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February 2016 | № 2 (149)

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Are Sweets a Forbidden Fruit?

Or All You Wanted to Know

about Desserts Korchma in Nepal: Night in the Jungle, Extreme Rafting, and Wild Animals

Music Format:

A Family Called Pikkardiyska Tercia

Kvitka Cisyk: Wi-Fi in all restaurants

An Immigrant Who Revealed Ukrainian Music to the World

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2 | culinary

Are Sweets a Forbidden Fruit? Or All You Wanted to Know about Desserts In winter, when the weather is frosty, nothing feels better than a cup of hot tea with a piece of cake or pie in the coziness of your home. Not only does this warm you, but it also cheers you up and increases brain activity. Though, a lot of people abstain from such pleasures due to the allegedly detrimental effects of sweets. But is everything so black and white? Or can a dessert be not only delicious, but also healthy?

It is a well-known fact that glucose produced in a human body after the consumption of sweets is a universal generator of energy needed to maintain metabolic processes. Amino acids contained in desserts stimulate the production of serotonin which is also called a happy hormone because it brings about a surge of joy and helps to relieve stress.

Desserts with a low content of fats and sugar made of honey, nuts, milk products, berries, and fruit (including dried ones) rich in protein, vitamins, fiber, pectin, and antioxidants are considered to be the healthiest. Prunes, for example, are indispensable when you have digestion problems because they normalize digestive activity and give you a sense of fullness. Honey is used not only in cooking, but also in alternative medicine for the great effect it has on our body.

Nuts are not only a delicious ingredient of our favorite dishes, but also one of the

most important components of a healthy diet. Nuts contain Omega-3: unsaturated fatty acids. Nuts have a positive effect on brain and heart activity and stimulate the elimination of harmful cholesterol from the body. All types of nuts are particularly rich in nutritious elements, vitamins, and minerals.

Milk products such as cottage cheese, yoghurt, and other types of dairy cheese can be used as the base of desserts or as their ingredients.

Among them there are cheese cakes, puddings, mousses, and ice cream.

Fruit and berries are a gold mine of vitamins and minerals. Fruit and berries are used as stuffing in pies, buns, and pancakes, and as cake decoration. And such a delicious dessert as sorbet is made of juices and purĂŠed fruit.

Korchma offers its guests a wide choice of home-made desserts containing natural and healthy ingredients. These are sorbet (lemon, berry), ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry), apple strudel, and fruit pie (with plums, cherries, or apples and pears). A prune roll with nuts is a true vitamin and mineral “bomb.� Honey cake, raspberry cake, sour cream cake, poppy cake (also containing raisins, dried apricots, and prunes), and many others will not only indulge you with their rich and creamy taste, but will also give you a good boost of energy.

High-calorie desserts so appalling to a lot of people can come in handy when you have a strenuous activity coming up or during freezing temperatures. Brown sugar, chocolate, honey, and dried fruit can become particularly effective energizers. Simple carbohydrates contained in such products are consumed fast because of their un-

culinary | 3

complicated chemical structure, so you will feel a surge of energy right away.

Debates about the harm and benefit of sweets have been waged by scientists for many years.

Recently, British researchers discovered that tea with lemon and a piece of a chocolate cake with vanilla and cinnamon is an excellent immune stimulator. Such a combination of products improves the absorption of vitamin C, which is really irreplaceable, and the release of stress hormones is stopped. This actually protects the body’s immune system.

It is by no means less important that the combination of chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon stimulates the creation of immunoglobulin A, which stops the reproduction of pathogenic germs.

It is a common fact that people with a sweet tooth age slower because of the ever-incoming supply of antioxidants. Honey, bitter chocolate, prunes, and raisins are great helpers here. And whole-grain flour baked goods (crisp breads, rolls, cakes) are extremely rich in fiber, which is needed to eliminate harmful substances from the body.

Those who like to spend their time at the gym should eat well several hours before training and should avoid the heavy feeling in their stomach. If this is a problem, energy bars with dried apricots, prunes, raisins, etc., are perfect. You can also eat toast with honey or whole-grain rolls with raisins. Carbohydrates, fats, and vegetable proteins con-

tained in these products are consumed gradually and supply the body with energy before a physical activity.

Our hair and skin needs vitamin E, particularly in winter. Vegetable oils are rich in vitamin E. And if you want to combine something pleasant and healthy, halva is a great option for that. Dishes with nuts and sunflower seeds can also replenish the supplement of this vitamin.

