Emigration etc.

A sculpture of an angel from Vilnius besides Mansion House on Dawson St in Dublin. Vaidas Ramoška's sculpture is part of the events celebrating the fact that Vilnius will be the European Capital of Culture in 2009 and invites foreigners to visit the Lithuanian capital. Unfortunately, the angel, which has been watching the passers by for a couple of months, can hardly be seen through the hedges and tulips. Hopefully, Vilnius will attract more attention than the sculpture next year.

At first you get angry. Then you try to smile and quietly grumble: "Oh again..." Yet once you notice that those stories tend to repeat, you anxiously press the panic button. How come nobody knows we have electricity and we know how to flush the toilet and no, our language has nothing to do with Russian?

Explaining to foreigners what Lithuania is like, can be quite a challenge. After spending decades behind the Iron Curtain we are desperate to be acknowledged, heard, seen and identified. God forbid you don't know about our Baroque churches or the coastline. Or the fact that Vilnius is going to be the European Capital of Culture next year - along with Austria's third largest city Linz (yet we prefer not to mention that, although I love their website). Or that our beer is as good as Czech or Polish, which seem to be getting quite popular in Ireland - you can buy it in O'Briens and avoid miscommunication in Eastern European shops. Or if you haven't heard that Lithuanian language is one of the oldest and best preserved in Europe. Or...

But why should foreigners bother with these crumbles of information about a former Soviet republic nestling somewhere along the shores of the Baltic sea? For many we will always remain a mere former Soviet republic, no matter how hard we try to convince the world that we are not a black hole on the world map. Despite 17 years of independence it still seems that little is known about us.

As part of the campaign, promoting Lithuania and celebrating the fact that Vilnius will be European Capital of Culture in 2009, a contest was introduced recently. Lithuanians are invited to send various myths they have heard about their country. The best ones are regularly published on the most popular news website in Lithuania. Majority of them seem to arrive from the USA, where Lithuania oftentimes is considered as either one of the 50 states or some district in Russia. Scandinavians tend to think we live in the caves and have never seen TVs or microwaves. Some agree that our capital Riga is as beautiful as another Lithuanian city Tallinn.

The objective of the contest apparently is to challenge various myths about Lithuania and to encourage Lithuanians to send a message to the world about what their country is like.

Sounds like a good cause, yet as I was reading those bizarre stories with various misconceptions, it seemed that those myths mainly seek to emphasise foreigners' stupidity and ignorance. Besides, they are written in Lithuanian and are of little use as a message to the world.

Of course, it is funny to discover that some think Lithuanian women still don't have the right to vote or that Lithuanians live in igloos, but as we gargle with laughter at foreigners scoring a fat hollow zero in questions on Lithuania, we should ask ourselves why so little is known about us.

I must admit I used to support those who were considering people of the Western world as somewhat ignorant and being lightweight in general knowledge department, the Irish being no exception. Yet after living here for a couple of years and seeing what has been done in order to introduce Irish to Lithuania, I am beginning to reconsider my position.

Recently I was asked why the vast majority of the events organised by our embassy and various Lithuanian groups seem to be concerned only with attracting Lithuanians and rarely target the Irish audience. While I am trying to come up with some sort of an explanation, the Irish continue to weave another myth about us. Ignorance? Whose, I wonder...

Written for "Metro Eireann"

Get naked in Dublin and become a piece of art!

I've never done anything like that, but hey, we only live once, so if you feel like revealing your private bits in front of the camera with a couple of hundred and possibly thousand of other exhibitionists or aficionados of all things naked, go to this website and register to pose for Spencer Tunick's installation in Dublin or Cork! Long live art!

Spencer Tunick's photograph of Mexico City

About four years ago my photography teacher Jurgita Remeikyte - a renowned visual media artists was showing to a bunch of us - passionate amateurs - portraits of sleeping children. Serene black and white close-ups. Actually, they were not sleeping. Those were dead children and I can't seem to find the artist who took the portraits. One woman who was with me in the course couldn't look at the photographs when she was told that those were dead children.

