Kultura! Constructivist (?) artwork

The first picture is of the Vilnius' logo as the EU Cultural Capital 2009. Kultura = culture in Lithuanian! Second is an amazing piece of artwork that is on display in the city. I have spoken with a few informants about this art - many are so mad that it "looks so ugly" and cost the city so much to "put old pipes together". The art has been interpreted and reinterpreted many many times here, and I think it is quite brilliant. What is more interesting than anything else is that everyone keeps thinking of new ways that it resembles Lithuanian identity. Who knows the real meaning - in fact, maybe there isn't even one! Some people see it and say, "Yeah, it is trash, just like Lithuania." Some people say, "It shows us how far we've come - from Soviet times to now". Some people think the pipe runs upward, some think downward! What is important, I think, is that questioning the art is leading Lithuanians (and other critics) to question themselves. Ate! -Emily

The Banks Are in Love!

The banks of the river in Vilnius are in love.  It's pretty cute.  (As tave myliu = I love you.  Ir as tave  = And I [love] you )

"caught up in an illusion" - andrew phelps

Yesterday I was at the Big in Japan exhibit at the Art Museum on Vokeciu Gatve here in Vilnius.  The aim of the exhibition is to display art by European artists "with Eyes on Japan" - most of these artists have been given scholarships to create art that brings the landscapes, people, and cultures of Japan to modern eyes.  The art was all very post-Modern and interesting - but what struck me was the following quote.  I can really relate to these thoughts, written by the  photographer Andrew Phelps (from USA/JAV), for his exhibition "Not Niigata".  Here is what he wrote:  "When traveling in a foreign place, I tend to be fascinated with both the exotic and the mundane.  The two are often one and the same, especially in a place where the gap between old and new is astronomical.  In most modern societies, tradition, history, and religion have etched a deep set of rituals and codes, which are being tested and expanded as cultural homogenisation begins to question established systems and ideologies...I find it is easy to get caught up in chasing an illusion of what I think a place should look like; preconceptions are powerful and the quest to understand a place often leads to a greater misunderstanding"  -- Sado Island, February 2009.   These sentiments were shared to explain to the observer that his photography was not an accurate description of life and land in Niigata, Japan, but the result of his own interactions and insights.  As a young anthropologist, I am often struggling to put preconceptions aside and really understand, and like Phelps, sometimes I walk away only fully understanding what it is not.

Backlogging: President Grybauskaite

Out with friends N and J a few weeks ago on the first day of the new president's term.  In case you missed it - she is a she!  (In the newspaper the other day, there was an article written by a "professional handwriting analyst" - and he claimed that she is truly a masculine figure and that is why she is perfect for the job - but that is a story for another post.)  We went to see the presidential inauguration a few weeks ago.  It was a great event - they set the cannon off a few times, and I was only a few meters away from all of the action - the parading armed forces, the folk singers, the flags from every town and village in Lithuania...it was a spectacular event.  Interesting quasi-cultural tidbit - here there is a totally different notion of "queueing" than there is back home.  If someone wants to be at the front of a line (or in this case, at the front of the crowd watching an event), they simply need to stick their elbows out and push up to the front.  I've even experienced strategic breathing down my neck.  (Ew!)  I have always been baffled, too, by the reactions of those around me - it is simply okay to be pushed to the back of a line.  Another example of this - I was at the phone store, in line to buy a few more minutes for my phone plan.  When I approached the counter, an elderly man walked into the store and gently elbowed me out of the way.  The clerk was furious with him, and yelled at him for doing so.  Although I was a bit miffed, I realized that this was just a part of the queuing practice here - he meant no harm, he just wanted to be served first, and somehow that is okay. 

Backlogging: Some pictures from Graduation Celebrations!

Here are my friends M, N, and V and me with our beautiful diplomas!  My classmates and I (at the wooden desks above) all brought special treats from our home countries, or cooked something special, for the last day of class.  I got a "10" on my diploma (haha, 10 out of 10, not 100...) with the mark "puiku" - ypatinga gerai, or excellent!  We even had to take a final exam :)  Maybe my credits can be transferred to Wellesley?  The first picture is of my friends N and A out on the balcony of a friend's butas (flat).  We made kugelis together that night to celebrate our last night all together, and played cards out on the balcony looking at the sunset :) ...Zinoma, tik lietuviskai (of course, [speaking] only lithuanian).

Lots of Museums, but not a lot of luck...