Still, the consumption of desserts can never be uncontrolled and excessive. The amount of sweets you eat must be moderate (100-150 g) and it is better to eat it in the first part of a day, before 3 p.m. All of you good figure minded folks should acknowledge that a craved-for piece of a cake contains a ton of calories and that after a cup of tea with a sweet dessert, you would benefit greatly from a brisk walk. Only then a dessert will not only be delicious, but also healthy.

Text by: Olga Sinyugina

Our Top Winter Dessert!

The Moscow Cake is now available at Korchma restaurant!

Don’t miss your chance to try a new exquisite delight!Â

4 | interview

A Family Called

Pikkardiyska Tercia The a cappella vocal group Pikkardiyska Tercia recently turned the twenty-third page of their artistic biography. During this time, the wonderful Lviv sextet released 14 albums, toured Ukraine many times, and performed abroad. Tercia is a unique band for the Ukrainian scene. Not only due to their singing, but also because in the more than 23 years of their existence there was only one change in the group’s formation, at the very outset. The artists say their concerts are attended by several generations of listeners – all who grew up to the songs of Pikkardiyska Tercia! We spoke with two members of Tercia: artistic director Volodymyr Yakymets and soloist Yaroslav Nudik. each other’s eyes, feel each other’s strong shoulder, and sing for those who want to listen to us. Therefore, 23 years of Tercia can be compared with 23 years of married life. This is a very philosophical age. The age when all members of the family are wise and balanced, when they have learned to live with each other. This is the biggest value.

– 23 years for a band is quite a long time...

– Yaroslav Nudik: We are often asked about the phenomenon of our creative longevity. My answer is this: our phenomenon is that during the first ten years of Tercia’s existence we did not dream about commercial success. All we did was come together, sing, write new songs. Even-

tually our team grew into a family.

Yes, we have our disputes and quarrels at times, just as any family... But what is most important - we forgive each other for mistakes. In general, we give each other the right to make these mistakes. Anything can happen ... But in the end we all get on a bus or a train and go to a concert.

We come out on the stage, look into

– Do you remember yourself at the age of 23?

– Yaroslav Nudik: I was 23 in 1991. It was three years after I returned from the army. I was a member of Kuren duet then and had already written the song “Guerrillas walked through the village” which is thought to be a folk song now. At 23 I already knew the guys with whom we created Pikkardiyska Tercia a year later. At 23, I already had a two-year-old son.

And yet, it was the year of Ukraine’s independence. It was the time of the nation’s establishment, a very difficult time: idling in queues, a kind of market era when everything could be bought only at the market... Some

kind of primitive communal system, in a word. (He smiles.)

Volodymyr Yakymets: When I was 23, I was definitely younger. (He smiles.) It was in 1997, Pikkardiyska Tercia was five. I lived more than an exclusively creative life then, I didn’t give much thought to the daily grind and such other nonsense. Actually, in 1997, Tercia released their first CD album, “Garden of Angelic Songs,” with the Genik Rawski’s ingenious cover design, for which he received an award. At that time we had already recorded “Hermit” and “An Old Tram.” This new album also included “Despite...” and “River Bank.” By the end of 1997, we made our first music video for the song “Despite...”. That same year we even had our first big solo concert at the Lviv Opera. Vlodko Kaufman made a stage design in which we descended on the stage on some kind of swings, dressed in white “angel” robes. We filmed that concert, and it was the first video version of our performance. In short, when I was 23, Tercia lived through a very creative period. Now everything is

interview | 5

different from before: we have less time for creativity because we have a lot of concerts and tours. For example, since May 2014 we have traveled all over Ukraine three times with our performances and have played more than one concert abroad.

But is the present time less favorable for the development of Ukrainian music? What is your overall assessment of the state of contemporary Ukrainian music culture?

Volodymyr Yakymets: Ukrainian music culture is developing. We have many examples: The Hardkiss, The Maneken, Dakh Daughters, and also ONUKA – they all prove that high quality music can reach the listener.

This should be an incentive for others. In general, our music culture has always kept pace with the world. On the other hand, very few people know about it. Radio frequencies were filled with a very different cultural product for years. Unfortunately, if you turn on the radio or television, you will hear and see that the situation has not changed much today... The changes will be implemented only when Ukrainian media embraces Ukrainian musicians. So far, they have not done that.

And there are no changes in the legislation. Media owners should be able to make a profit from playing Ukrainian music. We need to apply the method of “carrot and stick”: on the one hand, put forward certain requirements and fines for their violations (for example, to avoid the situation when Ukrainian music is played only at night), and on the other, to encourage them: to offer incentives for more Ukrainian-language songs.

– You tour a lot. How do your families take it? Don’t your wives take offense when you are away from home, for example, during the holidays?

– Yaroslav Nudik: As a rule, I am personally away from home on my wife’s birthday, November 29. And this

“rule” has happened for five years in a row: on this day we have concerts.

