In the diaspora I grew up singing certain Ukrainian folk songs, which I thought every Ukrainian in Ukraine knew, so I was surprised to find out that it wasn’t true. I grew up in a community made mostly of descendants of Galician immigrants and was a member of the scouting […]

I’ve noticed that many of the common Ukrainian diasporan first names (my name included, which I already posted about here) are unheard of or rarities in Ukraine. Many of the Ukrainian diasporan names were historically widely (or only) used in Galicia (as opposed to other parts of Ukraine), and some […]

In one of Lviv’s cafes, Dim Lehend (House of Legends), there is a room dedicated to the old Galician language (which is similar to the language spoken in the diaspora). Old words and old newspaper clippings decorate the walls.

We sing certain Ukrainian songs in the diaspora that are unknown or have been forgotten in Ukraine. I think the most powerful and saddest one is “Mamo.” It’s about a boy who during WWII was in the Majdanek concentration camp. (The camp was named after the Majdan Tatarski district in […]

Due to historical reasons, there are very few Ukrainian-language ghost signs in Ukraine, but in the Ukrainian Village (a neighborhood on the north side of the city) in Chicago, there is one in Ukrainian, and it is possible that there had been more. The one that I found is for […]

I thought a good place to start my blog was with myself, specifically with my name as “Areta” is an antiquated Ukrainian name, especially in Ukraine. The name “Areta” comes from the ancient Greek word “areté” (Greek: ἀρετή), which means virtue. Possibly one of the first Aretas to live in […]