Cultural Events

We have been to 3 what could be considered cultural events here in Lithuania. The first one we went to was the dance concert sponsored by the embassy of India. The music and dancing were ancient Indian forms and totally foreign to us. Since we were taking James and Susanne's place (it was on my birthday), we had second row seats. The first row was ambassadors and wives or higher-ups than we were. It was held in a theater hall that must be at least 100 years old. The seats were made for people that didn't eat as well as many people today- except for most Lithuanians I guess. Lithuanians seem to be genetically quite thin and usually fairly tall. Considering the amount of fat and carbohydrate in their diet, it has to be genetic! They use lots of real butter and cream (I haven't even seen margarine in the store although I suppose I just don't recognize the packaging) and eat lots of bread (mostly rye) and lots of forms of potato.
The second event we went to was in a much larger, more modern theater. We went to see the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. When movies first come out, they show them in their original form just adding Lithuanian subtitles so it's easy enough to see. After the movie has been out for awhile, they eventually have it only with dubbed in Russian or Lithuanian soundtracks. The theater is much like a big 14 separate screen theater would be anywhere. It costs about 7 litas per person(a little over $2) to get in the movie and you actually purchase a specific seat, just as you would in a concert hall. Ironically, there weren't many people in the theater when we went (James and Susanne went at a different time so there would be someone home with the kids) and there was only one couple seated in the whole row we had seats in. Our assigned seats were right next to them! Through the beginning ads and previews, this young couple obviously had other activities in mind preferable to watching the film. I felt a little like I was invading their privacy so I would have liked to move. Not knowing what the proper protocol is here, we didn't dare occupy a seat other than our assigned seats so we stayed put. Once the movie started for real, it was exciting action nonstop so the young couple paid more attention to the movie. We got a bucket of popcorn (you can get it "sweet" or "salty"- we chose the latter) and two nearly a quart drinks (we wanted the next size smaller but the counter person didn't speak English so we took what she gave us) for 14 litas which would be just over 4 dollars.
The third event we just went to last night. It was a symphony concert of works of Brahms and Rachmaninoff. The concert hall is fairly modern though small compared to many we have been in. The music was wonderful! Brahms was the first part and the conductor and featured pianist were Russian. I'm always awed by musicians who can play flawlessly a piece that lasts over an hour totally by memory!! I don't think my brain is big enough. I guess many in the crowd came to hear the pianist because they left at intermission and didn't return. Too bad. The pianist was phenomenal but we preferred the music they chose to play of Rachmaninoff. The seats for this concert were 15, 25, 30, or 70 litas (a lita is nearly 3 times the value of a dollar). Since we bought the tickets for James and Susanne as well, we went for the 30 lita seats. They were fine. The babysitter had the kids safely in bed when we returned so the evening was a success.

Thanksgiving. too

It is always wonderful to be around a large group of LDS missionaries. They are at an age when they have lots of energy, are optomistic, and have their lives ahead of them to choose whatever they want to choose. The one in the picture with James cutting the turkey is making a salad. He is from Russia but speaks perfect English as well as Lithuanian. He is outgoing and bright and funny. One of the other missionaries here, I think he's the zone leader, is from Denmark. He also speaks English with no accent as well as Lithuanian. He is tall and handsome and very pleasant. All of the others are from the US, mostly Utah and California. The older gentleman with the beard is a former doctor from Idaho who has married a Lithuanian woman and now lives here. (His wife couldn't be with us as she had to work since this is not a Lithuanian holiday.) He speaks some Lithuanian and currently serves as a member of the Russian branch of the church here in Vilnius. For Thanksgiving Day, this huge house the US government rents for James's family became a little island of America in the sea of Lithuania.

