The Odessa Opera House

The Ukraine city of Odessa is probably totally different from what you will expect from a Ukrainian city. Once again the multicultural factor is important. As it lays at the black sea, it had a heavy influence from Italians, French, and Greek people; which can be appreciated in the architecture, that gives it a rather more Mediterranean than Russian aspect.

Like the Crimea, it was occupied by many peoples, from Greeks to Russians. In the second war period, it was occupied by the Rumanian army, and liberated latter by the red army. It was awarded as one of the first URSS Heroic cities for the hard resistance that it plaid during the war, and the high number of casualties. During the axis occupation, there where at least 25,000 Jews killed during the first days. Nevertheless, the occupation itself was not hard as in other European cities. Indeed the Rumanian changed its policy, refusing to deport the Jews to the extermination camps located in Poland.

The city is a mix of many nationalities and ethnic groups, including Armenians, Bulgarians, Georgians, Germans, Greeks, Jews, Koreans, Moldovans, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, and many others. The most spoken language is Russian, although Ukrainian is also recognized by the majority of the people and used by some officials.  The unofficial but widely recognized saying from the city is: Obesities of all countries unite! Which demonstrates the multicultural character from the city and the high proud that the people feel from their city.

This proud does not come out of nowhere, as this city with about 1 million inhabitants, is one of the leading economic cities from Ukraine, with a better life quality and  less unemployment than most of the other important Ukrainian cities. In matter of arts, science and sports does not get behind their counterparts. Having for example one of the most high-tech hospital of the world in terms of ophthalmology. In the near there is also the biggest open-air market in Europe representing the 1% of all the Ukrainian PIB.

The city have a really nice and unique architecture plus a good number of good spas, that make it an interesting place to spend some days during the summer. I you are interested in you could find some useful information in http://wikitravel.org/en/Odessa. The temperature can go as high as 38 degrees during the summer so the wheatear can get better as you will normally expect.

One last fun fact is that the first car ever in Russia (Mercedes-Benz) was brought to Odessa from France by a popular publisher from the time called V. Navrotsky in 1891.

As we already had an article about the football-association in Uganda, it could be suitable to stick to the same topic for another country, but a bit differently than was reported on Uganda.

As everybody knows, South America is the mother-continent of football, because it were the South American natives who invented the idea of forming a ball out of caoutchouc and then to play with it among each other, first just by simply passing the ball from mate to mate, afterwards additions were made – teams were formed, goals were set, rules were introduced.

Probably because someone hardly can be beaten at his own game, mostly South American football teams like Brazil or Argentina are the leading power of an every world-championship.

As my focus lies on Colombia, and lucky for me, it lies in South America as well, I would like to say some words about their national football team and one interesting happening which occurred in September 1993 in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires (which was a  FIFA world cup 1994 qualifying game).

For the first time, the Colombian football-team went into the spotlight in 1946, when entering the battle for the Central American Cup and succeeding in it. In 1970, Colombia repeated this show. But all in all, Colombia is rather considered an outsider in the world of football. Still, the Colombian team had power enough to defy a true South American football giant – Argentina.

This man with his recognizable hair is named Carlos Valderrama and is also known under the nickname “El Pibe“. He was the captain of the Colombian football team between 1990 and 1998. In the qualifying match versus Argentina, he was, too.

Although this team is one of the internationally most feared opponents, they failed tremendously against their “little brother” from the north of the continent. The obviousness of Argentina’s victory had to pass quite quick, because the Argentinians lost their overall dominance and were overfilled with desperation and fear, so that the combat morale of the Colombians could make its turn. A few minutes before the end of the first half of the match, with the help of El Pibe, the ball was passed to the enemy goal within the shortest period of time, and the first goal was done. This already drove even more fear into the Argentinian team, and the fans of the team were stricken by this so that no one could make a noise. Even the legendary Diego Maradona shed tears as a reaction.

This was the first goal of the Colombians. In the second half of the match, they had 4 more to go.

This moment was really historical, and a true honor for all Colombians. Because they were the very first ones to beat such a giant like Argentina in a qualifying match, and even in their home! AND with such a high score. Truly, the Argentinians were the opposite of happy about that, and the Colombians were the opposite of disappointed.

Although this is not a war they have won – but the Colombians have memorized this event quite well – until today. In my opinion, this is something you should be proud of, if you’re a Colombian. Because I, for example, can rather speak of disgrace than be proud about Russian or Ukrainian footballers. Respect, guys!!

