The World's #1 Russian, Ukrainian & Eastern European Discussion & Information Forum - RUA!

This Is the Premier Discussion Forum on the Net for Information and Discussion about Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Discuss Culture, Politics, Travelling, Language, International Relationships and More. Chat with Travellers, Locals, Residents and Expats. Ask and Answer Questions about Travel, Culture, Relationships, Applying for Visas, Translators, Interpreters, and More. Give Advice, Read Trip Reports, Share Experiences and Make Friends.

Author Topic: Important dates  (Read 64949 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #25 on: April 12, 2014, 01:11:55 PM »
April 11 of 2011 was the date when a bomb exploded in Minsk (Belarus) inside Metro station Octabrskaya, killing 15 people and injuring many others. The station was opened in June of 1984.



12 April is Cosmonauts Day: День авиации и космонавтики.

Yuri Gagarin launched into space on 12 April 1961 in the spaceship Vostok 1.

ila_rendered





ila_rendered
(Yuri Gagarin and cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova)


ila_rendered
(Gagarian was greeted in London by thongs of fans.)



(Monument in Moscow)


ila_rendered


Yuri Gagarin was killed in a plane crash at the age of 34, just seven years after his famous manned space flight. Mrs. M and I are honoured to know his oldest daughter, Elena Gagarian, who currently serves as director of the Moscow Kremlin State Museum properties.

Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #26 on: April 12, 2014, 01:53:02 PM »
День ваий!




Today, 13 April 2014, is Palm Sunday or as often called in the East, "Pussywillow Sunday."


ila_rendered


Today you will find individuals and kiosks selling pussywillows on many street corners and certainly within walking distance of most churches.


ila_rendered
(photo by Anna Panchenko)

Above is the church known by locals as the "Forus Church" due to its location in the village of Forus near Yalta. The official name of the church is The Church of Christ's Resurrection.



(Mendeleyev Journal)

The photo above is from a previous Pussywillow Sunday at the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr in-the-Fields in Moscow. St. Catherine's is the American Embassy Church in Moscow and operated by the Orthodox Church in America. In ecclesiastical terms St. Catherine's is a metochion (подворье), an ecclesiastical embassy church from one country to another. Built in 1612, property ownership is split between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government. The liturgy is conducted in English and Old Slavonic.

The Moscow Embassy Church in Washington DC is the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist.

Offline Net_Lenka

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 731
  • Gender: Female
Re: Important dates
« Reply #27 on: April 12, 2014, 04:23:58 PM »
Mendy! Where is April 12 - Cosmonautics Day ?? Or it's not important enough  for you?

- А Вы кто такой будете?
-Тьфу на Вас
-А фамилия Ваша как?  -Тьфу на Вас еще раз .. а фамилия моя слишком известная, чтобы я её называл


Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #28 on: April 12, 2014, 08:08:20 PM »
You are right, Helen, and that is one reason why I left a blank page above. I had wanted to get the okay from Elena Gagarin to post a couple photos of her and my wife at the base of the monument but can't reach her as of yet. Mrs. M isn't that keen on having her photo on public forums either so I'm moving forward without those photos.

Offline Net_Lenka

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 731
  • Gender: Female
Re: Important dates
« Reply #29 on: April 12, 2014, 11:58:03 PM »
Well all after all it was not Elena or your wife who were the first in cosmos
- А Вы кто такой будете?
-Тьфу на Вас
-А фамилия Ваша как?  -Тьфу на Вас еще раз .. а фамилия моя слишком известная, чтобы я её называл

Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #30 on: April 20, 2014, 06:42:30 AM »
Easter in the East is not always celebrated at the same time as in the West due to the way it is calculated. This year (2014) of course both are celebrated on Sunday, 20 April.

Good Friday is the West is called Great Friday in the East.

Saturday is called Lazarus Saturday in the East.

