March 6th, 2025 8:30pm - Ukraine

When: March 6th, 2025 8:30pm

Where: Ukraine via Texas (Refugee)

Who: Natasha Griboyedova

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Hey guys, welcome back to the blog today! We'll be talking about what we’ve learned about Ukraine. In Ukraine they have food similar to dumplings but with different fillings,Crepes, and a lot of foods with flour. We have learned that they prepare food for lots of celebrations like birthdays, weddings, and many other celebrations. In Ukraine they wear lots of costumes, necklaces, headwear, etc. These costumes are worn to represent their food, culture and traditions.

We also learned about the type of instruments. The first one is called a Bandura which is a Ukrainian instrument and there is an older smaller version called the Kobza but its a plucked instrument with multiple strings. Another thing we learned is the mannerisms in Ukraine. For example, if you were close and personal while talking to someone in Ukraine, it would be polite and mannerly but here in the U.S, it would be weird and awkward. 

We have learned that Ukraine and Russia get compared and mixed up alot but there are many differences. There are many different holidays, traditions, celebrations and so much more. Ukraine and Russia also have very different cultures/religions. Ukraine's main religion is Eastern Orthodox Christians and Russia’s main religion is Russian Orthodox Christians. Ukraine and Russia also have different cultures. Ukraine’s culture is influenced by Slavic Mythology and Ukrainian is Greek Catholicism. Russian culture is influenced by byzantine, and slavic. 

Jobs are mainly the same in Ukraine; there are doctors, police, nurses, firefighters,etc. 

They have similar games like Tug of War and Basketball but they also have different games/sports.In Ukraine they have games/sports called Bandy which is Shooting Cricket.

 

7:30 PM - Ukraine - Refugee

 When: March 9th @ 7:30 PM

Where: Ukraine (Refugee via Texas)

Who: Natasha Griboyedova

Natasha Griboyedova is from Ukraine and says that big cities will build in such ways that people can make much of anything. Natasha also painted a rooster, her backstory was that she painted her impressions back to her childhood. She drew those things to help her see how beautiful the world was. She also had a rooster that attacked anyone that came near him/her, and she drew another painting of a crab and a painting representing seven days of the creation. Cool facts about Ukraine are orthodox church is one of the religions there. Ukraine also has a lot of churches and people go to worship there on holidays. Ukraine developed communities of the Church of Christ and she is a member, and these are some of Ukraine's religions. Her hobbies in Ukraine are growing vegetables, grains, and other plants. She was also teaching at the international school and helped teach culture from Ukraine, and she made a movie with pictures about dumplings. She also noticed the difference between the US and Ukraine is that we are not into war and not into violence, and due to that, people in Ukraine work everywhere.
Natasha is also a translator and can speak English, Ukrainian, Russian, and a little bit of German. She says that she was affected and other people by the war by explosives and seeing other people dying just because of Russia. She keeps seeing missiles from Russia destroying other buildings in Ukraine, and a big part of the electricity is cut off. It also cut off a bunch of communication. She said lives are lost, and “human lives cannot be fixed”. A lot of Ukrainian people left the country because they wanted to protect their loved ones from death. Natasha's family are living all together all in the same house due to the war and would not want anyone to get in a situation in which Natasha is in. Her husband and some other family members are still in Ukraine. She went on the train to leave, and there weren't many places left, and due to Poland the Ukrainian people had a place to go. 7 million Ukrainian people left their own country due to Russia. Germany also helped the Ukrainian people to find a place to live. Norway, Sweden, and Finland also helped Ukraine due to this hard time. She also helped try to save Ukrainian people by leaving the country, but they were too scared to live and said “where do we go next”?
Previously she had plane tickets to leave Ukraine, but the airlines did not accept Ukrainian people, but everything went well in the end. Ukrainian people like to hear traditional music and classical music and more. Superstition is also known in Ukraine.