How does my wife take it? She knew who she was marrying. (He smiles.) On the contrary, our concerts, tours are not an occasion for quarrels, but for joy. Our wives can only rejoice: their husbands are popular, they earn money. My wife would probably scold me if I was lying on the couch at home. As for me, I’m happy when I’m not home, especially on the weekend, I do not have to do the cleaning. (He laughs.)

You have repeatedly inspired Ukrainian football players when you sang the national anthem of Ukraine before important matches. Each member of Tercia even got a personal uniform with their names on the jerseys from team players back in the day.

Do you yourself play football in your spare time?

– Yaroslav Nudik: It just so happened that we are often invited to sing the national anthem of Ukraine before matches of the national team, and before matches of Karpaty and Dynamo. And almost always a match with our participation was victorious for our team. Therefore, journalists and fans dubbed Tercia a talisman for the players. We were very pleased to hear it. Moreover, everyone in our band is a football fan. And back in the day, when we did not have bellies, we loved to play football ourselves. Perhaps the most enthusiastic player of all is still me. (He laughs.) I would gladly resume our games if the concert schedule allowed it. As to the jerseys that we received, I have a jersey with number 7 on it, the number of Shevchenko. That fully corresponds to my position on the field: I have always, ever since summer camps, been a halfback.

– What are some of the most memorable things your fans have done?

– Volodymyr Yakymets: Personally, I was struck by a story of a woman

from Kyiv who, when giving birth to triplets, asked the doctor to play on repeat our song “Garden of Angelic Songs” in the delivery room. A year later, this woman invited us to perform at the birthday party of her babies. And only then did we learn about how our songs were involved in a triple happiness of this family. Incidentally, with regard to children - we have already gathered a gallery of children’s drawings of Pikkardiyska Tercia. We

must organize an exhibition some time or other. (He laughs.)

Yaroslav Nudik: And there was an interesting story associated with the song “Fog in the Ravine” performed by us. One woman wrote us a letter of thanks saying that this song helped her son, who had a mental illness, to recover. She was regularly playing the song for him.

Halyna HUZIO Photo by the band’s press service

6 | History

February 1 Day of the Reverend Macarius the Great Enthronement Day of His Holiness Cyril \ Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

February 6 Day of Blessed Kseniya of Petersburg International Bartender’s Day

February 7 Day of Saint Gregory the Theologian Day of the Mother of God Icon

February 9 Synaxis of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

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february

International Bartender’s Day February 11 Day of the Holy Martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer

February 12 Day of the Three Hierarchs – St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom

February 14 Day of Saint Martyr Tryphon Valentine’s Day

February 15 Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

February 23

Defender of Motherland Day

February 25 Day of Hierarch Alexis of Moscow, Miracle-worker of All Russia Day of the Our Lady of Iver Icon

Exploring the North: The Wreck of the Chelyuskin Steamship On February 13, 1934, the ice of the Chukchi Sea crushed the steamship Chelyuskin whose crew embarked on an ambitious endeavor to pass through the Northern Sea Route. The sailors wanted to prove that not only powerful icebreakers, but also ordinary cargo ships could go through it. However, this brave venture ended up a great catastrophe. More than 100 people, among them women and small children, were evacuated from the crushed ship and landed on a drifting ice floe. The news about the accident spread around the world. Everybody discussed the ship and its passengers, and so the Chelyuskin became legendary. Much later that it was called the Soviet Titanic and people told stories of this expedition, but back then, in 1934, Moscow did everything possible to rescue the travelers.

This story starts with the declaration that the Soviet government made in 1923 stating that all the lands located in the Soviet sector of the Arctic belonged only to the USSR. The decision was announced in the Soviet Union despite a lot of other countries claiming this territory. For example, Norway had expressed its right to Franz Josef Land since olden times.

Certainly, it was not enough to announce the priority of the USSR. The main thing was to bring it to life and once and for all to prove to the world that the state was really able to explore the Arctic Ocean coastline effectively. An ordinary steamship Chelyuskin built in Denmark at the Burmeister & Wain shipyard was to become a trailbreaker. The ship had to deliver food, fuel, and equipment along the whole coastline as well as to visit Wrangel Island.

The venture was more than ambitious. It was a crazy idea because the ship was not meant for such extreme transportations. It was supposed to be reequipped for sailing in extreme climate conditions, but only some work was done. It is not surprising that the experienced polar sailor Vladimir Voronin as-

signed to be the captain of the ship criticized the boat immediately: “The structural frame is weak. The icebreaker’s width is big. The bilge part will be susceptible to hits. This will affect the durability of the hull. The Chelyuskin is not suited for this route.” But he could not do anything but take command because it was impossible to disobey an order in the Soviet Union.

