Small towns in Ukraine

Have you ever wondered what small towns in Ukraine are like? Even if you haven't, we're still gonna show you! ;) 

In this video, Michael makes a video during a trip to a small town in our area. He talks about what it's like there and what we like (and don't like) about small towns in Ukraine.

Lunch and a stroll through downtown L'viv

L'viv is a beautiful city--especially in the spring! 

In this video we take a walk through downtown L'viv starting at Ivan Franko Park. We walk past the university and then move on to Prospekt Svoboda (Freedom Boulevard). We show you Ploshcha Rynok (Market Square) and L'viv City Hall. We wander around the narrow, ancient streets and find an interesting map of Halychyna (Galicia). 

After lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called "Green," we go home and hang out in our garden for the rest of the evening.

A drive to the Polish border

Here's a video we made during a drive to the Polish border from L'viv. It's only about an hour away from the city. During the drive we got lots of nice shots of the Ukrainian countryside. Also, we show you around Frankivs'kyi Rayon--the neighborhood that our friend lives in. It's one of our favorite areas of L'viv!

Road repair on the highway to L'viv

Another video about our trip to L'viv.

It's nice to see that the highway we use to get to the city is being fixed properly. They're putting in gutters, curbs, and guard rails--even two layers of asphalt! 

An rainy evening at MY Pichka

Here's a video that we made during a rainy evening at our home. In this video we show just how funny our animals can be. We also talk about the philosophy of keeping or getting rid of old stuff around the house. 

A Sunday walk in the Ukrainian countryside

Here's a walk that we took in the back fields that we always talk about. It was a rather windy day, so that is why we didn't narrate much--the wind would have just interfered with the microphone. 

Still, it was a lovely day. The stork was out there with us. We also saw our local flock of sheep and captured some nice nature shots. 

As usual, our dog and two cats joined our video when we got back home! :)

MY Vegan Story

This is a video about how and why we went vegan. We have not always been this way, and we want you to know our reasons for changing our diet and lifestyle.

Veganism is expensive!

We've read and heard from many many people who say that veganism is expensive. We've found that when you actually compare the vegan foods that we eat the most of (rice, bananas, apples) to almost any animal derived food (meat, poultry, sausage, cheese), the plant foods are always cheaper. Michael has a little fun with this issue and feigns cognitive dissonance at the store.

Also in the video: It's a day in the life vlog! Michael tries to change the oil in our car with Yulia's dad. We also show you around our lovely garden and house. Enjoy! :)

A trip to MY grandparents

In this video we take a trip to Yulia's grandparents'. We show you the drive to their house and a walk we took around the old orchard from a Polish aristocrat's estate. We then go down to the Dnister River and through the village's park. 

It's a bit different than our small village. There's a big school there, newer houses, and four stores (a LOT for a Ukrainian village!!)--essentially, a few more touches of "civilization." Take a look! It's the best way we can show you!

A video in which Michael finally takes Yulia to L'viv with him!

In this video we go to L'viv together and do some errands in the city. 

Egg industry in the US and Canada to stop the barbaric practice of grinding male chicks alive

By Michael

Yulia and I just read some great news that we're really excited to share with you!! The egg farmers of the United States and Canada have made a joint announcement that they will stop the barbaric practice of suffocating and grinding all male chicks on the first day of their lives.

At one time, farmers felt that they needed to "discard" about 50% of all chicks because the males were useless for the purposes of their business. Roosters do not lay eggs, nor are they grown for meat, so the egg and poultry industry had no use for them. All male chicks were separated from the females on a conveyor belt by workers called "sexers." The males were then thrown into a plastic bag, which was tied tightly once the bag was full with the new borns. An alternative method consisted of putting the chicks onto another conveyor belt that would drop them into a grinder, turning them into a blood and bone pulp.

But, thankfully, this is ancient history. It's also expected that farms throughout the world will take the lead of the US and Canada and also halt this heinous practice.

Gomer Pile, a farmer from Egg Enterprises Incorporated of Vermont, had this to say:

"At one point, we stopped and thought about it and realized that this practice was utterly insane. I mean, we were tearing millions of delicate, defenseless creatures into pieces on the first day of their lives."

In even more positive news, Yulia just showed me a Facebook post which linked to a statement from the pork producers of the America. They have considered ceasing the common practice of castrating pigs without anesthetics and keeping sows in gestation crates where they cannot even turn around for the entirety of their lives.

"We've realized that we cannot justify forcing millions of animals to live a lifetime of misery just to save a few extra dollars. At one point we were actually unsure whether or not animals could feel pain in the same way that humans since they can't talk. Now we realize that when the pigs shrieked and struggled when we were cutting off their testicles, they were most definitely feeling excruciating pain. We understand that our former ways were brutal and unjustified. We promise to treat our pigs better from now on. We are even considering not breeding anymore livestock at all and looking for healthy, plant based alternatives to use in our diets instead. " 

Seems like a lot of people in the world are waking up! It's a good day! :)

***A happy belated April 1st to everyone! This "news" was entirely fabricated, but how wonderful would it be if it were true??