Unfortunately this post is going to have to be short, but I'll share some pictures...my keyboard is broken, and so it is difficult to type with some of these keys acting strange.  I can't delete, or hit enter ... (perhaps the apple bar in natick will once again come to my rescue when i get home...)  I've been spending time at the museums here (KGB, Theater, Music, Art, and Applied art)  and practicing for my voice lessons, too.  I've also been meeting with new informants and getting amazing perspectives about music, government policy, history, and identity.  Here are some pictures from a trip with my friends to Kaunas.  Also, just wanted to share that last night I went with a friend L to a "simfonas rockas" concert - where I got to hear an orchestrated version of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit . . . on the same program as a rocked - out CPE Bach movement... it was really neat.  Also - I'm including a picture of me felting with friends from class at a linen store and craft shop.  :)

New Coffee Shop, better internet, better coffee :)

Now I have a new little home for checking email, blogging, and skyping home - here on Pilies Gatve (Street of [the] Castle).  As you walk down this very touristy street, you have a perfect view of the castle of Gediminas - I'll take some pictures this week to post.  

Here at the coffee shop, I'm sitting with three teenagers.  They are part of that young Hippie fashion movement in Vilnius - with dreads, faux hawks, ripped jeans, chains, and lots of plaid.  They are playing this board game like Monopoly - but it is called "War on Terror".  All of the money is stamped with "World Bank of Capitalism".  They are playing to take over the world...it's pretty crazy.

Some of you are wondering how I'm going to be spending this next few weeks, since I'm finished with my language course.  Well, now I'm putting that course to good use - starting tomorrow, I'm going to be scouting out more informants who are young street musicians and will be interviewing them.  I'm continuing with voice lessons, and I'm trying to attend a concert every day.

Last night, I went with my friend K to the Harvard Krokodiloes concert here in Vilnius.  I talked with K and her friend R about the interesting concert-going rituals here - including clapping along in unison at the end of a concert.  Since they sat in the front row, they missed my new favorite one - conducting along with the music and snapping on the downbeat.  I counted at least 10 people doing that in the audience - mostly everyone was dancing along somehow.

Ate!

More about Klaipeda...

The writing in the sand means "here was ..."  :)

So, part of the appeal for going to Klaipeda was that the cultural festival Europeade was going on...folk dancers and singers from all over the continent come together once a year and put on a big show.  I got to speak to children from all over about what this tradition means to them...although I didn't get to speak to any Lithuanian children there.  A and I sort of hijacked into a dress rehearsal for the international dancers...and all of the Lithuanian children had already rehearsed.  I talked to one parent about how his 5 year old daughter thinks that it is fun to dance, and he hopes someday she will learn why her parents care about the tradition so much.  He choked up just speaking about it - about the changes from a Soviet past, about how his daughter is a part of something important...

A played along as an anthropologist too - and we were treated like rock stars while there with these children.  Kids flocked to me and A - for example one Polish girl dragged a friend over who spoke fluent English - only to be reprimanded by a leader.  Kids were so proud, it seemed, for some foreigner (non-European) to take interest in what they did for fun.  

I was really impressed with the language knowledge of the kids I met in Klaipeda.  Most were able to speak to me in some English.  I heard two children (I'd estimate at 7 and 8 years old) speaking Russian to each other, and Lithuanian to their parent, and then English - PERFECTLY - to me.  

Sidenote: A, who is Russian, pointed out that it is no surprise that Russians didn't seem to be invited...we played a folk-costume analysis game of figuring out by accents and costumes who was from where...and A and I found NO Russian participants.

At the same time, at my host mom's house, Russian folk dancing and singing is always performed in pop style on some channel...

Iki!

baltic sea- klaipeda!

Laba diena!  This past weekend my friend A and I went to Klaipeda to celebrate our "graduation" from the language course.  Of course I have a lot of other pictures and stories to share, but being at the beach was so beautiful, I couldn't wait to post these pictures first.

See how cool the trees are in Klaipeda?  They grow sideways because of the strong stormy winds from the sea.  

The trainride through the countryside was fun - well, we both slept through most of it.  We explored the city, walking an hour to the beach, and then we swam pretty much all day.  

You know, we were supposed to have horrible horrible weather - we were expecting rain the whole weekend, but it didn't drip one drop of it.

marriages, babies, and bachelor parties

One thing that is visibly different here is the high percentage of young people who are pregnant or pushing carriages.  An informant explained to me that about 1 year ago, the economic situation was looking up and lots of young couples decided to start or expand their families.  

But besides all of this:  July in Vilnius is marriage month, it seems.  With my friends in Kaune (Kaunas), we counted 7 brides just on one cathedral square.  We counted 16 brides in total on Saturday.  We also ran into 5 bachelor and bachelorette parties...

So, one of the parties was comprised of two grooms in drag (short gold dresses) flanked by about 25 "nuns".  While me and my friends were enjoying ice cream Katedros Aiksteje ("in Cathedral Square"), the nuns came up to us and decided to pray and talk.  Don't worry, these parties are generally good-natured, one other group was handing out balloons to little kids.  I said, "Aš iš Amerikos, Aš nekalbu ir nesuprantu lietuviškai" ("I'm from America, I don't speak or understand lithuanian") and they replied that I was obviously lying because they could tell by my accent that I was Lithuanian and not from America.

hmm. 

Serious Problems with Constructivism...