It is worth mentioning that they chose an ordinary ship to do such a hard journey for some objective reasons as well. All icebreakers and ice cutters sailing at that time under USSR flags were purchased abroad. They had little cargo space, so they were not appropriate for considerable freight. It was hard to explore the North on a large scale by relying on them only.

History | 7

And so Voronin became the captain of the ship. The whole expedition was headed by Otto Schmidt, the chief of the Directorate of the Northern Sea Route. The latter became prominent because he had managed to get to the Bering Sea through the White Sea during one a trip on an ice-breaking steamer called Alexander Sibiryakov. He was the first person to ever navigate through the Northern Sea Route. At that time, the ship collided with an ice floe and lost its screw propeller, so the last part of the route was finished with the help of a sail and a tugboat. But the importance of the achievement was not diminished by this. Otto Schmidt’s feat was mentioned in all newspapers. He got several prestigious state awards and, of course, he wanted to break his own record.

The expedition started on July 16, 1933, in Leningrad. A huge crowd gathered on the quay for this occasion. Everyone wanted to have a look at the creation of Danish shipbuilding and see the brave sailors off before the long voyage. The Chelyuskin sailed from Leningrad and headed for Murmansk. It stopped at the docks of a manufacturing company in Copenhagen where some defects were found and fixed. On August 2, 112 people boarded the ship and set off from Murmansk to Vladivostok.

It is worth mentioning that the crew that was going to conquer the Northern Sea Route were diverse and did not take the voyage seriously. They saw it as an exciting sea trip. Everyone believed in the success of this expedition so much that one of geodesists even took his pregnant wife along with him.

Historians say that there were a lot of extra people on the expedition. Several facts prove that the organizers did not think everything through. For example, the ship was considerably overloaded in Leningrad. Some of the passengers were geodesists who were planning to settle on Wrangel Island, so they took blocks to build houses with them. It was preplanned that during a certain stage of the voyage the Chelyuskin would be accompanied by icebreakers. The ship carried 3,000 tons of coal for them. Moreover, there were 500 tons of fresh water and also cows and pigs. As a result, the ship was an extra 80 centimeters below the waterline.

Three-quarters of the route were successful.

The expedition continued even despite the fact that ice damaged the ship. But when it reached the Chukchi Sea, the Chelyuskin was

damaged even more, so there was a leak in hull. The ship could not get through the ice because of its dents.

The steamship drifted for four months, but it got to the Bering Strait by way of chance, and actually passed the Northern Sea Route.

The ice was thinner; there were only several miles left to clean water. The Litke icebreaker which was located close to the ship offered its help, but Otto Schmidt refused. He thought that in several hours the ship would reach water without any help. But suddenly the ice started to move in a completely different direction, so the ship was carried away toward the north-west. By then, there were no more icebreakers to call for help.

On February 13, 1934, the Chelyuskin could not sustain the pressure of the ice, and its hull cracked. Water and ice filled the ship. Everybody understood that the ship would not float for much longer. The crew started to evacuate the passengers. Food, clothes, and necessities to set up a camp were unloaded onto an ice floe. All members of the expedition landed on the ice, but one of them died during the evacuation. They sent a radiogram about the disaster: “On February 13, at 3:30 p.m., 155 miles off the North Cape and 144 miles off Cape Uelen sank the Chelyuskin, crushed by the pressure of ice.”

Moscow immediately created a government commission, which started looking for ways to rescue the crew. At first, they thought of evacuating them with dogsleds but it was not possible. In such circumstances the only way to rescue the travelers from their ice captivity was to involve aviation. The most experienced pilots were sent to the scene. At that time, there was no Arctic aviation in the USSR, so everybody dealt with the new situation by trial and error. At a temperature of minus 40°C, planes made dozens of flights and fortunately everyone was rescued. Otto Schmidt and Captain Vladimir Voronin were the last to leave the ice floe.

Despite the fact that the ship had sunk, all members of the expedition became heroes.

In Moscow, happy crowds met those who returned. Stories about the outstanding adventures were published all around the world.

Sounds of the Epoch: The Spidola Transistor Radio

The year 1962 would forever be a red letter year in the USSR. The transistor radio VEF Spidola was released in Soviet stores. It was manufactured at a factory in Riga and named after a beautiful witch, a heroine of the epic poem called Lāčplēsis. The fact that in 1968 the radio’s inventors won a prestigious USSR State Prize proved the marvel’s great contribution to scientific progress. But back then, not everyone could buy the Spidola because the novelty was quite expensive. But let’s start from the very beginning.

