Donetsk was Hughes-ovka

Wow, that doesn't roll of the tongue quite like Istanbul and Constantinople, does it?  Hard to believe that you could fine a pair of city names that are harder to get into a song than the 2 that 'They Might be Giants' chose.

This is Donetsk:

I started looking into the city of Donetsk today because there is one potentially fatal flaw in our planned trip...  We only have about 40 minutes after the final whistle blows in the Shakhtar-Tottenham game to travel about 4 miles back the train station for our departure.  I was checking out the map and discovered there are some amazingly interesting things about this city.

• Shakhtar play in a stadium with 2 different names.  It is either called Locomotiv Stadium or Olympic Stadium.  Even weirder, they don't actually play in Shakhtar Stadium which is just a few miles from there - the other team in Donetsk does!  This is like the NY Mets playing at a place called Yankee Stadium.
• The city of Donetsk was founded by a Welsh guy!  His name was Hughes and it was originally called 'Yuzovka' for that reason.  It was renamed 'Stalina' in 1923, derived from the word for steel - the city's major industry.  It's only been called Donetsk since 1961 when it was "De-Stalinfied.'
• It used to be the capital of it's own Soviet Republic.
• It was the site of a Nazi concentration camp in which 92,000 people where killed, mostly Slavs.
• I have compared Shakhtar to the Steelers before and lo and behold, Pittsburgh is one of Donetsk's sister cities.
• In 1970 the city was called the world's cleanest industrial city by UNESCO.
• It is the home of world record pole vaulter Sergey Bubka - quite possibly the most dominant athlete in the history of sports.  Bubka broke the world record (usually his own) 35 times in his career and has held it unchallenged at 6.14 meters since his retirement in 2001.  No other athlete has yet been able to even reach 6.10 so his record is likely safe for the foreseeable future.

How about all that for a list of truly interesting facts!

New post type - Common Misconceptions

Today while sweeping I was hit by a new concept for posts on the blog.  It sort of bridges Facts of the Day, historical topics and cultural commentary in what I hope will be an interesting forum.  I plan to take something that is generally held as truth or common knowledge and reexamine the basic facts behind the assumption.  Some of the topics I was thinking about were, "Are Americans the only people who refer to soccer by that name?", a very timely "Do price controls on commodities help the consumer?" or if I feel really brave "The underlying facts of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict."  I hope that most will more light-hearted than that but it's one of the issues that comes to mind.  Also if you have a suggestion for a topic, I'll give it a shot.

There may be occasions in which what I consider to be a misconception wanders into some of your strongly held beliefs so please feel free to comment or attempt persuade me.

Yalta Trip

Here's another Ukraine slideshow.  This time it's our trip to Yalta earlier in the week to sightsee with the American work team and see them off in Simferopol.  Campbell stayed with Tanya for a few days to allow us a little vacation.

First some semi-interesting things about Yalta

• While not very far from Kerch and also a coastal city, Yalta has a sub-tropical climate; meaning that unlike the rest of Crimea, it almost never gets below freezing.  This is created by the sheltering affect of the mountains that ring the city.
• The Swallow's Nest castle is a symbol of Crimea and probably the most famous structure in all of Ukraine.  As you will see in the video it sits precariously on the edge of cliff thanks to an earthquake dropping its backyard into the sea.
• Yalta was the secondary capital of Czarist Russia, with the beautiful White Lavadia Palace as a little Emperor's cottage (the slideshow contains many photos of the palace).
• The Nikita Botanical gardens contain plants from all over the world - from bamboo to redwoods - and is one of the most relaxing places I've been.

We stayed in a sort of bed and breakfast in the "old city," a very expensive and very European area.  The place was wonderful but the same cannot be said for the neighbors.  The view was great (shown at the beginning of the slideshow) and owner was kind and accommodating.  Plus at $40 USD per person in the most expensive city in Crimea, you couldn't beat the price. 

LotD

Twitter and blogs can be a great way to stay in touch. Unfortunately, they both usually become podiums for the self-absorbed. It’s something we all need to keep in mind (myself included) when “tweeting” or writing a blog. There is a fine line between the two. 

