Why the 3.2 million year old female skeleton was called Lucy

When I spoke recently at the ClevelandPeople.Com Food Adventurers event at the Ethiopian Restaurant Zoma in Cleveland Heights I  told how several important finds have propelled Ethiopia to the forefront of palaeontology.

This included the several hundred pieces of bone fossils representing 40 percent of the skeleton of a female of the hominin species estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago that is called Lucy.

Lucy is probably the most well-known hominid discovery. It's offical name is Australopithecus afarensis. Known locally as Dinkinesh, the specimen was found in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Region in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.  It is one of the most complete and best preserved adult Australopithecine fossils ever uncovered.

There is a cool story how they came up with the name Lucy.  Watch the short video to hear it.

Photos, videos and more from the Ethiopia adventure to Zoma

Welcome to the Lithuanian Club in Cleveland

Ruta Degutis welcomed the crowd to the Lithuanian Club in Cleveland.  Ruta spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.

The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

Lithuanians in Cleveland

Short history of Lithuania at Lithuanian Club in Cleveland

Ruta Degutis gave a short history of Lithuanian at an event at the Lithuanian Club in Cleveland.  She spoke about the 1000 years as a nation, Poland, amber, the female president, music festivals and more.

Ruta spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

Spikes on the Lithuanian Tree Cake (Sakotis or Baumkuchen)

Baker Dainius Zalensas of the Lithuanian Club Bakery in Cleveland told a story about the spikes on a Lithuanian Tree cake (also called Sakotis or Baumkuchen).

 He told the story to the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventurers at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

Cleveland Lithuanians and ClevelandCooks

Making a Lithuanian Tree Cake (Sakotis or Baumkuchen)

Baker Dainius Zalensas of the Lithuanian Club Bakery in Cleveland showed how he makes Lithuanian Tree cakes also called Sakotis or Baumkuchen.

The cake is built layer by layer over a rotisserie.

Linas Johansonas helped explain to the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventurers at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

Lithuanians in Cleveland and ClevelandCooks.com

Lithuanian tree cake (Sakotis)

Linas Johansonas told about the Lithuanian tree cake (Sakotis) also called the branch cake.  It dates back to the 16th century.  It is a unique-looking hollow cake made of butter, eggs, flour, sugar, and cream.  The spikes or branches are made layer by layer over a rotisserie.

He spoke to the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventurers at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

More at Cleveland Lithuanians and

Cleveland Cooks

Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland

Dan Hanson of ClevelandPeople.Com told about the Lithuanian Cultural Garden in Cleveland, one of the 30 or so in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

It was dedicated in 1936 and features the Pillars of Gediminas, Fountain of Biruta and busts honoring Jonas Basanavicius, Maciulis Maironis and Vincas Kudirka.  It is a two-level garden both on East and MLK Blvd.

Dan spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

More from Lithuanians in Cleveland

Lithuanian Entrees and their most common ingredient – the potato

Ruta Degutis and Linas Johansonas told about the entrees of Lithuania that would be served to the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventurers at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.  http://www.clevelandpeople.com/passport.htm

The potato is the main crop of Lithuania so the entrees naturally use that.

The entrees included Cepelinai, the national dish of Lithuanian along with Kugelis (potato pudding), Vedarai (potato sausage) and a more familiar sausage and sauerkraut.

Cleveland Lithuanians

 Cleveland Cooks

Tree ‘Horny Cake’ and other Lithuanian Desserts

Ruta Degutis told about the desserts of Lithuania that would be served to the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventurers at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.

The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.   She explained the famous Tree Cake which, because it is used as a wedding cake, she calls a Horny Cake.

 She also explained their custom liqueur shot which included honey from her own bees and about 20 spices like cinnamon, cardamom, clove, caraway, etc.

Lithuanians in Cleveland

Cleveland Cooks

The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania

Joseph Meissner told the history of the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania.

It is believed that the first crosses were placed there after the 1831 Uprising. Over the generations, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims.  Estimates say over 100,000 crosses were there in 2006 and it keeps growing.

Meissner spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

More on Lithuanians in Cleveland

Jadwiga (Hedwig)’s place in Lithuanian and Polish history

Joseph Meissner told the story of Jadwiga, aka Hedwig who was a leader of Lithuania and Poland as a teenage girl.  She was later canonized by the Catholic Church.

He spoke at the ClevelandPeople.Com Passport Adventure to Lithuania at the Cleveland Lithuanian Club.  The Passport Adventurers visit traditional ethnic restaurants and showcases the food, culture, history of the country – in this case Lithuania.

http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/lithuanian/lithuanian.htm

Greek Math - the downfall of Pythagoras

Dan Hanson spoke about Greek mathematics at an event at the Mad Greek Restaurant in Cleveland Heights. He told how the cult of Pythagoras, which saw numbers as almost divine, fell apart after the Pythagorean Theorem with the simple proof that the square root of 2 is irrational.

This was part of the Adventure to Greece as part of the ClevelandPeople.Com Food Adventurers passport club. People who enjoy trying different foods and learning about different cultures participate in the Food Adventurer's group.

Adventure to Ireland - in Cleveland

The latest Cleveland Food Adventurers Passport event was at the Claddagh Irish Restaurant where the sold out crowd enjoyed a traditional Irish breakfast (bangers, black and white pudding, tomato jam and more) while learning about the history and culture of Ireland and the Irish in Cleveland.


They were also entertained by Pipe Major Bruce Grieg who explained the apparel that pipers wear and the parts of the bagpipes.

If you don't know what the word Claddagh means, where most Cleveland Irish hail from or think Craic (pronounced crack)is a bad thing, be sure to watch the videos from the event.

Be sure to learn about the three Irish memorials in Cleveland that every Clevelander should visit sometime.

Photos and videos from the Irish Adventure