Vietnam is the country which becomes number one for tourist who love diving and biking. Why? Because the diving is very cheap and the nature is still increadible. About diving I will keep on speaking in my next article, and today i would like to surprise those who are interested biking.

Biking is a very popular and accessible kind of leisure. In some countries it is a seasonable kind of sport because of the weather. But Vietnam seems doesnt care of it and in this case is totally independent on seasons. The best period for biking through the country starts in October and lasts till the end of May since the summer time is used to be relativley hot.

Vietnam Grand Cycling

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80% of the Ugandan population lives in villages. In the rural areas one can find groups of small huts not bigger than your average garage, made out of mud, clay and grass. It is unbelievable to imagine that entire families composed of 3 generations live in one hut, which is usually separated into two sections: the living or sleeping section and the eating section. The sections are usually divided by a curtain or a wall.

Small village of Busia

In the eating section, the family gathers around and sits on mats or covers on the floor and dinner is served. The pot is placed in the middle of the family circle so that everyone can take their share of the meal. Because cutlery can be rare in the savannah, the family members usually eat with their hands. If the family owns goats or other domesticated animals, they are also kept inside the hut or a small room attached to the hut. Sanitary installations are naturally uncommon. The villagers collect water in plastic gallons and pour it over their bodies and use their hands to clean themselves. A pit outside the hut serves as the toilet called a pit latrine.

As anywhere in Africa, collecting water is always a chore. Often the children are sent out in the morning or in the evening with plastic gallons or pots made of clay to go to the nearest well, spring or river.

Simple, but happy

These treks to the nearest water source may reach walking distances of up to 20 kilometers through valleys, forests and over hills. Injuries sustained during these potentially dangerous treks are not unheard of. The water has to be boiled before consumption in order to prevent possible viral infections. Recently water pipes and pipe systems have been introduced, though still rare, they proved to be quite effective and useful to the villagers from all around Uganda.

Living the simple ife

Ugandan village families can reach stunning sizes since polygamy is still in practice in some regions of the country. But there is a strong sense of community among the villagers and it is normal for other families to take care of the children “next door”. Children are generally regarded to be everybody’s responsibility.

As you can see, life in most of Uganda’s regions is simple, but hard. As a European, I take all these “high-tech” contraptions like a bathtub, computer or electricity for granted, but we must not forget that there are many people out there who don’t have these luxuries…

As i was researching on what to write on kyrgystan  i came across this tradition of bride kidnapping.

kidnapped woman in Kyrgystan.

When a Kyrgyz man decides to marry, he often abducts the woman he has chosen. Typically, he and several friends hire a car, stake out his bride-to-be’s movements, snatch her off the street, and take her to the groom’s family home. A delegation is then sent to her family. The abducted woman is held until someone from her family arrives to determine whether they will accept the “proposal” and she will agree to marry her kidnapper. They do this by pointing out the advantages of the union, such as the wealth of their smallholdings, to show her what she would gain by joining their family. Families may use force or threaten to curse the woman if she leaves, an effective threat in a superstitious country. Some families will keep the girl hostage for several days to break her will. Others will let her go if she remains defiant; she may, for example, refuse to sit down or to eat, as a sign that she is refusing the proffered hospitality. During this period, the groom typically does not see the bride until she has agreed to marry or at least has agreed to stay. The kidnapped woman’s family may also become involved, either urging the woman to stay (particularly if the marriage is believed socially acceptable or advantageous for the prospective bride and her family), or opposing the marriage on various grounds and helping to liberate the woman.

Cartagena Seal

As both the title of the city and the person on the picture try to express – somehow this place is connected to Indians (native inhabitants of the American continent).

Before the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors, the native tribes were spread over the northern coast of today’s Colombia. Their number is hard to estimate, their names are hard to pronounce, and would not ring any bells, neither. So I’ll cut to the chase by saying that there were a pretty bunch of them. As most native American tribes, the first tracks and signs of them are estimated to have been emerged between 7000 and 3000 B.C. This is how a woman of one of those numerous tribes may have looked like.

The first time a Spanish man passed those locations was round about 1506, and the explorer Alonso de Ojeda was the first to enter today’s area of Cartagena. The 1500’s were the beginning of the end of the native’s ascendancy in whole America anyway.

Cartagena itself was founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia, who is to see on the next picture.

Pedro de Bastidas

With the foundation of a city by the Spanish invadors, of course, a colonialization of South America started. As this new city had a very advantageous location at the sea, it soon became an attractive destination for merchants and tradesmen, in first line the Spanish ones, of course. So, Cartagena’s business started to boom.