From Slicky;

A mysteriously vanishing line (it appeared in my Bloglines version but was missing from his actual blog) that is a good reminder... 

New (Old) Churches in Kerch

With the parents in town this week and the weather cooperating, we decided to get out and see the sights yet again in Kerch.  This time we opted for a few places that were new (at least to me) which turned out to be some great locations.  The 2 that I wanted to highlight are Orthodox churches.  These are 2 of the less impressive but more representative churches in the area - with the 2 nearer buildings being absolutely gorgeous (pictures forthcoming).  The first three shots are of St John the Baptist Church in downtown Kerch.  It is the oldest church in Ukraine, being dated to the year 717.  The dome that can be seen in the first picture is the original with two more ornate domes having been added as part of the later construction.                                                           

This plaque near the front door needed to be seen as it is both very Russian and very Orthodox-y.

This church is typical of the village churches.  Much smaller than those in town - sort of resembling cheap knock-offs - these churches are nearly always these colors.  The domes are painted yellow where those of their more glamorous cousins are metallic; appearing to be gold plaited.  When I get my rechargeable batteries back from Paul (yet another visiting guest), I'll stop by the 2 nearby churches for pictures that will better display the disparity.

I still love this little place for it's simplicity...I guess I can picture Jesus here better than in the gold roofed churches.

Fortress Kerch

Yesterday we took a little excursion to the fortress in Kerch that is usually referred to as, "no, the other one." I posted earlier about the 18th century Turkish fort of Yenikale which is by far the more famous fortress in Kerch (so famous that it is the photo you see in our banner at the top of the page), but yesterday we got to visit a newer but vastly more interesting location. Part of my fascination with "Fortress Kerch" is that I literally cannot find any information about it online...the internet doesn't know a thing about it; at least not in English. I can't even figure out when it was built. I'll give as much as I know and show some of the pictures that either we took or I was able to find online.




According to the pieces I was able to hear and retain from our tour guide (who was one of the 3 caretakers of this location), this fortress was built during the Imperial Russian era at some point. I personally saw soldier's inscriptions dated 1890 and have been told that there were some much older. The confusion I had with dates may stem from the fortress having been an ongoing project, constantly being revised, updated and renovated over a long period. At the very least, it was a base for Russian/Soviet soldiers for several major wars in Crimea.





The entire complex used to contain over 300 buildings, most of which were at least partially underground. Today about 150 structures still remain. With its green rolling hills and grassy meadows, the area doesn't look at all like a military base. Part of this is from lack of use (it was closed to the public for a long time), but also because it was intended to be a confusing labyrinth of concealed magazines, bunkers and garrisons all connected by subterranean tunnels. Much of the area has a basement level of additional facilities underneath even the tunnel system. It was designed to be able to withstand an assault by a far superior force through constant troop movement, confusion and pre-determined ambush points. The thought and planning that went into its construction are remarkable. We were told that the walls were as thick as 7 meters (about 22 feet). The masonry is fantastic with large lengths of limestone (I think) walls still standing perfectly straight. I would almost say that with some new windows and doors, some of the structures would be every bit as nice as many of the inhabited buildings in Kerch itself...and that's after the Nazis assaulted the fort!





This place is by far the most interesting historical location I've seen in Ukraine and I will endeavour to discover more about it's background and military significance. Until then, here are some of the pictures that I found or took. Some were "borrowed" from some kind person who uploaded them to Google Earth.


This is the kind of strange architecture that is found in most of the facility. Relatively ornate walls fronting mostly underground buildings. The large opening is a tunnel to another open area of the facility. We have pretty much the same picture but I snagged this one since the grass was a little greener (isn't that always the case).

To give you an idea of the scale of this fortress, we spent 2 hours with the tour guide moving quickly from one point of interest to the next and I don't believe I ever saw this particular building.

I never did figure out for sure, but this is a bunker either for personnel or for long-range, vehicle-mounted missiles...I guess maybe both. Either way, it is clearly one of the more modern portions of the facility.