So, if you have been part of the "lucky few" (heh heh) that have heard me talk at length, over and over I'm sure, about my project - you've probably figured out by now that I'm obsessed with constructivism. In simple terms, this is studying how people "build" and create their culture through behavior and chosen attitudes. This is based in the anthropological idea that culture doesn't simply exist, but that humans are directly responsible for creating it, whether they know it or not. People create - or construct - their culture in all sorts of ways. I was interested specifically in looking at how Lithuanians today are using music to create their imaginations of "modern Lithuanianness" in post-Soviet place.

And here is where the problem comes about: in my cultural lectures at the university, in looking at the texts, and watching Lithuanian TV, people here are really stuck on the past. At festivals and other cultural events I've been to, there has been a definite attitude that revolves around primordialism ("we are the Lithuanians that always have been and always will be, so we deserve to be the best and to celebrate our immortal culture"). But on the other hand, artists, writers, and other thinkers are stuck on deconstructing Soviet past and Soviet life. A writer at a lecture I attended was frank and noted that under the USSR , "everyone fucked up each other, or were fucked. There was no hero". I've observed that thinkers and scholars here Lietuvoje (in Lithuania) in general seem to have a shameful remembrance of the past, and are really hung up on this fact in their writing and speeches. There is a sense of guilt in the movies I've seen - and people in general seem eager to call their former Soviet life "shit. Will it ever be shaken by society?

So, is the government the group that drives the primordialist attitude?

Is it that the people today, only 20 years after fighting for separation from the USSR, are still dealing with painful memories of the past?

How long will it take to keep deconstructing the past, and dealing with pain, before people will begin to start constructing a present and a future for their country?

I asked a lecturer here about literature - he said that although the trend is growing all over the world, not one writer here has written a "constructionist" novel - or even a novel directly about the present, really. Most novels are set in the late Soviet era, and talking about the present or future "can't be done until the past is dealt with". Again I ask - when will that time ever come?

Here is another example for you to ponder: families still live in the small flats they were forced to move into when the USSR demanded that they give up their houses and homes. I am living in such a flat - the plumbing is despicable, when there was a water problem a few weeks ago, it took 5 days to fix (and have water again!!!) because the Soviet-paid plumbers had no reason to do a great job, and the unmarked piping was completely surrounded by cheap cement instead, simply because it was cheaper, and they could keep the "difference" when they cheated on these material costs. Thank goodness my relatives here let me move in with them while things were being fixed! But still: people live in these small homes that they were forced into during Communist times. How can a post-Soviet country move forward when a few generations have grown up in these flats, calling them home? Even wealthy people live in these homes, and simply have them redecorated in fancy ways. Yet on the outside, these flats are definitely Soviet - literally a reminder looming on their horizon of a dangerous, painful past.

This isn't my picture - but it is a picture of a "neighboring" flat near my home here. To find this, I searched google.com with the tags " ___my street name___" and "butas" (flat). The third tag that was tagged by OTHERS was "ugly". Maybe that offers some insight?

Sidenote: right now, I'm at a cafe and across the street is a street musician. He just broke a string - and all of the patrons of the cafe are clapping. Today I heard a street musician playing Green Day and Nirvana. If there was ever a moment of cultural critique I've experienced here, it was this afternoon, when I couldn't stop my doubts and judgment: a Lithuanian street performer attempted to perform Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit...

*comment on last post

I wanted to point out that the folk song festival parade was in the rain!  The weather cleared up later, but while this was going on, it was pouring - and as you can see it didn't stop hundreds of people for showing up and celebrating.

I've already gotten questions about these "groups" that are in my pictures-  these are folksong "teams" from all over Lithuania (and some from around the world, including JAV, Kanada, ir Anglia).  They have competed for these "positions" to be in the 2000 singers that are allowed to be on the big stage.  

Also - I didn't have to pay to get in here.  I wormed my way to the front, Lithuanian style.  There are paid seats at the front, and as you can see, I was right up along where these paid seats were.  Here in Lithuania, it seems like there is no such thing as waiting in line.  People simply push their way to the front if they wish - perhaps (and maybe it is a stretch, but I've had confirmation from Lithuanian citizens) this is a survival of sorts from the Soviet attitude - when everyone had to accept that everyone had an equal claim to open space, or the front of a line.

pictures from the end of dainu svente!

Class is going well - I'm already trying to figure out who I can speak with in Lithuanian when I get home.  I spend most of my time thinking and speaking in the Lithuanian that I know, and being here is causing me to learn really fast!

I've been to a few more song festivals, and I'm scouting out the regular street performers and putting together interview material to talk with them about.  Here are some pictures from the last song festival!

grybai - dance

Above: Collage of folk song festival pictures - from the opening ceremony.  Hopefully the quality is clearer? From now on I'll make sure that these collages are not so blurry.