I continue to feel, as I visit with people from all different countries, that if there is to be peace in the world, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the most likely vehicle to bring that peace. We see people from all different backgrounds all coming together in a common effort to learn about God and Jesus Christ. They are all working to be like Christ, humbling themselves to serve others and opening their minds to an appreciation of our differences as people while also striving to become united. They are not blind followers of anyone and not bullied into false submission but are genuinely reaching out to others by learning languages, no matter how difficult, sacrificing time and money to serve full-time missions, sacrificing time and money to support the organization that will bring us all together to learn more, and generally making a real effort to get along. It's a wonderful plan which can include whatever number of people have a desire to participate.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is only an American holiday. We were able to celebrate it because James works for the U.S. State Department so the embassy was closed. Otherwise, Lithuania went on as on any other work day. Turkey is available but it takes a little work to get a big one. We got ours from a farmer (producer?) who brought the freshly slaughtered birds to the embassy parking lot in the trunk of his car. We had all the missionaries in the area (10) and another guest for dinner. Each group contributed to the feast. We had: rolls, turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, crab salad, fruit salad, home made pickles, corn, broccoli, fresh cranberry sauce, apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies, cake, peanut butter fudge. I don't thing anyone went away hungry. The bread basket was a "family home evening" project on Monday. We cut and colored paper plates to made feathers, wings and the face of a turkey and mounted them on a bread basket. The other picture is not too inspiring but it is the food ready for serving less the deserts. We have so much to be thankful for as Americans. Our lives are enriched in ways people here can't even imagine. Have great Thanksgiving and give thanks.

Trying to be more cheerful!

We had snow here at the beginning of November but since then it has just been overcast and in the 30's to 40's with occasional rain. I prefer the snow and look forward to its return. It at least lightens things up so they're not so dreary. These pictures were taken when we took our trip to the coast of Lithuania. We walked to a "Chinese" restaurant for dinner and took the first picture just outside the door of the restaurant. We walked by the ship on the way there. We want to take some pictures of the park where we walk every morning and the sidewalk sweepers and dumpsters on the way, since we have mentioned them, but it's just so dark and dreary all day every day! We're not sure if the pictures would come out well. I guess all we can do is try because it doesn't look as if waiting is going to be profitable.
Update: last night I went with Susanne to the "book club" dinner to discuss Elie Wiesel's book, NIGHT. It was held at a little Jewish restaurant. We almost didn't find it. We walked there because James had taken the car to go teach Institute (a religion class for college-aged students for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Besides, it was a fairly warm evening and it wasn't raining. There aren't a lot of street lights here and the buildings are right up close to the narrow streets. We walked down the little side street where the restaurant was supposed to be and nearly gave up just before we finally saw lights through an open window and the name of the place on the wall above it. There were probably 7-8 little tables. They had pushed 2 together for our group of 7, the only patrons for the first hour and a half. We were there starting at 6:30. Besides Susanne and me, there was an English woman (she and her husband have lived here for 3 years and will "leave when they get tired of it"), a Lithuanian woman who seemed about my age (I never did find out how she connected to the group), a Lithuanian woman who runs the library in the American school (her husband is from India and they met in Russia at school), and 2 American women who teach at the school. The discussion went pretty much as one might expect considering the subject of the book. (You could read the book if you are interested and willing to be depressed.) The most interesting part of the evening for me was near the end of our time there when a slightly stooped man with wavy white hair entered and was seated at a table, obviously there for a meal. He sat by himself for awhile then came over to our table and excused himself for interrupting and asked if some of us were Americans. We said that, indeed, some of us were. He spoke quite fluent English but had a hint of an accent. As we found out, he was from America recently but was originally from Germany. He is here in Vilnius because he is a photographer whose pictures are on a month-long exhibition in the "photographer's union gallery" on the main street of the old city. His photographs are of Holocaust survivors. Here we were sitting in a Jewish restaurant in a city that was once known as the Jerusalem of Europe discussing a book written by a Holocaust survivor talking to the only other patron in the place who happened to be from Germany and is a photographer exhibiting pictures of Holocaust survivors. Interesting, don't you think?...................

Streets of Vilnius

I still don't know why the blogger space puts my pictures and text In a different place than I intended but it does. One of the things we find different here is the way they "pave". Not all but many of the streets, walks and driveways are made by grading and compacting sand to lay paving blocks on. Some are the size of a small brick and used mainly for vehicle traffic and others are about a third of a meter and used as sidewalks. There are many shapes and sizes but the end result is the same. The picture of the square is the main square in the center of town and is being fixed up for some celebration I can't remember now. The use of colored pavers is a nice improvement. Most of the pavement or walks are cement gray like you see surrounding the very "Roman" looking church. I guess others thought it looked very Roman as well because on the day we did a walking tour, they were filming some kind of movie. That would be the picture of the actors standing around between scene shootings. When you look behind them it looks very Roman in the shot. There were even burning torch cauldrons that don't show in the picture. The town square will be driven on when the construction is done. When a pipe or something needs repair they just stack up the pavers fix it and put them back. It seems a lot more sensible to us than the way we do it back home. The jobs do vary in quality of placement. Most are well tamped before setting the blocks but some are not. You can picture what the latter look like after a month or so. On the whole, it is done very well.