Uldis Briedis and Janis Cerps, engineers at the VEF plant, were working after hours to create a portable transistor radio. But when in the late 1950s bulky lamp appliances started to pile up at the factory warehouses because nobody wanted to buy them anymore, Briedis and Cerps were given the green light by the plant’s administration to work on their idea. They achieved positive results after a very short time. The first radio with the Spidola PMP-60 trademark appeared in 1960, but its release was very limited. Because of bureaucratic hurdles and technical problems, mass production started only two years later.

The radio quickly became popular throughout the whole USSR for a number of reasons: its small and compact size, its relatively attractive design, and its sub band of short wave frequencies which enabled people to access alternative sources of information. “Hostile” radio stations such as Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, BBC and Deutsche Welle used short waves to pierce through jamming stations.

In 1962, the Spidola cost 73 rubles, and the average monthly salary at that time in the USSR was 84 rubles.

But despite this, it was hard to imagine a representative of the middle class without this gadget. Owning this radio was not only indicative of one’s wealth but was also a sign of a certain style.

The Spidola became iconic. It also appeared in the following movies: The Resident’s Error, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style and Love and Pigeons. The radio also played an important role in the plot of The Tale of Friendship and Non-friendship by the Strugatsky brothers. “Andrew’s favorite and sufferer, the Spidola radio of the second class, aka Spicha, aka Spyridon, aka Spoundrel, depending on the condition of the signal and the mood, was sitting silently on the chair next to the bed.”

The radio’s popularity was not confined to the USSR. It was also exported abroad, for example, to the UK. But there it was known by another name – the Convair. Consequently, after the success of the Spidola, the Baltic radio industry acquired a long-time status of the best producer of home appliances.

8 | Travelling

A Great Journey to the Himalayas: Night in the Jungle, Extreme Rafting, Crocodiles and Elephants. Part 4 We finished our trek to one of the summits near Pokhara city, had dinner, and on the same day set out to the Royal Chitwan National Park, where one can find the most exotic living creatures in the world. However, it took us several days to get there. And it was not only a matter of bad roads over bottomless abysses, but also of the considerable distance. But first things first.

We loaded our things into a little Indian minibus Tata and set off into the heart of Nepal. We traveled upward, climbing hills and mountain passes. The road was dusty, with potholes, and very narrow. Certain stretches run through very difficult spots where the bus can hardly fit.

The bus shook the entire time. I was sitting near the window, looking down and listening to my heartbeat. No road could be seen from the window, just a very deep abyss. It’s hard to say how deep it was because the bottom was out of sight. But I was sure of one thing: if we fell off the cliff, there would be no power on Earth able to gather our pieces.

So we drove at least five hours.

We stopped several times. On one of the mountain passes, we were surprised to see a small coffee house where we could buy water, juice, or drink a cup of coffee. Immediately some poor children came up to us and started singing a national Nepalese song to get some rupees. The

melody was sad, but the kids were funny so we laughed. Soon appeared their rival. It was an elderly man playing some strange violin and singing the same song. The melody is still in my head, but I cannot find it on the Internet.

We listened to the national singers, danced, and went on. After a while we drove into the very cozy city of Bandipur. Streets are paved with stones, flowers are everywhere, and there is no trash or monkeys.

We felt as though we were somewhere in Europe. We booked a table in the Old Inn cafĂŠ and had lunch.

After the meal our teammates went for a short walk, while my new friend Christina and I climbed onto the roof of the bus and had a photo shoot with a Korchma flag.

Then we drove again, passing abysses, crowded buses with locals, and a man sleeping right on the road. A bird was sitting on him and a big spider was busy weaving his cobweb above him. At first, I thought

Travelling | 9

that the man was dead. I came up and bent over him, but then I saw that he was still breathing.

After lunch we reached our overnight stop. It’s a mountain plateau with several small houses. We were welcomed by Tashi Tenzing, grandson of Tenzing Norgay, the first conqueror of Mount Everest. The meeting was organized as in the best houses of Paris. In the evening we sat near the open fire, drank wine, and roasted some meat. We watched the mountains disappear in the twilight haze and sang songs. Tashi Tenzing told us interesting stories about his grandfather, about the Sherpas and their traditions. We presented the hosts with our book about Nepal and Tibet, and with T-shirts that Korchma made especially for the book presentation. The T-shirt suited one of them very much. He resembles some Hollywood actor in it.

This trip to Nepal included everything – good food, great memories, and wonderful people. It was just difficult to get enough sleep.