I was at a party yesterday exercising my right to participant observation - learning folk dances with friends from professional folk musicians and dancers.  Many of the dances we learned were connected to a characteristic part of lithuanian life or culture.  My favorite was the mushroom picking dance!  two lines of dancers face each other, holding hands with the person opposite them, up high (as to make a long tunnel/tent).  The dancers at the ends of this long tunnel duck down and run beneath the hands of their friends into the "tunnel", where they grab another friend, thus "picking a mushroom", and dragging them out.   

coming together, coming alive

Cross cultural misunderstandings are now a part of my everyday life here - I've been told (nicely, by friends) that I'm being rude to be so polite, for example.  Or I've had to help my friend translate complaints for K who was cheated when her food came at a restaurant - the waiter assumed that because she spoke English, that we wouldn't notice that on the menu, she was promised something completely different than the much more inexpensive dish she was brought.  They were going to charge her 12 litas just to fix her order - saying, "you foreigners should know that Lithuania is an expensive country."  Thank goodness we've covered food in my Lithuanian course - the minute I gave K's complaint in Lithuanian, things were immediately solved. 

One big "problem" has been interpreting body language and controlling my own body language.  If I smile on the street to a stranger, they immediately know I am a foreigner.  Here, open emotions are saved for those you know and love - but to me, the very normal, happy people around me look so sad and depressed because they don't wear the over-happy mask I'm used to seeing in the states.  

Yet my experiences at folk song festivals have been completely the opposite.  When I've sat down at a concert and observed those around me before the music starts, the tendency is that everyone stares ahead, or talks to the few friends that they know around them.  Yet when the music begins, strangers begin to speak with each other, dance with each other - even smile at each other.  What is it about the musical culture here that suddenly makes it okay for a Lithuanian to feel comfortable grabbing my hand and dancing with me, when only moments before, she was sitting quietly with a blank face, only recognizing my presence out of the corners of her eyes?  What is it about music that makes people feel safe enough to celebrate?

I have many theories on this, but I'll only share them after another 5 weeks here.

Although, I do want to share this - here, the song popular among the young people I've talked to has a chorus, "Kaip gyveni? Hei, gerai!"  (How are you, familiar?  Great!)  It is a really popular pop song here that some informants described to me as the "folk song for teenagers today".  In "real life", I'm lucky to be greeted with "laba diena" by a stranger (very formal, "good day") - usually it only happens when I'm paying for something.  Sometimes, I see people who know each other shake hands without a sound when they cross paths, continuing on in their separate directions without uttering a word.  Many people I know avoid saying "gerai" (good) when they are asked how they are - usually "not bad" or an equivalent is shared.  But this song comes on at an event, and suddenly, young people feel safe to ask the strangers around them how they are in an informal way.  They are singing about being "laimingas" - happy!  They grab hands, dance, and openly care about each other, even if they don't know each other.  I'm hypothesizing that this is probably the reason why so many older people have showed disgust for this song at song festivals I've been to...

probably?

One of the things I've been laughing about for the past few weeks is the Carlsberg beer advertising strategy:  "Probably the best beer in the world."  Modest?

So, in the past few days, here is what i've been up to:

1.  language class and midterm

2.  events of dainu svente - the biggest folk song and dance festival in lithuania

3.  going to the KGB museum to do research

4.  going to the modern art museum

5.  interviewing lithuanian people I meet

6.  attending folk music parades, street performances, etc

7.  researching events, buying tickets

8.  studying music for my voice lessons - barbarina's aria, russian music, lithuanian art song

9.  practicing my lithuanian 

10.  going to history and culture lectures

why not start as far away from folk music as possible, with breakdancing.  during the folk song festival, Kalnu parke, there was a group of professional break dancers doing their own thing, listening to funk, dancing, and laughing and smoking together.  in my discussion with them, the lead dancer explained that breakdancing isn't just what they do for fun, it is their way of life.   "the music is a part of us", he said - his dance troupe is his family, he feels that the funk music is a part of him and that the dancing is that just coming out of him. i keep coming across this pattern of music and dance as something "inside" of the people I speak with, which naturally comes out of them when they are with others, singing and dancing.  our interview closed with him asking, "is that all?  because right now, i really feel like i need to go dance".  

Just couldn't wait to share this -

Thanks to all of you who wished me a happy birthday!  I have to finish updating my fieldnotes, adding in as many details as possible and clearing out some confidential information from my informants, before I share any stories from my fieldwork these past few days.

But I just wanted to say I spent my 21st birthday learning Lithuanian in the morning, eating Lithuanian mushrooms and koldunai, eating dinner out with friends, and going to a folk song and dance festivals.  We went to Soprano (remember that from an earlier post?) and I got an ice cream sundae named Baratonas.  I drank Svyturis...and a pina colada.  

ate!  emily

no posts or pictures for a couple of days!

when i'm not in class or lecture, i'm out in the field at the dainu svente folksong festival!  

today through july 6th.  i'll have plenty to share once it dies down pirmadieni (on monday) but in the meantime, here (<-- click!) is the website of the festival (in english).

