Saint Patrick’s Day

                Hello everyone and welcome to my third and final podcast. In the past we spoke about Civil War which occurred in my hometown Tajikistan, and then we touch based the history of our wonderful city Chicago. Today I would like to talk about Saint Patrick’s Day. First I would like to give brief information about its origin and history and then I will tell how we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day in Chicago.

                Let talk about who is St. Patrick?

                Born to a Christian father in Britain during the 4^th century, St. Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and enslaved when he was teenager. Although he was able to escape after six years and later become a priest in Britain. Then he chose to return to Ireland as a missionary in order to help spread the teaching of Christianity to pagans. According to Irish folklore, he also used a shamrock to explain the Christian concept of Trinity to Irish. He would face a constant opposition from pagan leaders but he had never given up on his idea of teaching people Christianity. He continued to evangelize for 40 years and established monasteries, churches, and schools. He passed away around March 17 461. According to some tradition he was buried at Downpatrick. There were other successful missionaries to Ireland from Rome and other places. At the first the color which was associated with Saint Patrick was blue, but throughout the time it changed to green. Starting from 17^th century, Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn during the celebration. The color green became so famous that during the 1700 political uprising, Irish soldiers wore green uniform to attract public attention.

                Fast forward to 21 century, Saint Patrick’s Day became so famous that it is celebrated across the entire Globe. I came across an article that people in Australia, Russia, almost the entire Europe, and the United celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and march parades. Chicago is the major city in the United States, which celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day and it celebrates it very religiously. It’s almost home to Saint Patrick’s celebration. There are many thing go during that day. First the city officials dye the river of Chicago green between Columbus and Wacker drive. The dyeing of the river has been a tradition for much generation and attracts thousands of people from across the States and Globe. Then there is a parade. This parade is packed with all things Irish, such as green flags, booming marching bands and bagpipers, green shirts or t-shirts with shamrock on them. What’s interests me the most, that people don’t bother if the weather is cold or warm, rainy or sunny, they still march parade with thousands of numbers. I came across through some report that over 400,000 people attended Saint Patrick’s parade last year.

                My personal opinion about Saint Patrick’s Day is that it doesn’t care what color a person skin is or what race does he belong to or what country he comes from - that day everyone is Irish and ware green.

Thanks for your time. This is Khursand M and this was my podcast for today.  

Second City

                Hello everyone. My name is Khursand Marodbekov and welcome to my podcast. Today I would like to talk about something which I believe is familiar to all of you. It’s about the city that we all live in or maybe live not too far from it. The city called Chicago. I would like to touch base the history of the city right from the moment it was established up to this date, where it has become one of the greatest city not just in America but around the entire world.

                As we all know before the Europeans moved to North America, Indian Americans were the permanent inhabitant of this great land. They lived all around the country and so did in Chicago. The word Chicago originated from a Native American word “Shikaakwa”, translated as “wild onion” or “wild garlic”. The actual wild garlic grew abundantly in the area.  Around 1780 the first non-indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Point de Sable, arrived in the area. He was of African and European (French) descent. Few years after following the Northwest Indian War some area of Chicago turned to United States military and eventually around 1833 all the Indian tribes were forcibly removed from their land. That year the population of the city was only 200. Within several years the numbers turned to 4000. The City if Chicago was incorporated in March 4, 1837. This is the actual birthday of the city. Chicago was also one of the fastest growing cities in the entire nation for many decades.

                Like many other cities Chicago has its own flag and seal. The flag consist of two blue horizontal stripes on a white field. Between the two stripes there are four red stars. Each star has a historical meaning which is symbolized with the city. I won’t go through all the stars but will mention only one, which commemorate the Great Chicago Fire. The fire started around 9PM of central time of October 8 of 1871. People of that time believed that the fire started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick O’Leary. The fire spread through the entire city. The city which buildings predominant material was wood, the sidewalks and many roads were also made of wood. Basically more than 2/3 of the city structure was made of wood. That night the wind was so strong that it would spread the flame in the matter of seconds. The fire was so instance that it lasted almost for two days. Once it ended almost the entire city was destroyed. Among the ruined area was 73 miles of road, 120 miles of sidewalk, and 100,000 people were left homeless, 120 bodies were recovered but the death toll might have been much higher. The fire basically cost the city over 222 million dollars, which was at the time 1/3 of the city valuation. The donation was pouring through the entire nation, as well as the whole world.