Of course, it had the effect of a bait. Guess for whom.

Pirate Flag

Of course, those guys were not too far away when they smelled some good opportunity to plunder. The criminals of back then – the Pirates. Cartagena became as well famous enough for French “mercenaries-in-law”, hired by the French king to conquer in the royal name. Lucky for the local one’s, the city was well guarded from the coast side, so that entering and robbing the city just like that was not too easy. Still, there was a ferocious pirate, a famous in fact, whose name was Francis Drake.

Sir Francis Drake

He succeeded in assaulting Cartagena, destroyed more than one quarter of the town and afterwards demanded a ransom which can be compared to a today’s worth of US$200 million. The damage taken under the command of the English mercenary had to be repaired of course, and the subsidies required reached about US$ 2 trillion!!!

Drake was one of the very few who could break the guards of this gigantic trading port. Before and after him, there were numberless pirates, privateers, admirals even, who, never mind their endeavor to conquer the city, failed with high casualties. To name them all here would just take too long.

After decades and even centuries of stability, the 19th century brought internal wars, revolutions and instabilities to Cartagena. An overall decline in the economic performance, life quality and wealth was, of course, the consequence. An enormous impoverishment was also inevitable. The good news is, that after that, a struggle for independence started, and with the beginning of the 20th century, it was guaranteed.

I guess that’s enough history for now. Let’s fast forward to our days.

Why is Cartagena good to mention and attractive for tourists? Of course, it lies in the Caribbean, where the climate and weather, in average, never goes below 20 degrees. Not only this is worth to enjoy for foreigners – within the city, ancient architecture meets modern districts and buildings, which gives it another certain flair. Let’s compare!

Ancient buildings of the colonialization-times

The Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

Skyline view of modern Cartagena

So, as we can watch very well, in Cartagena, which not only does lie in Colombia, an already exotic country in an exotic location, but additionally, in one city, “old-school meets new-school” =). People who love enjoying ancient architecture, gigantic beautiful castles and fragments of the past will love the city just like the ones who are into nightlife and party. A “Colombian Odessa”, in other words. With the little difference that in Cartagena, the temperature and good weather keeps constant throughout the year.

Having said that, I would like to shut up already and pass the word to my mate Carlos, who is eager to write about the “real Odessa”  =)))). I’m awaiting it already!!!

As a foreigner in Germany, I have a chance to get to know many other foreigners. Different people have different opinion about Germany. For me personally, I love Germany. I love the rich culture, the beautiful cities, the lovely countrysides, the magnificent mountains.  I’m really curious about how others think about Germany. For this reason, I have conducted a few informal interview with my own friends to see how they describe Germany.

Now, let’s listen Tomoko Ioki.

As you can say from the name, Tomoko is Japanese. She comes from Osaka and she has been living in Germany for 5 months now. Tomoko is an exchange student from my University (Berlin School of Economics and Law).

There will be more interview to come, so stay tune.

I want you to be interested (as I am) in an amazing place called Crimea. It is a peninsula at the Black See, connected to the Ukraine mainland  by the thiny Isthmus of Perekop. As an Autonomous Republic from Ukraine, belongs to it, but has a mainly independent Government.

The historical and cultural background of this peninsula (almost an Island) is incredible. This land, and specially the city Sebastopol (special district from Ukraine), had been conquered and controlled by an incredible number of different peoples through history.

Once habited by the already extinguished Cimmerians, was conquered by the Greeks, Persians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus‘, Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Tatars, Kalmyks and the Mongols only during the early history. Latter in the 13^th century controlled by the Venetians and by the Genovese, from the 15^th to the century to the 18^th by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, 20^th century by the Russian empire and the Soviet Union. During the second world war by Germany, and finally belongs to Ukraine. THAT IS CRAZY!!!

Since so many peoples have habited this land it is not surprising the mixture of different ethnics that live there. A majority is Russian (58%), followed by Ukrainians (24%), and Crimean Tartars (12%); despite the measures taken by Stalin which expelled tartar and other minorities during the Soviet Union times. The official language is Ukrainian; although most of the people recognize Russian as their mother language (even Crimean tartar is spread more as a mother language than Ukrainian).

Such is the incredible uniqueness of this territory in a cultural and historical matter. But that is only one of the things that make this land so incredible. The long and hot summers, the large quantity of museums, luxury hotels, and beautiful geography (unique in Europe due the vast biodiversity); make this a place to be discovered. Read the rest of this entry »