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