08 July 2009

Svidník (non)festival and Rusyn villages

On 21 June (I'm so far behind, I know -- but I've been busy!), we tried to catch the last day of the Svidník festival.  But we got there late because we were at a Rusyn wedding the night before, and it rained all weekend anyway so that made the festival not very festivious.  But we went up to the skansen anyway, and here are 2 interesting pictures:

Apparently, el chupacabra is also a problem in Northeast Slovakia.

Look at the cow peeing! (in the skansen)

Since the festival wasn't too festivious, we had some grilled pork product (always a must) and left, because the scene was already pretty dead.  But since we were in the area, we took the time to explore some nearby Rusyn villages.  The first one we went to was Dobroslava (Rusyn: Доброслав).

Someone has some pleasant civic-minded humor. 
Confidential to Dad: Zanzibar!
Population of Dobroslava in 2001: 41.
 
Here's the wooden church of St. Paraskeva in Dobroslava.

Even more interesting than the church is this sign, which is at least a 10 page academic paper waiting to happen.
Finally, we stopped at the village of Vyšná Pisaná (Rusyn: Вышня Писана).  I'd take this opportunity to note how Rusyn presence can be determined in villages in Slovakia and how it doesn't take away from Slovak culture but in fact adds to it (something we already knew):
Village hall, with signs in Rusyn and Slovak, under the Slovak flag.
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