The next day we woke up at dawn again, put on our backpacks, and set out for another trek. Now our journey took us through the jungle. We walked along a narrow road, with bananas, tangerine trees, and other unknown fruits all around. We passed through small villages, met local people untouched by globalization who wore bright traditional costumes. They were very friendly and smiled all the time. I understood that this trek was probably the most interesting thing that has happened to me in Nepal. On the

way, I dropped in a few people’s yards, observed their life, and met a few local women. Although we speak different languages, we could still communicate with the natives.

Some girls presented me with very tasty mandarins. One of the women snatched my trekking pole out of my hands and pretended to run away with it. I held another pole as a spear, shouted something threatening, and ran after her. Everyone was laughing. Three and a half hours later we reached a river and the camp in the midst of the jungle where we would spend the next night. It was too early to go to bed.

Some teammates decided to take a nap, while Kostya and Zhenya and I went for a swim in the river. The river was rather wide, and more than three meters deep in some places. I bet with Zhenya on who could swim across the river. We stepped into the water, and I started to crawl with all my might. When I reached the other bank I saw that my rival was standing knee-deep in the water with perfect calm and waves.

“Why didn’t you swim?” I shouted to him. “I got a cramp in my leg,” he replied quietly.

A night in the jungle is an entirely different story. I slept alone in the tent, and all the time it seemed to me that someone wanted to get into it. Something was scraping the roof and scratching the walls. The sounds coming from the forest were so terrible that it’s scary to think about them even now. But, we all had a good night’s sleep. In the morning, we had one more trial

ahead of us – rafting. Our team split into two groups and we raft in two boats. At first, we thought this was fun, but after the first rapids we understood how wrong we were. Because of the fast current and large boulders that made the water very rough indeed, we had to row with all our strength. A few minutes later everyone was soaked. But just two hours later we happily reached our destination point. No one capsized and no one drowned.

This was not the end of our adventures for that day. We got to the Chitwan National Park and the locals proudly decided to show us its treasures. First, they took us in a wooden canoe along the river with crocodiles resting on its banks.

They were only several meters from us, and the narrow boat constantly rocked, giving us an adrenalin rush.

We were lucky that the river inhabitants were in good mood and were just lazily watching us and barely moving their tails. Then the locals let us get on the elephants and ride on them through the jungle. I have to say that it was an unforgettable time! On the way, we met a deer, a tiger, and even a rhino! Nobody even paid attention to the monkeys and smaller living creatures. There was only one problem – after the unusual elephant’s pace our legs grew numb and hurt for a long time.

Zhenya continuously added oil to the fire. He told some hunting stories. One of them was about his friend, karate champion Chipollino. Once he met a bear on a path in the woods and with one blow he

hit him in the liver. While the bear was vomiting, the karate friend ran away. But in the end the bear overtook him and tore his hand. The friend then escaped. There is no knowledge of what happened to the bear.

We spent one night in Chitwan, and then set off for Kathmandu. We also had some time to hit gift shops, stay overnight, and fly home in the morning. At parting we experienced the fuel crisis that Nepal is currently suffering. At Tribhuvan airport there was no fuel to fill up the airplane, and we headed to India instead of flying directly to Istanbul.

So the flight to Turkey took us eleven hours instead of six. From there my new friends flew to Moscow and were soon home. And I learned that flights between Ukraine and Russia were completely suspended and so I flew from Istanbul directly to Kyiv.

Unfortunately, I had to wait twelve hours for the next flight. Then the trip from Kyiv to Lviv took me one more day. In a word, I the trip back to my family took almost two days.

But these are trifles not worth worrying about. A friend of mine wrote me on Facebook, “Thank God that you didn’t ride on yaks as people did long time ago. It would have taken much longer…”

Text and photo: Stepan Hrytsiuk

We express our gratitude for organizing the trip to Minhma Helu Sherpa (Nepal Luxury Treks) and the Seven Summits Club: www.7vershin.ru

10 | person

Kvitka Cisyk: An Immigrant Who Revealed Ukrainian Music to the World For more than ten years she was the advertising voice of Ford Motors and for that the company presented her with every new model that went off the assembly line. Although she was born in the United States, she introduced Ukrainian music culture to the world. She had an intimate understanding of the Ukrainian soul. As a result, Ukrainians who went on business trips abroad brought back her tapes and copied them by the thousands. Music fans have estimated that the voice of the singer was heard by 22 billion people – more than will ever be able to live simultaneously on our planet. We are talking about the legendary Kvitka Cisyk – an American in whose veins flowed Ukrainian blood.

Kvitka Cisyk was born on April 4, 1953, in the New York City borough of Queens. She was born in a family of post-war immigrants from western Ukraine – Ivanna and Volodymyr Cisyk who sought a better life abroad. The Ukrainian language and folk songs sounded on a regular basis in their home across the ocean. It is not surprising as the father of the future singer graduated from the Higher Institute of Music in Lviv and was a virtuoso violinist. It was the violin that Kvitka started to learn at the age of five. Her older sister Maria, who was born in a DP camp in the German city of Bayreuth, always accompanied her musical rehearsals on the piano. The children’s hobby gradually evolved into real family concerts.