Structures like this are a dime a dozen here but each is still amazing.
The tour guide is on the far right of the main group in the brown coat. His interest in the fortress is largely due to his father having served there during WWII. At the time of the photo, he is describing an incident in which his father was smoking while standing guard at this gate. A commissar (sort of a Communist Party representative within the Soviet military), thinking he was using the cigarette to signal the Germans, stood him up against this wall, intending to execute him on the spot for treason. His life was only saved by the commissar's discovery that he was part of some secret spy/commando team that was based at the facility.

After walking in the cold sea air for over 2 hours with a tired 2 year old, we were less than pleased to learn upon the conclusion of the tour that the bus wouldn't be back for another hour. Since we would just be waiting by the road and it looked like rain was coming, we decided to start walking back to the camp. I figure the walk would have been about 3 miles had the bus driver not returned early and picked us up about a mile into our trek. I never knew how heavy 35 lbs of child could be after a while...

Does anyone care about these random historical explanations of the Crimea? If not, I can certainly put more time between them.

Out of order Fact of the Day: Crimean Tartars

This post may end up being long, but it explores an interesting part of Crimean (the peninsula/region in which we live) history that is extremely relevant to our current ministry in Kerch.  Above is the flag of the self-proclaimed independent nation of Crimean Tatars.  Their history is interwoven with that of Ukraine for the past 900 years and is as pertinent today as it was in the 1200's.  The story of the Tatars is extremely complex and polarizing, thus I have tried to look into it from different points of view, both written and anecdotal.  I'm not the biggest fan of Wikipedia but you may want to use it to get the basic idea on any unfamiliar terms.

First, the Crimean Tartars are a mostly Turkic (not to be confused with TurkISH), muslim people who live predominantly in Crimea (though this is actually their second attempt at populating the area).  They currently make up about 10% of the peninsula's population but this number will continue to increase due to migration and a significantly higher birth rate than the Russian and Ukrainian population.

Tatar roots in Europe can be traced back to the Mongol invasion in the middle of the 13th century (aka the 1200's).  Despite its name, this invasion was not entirely Mongolian in nature.  It is the common historical title given to a period of intense violent migration of nomadic Central Asian peoples to Eastern and Central Europe.  The westernmost portion of this empire was largely Turkic Muslims and they (along with some Caucasian Muslim converts) are the forbearers of the modern Tatars.  As the Mongolian empire collapsed under its own weight (as all empires eventually do) in the 15th century, the nobles in Crimea created an independent "Khanate" under Haci Giray.  Though it was quickly rolled into the greater Ottoman Empire as a protectorate, it maintained a great deal of autonomy and its power grew.  This was so much the case, that Crimean Tatars actually seized and burned Moscow in 1571.  Much of this strength was due to the financial success of their slave trade.  An estimated 3 million Ukrainians, Russians, Pols and Belarusians were seized and sold to the Muslim world.

Tatar fortunes turned in the mid-1700's as Russia increased in power and influence, until Crimea was taken militarily (see my post on Yenikale) and the Ottomans ceded their authority.  It has since been part of the Russian-speaking world.

There are a handful of interesting events that occurred in Russian Crimea between 1774 and the Second World War (including a steady stream of Tatar immigration from Crimea), but for our purposes the turning point came after the defeat of the Nazis in Europe.  In 1944, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin acted with sweeping power to punish the Tatars for the portion of their population that collaborated with the invading Germans.  All Tatars were forcefully and brutally relocated to the predominately Muslim central Asian Soviet Republics.  Upon the collapse of the USSR and creation of Ukraine's independent government, the opportunity for the Tatars to return presented itself.  In the 1990's the government of Ukraine officially invited the entire displaced Tatar community to return to Crimea

Here are the points of controversy:

I have been told that this invitation was issued by the Ukrainian government as a ploy to decrease the power of the pro-Russian contingent of the population that comprises the vast majority of Crimea (and the rest of eastern Ukraine).  There is currently a power struggle between the pro-western, Ukrainian-speaking portion of the country and that portion that is almost entirely Russian (in identity, language, loyalty, culture, ethnicity and sometimes even citizenship).  Here in Kerch most people are the latter and are not supportive of President Victor Yushchenko or the coalition that he represents.  I would not be surprised if for this reason they attribute underhanded, ulterior motives to the official repatriation invitation.

