak Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and Yiddish. Polish and Yiddish... they're so fun to say! Anyway, the most common language is Belarusian and the second most common is Russian and so on and so forth. Okay... here's some Yiddish! Mazel Tov...maven.
Ha! I wished you good luck and then took it back with sarcasm! How cool!
[3]Okay, okay... get this. They use Belarusian Ruble! Sounds cool, huh? It's not doing so great though... 1 dollar in American money = 8469.96 Belarusian ruble. Imagine pulling all of that money out of your pocket! At some places, they may tell you how much to pay in U.S. Dollars and then ask you for money in Belarusian Ruble. They do this because it is illegal to trade/buy things in foreign currency. This one guy freaked because I handed him American money. Whoops... I'm never doing that again...[4] Yes... Belarus is having some problems. It's a cool place to visit but there's a lot of trouble right now. Alexander Lukashenko apparently got re-elected and is sending many people to prison. He has sent hundreds of protesters who are protesting against him and the other 7 representatives running against him. Many feel as if he has blocked out all of the voices, especially the voices to whom are against him. He has also conquered over all the forms of government and took away the time limiting a president's term.
[5] Belarus is almost the same as Italy (the next place I'll be going!). They both have a republic government. This is a government that allows it's people choice of representatives to vote and carry out their voice. (I'll explain a little more when I get to Italy).
[6]Belarus is pretty cool! It's always cool and moist, almost like a rain forest. You know... there are some forests around here. I'll have to visit some of those! Anyway, their summers are cool and humid and their winters are cold. It's really nice. You can always like, go outside with your sweater but have your flip flops on. It's cool. It's almost the size of Kansas but... not almost. It's 80,100 square ft.
June 6th, 2012
Did you know that Belarus has 6 regions that it's divided into? The Brest region, the gormel region, the Grodno region, the Minsk region, the mogilev region and the vitebsk region.
[7]The Brest region is covered with lots of rare animals and plants. The result of this are the many national parks and reserves to let the people of Belarus preserve and experience the beauty of it all. In this region, about 2 million people live here. (That's a LOT for just a park of "Kansas"). (Here's a picture of one of the nature reserve).
[8]The next region is the Gomel Region. About 1 million people live here. The most common religion in the this region is Orthodox Christianity, the same as in the Brest region. There's this town in the Gomel region, Vetka, it's so cool! Like, 40 days after Easter, the people dance and sing and then bury an arrow in the ground! How unique! They do this to symbolize the changing of the seasons, winter to spring.
[9]The next region is the Grondo Region. 1 million people also populate this place. The most common religion in this region is not only Orthodox Christianity but also Catholicism. Here they farm a lot of things like potatoes and beets.
[10]Another region in Belarus is the Minsk Region. Almost 1.5 million people live here. This is the region around the capital which makes it highly populated and industrial. They have many industries that manufacture/retrieve natural resources like iron ore, peat and chalk.
[12] Last but not least, the 6th region is the Vitebsk region. Combined, this region has over 3000 lakes and rivers! They call it "the land of the lakes". Here, the most common religion in Orthodox Christian. Many of the old, famous people in Europe were born here. For example, Ivan Hrutsky and Simeon Polotsky were born here.
[12, 13]A lot of the people here brag that the last war they were ever involved in was WWII. And, it's true. The last ever (official/written) war they were involved in was WWII, in which their capital, Minsk was very badly damaged and a lot of people were killed.
June 7th, 2012
June 8, 2012
What a fun time in Belarus! Off to Italy! Sounds fun! I'll be recovering from all my adventure on the plane. I won't need those sleeping pills! See you in Italy!
June 9, 2012
[1]Hi! Zalika Derrik, again! I'm here right now, in Italy! How exciting! It's totally great here. Except for the fact that everyone is talking in words I don't understand... I looked it up and those strange words every one's speaking is actually a language. (I knew that!) Here in Italy, people speak all kinds of languages like Italian, Friulian, Ladin, Slovene, German, French, Albanian, Croatian, Greek, Catalan and Sardanian. Whew! A mouthful! Thankfully, some people speak English around the places where more tourists visit.
[2] Here in Italy, they use money called Euros. Just as our symbol for dollars is $, theirs is, €. One euro = about $1.32. So, I went to this fabulous Italian restaurant, right? They charged me like 25 Euros which equals $33.00! What a rip-off! But, it was still good food... I mean, how many times can you get real, authentic Italian food in your U.S. freezer? It's just doesn't happen...[3] Of course... vacations mean touring! So I did a little touring. One of the places I went to was the Eldred WWII Museum. I learned a little bit about WWI. Around 1915, Italy went into the war on Germany's side (but later would enter WWII on the allies' side). It also told me all about WWII. You see, German soldiers were fighting allies in France and the allies planned to keep the Germans trapped in Italy. They were unable to move to France or Russia. Soon, American and English allies transferred back to their hometown. Some were left, continued to fight and brought the Germans to their knees on May 2nd, 1945. So... anyway... I was at this amazing Italian restaurant right...? And I was talking to this guy and he said that he was born near the end of WWII. He was about a "tween like you youngins' call yourself these days..." when the war ended. It was a hard time to be in but he lived through it.
[3] [4]That museum also told me about recent events in Italy's history as well. As strange as it seems, the last war they officially had was in 1943 against Germany which was still WWII.
