Do any of you have Ukrainian ancestry?

@msolga,

"russian Easter " will be playing on the big box. The Roman Catholic side of my family would be celebrating this week, and the Orthodox Catholics, in two weeks (I believe). We are a mixed Slovak peoples, with many reasons to never smile. The unifying feature of all Slovaks (besides a universal taste for garlic sausages with horseradish), is a profound sadness that can only be expurgated by large quantities of alcohol.

My RC side, its been said, only became christian converts to avoid reprisals of the Czar.

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@farmerman,

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The Roman Catholic side of my family would be celebrating this week, and the Orthodox Catholics, in two weeks (I believe).

My family did both, farmer! Talk about a trial! Wink

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We are a mixed Slovak peoples, with many reasons to never smile.

HaHa! I know, I know, I know! Razz

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The unifying feature of all Slovaks (besides a universal taste for garlic sausages with horseradish), is a profound sadness that can only be expurgated by large quantities of alcohol.

Sadly this is all too true (especially when it comes to vodka! Wink

), but the food is a bit of a consolation, isn't it? (Though I think I recall you once said you found the food rather poxy, not your taste?)

Just curious, farmer: are you a pirogi person or a varynky person? This is an important demarcation question!

You know (looking back over this long-lost thread) I wish Sturgis would return so we could could continue to bicker - with great passion! - about Ukrainians & Poles. The relative merits of both & all. It was fun. Smile

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@msolga,

UKRAINIANS ARE POLAKS , just with a slightly bigger alphabet.

I generally hate all boiled, fried and crusty fried foods . Ive heard both vernyicki , pierogi ,and BLEENYEE ( im doing as best I can by becoming the phonetic DAve of Ukey speak).

Bleenyees were usually fruit filled and covered with a seeetened sour cfream (Hotsauce)
I would kill my next door neighbor for a good bleenyee. all warm and sweet with a sour edge from the "SCHMARTZNIE MLEKA"

HOWEVER, the basic 3 sausages
Kabirnozsy
Kielbasi
Krakowska

Are some of the best flavors produced by hands of man(or woman). I have no idea why the krakowska is feminine and the others are masculine. The voice endings have always confused me cause they never had the logic of German.

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@farmerman,

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UKRAINIANS ARE POLAKS , just with a slightly bigger alphabet.

Ha. You better not say that to any of super nationalistic Ukrainians I've come across, farmer! (Especially with links to the western part of the country.) You would have a bit of a fight on your hands! Wink

(Also from the super nationalist Poles!)

This extreme nationalism (say nothing of the church!) is something that seriously turned me off all things Ukrainian when I was growing up. A huge disappointment for my parents. I was a bit of a pain about it, I'm afraid. Just couldn't cope with it at all, say nothing of the politics that often accompanied it. Aghhhh!
It was only much later in the piece, when the dust had settled, that I explored & "embraced" my cultural heritage. Now I think we're OK!

But I never had any problem with Ukrainian food. That I loved! Very Happy

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Ive heard both vernyicki , pierogi ,and BLEENYEE ( im doing as best I can by becoming the phonetic DAve of Ukey speak)

And all of them fantastic!

Whatever they're called!

Quote:

HOWEVER, the basic 3 sausages
Kabirnozsy
Kielbasi
Krakowska

Are some of the best flavors produced by hands of man(or woman). I have no idea why the krakowska is feminine and the others are masculine. The voice endings have always confused me cause they never had the logic of German.

No argument with that! Kielbasi is the one I'm most familiar with. Yum.

A feminine sausage? Goodness, I had no idea! I wonder how come?

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@farmerman,

Easter is almost over and e spent the day just talking with neoghbors and having a dinner with one of the kids and us and Jim who lives by himself ina house at the edge of our farm. We had some kabinoszy and kielbasi with horse radish

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I had a rare bit of practise with my very basic, rusty Ukrainian yesterday. Visited my mother at her aged care facility in the country.

My niece (who lives near there & visits her more often than I am able to) had told me that she'd had a lot of trouble communicating with her, because she'd reverted to speaking in Ukrainian almost exclusively. (My niece speaks no Ukrainian at all, having been brought up in an exclusively English/Australian speaking environment.)

Sadly for my mother, there are no other Ukrainian speakers at her facility, so obviously she is not able to communicate much with anyone else at all.