From the website (very odd translation but I think that the depth of the meaning behind this festival is clear in this imaginative text)

Current of time has no end, time runs from the past to the future, from eternal darkness to immortal light, from the profound to unattainable heights, from the bottom roots to a splendent blossom, glistening in our hopes like the sun. This is how an immortal oak, the tree of our world, grows. A loud-voiced bird of our songs has alighted from the heaven and settled on its crown, singing out new tones of millenary songs, the sutartinės (from a word sutarti – to accord, consent) of our contrasting Dalia (Destiny), whose diverse voices are incessantly weaved into one cloth by our common Laima (Fate). As to consent does not mean to wear the same face and sing in one voice, yet to hear the one beside while singing your unique song and feel the hearts of all of us moulding into one single Lithuania, just like effuse branches of an oak melt into one crown, one SONG OF THE CENTURIES humming through thousands of years. 

ate - emily

gerai :)

I just began class!  I've tested into the second level class :)  We learned 3 cases today!  Anyway, I'm meeting a lot of great people in this course who have similar backgrounds like mine - grandparents who fled the country in the 1940s or during Soviet times.  We've been doing several hours of language a day, and we have taken some cultural courses, too.  I like the course and I'm glad I'm taking it.  Ordering food, getting around, knowing what to say, and knowing how to act really works.

I'm really struggling with how to word my observations so far to you - I'm really into constructionist anthropology theory (that culture doesn't "govern" over people, but that people build the illusion of culture around themselves) and yet all I want to do is tell you all of the little "culture rules" that seem to control the behavior I have been analyzing and generalizing.  In my culture classes, we've been doing just that - studying culture "rules" and "how culture here makes people act".  I'll figure out a sensible way to explain things in a later post, but even just a week into the field, I'm really questioning the basics of how I can accurately describe and share what I see!  

Here are some pictures!  These include a rainy day in Vilnius and going out with new friends from class.  Ate - emily

Saturday Night!

I went out with friends J, S, and R to Trakai again.  The opera was playing inside the castle (it was impossible to get tickets - maybe that is a good thing, that it was so popular?)  S and R were making fun of the smoke and the costumes and horses, of course.  Look at how beautiful it is at Trakai in the evening!!

Then we went out to a Greek restaurant, where I met some more friends.  We went out to a club/bar afterwards, where MIA's Paper Planes was a big hit among the crowds.  One friend pulled out his umbrella and began singing "Singing in the Rain" for all of us.  It was a great night!

Supermarket Photos

Here are some photos from the supermarket.  Thought you might like to see the variety of meats, fish, breads, salads, and cakes that are for sale.  One bottle of sparkling Vichy water is about 50 cents (USD).  

The food I love best is delicious delicious delicious surelis.  It tastes like a dream:  pressed sweet cottage cheese that is covered in chocolate.  To me, it tastes like thick ice cream.  One of the pictures in the slide show below is the 20-odd surelis flavors they have for sale.  Also interesting are the Opera and Sonata chocolate bars - I've yet to try them, though.

By the way - "Soprano"...

Some of you have asked about the picture I took of a sign that said "Soprano" on it.  That is an Italian ice cream / gelato place!  "Soprano" is one of those Italian words that "everyone" here knows.  Lots of Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants at home have the word "Amigos" in them.  Buzz words.  

So no, this is not a music store - but ice cream!   Ice cream in the afternoon seems to be a typical treat for people here.  Yeah, just another example of how Lithuanians eat so much food :)

Oh, this is for Dad:  I tried tongue this morning!  You would be proud.  It was tasty but (like everything here) really really rich.

Puppet opera! Voice Lesson! Television!

Here I am at Coffee Inn drinking an "Icy Spicy" drink!  I'm going to be coming here more often - it is much cozier than Double Coffee, and I really like the drinks.  Check out how cool my layered coffee looks!  

Well last night I had an incredible evening - I had my first lesson with Ms. Sigutė Stonytė .  [Here] is a biography of her in English.   My lesson was wonderful, she is a great teacher and I'm really looking forward to working with her more over the summer.  She is really nice - not in sugar coating her teaching or in her comments - but she made me feel so comfortable to be singing and trying strange exercises.  She loves my voice and she wants to specifically work on bel canto style with me.  

This paragraph is for the music friends:  I know I've been wondering, and some of you have been, too - she "diagnosed" me as a soprano, who may be a soprano for the rest of her life and could attempt to be a mezzo later, but she tested my range during exercises and said I was singing high Ds with no problem (!!!), and that my clarity at the top is characteristic of a soprano.  That's news to me!  Usually singing high is a disaster for me, so that was pretty much magic.  (Tension from schoolwork is gone?  Maybe it is my new yoga regimen?  Maybe that $3 Belgian beer I had two days ago?)  She is obsessed with air, and that really helps with sound.  Singing my recital music with her seemed so easy - I guess I've grown a lot in the last month.  She said I should focus on Baroque/Mozart music now, and she would be disappointed if in my 40s I wasn't singing Wagner.  For now, she wants to "lighten up" my vibrato and get me to finally stop pushing.  Yesterday she was able to get me to sound so much lighter and younger, and fast movement with my voice was not a problem.