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that last year's (2011) New Year was really a political struggle for Italians. Usually, every new year, they burn a fake person as a representation of their past. Last celebration, they burned a fake person, made to look like Silvio Berlusconi, their former prime minister. (In reference to the burning of their past), 40% of the Italians felt that "Berlusconi's politics certainly represent one of these things". Apparently, Silvio Berlusconi has put extra strain on the economy of Italy and it seems to be affecting a lot of people. Recently, there have been confidence votes here in Italy, and he just barely passed it. Like, I was walking through this town...um... Palermo. They were having protests about it. A lot of people seem really angry about that.
Italy has this type of government called republic. That means that the representatives the people elect get to vote for the people. Let's hope the people of Italy choose the right people to vote for them...
[5] Italy is a super cool place! Like in America, everywhere you look there are cities, malls and shopping centers. Here in Italy, everywhere you look there are farms, fields and nature. It's amazing!
In the Sicily region, there's this active volcano... Mount Etna, it's one of the biggest volcanoes in the world that' still active! The top part of Sicily is...well... kinda ruined because of the volcano which really stinks.
The Alpine Slope apparently has many mountains and valleys plus forests and glaciers. When snow on the alpine slope melt, the water fills the Alpine River. This river powers a hydroelectric plant, taking part in powering some of Italy's electricity.There's limestone everywhere in the Adriatic Plains which makes it hard to farm there. That's why agriculture thrives more in regions like Po Valley and the Western Uplands and Plains.
June 10th, 2012
Yay! It's finally time for some real city touring! Shopping, malls, restaurants... Which first? So... I decided to go to Rome for the first stop.
First place I visited was the Rome Coliseums. They were really cool! I have a picture on my phone. I'll upload it below.
[6] 
Of course that wasn't the only place I went to...
Of course that wasn't the only place I went to...
Ohmigosh! The gondolas are amazing there! So relaxing! If you don't already know, they are these rides on a narrow boat across a canal of water through the city! The gondoliers have to be really talented. They have to navigate a boat...say... almost 37 feet in a really narrow canal. The rides are fun and they're definitely great for couples and all of that. Oh yeah! I also went to this really really nice restaurant. [7] Osteria's. Mm...the food was really tasty and the people were so nice! It's this restaurant owned and run by a family with lots of amazing homemade cooking! If you're looking for a good place to eat, it's there.[8] Have you ever heard of the carnivals they have there? They look so cool and fun but... the last one they had was a couple months ago in February. So I missed it. But... I did get to see one of their costumes! There was this lady in this costume store someplace in Italy (I don't remember! Okay?) and she showed me the costume she wore for it. All the pieces of clothing were tied together with one main color. Hers was white and blue. I wish I had graduated college in February!
June 14th, 2012
Hi, Zalika Derrik here again! I'm home now, back in "home" home, Colorado! I can't believe I actually got to go to ALL of those places! Wow, what a treat! (Thanks, Mom!) Italy and Belarus! How fun! I hope you all had fun with me as blogged all of the happenings over there!
____________________________________________________________________
Resources:
Italy:
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/italy.shtml,
http://www.eurfirst.com/europe/lang.htm
2. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187768-s601/Italy:Banks.And.Money.html
3. http://www.worldwariihistory.info/WWII/Italy.html,
http://eldredwwiimuseum.net/index.html,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065897.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065897.stm
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065345.stm,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16518599,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11981754,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2010/12/201012152404322810.html,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2010/12/201012221686817399.html,
http://www.indexmundi.com/italy/government_type.html
5. http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112187/italy_geography.htm
6. http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-about-gondola.htm
7. http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-about-venice_restaurants.htm
8. http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/42140
Belarus:
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/belarus.shtml
2. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-yiddish-handbook-40-words-you-should-know/
3. http://coinmill.com/BYR_USD.html#USD=1,
http://www.travelswise.com/belrarusmoney.htm
4. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2011/01/2011122215316266586.html,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3882843.stm
5. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5371.htm
6. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5371.htm, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography
7. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography,
http://eng.belarustourism.by/catalog/130_21015.html
8. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/gomel-region
9. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/grodno-region
10.http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/minsk-region
11. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/mogilev-region
12. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/vitebsk-region
13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1118391.stm
14. http://www.belarusguide.com/travel1/Attrctn.html,
http://www.belarusguide.com/nature1/puscha.html
http://www.belarusguide.com/cities/kamianiec.html
________________________________________________________________
Picture Resources:
Graduation photo: http://www.dipity.com/tickr/Flickr_graduation/
Belarus:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Belarus
2. http://beltoprent.com/1642
3. http://tobelarus.com/tourism-in-belarus/national-parks/74-pribuzhskoye-polesye.html
4. http://www.belarusvisit.by/farmsteads-in-belarus/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=861
5. http://www.belarusguide.com/nature1/puscha.html
France:
1.ttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html
2.http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/World-Coins-Gallery-Index/Italy-Money---Coins.htm
3.http://www.liguriaguide.com/italy-money.html
4. http://en.polyglot-tutor.com/higher-education-in-italy/
5. http://amantivino.wordpress.com/2010/02/07/whats-in-your-glass-tenuta-terre-nere-etna-rosso-%E2%80%9Ccalderara-sottana%E2%80%9D-2006/
6. http://sb.westfordk12.us/pages/6gweb/6gss/wtravel10/r/rmatt/index.html
7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16518599
8. http://www.romanlife-romeitaly.com/ancient-roman-colosseum.html
9. http://www.picturesdepot.com/wallpapers/209023/venice+italy.html
No comments:
Post a Comment