Caught up at last

The two most recent nations from which we've had first-time visitors are Belarus and Angola. Welcome to this site!

These bring the total of flags in our virtual collection to the grand sum of 141. It is simply amazing to think that I would have put out something viewed by people from so many different nations and it rejoices my heart. I do, after all, call myself a world citizen on the masthead.

Рэспубліка Беларусь, the Republic of Belarus, lies in the heart of Europe and is bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. It is 40% forest, has lots of rivers and marshes and 11,000 lakes. (Wikipedia)

Belarus is a presidential republic, its capital is Minsk President Lukashenko has altered the constitution so he can remain in office indefinitely and Belarus is treated by the rest of Europe and the US as a tyranny. My guess is that Lukashenko may actually be one of George W. Bush's heroes.

Ivan Buslai sings for you while the young ladies shake what they got:



Alesya sings of her beautiful Belarus (with nice scenery)



Is that the Alesya to whom Dima Koldun sings in this video? (He ends with a wish for Happy New Year)




The Republic of Angola (República de Angola) is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Namibia. Long a Portuguese colony it retains Portuguese as the official language with Kongo, Chokwe, South Mbundu (Umbundu), and North Mbundu (Kimbundu) also officially recognized. Its income is undergirded by petroleum and diamonds though the people are poor. " According to the International Monetary Fund, more than $4 billion in oil receipts have disappeared from Angola's treasury in the 2000s." (Wikipedia)

World Music Potpourri - Bonga (Angola)
This is a HD video that takes a little while to download before playing but the music is delightful.



A sampling of the "greatest 4 musicians of Angolan music history"



OK, let's get the blood flowing and learn to dance Kizomba:



Enjoy!
--the BB