Her daughter came to translate our lesson, and so I've made another friend over here!  She also went to the opera last night, where I met her father, an accomplished pianist.  We did a lot of exercises and sang through some of my recital music - it seemed like the hour flew by!  Her voice is absolutely beautiful - she is older and yet sounds so impeccably young.  

My lessons will be at the Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy - [ here ] is their website.  This is just another example of my theory that if you put yourself out there, people are willing to help passionate people.  I had emailed the dean's and international relations offices at LMTA with information about myself and my research project, explaining that I am an aspiring singer and that I would like to try to work with a student who could tell me about studying music here.  They put me right in contact with their best opera teacher!  I feel so incredibly lucky to be working with her here.

 So I went to the opera last night - at the Rusu theater in Vilnius.  I've never seen a production like this!  There were life size puppets for both of the productions - this is very hard to explain, but let me try.  The stage itself was blacked out, with strategic lighting on the puppets, and the singers and orchestra were in a "pit" above the stage, looking down on the action.  In the first operetta (about a battle) - there were two sets of armor, each piece held by a different puppeteer.  The illusion was them running to each other to the music, in the battle, arms, limbs and swords flew everywhere in this beautiful sync with the music.  It was funny, too - at one point, arms and limbs were mixed up to create a spider-looking creature across the stage. In the second operetta, cute little clouds floated across the stage as the gods sang from above.  You see, puppeteers were inside of these puppets, so cute dancing human feet pranced about underneath the clouds that crossed the stage.   The gods were teaching humans a lesson (what else do they do?) and so the "people" were larger-than-life elderly women.  They had no torsos - just 3' x 2' disfigured faces, elaborate victorian-style hair, human pupetter arms, and huge skirts attached to their necks.  They whimpered and cackled over the music, and they jump-roped, picked at each other's lice, and danced while the gods sang to them.  Cute little demon puppets came out to play when that characteristic droning of Montiverdi's was played by an organ.  It was just so spectacular.  The whole audience burst out laughing when the flirtatious god puppets batted their big sparkly eyelashes at each other.  It was so fun!  Oh - everything was sang in really clear Italian, and the subtitles were in Lithuanian.  So I picked up a few new phrases from this, too.

What was so remarkable was that the majority of opera-goers were young people.  In my row alone were two girls with Mohawks, five young twenty-somethings, and several pairs of friends who were less than thirty, I'd estimate.  Going to the opera is really a cool thing to do here!  Ah, I love Vilnius.  Hmm, I'll have to post about the dreaded / pink haired Vilnius Hippie culture another time...

Tonight I'm going to go to the movies with my cousin Justa and some of her friends.

Speaking of friends - I've been watching some Lithuanian TV as I fall asleep, and one thing that has been on late at night is Friends in Lithuanian.  I've picked up a lot just listening and watching.  During the opening credits, they say the names of the actors and actresses, adding the appropriate endings to the names to denote gender (Mattas LeBlancas, for example).  It is pretty funny to watch.  They also have their own version of Friends here - the main characters are a slim brunette and a honey-blonde with a "Rachel" haircut :)  Their apartment walls are purple and green, too.

Well, I don't really have enough pictures to post from my camera yet, so I'll do that tomorrow.

Ate, emily

Opera Tomorrow Night!

Montiverdi!  

I just bought a balcony ticket for the opera tomorrow night, and I can't wait to go.  It is in Vilnius.  Check out the English version of the website here ---> click me!  

Once in a lifetime opportunity, right?  Wrong on two counts - One, I love it here and can't imagine I'll never come back (yes, I'm saying this after not even a week of being here).  Two, my ticket cost me 25 litas.  $10.12!!!  It wasn't even a student ticket (they were sold out of those).  

I checked out the Music Academy where I will meet opera singer Sigute Stonyte for a voice lesson.  I'm excited - but I can't gain access to the practice rooms until tomorrow, so I'm a bit nervous that I can't warm up and review my music today.  Tomorrow morning, bright and early I guess.

Video from Trakai --> click me!

Video from Cathedral Square --> click me!

viso gero - emily

Last Days With Dad

Dad and I had a wonderful time last night with our relatives, looking through pictures of family.  We found a picture of my dad's grandfather - it was the first time my dad had ever seen what his father's father looked like.  Duke (short for dadukas, my grandfather) didn't remember much of his father, and had mentioned that somewhere there was a picture of him, with a mustache - and lo and behold, our family had a labeled picture of him!  It also seems that he had a sister - one picture was labeled with the same name, but with the -ite ending, which means "Miss".  Putting two and two together - Dad's grandfather had a sister - my great great aunt!  What a powerful experience, rediscovering roots like this.