In Ukraine all land is owned by the state, thus we own the Hope Center buildings, but lease the land.  In areas such as Yalta and Simferopol, the Tatars have returned and built a multitude of what look like stone outhouses on very valuable land.  Though this sounds like squatting on public property, their laws state that an existing building cannot be razed, even if its owner doesn't have permission to be there.  This makes the Tatars (they think of this as community property) the de facto owners of this land.  I haven't figured out how they avoid paying for the property but I've been told that their goal is to combine small plots into larger parcels and build hotels or businesses.  This gives them a significant funding base from which to draw for lobbying cash ($ -the official language of Ukrainian politics).  Their stated goal is to eventually recreate the Crimean Khanate (under Sharia Law) via whatever means available.  I've been told by intelligent people here that within the next 20 years, Crimea will follow in the footsteps of Kosovo and Chechnya.  Tatars are immigrating to this region as an impressive rate and as previously mentioned, they are reproducing much faster than the non-Muslim population.

My interest in these people is derived from our constant contact with them in our programs.  Whereas most people within Kerch are Russian, the villages in which much of our compassionate outreach programs are conducted are (estimated) 70% Tatar.  Despite their unique heritage, I am still unable to distinguish an identified Russian from a Tatar.  The former Soviet Union was an EurAsian empire which intermingled people groups from Germany to China, yielding a wide variety of characteristics in those that call themselves Russian (or Ukrainian).  Add to this the fact that a Tatar might be a descendant of an eastern European convert to Islam and it makes the distinction very difficult.

Now that you know the history (those of you that actually read this monstrosity of a post) I hope that in the future when I mention the Tatar community of Crimea, you will have better understanding of the background.  I will endeavor to update or correct this basic overview as I learn more.

Sightseeing in Kerch

Earlier this week while we were both without internet and without work around camp, we decided to visit one of the more interesting features of Kerch's long history.  The Fortress of Yenikale (Еникале in Russian) is the impressive remains of a formidable Turkish battlement built starting in 1699.  During this period, Crimea was firmly in muslim hands and Yenikale was constructed specifically to keep it that way.  It guards the Strait of Kerch and thus the ability to move from the Sea of Azov (Russian territory) in the north to the Black and Mediterranean Seas (Turkish territory) in the South.  Any serious naval expedition would have to pass in front of Yenikale's impressive arsenal.  Like the Maginot Line (more history, kids...look it up!) in France, it ultimately proved to be guarding the wrong direction as the Russians invaded Crimea from the west and eventually defeated the fort from behind.

Since we didn't really know how to get there, we took our friend Jenya and hiked around a bit in the bitter cold.  We tried to avoid the graffiti and trash in our pictures but it is always interesting to see how little they seem to value what would be a priceless piece of history were it in the Western Hemisphere.

The fort isn't very popular on days when your spit freezes on your tongue.  We were the only people there and Jenya was able to stand in the middle of the road without impeding traffic for quite a while.

This is from inside the only remaining tower.  Through the gaps on either side of the spire you can just make out Russia in the distance.

This is looking up the hill from the main tower area.  We were later told that Tanya, one of our summer counselors, was born in the house that is just out of view to the right (actually within the fort's walls) - presumably built from stones scavenged from the crumbling fortress.

Campbell and Daddy always makes for great pictures.

Looking down at Sarry and Cam from the top of the "North Wall".

Fact of the Day: H is for Hryvnia

Today's fact is conveniently the official currency of Ukraine.  Though spelled hryvnia when transliterated to Latin letters from Ukrainian Cyrillic, in common Russian (the predominate language here) usage it sounds more like grivna.  According to the frequently semi-accurate Wikipedia, the hryvnia has only been in circulation since 1996 when it was exchanged at a rate of 1 to 100,000 for the nearly worthless former currency, the karbovanet.