Later on Maria became a famous pianist; she worked as principal of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and conducted master classes at Carnegie Hall. Kvitka was no less successful.

First, she got a prestigious scholarship to study

violin at New York University. Nevertheless, she abandoned the violin after a year because she thought herself not a violinist but an opera singer, and her family supported her decision. The girl had a rare coloratura soprano, and surprised everyone with it from early childhood when she sang in the church choir. Therefore, she enrolled in the New York Conservatory, where she masterfully polished her voice. Later she paid tribute to her father, but confessed, “I have his fingers and his technique, but I wanted to sing, and I still feel guilty for having abandoned the violin...»

Kvitka aspired to become an opera singer, but on the way to this goal she became interested in studio singing. At the same time she changed her beautiful, but incomprehensible to most Americans name Kvitka (which in Ukrainian means «flower») to Kacey and set out to make her way to the US musical Olympus. She was invited to perform with jazz, pop, and rock artists, among whom was famous arranger Quincy Jones, who

discovered the phenomenon of Michael Jackson.

At the start of her career she made a very small income, so Kvitka simultaneously sent her records to producers and advertising agencies to make a living. In the end, it brought positive results. In the early 1970s, the singer promptly burst into the world of advertising on television and radio and gained fame and great earnings.

Kacey collaborated with Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Sears, Safeway, Starburst, among others.

Starting from 1982 and until her death, she was the only voice of Ford Motors. Every American could hear her unique performance of “Have You Driven a Ford Lately?”

Unfortunately, an unpleasant incident is connected to her work on the film You Light Up My Life. Kvitka Cisyk recorded several songs for this Hollywood movie and played the role of a bridesmaid. The song You Light Up My Life by Kvitka Cisyk was so much to the liking of American listeners that it won an Academy Award. However,

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one of the producers, who had a good ear for potential hits, secretly bought the copyright to the performance of the composition and registered it with his daughter – Debbie Boone, who copied the style and tone of Kvitka very carefully. First, the song did not attract any attention, but after a week it became a hit and remained at the top of the charts for two and a half months. Because of this deception, Cisyk did not go to the Oscars award ceremony.

Despite her busy schedule and contracts with large companies, the singer decided to pay a tribute to the country of her family’s origin.

She wanted to make a unique gift to Ukraine – to record albums with folk songs. «I told everyone about the beautiful, melodious music Ukraine has and how beautifully people sing. But there was not a single professional record. And so I realized that I should record Ukrainian songs. It would be not only for my friends but for all Ukrainians.

Such a great gift it would be! I dreamed that I would be heard in Ukraine too.”

Kvitka Cisyk turned to her family and friends to help her accomplish this. Her sister selected the repertoire, and her mother was responsible for the correct Ukrainian pronunciation that Kacey had somewhat forgotten. The singer knew that this project was not commercial and it would not bring her a profit, but she invested 200,000 dollars into the project. She gathered forty of best studio instrumentalists of New York and in 1980 the first record with Ukrainian songs appeared, Songs of Ukraine, followed nine years later with the second album Two Colors. Between these two records, in 1983, the singer found the time to visit her homeland. There were no concerts, no fan meetings – it was only a private trip. It was her first and last visit to the land of her ancestors.

Inspired by the grateful responses of Ukrainians, the singer planned to release a third album, which would include only lullabies. But this was not destined to happen – on March 29, 1998, just a few days before her 45th birthday she died in New York from breast cancer. The same disease took the life of her mother. They say the last Ukrainian song that Kvitka Cisyk managed to record was «Cranes.» The lyrics may sound prophetic: «Kroo-kroo-kroo, In a foreign land I’ll die, by the time I cross the sea, I’ll wear away my wings…”

Text: Stepan Hrytsiuk

«Taras Bulba» chain of restaurants we present a CD of Ukrainian classical music in modern arrangements from Bulba Press.

The exclusive new disc will be available for sale in our restaurants!

Find time in your life for our music!

12 | news from «korchma»

Korchma: Last Year’s Milestones At the start of 2016 your favorite restaurant chain reflects on the milestones of the last year. In 2015, we opened two new restaurants and this can be seen as our greatest achievement because new arrivals in the family are always welcome! Besides that, a team of our employ-

ees climbed the Elbrus and went to Nepal. We participated in and won prizes at the Moscow marathon, we organized multiple fun flash mobs and groovy parties. We did everything to make our guests feel welcome and entertained.