Getting dinner tonight with a friend from Harvard :)  For now, here are some pictures from the last two days... Ate!

In the name of my brother!

JONINES FESTIVAL!!!  After an amazing afternoon exploring the castles of Trakai, I went with my dad and my relatives to the festival of St. John (Tuesday night festival, Wednesday was a state holiday).  There was a lot of dainos singing - it was incredible to see and hear what I've been studying all year.  There were bonfires until past midnight, and people gathered to sing, drink, and celebrate.  Young unmarried women (that included me!) made wreaths of flowers - wading in the grass in flowers up to our wastes, picking and tying together flowers using long grasses.  I was supposed to throw my wreath into the Neris River at midnight - but alas, we left when the thunder and rain began to break.  I didn't want to throw mine into the water anyway - it was too pretty!  John, I did it all in the name of you.

[Here] is a video from the festival - just one song of so many that were sung.  At the end, my informants talk a bit about the meaning of this particular song.   

Driving Skills!

Watching Lithuanians drive is incredible.  Lithuanians don't seem to use their blinker (directionals?  I've always called it a blinker) to indicate the desire to turn - they use it to let you know they are already turning and will smash into you at that very moment if you happen to be in their way.  

No, that's not exactly it.  Dad and I joked that Lithuanians must watch 007 car chases and deep down, know they are better than Bond himself.  A car might zoom very fast right up to stopping 1 meter before someone gets smushed or a car crash takes place. Usually in the US, there is way more space between cars.

You see, Lithuanian drivers are EXCELLENT on the whole, I'd say.  They know how to maneuver their cars in the most difficult situations.   I've watched car and car again parallel park (on the left side of the street, Lizzi!!) with only a centimeter of space to share.  Streets that have one lane in the United States seem to fit three or four cars here - no joke.  As long as a centimeter of space exists between two cars, there is no need to slow down and spread out.  Two lane road (remember, the size of a one lane road in the USA!)  with cars parked on each curb?  No problem, two way traffic still fits between them, and it isn't even a stress for the drivers I've ridden with so far.  It's normal!

Another interesting bit about driving - here, there is the flashing green light before the yellow and red lights.  I'm not quite sure what the flashing green light means - but if I had to guess by observing the "behavior" of cars on the roads, flashing green means "try as hard as physically possible to accelerate to 500 km/hour through this intersection, please!"

I've got some videos and photos to share with you!  I'm realizing that I haven't been giving you a good context for the material I'm posting - things are just so exciting and new at the moment, so I can't write about everything.  I've decided that I'll go back when I have time and add information to old photos and posts - you'll see that the text will be in a different color, so you can find it quickly.  Hmm...don't expect those updates for a few more days!

Some of you might be wondering how I've been doing the whole internet thing - of course, now that I'm in the field I want to spend as little time on the internet as I can so that I can focus on ethnography and music.  So, before I left, I created this blog, set up a Picasa account, and freshened up my Youtube account.  I let my pictures upload while I'm sleeping, I don't do much editing of videos and pictures (you are getting the "raw" files), and I am trying to limit typing here on the blog to 10 minutes per post.

Beer Belly? Think again.

My cousin J**** says that the key to the Lithuanian diet is beer...let me explain.

The food here is incredibly rich and - in J****'s words, "realllly fatty". It is delicious but I can't seem to ever finish even half of my food - because my tastebuds are simply exhausted! Imagine, for example, this meal:

Lithuanian beer (skanu! tasty!), with pork ear strips, chickpea salad (texturally like macaroni salad), and fried beer bread, 100% saturated with oil, and dressed in cheese sauce (don't worry, the cheese sauce is mixed with mayonnaise so that it is creamier)

Tricked you! That is just the first course for while you drink. :)

For appetizer - baked potato, dressed with a sour cream, mushroom (grybai), onion, and pickled herring.

For dinner - two stuffed cabbage servings. The meat interior is half pork, half beef, minced together. It tasted an awful lot like a Peking Ravioli from home. To top it all off - literally - a cheesey, runny sour cream dressing with dill. Don't forget the potato on the side.

Of course, more and more beer.

So J**** explained that when she went to the USA for six months (here, JAV), she gained an enormous amount of weight eating the American way. She now is back to her normal, very slender self - and eats like this on a regular basis. Nothing is ever "diet" food for her, and every meal is rich. The Lithuanian women I've seen around town are all very healthy-looking and slender - and when they eat, they clean their plates. After the dinner, I've seen women split ANOTHER plate of beer snacks - with beers 3 times the size I'm used to drinking.