The original use of hryvnia dates to 11th century Kievan Rus' (an empire centered on Kiev which consisted of much of present-date Ukraine, Belarus and western Russian) where it was also the official currency.  The entomology of the word is thought to have come from the early Slavic word griva, meaning mane, which was thought to be a reference to valuable metals worn as necklaces.  It later evolved into a designation of a standard weight of gold or silver ingot.

The exchange rate is a hair over 5 hryvnia to the dollar which is much more favorable than most European currencies.

Fact of the Day: G is for Gurkha

The subject for this post is one which I have been excited about sharing with you and I hope you'll find this as interesting as I do.  I first heard about the Gurkha from my dad a few years ago in reference to their service in the Falklands War in 1982 and I developed an instant respect.  As is customary, let's start at the beginning....

The Kingdom of Gorkha was centered in present day Nepal and claimed to have descended from invading peoples from further south and west.  In the 18th century the Gorkhas rose in power and prominence until their leader became King of Nepal.  Their expansion soon led to clashes with the British East India Company in India and eventually war in 1814.  By the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816 the British and the Gurkha (the Brits always find it necessary to change the spelling of native words, even just a little) had developed a mutual respect for each other's fighting prowess.  This was so much the case that the first Gurkha volunteer regiments within the British forces was created before the war-ending treaty was signed.  The peace with Nepal opened the opportunity to bring Gurkhas under the British crown en masse.  As further conflicts within India necessitated military involvement, the Gurkha units (though still commanded by Anglo officers) distinguished themselves as soldiers and gained a reputation as fearsome warriors.  This reputation was furthered by the widespread use of their distinctive Kukri blades in battle.  The knife (pictured in the hand of Victoria Cross recipient Tul Bahadur Pun) is a traditional tool and weapon with which young Gurkha men are proficient at an early age.  Part of their continuing legend is the tradition that once a Kukri blade is draw, it it cannot be re-sheathed without drawing blood.  The fact that this is simply that - legend - was irrelevant to the Argentine troops who abandoned machine guns and mortars ahead of the Gurkhas advance based solely on the Nepalis' fearsome reputation.  

Though Nepal has never been a British colony, over the past two centuries, 200,000 Gurkhas have served the crown in wars the world over and continue to do so in Afghanistan and Iraq.  They maintain their Nepali citizenship but serve an ally nation as their fathers and grandfathers - there has never been a female Gurkha - did before them.  They can still be seen in the UK, Nepal, Singapore and Brunei with their hats still jauntily cocked to the side and their Kukri on their hip.  See here for the Brigade of Gurkhas portion of the British Army site.

Fact of the Day - F: Fasces

The Fasces, as pictured at left, is quite simply a bundle of rods lashed together around a staff or ax. Dating to Roman times, the bundle represents the strength of a sum being greater than the individual (similar to the proverbial rope of three strands which is not easily broken). As such, it has traditionally been used to symbolize strength through unity or simply power and jurisdiction. It is one of the most common images in crests, coat-of-arms and national symbology.

It has been utilized as a symbol from ancient Rome to Mussolini's Italy and from Europe to America. The fasces is present in edifices for all three branches of US government (and both houses of Congress), the back of the Mercury dime, the Lincoln Memorial and numerous other places in DC and the state's capitals. It may be the most commonly represented object in our government buildings that most of you could not even identify...until now.

I had some trouble finding something even somewhat interesting for my "F" fact of the day. Please stay tuned for Gurkha...

E is for Elephant Lynching?!?

I really think that this time I am bringing you some unique history and I believe the picture backs up my claim.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I got the idea for an elephant post from the Discovery Channel. I subsequently stumbled across the story which has 3 "E" related subjects.

