I remember a few years ago while working at an Export shipping company, a Ukrainian group of customers came in. The date was January 24, 2005.
I will never forget them. I smiled as I greeted them, noticed they were Ukrainian and said "Congratulations. Pomarancheva. Viva Ukraina." Silent tears welled up in their eyes and they nodded stiffly.
They asked me if I was Polish and I nodded yes. They shook my hand and I will freely admit that my eyes started to tear a bit with them. This moment probably meant nothing to the other workers and customers there at that moment. But it didn't matter. It meant something to us.
And in that moment, this tiny bleep of a moment that will never be recorded in any history books and which does not need to be, one of the men of this group of Ukrainian immigrants clasped my hand, pointed to me and said "Krasnoludki. Pomarańczowa. Poland." No other words needed to be said.
Na razie...
Related Posts:
30 Years Ago Today in Poland: Martial Law
A Mama born in Poland with "Gypsy Blood" living on the American Prairie with her daughters, two future Miss Poland and Nobel Peace prize recipients :: Food, Travel, Life...
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukraine. Show all posts
24 January 2012
13 December 2011
30 Years Ago Today in Poland: Martial Law
30 years ago today, on December 13, 1981, Martial Law was imposed on Poland. We had just fled Poland a couple of short weeks before.
I cannot imagine what my parents must have been going through. I was born in June of 1980. The following month, general strikes began to ripple their way across Poland. Wroclaw was an important center of this movement.
I know in the textbooks in Amerika, Gdansk is the city mentioned in regards to Poland's Solidarity movement. But the textbooks like to sum things up in a neat one to two sentence note about anything having to do with Poland and that summary really doesn't do the movement, that historical movement, or Poland for that manner, any justice.
Perhaps you have never heard of the Orange Alternative or Pomarańczowa Alternatywa. Let me give you a brief tidbit about it.
The Orange Alternative was a new option that made it easier and safer for more people to peacefully protest the Communist regime. Basically, they drew graffiti art and slogans referring to dwarfs (krasnoludki) and wore orange hats like dwarfs in mass gatherings and other such activity. None of it was illegal and if they were arrested, it made the arresting officers look like ridiculous because they would be arresting people for wearing dwarf hats. It was a brilliant idea...
I cannot imagine how my parents must have felt, watching events unfolding around them with a brand new baby girl.
I plan to share some photos tomorrow that I found which were sent to us by family and which I believe have to do with that movement.
Na razie...
Links You Might Find Useful:
New York Times Article: "Dec. 13, 1981 | Poland Cracks Down on Solidarity Movement"
Poland Cultural Institute of New York article about film "The Orange Alternative"
Not An Alternative
Wikipedia's Orange Alternative
Wikimedia's Dwarves in Wroclaw (photos)
I cannot imagine what my parents must have been going through. I was born in June of 1980. The following month, general strikes began to ripple their way across Poland. Wroclaw was an important center of this movement.
I know in the textbooks in Amerika, Gdansk is the city mentioned in regards to Poland's Solidarity movement. But the textbooks like to sum things up in a neat one to two sentence note about anything having to do with Poland and that summary really doesn't do the movement, that historical movement, or Poland for that manner, any justice.
Perhaps you have never heard of the Orange Alternative or Pomarańczowa Alternatywa. Let me give you a brief tidbit about it.
The Orange Alternative was a new option that made it easier and safer for more people to peacefully protest the Communist regime. Basically, they drew graffiti art and slogans referring to dwarfs (krasnoludki) and wore orange hats like dwarfs in mass gatherings and other such activity. None of it was illegal and if they were arrested, it made the arresting officers look like ridiculous because they would be arresting people for wearing dwarf hats. It was a brilliant idea...
I cannot imagine how my parents must have felt, watching events unfolding around them with a brand new baby girl.
I plan to share some photos tomorrow that I found which were sent to us by family and which I believe have to do with that movement.
Na razie...
Links You Might Find Useful:
New York Times Article: "Dec. 13, 1981 | Poland Cracks Down on Solidarity Movement"
Poland Cultural Institute of New York article about film "The Orange Alternative"
Not An Alternative
Wikipedia's Orange Alternative
Wikimedia's Dwarves in Wroclaw (photos)
26 April 2011
After Chernobyl
It has been 25 years since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, to the day.
25 years ago, Ukraine, like Poland and other countries, was part of the USSR for 40 years already. The details of that, I won't get into. That is a discussion for another day and could be talked about for an entire lifetime without many changing their perspectives and grasping one another's feelings on the subject.
Instead, I will share with you my personal experiences regarding Chernobyl.
We had been in the USA for almost 4 years at this time. My little brother was about 3 years old. He is American born. At this time, I was almost 6 years old. Not yet in school.
My parents started saying words over and over which meant nothing to my young mind. "Chernobyl", "Nuklearny", "Energia jadrowa". And words I knew. "Ukraine", "Sovieci", "Murderstwo", "Makabra", "Boga".