No Pictures today

Elie (short for Eliezer) Wiesel- up until a couple of days ago, that was a name I knew mostly as a crossword puzzle answer. I guess I knew he was an author but had never read any of his work. Susanne, my daughter-in-law here in Lithuania, reads a lot, as do most members of the embassy community. Several of the wives here gather occasionally to discuss a book they have read recently. Their choice this time was Night by Elie Wiesel. Since it's such a short book, Susanne thought maybe I might want to read it and join them for their dinner and discussion. If any of you have ever read this book, you will understand how it might affect me. Perhaps it has affected me even more because I am here in the area of the world where this tragedy occurred. Elie Wiesel is a survivor of the Holocaust. This short book is his memoirs of the events he endured as a young teenager. He makes no attempt to clean up the grotesque circumstances but he also reports factually, without Hollywood-type exaggerations to create horror. It took me longer than it could have to read the book because I had to read it in small sections. Often when I read a book, I lose myself in the "world" created by the author- picturing people and places and almost living the events. I couldn't let myself do that with this book. When at last I finished it, I immediately went to the piano to play some hymns, then I sought out conversation withh my family and wanted to play a game to get the book out of my mind. That has caused me to wonder, if I have had to make such an effort to forget merely a story I have read because it causes me such pain and revulsion, how did the survivors or even rescuers or, most especially, perpetrators, ever go on living with such memories? When we went on our walking tour of Vilnius, our guide pointed out what was formerly the Jewish quarter. At one time there were so many Jews in Vilnius that it had the name Jerusalem of Europe or something like that. During the years 1941-1944, 90% of the city's Jewish population was exterminated. There are still some Jews here but not many. Russia, when they came in after Germany, was looked on as a "rescuer", especially to the Jews. But after going to the KGB Museum, I have to wonder if life under Stalin was much better for anybody here. My heart bleeds for the people here and in the surrounding areas who have endured such pain. No wonder they don't smile when you encounter them on the street. I know I can tend to get deeply philosophical and that is tedious to some people. I'm sorry if my ponderings here are unpleasant to read. But what I am discussing is not just a remote philosophy or opinion of types of government or vague idea of some author. People have justified total cruelty to other human beings for no sane reason! Saddam Hussein idolized Stalin and believed in similar tactics. Now people all over the world are jumping on George Bush and the US government for getting rid of Hussein. At the time of WWII many people wanted to avoid getting involved. I remember hearing of people being mugged in NYC within earshot and even sight of other people who "didn't want to get involved". I understand the phrase people often use "we can't be the world's policeman". But I don't understand how we can, or should, avert our gaze and not try to do something to help others. I used to weep when pictures of Ethiopia first came to the tv screen in the 1970's of the little swollen bellied children with flies swarming about their faces and limbs so thin their knees and elbows looked hugely out of proportion. I wanted to send money to help but knew, rationally, that I could not erase hunger from the world. Maybe sending our loved ones to Iraq and Afghanistan, just as they were sent to Germany and Poland, will not erase evil men from the world. But maybe it can give hope to good people that they are not alone in the world. Maybe it can send a message to the bullies and power-hungry despots that they cannot reign in terror unchecked by the rest of the civilized world. Maybe people may believe in different "gods" but I want to choose a loving God. I want to encourage and help and love.

It is said in local lore that you can look down any street in Vilnius and see a church. It is not literally true but nearly. On our walking tour of the city I just snapped a couple of shots down streets and guess what? Yes, there is a church visible in the distance. We have addressed religion before so forgive any repeated information. Most Lithuanians are Catholic. All of the churches have steeples with crosses but many are not the simple crossed poles we are familiar with. Many of the crosses incorporate their long held pagan beliefs. The crosses are imposed over sun rays and moon symbols. In fact, they were chided by the Pope when he visited here for not converting completely to Christianity. The last church pictured is St. Annes. It is interesting to me because of the building materials. It is brick but unlike our usual concept of all bricks being rectangular like Legos, there are over thirty different types and shapes of bricks in it. The ornate face you see here has many curved or round bricks. It may be hard to see at a distance but few of the bricks you see are the kind we usually think of. I was impressed with the beauty of the facade. The close-up shows, the best that I could, some of the special brick used.