                Fast forward to the modern day, Chicago is the third largest city in the United States. It used to be the second biggest before Los Angeles took over its title. However, Chicago is still called the second city. Chicago is also known for its skylines. We have one of the tallest buildings in the world. Back in 60s some of the very fine architectures realized that skyscraper represent a new form of architecture and started designing buildings that emphasized their vertical nature. This new form of architecture was spread through other major cities around the US and it was called Commercial Style or Chicago School. Willis Tower, which was initially build as a Sears Tower, was one of the tallest building in the world from 1974 to 1998, before the Petronas Towers were built in Malaysia. It remained the tallest building in the United States until last year, but New York One Point Tower is apparently taller than Willis Tower.

Alright everyone, this was my brief podcast about our beloved, at least mine, city of Chicago. Thank you for listening and good buy now.

Tajikistan Civil War

 

Hello everyone. My name is Khursand Marodbekov and welcome to my podcast. My today’s topic will be somewhat sad but true story of my people. I would like to talk about civil war that Tajikistan has faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

At first I would like to give you glimpse info about Tajikistan. It is located in eastern hemisphere of the globe, to be precise in Central Asia. Tajikistan borders with China, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, and Afghanistan.  Our country is in peaceful relationship with all its neighbors. It is land locked country and we don’t have any costs or whatsoever, but we are very rich of water. There are many small lakes and rivers in the country. The country is also known for its mountains, Pamir Mountains.  

Alright, now let’s go back to the topic that I wanted to talk about. Civil War. Tajikistan was part of the Soviet Union. It was one of the fifteen republics. Right after the Soviet collapsed all the countries gained their independence. Unfortunately Tajikistan did not go through a peaceful transition. There were mainly two groups who wanted to rule the country. In one hand the opposition which included democratic liberal reformist and Islamist, on the other hand, the so called government, which was mainly dominated by the people from the north, which had also made up most of the ruling elite during the Soviet. Tensions began right after the presidential election. Rahmon Nabiev,  who was from the north, elected as the first president of Tajikistan. He was also supported by the people of Khatlon, who later gained the control of the entire government and elected  a new president from the same region. Opposition members took it to the street and that’s how the war broke.

While the killing was going on and brothers were slaughtering each other, the neighbor countries including Russia had their own interest on the outcome of the war. Russians and Uzbeks were aiding the government and Afghanistan was supplying the opposition with weapons. The war was going on for years. The casualties were from 100,000 to 200,000. Over 1.2 million people were displaced. Some crossed the borders to Afghanistan others to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Many others fled to Russia and never returned home.  Eventually the government forces gained control of the capital city and almost the entire country. Basically the opposition lost the war. For some times the government forces were cracking down on the opposition members.  Many people were killed not because they were part of the war but because they were from the same region that the opposing were.

In June 27 1997 a UN sponsored armistice finally ended the war. This was in part fostered by the Inter Tajik Dialogue, the initiative in which the main players were brought together by international actors, namely the United State and Russia. The peace agreement signed in Moscow, Russia between the opposition and the government. The peace agreement completely eliminated the people from north, who were the supreme rulers of the country at one point. The opposition also did not gain any major seats in the government. Emomali Rahmon became president and been ruling the country ever since.

This was my todays podcast story. It was a bitter story about my country but unfortunately this is the history and it will remain with its people forever.

Thank for listening . This is Khursand Marodbekov and this is my podcast for today.

 

   I love watching movies. It doesn’t matter what genre. It could be action, sci-fi, drama, comedy except horror. Lately I try to avoid watching horrors. Not because those are scary but I don't want to keep my nerves in constant pressure. One of my favorite movies is Fast and Furious series. University studio, which has the franchise rights, has shot 6 of them in the past and chances are there are will be 3 more. Last year one of its main characters got in car accident and passed away. His name was Paul Walker. So I wish Paul Walker was alive and I could watch him play all the movies.