Perhaps a full explanation of the Easter Celebration in Russia and the FSU is best gained by visiting the third highest ranking link on Google, the Mendeleyev Journal. Pardon a moment whilst we brag a bit. The link is here: http://russianreport.wordpress.com/religion-in-russia/easter-in-russia/

 
This Saturday evening the largest Orthodox Church in the world was jam packed with over 7,000 parishioners there to celebrate with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.



In attendance were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana Medvedeva, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.



In the photo a deacon assists President Putin and Mayor Sobyanin in lighting their Easter Candles. Unseen in this photo but standing next to Mr. Putin were Svetlana Medvedeva and Prime Minister Medvedev. Candles are lit with a flame transported via chartered airplane from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Orthodox Easter liturgies around the world are celebrated in what is called an "all night vigil" and services begin in the late evening and last until very early morning, typically a 3 hour service. The term for Easter is Пасха (Pash-ka) which is Greek and means “great night.”



Patriarch Kirill addressed the crisis in Ukraine by saying, “We pray for enemies to reconcile, for violence to stop. We pray that people be merciful to one another no matter what divides them and separates them from each other. All the children of our common Church have Ukraine in their hearts, and our hearts are aching for the suffering of the Ukrainian people."

Whether Христос воскрес (Christ is risen) is said as a greeting from one person to another or when in a service is shouted by the priest, the congregation or other person responds with Воистину воскрес (va-IST-in-oo vas-KRES) which means truly risen!.

It is common practice for the presiding priest to hand out tiny round Easter loaves about the size of a cupcake and also a red Easter egg. According to some Christian traditions when Mary Magdalene met Emperor Tiberius in Rome she greeted him with: “Christ has risen” ; whereupon he pointed to an egg on his table and quipped, “Christ has no more risen than that egg is red.” Legend has it that the egg turned red.

Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #31 on: May 01, 2014, 11:29:42 AM »
1 May: In Soviet times the first of May was a national holiday known as International Workers Day to call attention to common everyday working people and to lament the plight of oppressed peoples in capitalistic societies while celebrating the solidarity of the free and peace loving peoples who laboured jointly under Communism, and thus linking arms to build the brave new world.

Today is still an official holiday but is called Spring and Labour Day.

The good ole days:










Yes, the focus has changed somewhat:





Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #32 on: May 02, 2014, 07:54:26 PM »
2 May 2014

May God grant eternal memory as we pray for the departed souls of those who lost their lives in the street battles and fires in the city of Odessa, Ukraine yesterday, 02 May 2014. Lord, have mercy.

ila_rendered


(So that we don't have to delete posts, please don't make political comments here. No matter which side, each person was an individual, some mother's son or daughter, and worthy of remembrance.)

Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #33 on: May 08, 2014, 02:10:52 AM »
08 May

Day of the Red Cross.



The date of 08 May was chosen to honour the Swiss businessman and social activist Jean Henri Dunant (May 8, 1828 - October 30, 1910 ). He founded a society of volunteers to assist battlefield wounded and the movement became the start of what has today become known as the International Red Cross.




Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #34 on: May 08, 2014, 02:49:54 AM »
08-09 May begins the two-day Victory Day celebration across the former Soviet region and with especially large events in Moscow. Today, 08 May, is the day that President Putin and a special veterans delegation lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall.


ila_rendered


Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #35 on: May 11, 2014, 11:57:45 AM »
11 May 2014

с днём матери!  



We'll go ahead and include this date for Mother's Day even thought the real date in Russia is 30 November this year. I had thought of waiting until 30 November but my friend singer/poet Nikolay Gnatyuk (Николая Гнатюка) sent the card above with his expression of hope that Mrs. Mendeleyeva and Mum would enjoy the day.

I shot a PM back asking what kind of Rooskie was he anyway to not know the correct holidays and he replied that even a cold-hearted guy like myself should know that every day was a day to care for mothers.   :) 

Checkmate.