It is the narrative of Mighty Mary, a large elephant (E #1) performing with Sparks World Famous Shows circus in Tennessee in 1913. On the night of September 12th, she apparently tossed her assistant trainer, Red Eldridge (E #2) against a drink stand with her trunk and proceeded to stomp his head repeatedly, killing him. In her defense, most accounts agree that Eldridge, a hotel worker who had been a trainer for exactly one day, provoked the reaction in the five-ton animal by pestering her while she ate. This strange event became an immediate media sensation and agenda journalism took over. Rumors flew about "Murderous Mary's" past violent behavior and nearby communities that had been eagerly awaiting the circus' arrival, instantly began lining up to boycott the event. The furor quickly became so intense that she was shot two dozen times by a local blacksmith, which apparently did very little to the killer beast.

The purveyor of the circus, Charlie Sparks, bravely stuck by his animal for nearly 12 hours before succumbing to the community pressure and deciding that in order to save his traveling extravaganza, he must publicly execute poor Mary. She was taken by train to Edwin, TN (E #3) where she was to be hanged by a rail car crane on the 13th. The first attempt merely served to show that their noose chain wasn't strong enough and to break Mary's hip. The second try proved to be successful and she was buried next to the train tracks.

As far as I or Wikipedia know, this is the only known instance of Jim Crowe-style elephant lynching and a black mark on the history of the great state of Tennessee.

Fact of the Day, E: Part 1 - From Dentist to Elephant

You may wonder how I come up with alphabetically ordered Fact of the Day topics that are so riveting - or maybe you don't. Either way, I'll walk you through a typical post. Since I already know what letter then next topic must pertain to, I just keep my eyes open for objects which begin with that letter. Once I find a promising object, I usually do an internet search for interesting events that include this object. Here's the for instance...today I was sitting the dentist chair, above which is a TV tuned to the Discovery channel. There was an interesting looking (there was no sound) nature show with included elephants. During one scene, three elephants are traveling down a sand dune and I noticed that due to the constraints of leg length, in order to go down such a steep hill they had to walk with their front legs and drag their hind legs. It was fascinating to me both because it looked very funny and because I'd never heard that this was an issue (and I know a lot of useless junk!). This interesting fact reminded me that I am on E for Fact of the Day thus, upon my arrival at work I did a quick elephant search. The next post is the result of this query.

Fact of the Day - D is for Derby

A derby (pronounced DARBY in British English) is the shorthand for a local sporting rivalry. The opinions on the origins of this usage are extremely varied but it seems to have originated well before 1900 in reference to crosstown competitions in the UK. My personal favorite theory is that it comes from the Royal Shrovetide Football matches played in Derbyshire (or in the city of Derby itself) which were all-in matches involving as many as 1000 players per game with goals on either side of town. Deaths were standard in most meetings.

Two of the most heralded Derbies in Football were played Saturday. They were:

Liverpool v. Everton (Merseyside Derby) - The rivalry goes back to the 1890s when Everton FC, in a dispute with the owners of their home stadium - Anfield - relocated less than a mile away to the new Goodison Park. Out of spite, Anfield's owners started Liverpool FC which proceeded to became one of the world's most legendary footballing powerhouses, eclipsing the stadium's former tenants (ok, so I'm a little biased). To add to this rivalry, Liverpool's notorious fans played a major role in English football clubs being banned from European competition - coincidentally during the same period in which Everton was at it's zenith, depriving the "Blues" a coveted Euro Championship. So how did this most recent Merseyside Derby turn out? Liverpool 2 Everton 1 on 2 Dirk Kuyt penalty goals.

Is there a rivalry that can surpass that which occurs in Liverpool twice per year in passion, intensity and animosity? Oh yeah. The world's most contentious Derby is:

Celtic v. Rangers (Old Firm Derby) - Played as many as four times every year since Celtic's inaugural game in 1888 (nearly 380 meetings), this match-up pits the two most storied sides in Scottish football. Both from Glasgow, these clubs each represent opposing social, ethnic, political and religious communities. Celtic's traditional support is Catholic, largely Irish and Republican (in reference to the Northern Ireland issue) while Rangers has ties in the Protestant, Scottish and Loyalist communities. In the not so distant past, the sectarian nature of the games led to frequent violence and deaths were not uncommon. Still, even with reduced "extracurricular" activities, the Old Firm displays a raw tribalism that is fairly rare in the western world. Also played this weekend, the result was a surprisingly one-side blowout - Rangers 3 Celtic 0.