Even in a huge mechanism every detail matters: from a tiny bolt to the engine. That’s why we appreciate everyone on our team! In each of our restaurants there are people who gave their best in 2015.

What is important for a restaurant to have, according to our guests? Well, food of course! If there is no delicious food nothing will make guests come to that restaurant again. Last year our best chefs were Albina Mazalova, Igor Stupar, Lidia Krot, Natalia Chenyshenko, and Svetlana Karimanova.

Here is the ranking of our best restaurants: Profsoyuznaya St. (Most Artistic) Piatnitskaya St. (Team Spirit and Solidarity) Mokhovaya St. (Efficiency) Smolenski Blvr. (Non-Stop Parties) Nametkina St. and Velozavod (Best Delivery) Odintsovo (Most Beautiful) Bochkova St. (Audacious Humor)

Look for new issue BULBA PRESS of the children’s magazine Tarasik by taurants in “Korchma Taras Bulba’ chain of res

Your kids deserve the best childhood!

news from «korchma»| 13

Epiphany Ice Bathing “To christen” comes from Ancient Greek and means “to submerge underwater.” Our ancestors have practiced the tradition of water blessing for centuries, and all employees of Korchma Taras

Bulbal gladly continue this ancient tradition – every year they perform the ritual of ice bathing.

This year, on January 19 at 7:00 am, at a temperature of -7°C, 80 employees of Korchma (there

were many more volunteers!) reenacted the sacrament of submerging into the Jordan River – into an ice hole. Just like last year, the ice bathing took place in Strogino in the Serebryany Bor.

We arrived on two buses equipped with hot tea and an enthusiastic spirit, and we returned after we energized our body and soul with happiness and health for the rest of the year!

14 | menu

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unreality sense of . arrival pleasant but upon A mild immediately sets in

В первую очередь, кризис ударил по диетологам и специалистам по снижению веса...

Moscow 5% holders discount card

nal 5% off get an additio rk in a New Yo Restaurant

Korchma in

Soho

357 West Broadway, Soho, New-York

Муж с женой приходят в ресторан. Жена: – У вас селедка под шубой есть? Официант: – Есть. Жена мужу: – Вот видишь, даже у селедки шуба есть! Жена мужа пилит.

– Сколько раз я тебе повторяю: сок – это когда написано 100%, напиток – когда от 50 до 80%, а если написано 40% – то это нектар!

– Вот-вот. Я давно говорил, что водка – это нектар! Учимся готовить фрикадельки: для начала очищаем пельмешку от кожуры...

4 4 7 7 0 8 (495) 7

Ukrainian cuisine – made with love!

Restaurants’ location:

MOSCOW, Aviamotornaya metro station, 6 Krasnokazarmennaya St., (499) 763 5741

Avtozavodskaya metro station,

6 Velozavodskaya St., (499) 764 1532

Akademicheskaya metro station,

16/10 Profsoyuznaya St., (499) 125 0877

Alekseyavskaya metro station, 3 Bochkova St., (495) 616 6754

Airport metro station,

64 Leningradskiy Prospekt St., (499) 151 9011

Baumanskaya metro station,

23/41 Bakuninskaya St., +7 (495) 956 55 81

Borovitskaya metro station,

8 Mokhovaya St., 24-hour, 89037965141; 89856448544

Krasnye Vorota metro station,

47 Myasnitskaya St., (495) 607 1762

Leninskiy Prospekt metro station,

37 Leninskiy Prospect St., (495) 954 6466

Maryino metro station,

163/1 Lublinskaya St., 8 (495) 349 78 09

Novokuznetskaya metro station, 14 Pyatnitskaya St., (495) 953 7153

Novye Cheryomushki metro station, Nametkina St., 13 г, (495) 331 4211

Smolenskaya metro station,

12 Smolenskiy Avenue. St., 24-hour, (499) 246 6902

Tsvetnoy Boulevard metro station,

13 Sadovaya-Samotechnaya St., 24-hour, (495) 694 0056

Chekhovskaya metro station,

30/7 Petrovka St., (495) 694 6082

Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station,

6 Borovskoye Road, (495) 980 2051

Vystavochnaya metro station, of 1905 year,

27 Shmitovskiy Passage, 24-hour, (499) 256-4660

The town of Odintsovo

122 Mozhayskoye Shosse 8 (925) 166-16-18

KIEV, “Teatralnaya”, “Zolotye Vorota”,“Kreschatik” metro station, 2-4/7 Pushkinskaya St.,+38 (044) 270-7248 357 West Broadway, NYork City, NY 10013 phone: (212) 510 75 10

Laskavo prosymo!