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In this episode of Kult America I'd like to share with you the story of the time that
I had celebrated the Victory Day in Belarus with Artur Filipowicz better known as Topowa
Dycha. So basically the idea had arisen to visit
Belarus it was one of the few places in Europe that I have yet to see and there was a lot
of hype around the country, I mean everything I had heard of it was a dictatorship, the
people are homophobic, people are backwards, the leader is evil and awful. With that in
mind I organised a Visa and I went to check it out. You know Artur is a good friend of
mine and he agreed to go along the journey.
Hi, we are in Belarus and we are going to see the Victory Day. I'm with Ryan Socash.
Victory Day is essentially the Russian celebration of the victory in the second World War. And
as the American guy I was interesting to see things from a completely different perspective.
I saw Police looked like they could've come from the soviet area. And I literally saw
people waving soviet flags. So the vibe was like stepping in to a time machine or something.
This was like from another world. Monuments that were built in the assumably the soviet
times, just looking like something that i had seen in a history book, now with my own
eyes. When we first arrived in Belarus we were pretty freaked out from all the propaganda
we've heard in the West against the country. And what I saw it with my own eyes was a little
bit different than what I've heard. And the quality of life there looked really really
comfortable. Things I've noticed most were the things that weren't there in the society.
I didn't see any graffiti, I didn't see any homeless people; I didn't see any hooligans.
Actually I didn't see anyone who looked even vaguely threatening. Actually I felt very,
very safe. The country is very hermetic. A lot of foreigners don't want to come visit
and most of those who do come from Russia. There was one moment that really really surprised
me. We were waiting in line to go on an amusement park drive, like a ship that rocked. Our friends
sister just said: lets cut this line. Lets cut all of these people. Normally I don't
do it but we didn't cut the line that we've been waiting for all day. We are speaking
english: loudly, clearly, comfortably and not a single person turned the head to look
at us. It almost seemed that the people wanted nothing to do with us on any level.
„This is a funny thing Artur - like, this is like something for kids, like little kids
and you're scared” „I declare that I'm nor afraid. You will
see in a moment, I won't be scared” „It would be good, but the whole thing was
taped. And some handles were detached. So, yes. I died. This how afterlife looks like”.
But the thing that moved me the most about the entire celebration was actually the end
at the evening. And there was a firework show. And in all honesty it was the most humble
firework show I've ever seen. But the people were responding to these fireworks as if they
never seen a firework in their life. So Belarus was a weird one. Victory Day was
a weird experience to me. I really can't say much else about it 'cause people were so closed
and reserved about who they are, what their country represents and where there're going.
And I know for sure that one day I will go back to Belarus with the sole purpose of filming
Kult America. Subscribe and stay tuned for that.