He is big hearted guy, plus more than a few Russian folk do celebrate this date too so what the heck.







We'll revisit the issue in November.


Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #36 on: June 11, 2014, 04:17:25 PM »
Today, 12 June, is the Day of Russia.

To help Westerners understand the purpose of this holiday, the day marks the adoption of a new name for the country, Russian Federation, and the new constitution. Americans might understand similar sentiments on 4 July.

It took a while for the day to catch on but in recent years interest and participation has grown.






ila_rendered









It is also the day when the President presents national awards in the Grand Kremlin Palace.

Offline Annushka

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1036
  • Country: ru
  • Gender: Female
Re: Important dates
« Reply #37 on: June 11, 2014, 09:43:15 PM »
Спасибо, Менделеев! :party0011: С Днем России, Россияне!!! :party0031:




Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #38 on: July 08, 2014, 01:28:06 PM »
08 July is the Day of the Family.



Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #39 on: July 17, 2014, 02:16:49 AM »
July 17

Quote
From the Saint Petersburg Times: On July 17, 1918, the Russian royal family was executed in Yekaterinburg following several months of confinement at the hands of the Bolsheviks. On the same day in 1998, the remains of the family were interred in a solemn ceremony at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg which was attended by Boris Yeltsin and more than 60 descendants of the House of Romanov.




Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #40 on: September 02, 2014, 02:09:19 PM »
we've some catching up to do. Sorry.

Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #41 on: September 02, 2014, 02:11:32 PM »
The traditional start of school is 1 September, and this year we should pause and reflect on a terrible tragedy that happened on ten years ago: the senseless killing of 186 children at Beslan school number one.

http://guardianlv.com/2014/09/russia-beslan-ten-years-later/




Offline mendeleyev

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12846
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #42 on: September 02, 2014, 02:25:12 PM »
ila_rendered


No matter how you say it:

1 сентября (Sept. 1)
День знаний (day of knowledge)
первый звонок (first bell)


ila_rendered


It is school time in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Read more and enjoy photos about "first bell" here: http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=12294.msg161150#msg161150


ila_rendered

Online 2tallbill

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 16559
  • Country: us
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Russia
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 10-20
Christmas Eve
« Reply #43 on: January 06, 2015, 05:32:46 PM »
Since Mendy hasn't been around lately, I will post this notice

January 6th is Orthodox Christmas eve. Angel Eyes has prepared a dinner
and make a cake using an enormous quantity of eggs.

Tomorrow January 7th is Orthodox Christmas. We don't exchange presents or
anything like that.

Here is an article titled
5 things you didn't know about Orthodox Christmas

It's written in the middle of Western Culture and Art Saskatoon Canada!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/5-things-you-didn-t-know-about-orthodox-christmas-1.2890728
FSUW are not for entry level daters. FSUW don't do vague FSUW like a man of action so be a man of action  If you find a promising girl, get your butt on a plane. There are a hundred ways to be successful and a thousand ways to f#ck it up
Kiss the girl, don't ask her first.
Get an apartment not a hotel. DON'T recycle girls

Online AvHdB

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 14933
  • Country: nl
  • Gender: Male
  • Spouses Country: Ukraine, Kiev
  • Status: Married
  • Trips: 20+
Re: Important dates
« Reply #44 on: January 06, 2015, 10:06:49 PM »
Last night on Christmas Eve, I cooked a dinner, which is the tradition here. Roast duck, Brussel Sprouts, sweet potatoes and roasted potatoes, some sort of beans with garlic.

Julia went to church at 10 pm and came back at 2 am.

For what it is worth -15 centigrade in Kiev with a bit of wind yesterday and tomorrow.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline Volshe

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4243
  • Country: 00
  • Gender: Female
    • moderndayruth
  • Spouses Country: Narnia
  • Status: Just Looking
Re: Important dates
« Reply #45 on: January 07, 2015, 02:38:03 AM »
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Douglas Adams


 

 

Registration