How do they do it? J**** explained the secret: the beer! "The beer has natural yeasts in it that break down the fats and keep us healthy. Every bite you have, drink a sip of beer, so that it mixes". Her fiance, mom, and dad nodded along in agreement. Halfway through the meal J**** reminded me to drink my beer. And her dad, Romas, encouraged me to order another once I was done. Of course this, I'm now remembering, was at the point we were eating our appetizers. Romas told me to not worry about finishing my potato - since "more warm ones are coming!" Ha, they had ordered for me in Lithuanian, I had assumed I was eating my big meal at that point...

And to think that in the United States, the first thing a doctor suggests is to cut back on the empty calories of alcohol! Clearly we've got it wrong - eat as much fat as possible, and drink up! :)

I should take a moment to quickly mention how hospitable everyone is here. Really, people are kind and friendly, they never prod into your business, but you are treated really well by friends here and are shown around and cared for.

The part I thought was most ironic was that J****'s mom scolded her for ordering sparkling water (instead of still). Sparkling water, I learned, is bad for your health.

Here are lots of pictures from exploring Gediminas Castle and the rest of Vilnius - more stories and posts to come! I'll have to explain our excursions so far, including to the Ethnography museum, in some future post.

Here in Vilnius!

Labas!

Here I am in Vilnius, having a kapučinas in Double Coffee (see their website/menu here- they've got a bunch of cool and different drinks).  I'm finally uploading some pictures!  It's only been two days on the adventure, but there are a lot of stories to tell.  Don't worry - there are a lot more pictures to share, including more of my relatives here and our trips around the city - but they are all on my dad's camera.  He'll share them once he returns home at the end of the week!

The people here are extremely hospitable and friendly (and very well dressed) and my relatives and my host mom have been treating me so well.  It has been a real challenge to communicate since most people do not speak English, but it is really cool to feel that pressure and I'm learning really quickly, even in these past two days.  With my host mom, I've been speaking a lot in German and Lithuanian, and that has been pretty interesting.

I love the food.  It is incredibly rich.  I have to save the food stories for later - actually, I'll save all my stories for later - but let's just say I've crossed fish liver and pig's ear off my "to try" list.  And I loved both dishes!  

Iki pasimatymo - Emily

Surprise! Early-21st-Birthday Party at Home.

 

Tomorrow I leave for Lithuania!  My mom and dad and brother planned a little going-away/happy-early-birthday party for me.  (I turn 21 on July 2, while I'm in Lietuva)  We had mom's special cioppino (with halibut, scalops, calamari, and shrimp) for dinner, and a 100% surprise chocolate cheesecake for a pre-birthday dessert.  

I couldn't be more excited to start my trip.

Ate - emily.

Inflation!

As I'm recalculating my budget, I realize that the exchange rate is shifting - in Lithuania's favor! Lo and behold, the dollar has fallen, and most of my expenses have gone up a bit.  

Now I'm shifting my funds around on my budget sheet so that I know I'm financially set once I leave next Saturday morning.  (Thanks Liz, for help with the spreadsheet!)  I'm going to be sure to bring the things I need that I know will be more expensive in the field - such as toiletries, first aid materials, etc.  

But hey, I'm up for a financial challenge - and I'm always up for bargain hunting.  

Imponderabilia Article

Laba diena - I wanted to share an article I wrote about my work for the Cambridge University student anthropology publication, Imponderabilia.  In this post I've included a cartoon I've drawn for the publication and a snippet of my article - you can find the full version here.

In my cartoon, I've pictured the Vilnius TV tower being protected from Soviet opposition through the unique ammunition of the Lithuanian people:  folk music.  

Labas! A bit about my research.

Labas!  

Hello and welcome to my summer blog.  I'll be updating this with snippets of news, stories, pictures, and my experiences from the field as I conduct my ethnographic project studying Lithuanian folk songs, dainos.  Before I leave on June 20th, I wanted to get started by posting some of the background information about my project and my goals.

My research while abroad surrounds understanding Lithuanian identity construction through the performance of dainos (folk songs).  I want to understand how people "remember",  imagine, and construct their nationality through folk melody and text.  

I'm not quite sure what I'll encounter in the field, of course, but I am hoping to really focus on what young Lithuanians think about dainos, music, and Lithuanian art.  What can we learn from Lithuanians and the place of music and art in Lithuanian culture as we American artists struggle to build our younger audiences?  Focusing on young Lithuanians and their perceptions of music will really show me how memories are transmitted through song - young Lithuanians might not even remember the fall of the Soviet Union, never mind Soviet life, and yet they sing about their triumphs as if they remember it themselves.  How does this mechanism operate and help to construct both national and personal identity?

Through my studies I hope to self-reflexively explore my own heritage and my love of music.  As a "half Lithuanian" American student who wants to be an opera singer, I hope I can discover throughout this summer how I construct my own identity through music.  My relative told me that music is inherent to Lithuanians: that - like basketball skills - music is in Lithuanian blood. Of course, anthropologists agree that such talents are culturally engrained and not quite biologically determined. 

Yet it makes me wonder - could music be "in my blood" too?