Anyway, as I said, my Ukrainian is pretty crumby & not much used these days. But I stubbornly persist with it when talking to my mother or my aunt. (While making a bit of a goose of myself in the process, I'm sure. Smile

) It's an odd thing, but it just feels all wrong when I communicate with either of them in English, dunno why that is ... my aunt tells me that her offspring now communicate with her exclusively in English, but me, I persist....

Anyway, back to my mother ...
We actually spent quite a nice few hours together (which is not always the case!). Just asked her a lot of questions about years ago & let her talk & talk.
"Do you think that Uncle George was actually a bit mad?", I asked (I know for sure he was! Wink

)
And " What about the first Olga? What happened?" (She died. I was the "replacement", I think. Neutral

)
I found out a lot of things I'd wanted to know about for ages.

I think that was the first opportunity in ages (maybe since my last visit?) that she'd had the opportunity to speak in her own language. And she thrived on it! Which made me wonder, if she was not nearly so out of it (with Alzheimers) as her doctors & others might think. It might actually be that she just doesn't get to communicate properly too much?

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I once worked for a man who was born in the Ukraine. He was driven. If he gave you a coke, you were to sip it occasionally, but not miss a beat at your work. Sometimes, he would take a ten minute break for lunch and then help me eat the lunch I brought. But we were friends, despite what I just wrote. He and his family moved to East Germany to escape communism. They were innocents, not knowing the situation there at first. They were put in a compound with many other Ukrainians. Not allowed to grow things or have animals, they made a sort of covered pit to hide such things in. The family made it to Chicago when he was 14. As soon as he was old enough, he worked for the railroad. The job allowed him to build up his stake and then open a restaurant. He said the employees stole him into bankruptcy. He came to our area and began building apartments, as a general contractor. He had a booming voice that he could project from one end of the job site to the other. His parents came around the job several times. Very Old World. I don't know where he is for certain today, but he began a drywall business last I knew of him.

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@farmerman,

Quote:

Easter is almost over and e spent the day just talking with neoghbors and having a dinner with one of the kids and us and Jim who lives by himself ina house at the edge of our farm. We had some kabinoszy and kielbasi with horse radish

More of a nodding acknowledgment to "cultural tradition" than I made, farmer.

(Actually, I think I've been put off horse radish for life! All of those traditional "breaking fast" (since midnight. Oh my rumbling stomach! ) Easter Sunday lunches after the interminable church service! It was hard on a little kid! Wink

)

Is Jim Ukrainian?

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@msolga,

I'm glad you had a good time!

I thought it was a common thing that people lose their English (or whatever is not their first language) as they age and become unable to communicate except in their first language?

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@msolga,

I dont know what nationality he is, hes a native oof our town and has lived in the old house he has for his entire adult life. His wife dies sevarl years ago and hes alone . He keeps himself busy by pruning and digging in gardens (including his). Hes a wealth of natural information and he introduced me tp "Ramps" almost 20 years ago.
There was a time when he and I werent speaking back in the days when I drank a bit and did some stupid **** with explosives. (never mind). Hes forgiven me and were great friends and we can laugh about the unfortunate way I sent a tree stump hurtling near his property line

PS my wifes mom had ALxheimers induced by some head trauma from an accident. It was sad but there were times when she was unexplainably lucid for hours and these were always good times for Mrs F.

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@edgarblythe,

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He was driven.

Certainly sounds like he was, edgar! I knew quite a few of those when I was growing up. Also knew a few others who appeared (to the young child I was) rather crazy & very driven. God knows what their experiences had done to them.

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He and his family moved to East Germany to escape communism. They were innocents, not knowing the situation there at first. They were put in a compound with many other Ukrainians.

Ah. My parents were (what's the correct term?) "forcibly moved" to Germany towards the end of WW2. Forced labour camp. My father worked in a munitions factory there for years. Still, they say it was a better option than staying put in their bit of the Ukraine. Anyway, the couldn't return & became :displaced people" like heaps of others & that's how we all ended up in Australia. Best thing that ever happened, my dad said! Smile

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Pidmanula Pidvila
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kVS2CLlEo8&feature=related

Ty kazala v ponedilok
pidem razom po barvinok
Ya pryishov tebe nema,
Pidmanula, pidvela

Ja zh tebe pidmanula
Ja zh tebe pidvela,
Ja zh tebe molodoho
Z uma-rozuma zvela.