Fact of the Day - C: The Colosseum

As an interesting note, this post of the "C - Fact of the Day" is also my 100th post on this blog - C being the Roman numeral for 100. Pretty strange coincidence, huh?In honor of this, today's post will have a Roman flavor.

I present the Colosseum in Rome.


The edifice, completed in 80AD, was originally known as Amphitheatrum Flavium or Flavian Amphitheater after the family name of the Emperors who commissioned its construction. The term Colosseum derives from the Colossal statue for Nero that stood next to the arena. It hosted gladiator battles as well as less violent cultural events uninterrupted for almost 500 years. In its prime it was capable of seating roughly 50,000 spectators. The stadium floor, though sand covering wooden planks, was actually the roof of an elaborate, two-tiered underground maze from which people, animals and decorations could be quickly inserted into the arena for its assorted performances.

Fact of the Day - B, "Blackjack" Pershing

John J. "Blackjack" Pershing

Pershing was the only living General of the Army, the highest rank a US soldier can attain ( George Washington also achieved this rank but was so-named posthumously). He earned his distinctive nickname through his outspoken belief in the skill and professionalism of his African-American troopers during his time commanding the self-labeled "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 10th Calvary Regiment in the late 1800's. He was the commander and inspiration for the American Expeditionary force to Europe during WWI. In this, he commanded, either directly or indirectly, and was the inspiration for nearly all notable World War II-era US generals.

Interesting things I learn on a daily basis

In a discussion with Slick in past week or so, I confessed that I am worried that while we are in Ukraine, I may struggle to find continually interesting topics on which to post. OK...so this may not be a change from the current state of affairs but I still hope to increase my readership while we're overseas through stimulating writing. It was with this in mind that an epiphany hit me this morning.



What is my most redeeming conversation skill?



Clearly it must be the recitation of irrelevant but nonetheless interesting facts - generally about history. Why not translate this into short, sweet blog posts?



So, here is the first of many installments in my new alphabetical "Fact of the day" (which is not synonymous with "A fact a Day") category...





A is for Australia:






I must confess that Australia is a country about which I seldom think, at least until Mike loaned me a book called "In a Sunburned Country" by the fantastically funny Bill Bryson. It is essentially based up on the same premise I just stated...Australia is a fascinating country about which we know virtually nothing. If you'd like to remedy that, check out Bryson's book but I will convey some of my favorite random facts from his book:

1. In 1605 Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, a Portuguese explorer for the Spanish crown, endeavoured to find and claim the mythical southern continent for Spain and the Church. He left the Peruvian coastal city of Callao with 3 ships, one piloted by Spaniard Luis Vaez de Torres. Though successful in crossing the South Pacific (Torres' ship was the only one that completed the voyage), our friend Luis managed a miraculously unlucky threading of the needle. You see, after sailing over 9000 linear miles he was able to miss the 2500 miles of his target continent's eastern coastline, instead sailing obliviously through the now aptly-named Torres Strait between Australia and what is now Papua New Guinea - a mere 80 miles wide.


2. Though the interior of Australia - including the fabled Outback - is some of the least hospitable land on the planet, flora and fauna from elsewhere seem to love it. Today the desert-like interior is growing, encroaching on the natural grassland due to the ever increasing population of rabbits. The non-native animal was introduced to be hunted and proceeded to breed like...anyway...they have no natural predator on a continent of deadly predators. They continue to decimate the plant life, thereby turning plains into desert. Another example is the prickly pear cactus. Never a part of the Australian landscape, it arrived along with other seeds intended for cultivation. Now there are fields of cactus that nothing eats and nothing can kill - individual plants that span acres.

So that is Australia. I hope to make these more interesting when I have more than a lunch break to write.