My mother was crossing herself and crying. My father was smoking more cigarettes (outside, never inside around us children and always thinking we never saw it) than usual. My parents were whispering a lot and glancing at us children playing and walking into another room to talk.
Phone calls to Poland were made. I would hate to imagine how expensive that phone bill was for them, since I knew they easily paid $100 for a half hour phone call at the time.
The news was on a lot.
It was as though the air was electric. Something was going on but I didn't know what. I asked but my parents answered me the way they did when I asked about our leaving Poland. "One day when you are older and can understand and not be angry or blame anyone, I will tell you."
They never explained it to me. I was never told by my parents about the Chernobyl disaster. Instead, I learned about it in passing in school and the subject called to me. I learned about it on my own.
I learned that the sarcophagus now containing the radiation at Chernobyl has an expected lifetime of 30 years and that a newer, more long term solution should have started being created 25 years ago in order to meet the deadline. I learned that as of yet, funds are still being raised for it. I can't blame Ukraine. But that is another discussion about a country's economic aftereffects from being under the USSR for so many years.
When the Japanese nuclear disaster occurred recently, my Ciocia revealed to me a bit about how my family was affected by Chernobyl.
She said thoughts that truly struck home with me. "People would go outside and not be able to catch their breathe. Some people got throat cancer suddenly. Skin cancer. Other cancers. Teeth started suddenly falling out of the mouths of healthy people. Hair fell out for some. Old people got sick. Children got thyroid cancer. Babies bron a few months later, some weren't lucky. Maybe it wasn't from Chernobyl but it was a terrible coincidence."
I didn't know what she meant at first, but learned later that there were some cases of elevated levels of Downs Syndrome and Neural Tube Defects, etc. in certain areas of population. Of course, that made sense to me since fetuses are so vulnerable during pregnancy.
My Ciocia was not the first or the last to say such words. But to hear a very intelligent woman who I respect highly and who I know is not a sensationalist or prone to hysteria in any way, that is what hits home.
I hope the world does not face such a disaster again. But while hoping against such an event, the only solution I can ever think of is to say "No" to Nuclear power. Yet, who am I? I am no government official, I am not a rich company or investor. I am nobody who can make a difference.
So, all I can do is pray to God...
25 years ago, Ukraine, like Poland and other countries, was part of the USSR for 40 years already. The details of that, I won't get into. That is a discussion for another day and could be talked about for an entire lifetime without many changing their perspectives and grasping one another's feelings on the subject.
Instead, I will share with you my personal experiences regarding Chernobyl.
We had been in the USA for almost 4 years at this time. My little brother was about 3 years old. He is American born. At this time, I was almost 6 years old. Not yet in school.
My parents started saying words over and over which meant nothing to my young mind. "Chernobyl", "Nuklearny", "Energia jadrowa". And words I knew. "Ukraine", "Sovieci", "Murderstwo", "Makabra", "Boga".
My mother was crossing herself and crying. My father was smoking more cigarettes (outside, never inside around us children and always thinking we never saw it) than usual. My parents were whispering a lot and glancing at us children playing and walking into another room to talk.
Phone calls to Poland were made. I would hate to imagine how expensive that phone bill was for them, since I knew they easily paid $100 for a half hour phone call at the time.
The news was on a lot.
It was as though the air was electric. Something was going on but I didn't know what. I asked but my parents answered me the way they did when I asked about our leaving Poland. "One day when you are older and can understand and not be angry or blame anyone, I will tell you."
They never explained it to me. I was never told by my parents about the Chernobyl disaster. Instead, I learned about it in passing in school and the subject called to me. I learned about it on my own.
I learned that the sarcophagus now containing the radiation at Chernobyl has an expected lifetime of 30 years and that a newer, more long term solution should have started being created 25 years ago in order to meet the deadline. I learned that as of yet, funds are still being raised for it. I can't blame Ukraine. But that is another discussion about a country's economic aftereffects from being under the USSR for so many years.
When the Japanese nuclear disaster occurred recently, my Ciocia revealed to me a bit about how my family was affected by Chernobyl.
She said thoughts that truly struck home with me. "People would go outside and not be able to catch their breathe. Some people got throat cancer suddenly. Skin cancer. Other cancers. Teeth started suddenly falling out of the mouths of healthy people. Hair fell out for some. Old people got sick. Children got thyroid cancer. Babies bron a few months later, some weren't lucky. Maybe it wasn't from Chernobyl but it was a terrible coincidence."
I didn't know what she meant at first, but learned later that there were some cases of elevated levels of Downs Syndrome and Neural Tube Defects, etc. in certain areas of population. Of course, that made sense to me since fetuses are so vulnerable during pregnancy.
My Ciocia was not the first or the last to say such words. But to hear a very intelligent woman who I respect highly and who I know is not a sensationalist or prone to hysteria in any way, that is what hits home.
I hope the world does not face such a disaster again. But while hoping against such an event, the only solution I can ever think of is to say "No" to Nuclear power. Yet, who am I? I am no government official, I am not a rich company or investor. I am nobody who can make a difference.
So, all I can do is pray to God...
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