Ty zh mene pidmanula,
Ty zh mene pidvela,
Ty zh mene molodoho
Z uma-rozuma zviela.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidmanula_Pidvela_(song)

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@dlowan,

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I'm glad you had a good time!

Yes, it was a bit of a surprise, Deb!

She actually laughed quite a bit. Surprised

Now I know how to "do" these visits. Ask lots of questions about the past (In Ukrainian, of course) & just listen. I'm sure, too, she enjoys talking non-stop much more than listening to me! Wink

Quote:

I thought it was a common thing that people lose their English (or whatever is not their first language) as they age and become unable to communicate except in their first language?

That's my understanding, too. Though she can (& does) still speak English when she chooses. I suspect that not speaking English (when she could) is her way of withdrawing from contact she doesn't want. Rather a concern.

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@farmerman,

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I dont know what nationality he is, hes a native oof our town and has lived in the old house he has for his entire adult life.

Some variety of Slav, though, by the sounds of it, farmer. It's the horse radish & sausage connection! Smile

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There was a time when he and I werent speaking back in the days when I drank a bit and did some stupid **** with explosives. (never mind). Hes forgiven me and were great friends and we can laugh about the unfortunate way I sent a tree stump hurtling near his property line

Never mind? What do you mean, never mind?!!!
I'd be so fascinated to know! Razz

(Just kidding, farmer. You can bury your impetuous youth. I won't ask you to dig it up again. It's OK. Wink

)

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PS my wifes mom had ALxheimers induced by some head trauma from an accident. It was sad but there were times when she was unexplainably lucid for hours and these were always good times for Mrs F.

Yes, and apart from anything else, it's also a relief to be able to "get through" to the person. Glad Mrs F had some good times, along with the other, more upsetting times.

Strangely enough, my mother (who I don't think actually liked me all that much, really) is generally pretty lucid when talking with me now. But it might just be the language thing, I don't know.

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@Pamela Rosa,

Pamela!

Fancy running into you here! Surprised

Are you Ukrainian?

I'm going to have to get a translation of that song, because I can't read a word of Ukrainian, What an ignoramus, hey?

Listening now.

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@Pamela Rosa,

Ha!

My childhood just flashed in front of my face!

You have no idea how many such performances, how many cultural events, that brings back!

Kind of makes me feel warm & fuzzy & rather squirmy at the same time! Laughing

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@Pamela Rosa,

Seek & ye shall find!

Here's an English translation of the song.

(This girl is obviously a tease & will never turn up for the date! Wink

:

Quote:

In this joking song the guy complains to his girl that every time they make plans to meet she doesn't show up, she's fooling him.

Ty kazala v ponedilok,
pidem razom po barvinok.
Ya pryishov - tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela.

Chorus:
Ty zh mene pidmanula, ty zh mene pidvela
Ty zh mene molodoho z uma-rozuma zvela.

(You said that on Monday,
We'll go together for flowers,
I came, you weren't there,
You tricked me and let me down.

You tricked me, you let me down
You're making me, a young lad, go crazy.)

Ty kazala u vivtorok,
potsiluyesh raziv sorok.
Ya pryishov- tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela.

(Chorus)

(You said on Tuesday
That you will kiss me 40 times.
I came, you weren't there
You tricked me and let me down.)

Ty kazala u seredu
Pidem razom po cheredu
Ya pryishov- tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela.

(Chorus)

(You said on Wednesday
We'll go together with the flock*
I came, you weren't there
You tricked me and let me down.)

(*hard to translate "chereda". Chereda is a group/flock of cows or other farm animals, usually of the whole village, that are taken to the posture.)

Ty kazala u chetver
Pidem razom na concert
Ya pryishov, tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela

(Chorus)

(You said on Thursday
We'll go together to a concert
I came, you weren't there
You tricked me and let me down)

Ty kazala u piatnyciu
Pidem my na vechornytsi
Ya pryishov, tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela

(Chorus)

(You said on Friday
We'll go together to a party,
I came,... )

Ty kazala u subotu
Pidem razom na robotu
Ya pryishov, tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela

(Chorus)

(You said on Saturday
We'll go to work together
I came,...)

Ty kazala u nediliu
Pidem razom na vesilia
Ya pryishov, tebe nema
Pidmanula, pidvela.

(Chorus)

(You said on Sunday
We'll go together to a wedding.
I came,

[/color]

http://www.ukraine.com/forums/music-art/9768-pidmanula-pidvela.html

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Do any of you have Ukrainian ancestry?

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