At the moment I am researching the concept of time for my final NCAD project and one of my main inspirations is the remarkably thought-provoking collection of shorts Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet and The Cello. I loved the short by Volker Schlöndorff "The Enlightenment" in particular, which is a reflection on Augustine's contemplation about time. For instance, this one:

"In our soul we feel three different times: there is the present of the past, which is remembrance, there is the present of the present, which is contemplation , and there is the present of the future, which is expectation."

After publishing photographs of people before and and just after their death by a German photographer Walter Schels guardian.co.uk traffic-wise experienced its busiest day ever. Death frightens and mesmerises, especially when juxtaposed with life.

"The moments of the past do not remain still; they retain in our memory the motion which drew them towards the future, towards a future which has itself become the past, and draw us on in their train." (Marcel Proust)

Eastern European shops welcome the Irish, yet only a few dare to venture them. And when they do, quite often they face staff who struggle with English.



It is a drizzly Friday afternoon and Polonia, a shop around the corner from my house, is empty. Inside it is a bit gloomy and quite cold. I pass the shelves with dozens of jars of "Żurek" and approach the girl standing behind the counter. I introduce myself and ask her if she could answer a few questions. The girl looks at me with an apologetic smile and says: "Speak little English". I ask her if there is anybody who does. She says "My boss", but apparently he is not in. As I leave the shop I look at the sign above the entrance. "Welcome. The best food from Eastern Europe." It could be. It's a shame there isn't anybody who could show you around.

Next stop is Rathmines. Two women working in Polonez, located on a busy junction, just across the road from Dunnes Stores and Tesco, are preparing for another busy weekend. 27-year-old Aleksandra Voronko arrived to Dublin last autumn and this is the first job she got. Recently the Lithuanian woman told the manager she would be leaving in two weeks. She would like a better paid job and doesn't want to work evenings anymore, since she hopes to enrol to an English course soon. Although Aleksandra spend nearly half a year in Ireland, her English didn't improve much, since majority of the customers are from Eastern Europe. She speaks Lithuanian, Russian and she managed to learn a little bit of Polish, while some Romanian customers insist on her speaking Romanian - Aleksandra has darker skin than many blue eyed Lithuanian women and some customers accuse her of pretending to be Lithuanian. On the other hand, her exotic looks won her some admirers. A customer gave her 15 red roses on March 8 - the International Women's Day. I ask where was he from. Like majority of the customers, he wasn't Irish - he was Moldavian.



There are no Irish goods in Polonez, which is part of a chain of six shops, yet although all products have descriptions in English, oftentimes Irish customers poke at them asking "what is this". Majority of the Irish who shop here have Eastern European partners, I am told. Sweets, chocolate and biscuits are most popular among them, while smoked mackerel and birch sap still have to find their way to Irish tables. When I ask if more Irish could be drawn to the shop, a woman who works with Aleksandra and prefers to remain anonymous, points at the sign on the window "Eastern European Food". She maintains that Irish will stick to their food.

Things look a bit different across the river. When I first came to Dublin eight years ago, there was only one shop selling Eastern European food. It was Slavyanskaya Lavka (Slavic Counter) on Moore Street. I stroll through Talbot Street which over the past couple of years transformed itself into an Eastern European quarter. I count three Polish shops, a few Polish barbers, a Lithuanian food shop, a Georgian restaurant, a Lithuanian hairdresser, a Russian DVD rental, a Ukrainian real estate agency and it is possible I have missed a few more businesses in the kaleidoscope of tacky signs. There are almost as many Polish rushing past me on this busy street as there Irish and I ask Katarzyna Wolf, a Polish girl who has been working in Polski Sklep for half a year, if any of them pop into her shop. She briefly replies "yes", but when I start a conversation, she asks to wait for her friend, because her English is not sufficient to answer my questions.



When Marta Wypych - a bubbly Polish girl arrives, it appears that she works in Polski Sklep as well. Marta started working here a year ago and she says she stays only for the customers. "I know their stories. Some Polish people buy bread, stay in the shop and talk for 40 minutes," observes Marta. According to her, up to a quarter of the customers are Irish and they mainly buy Polish bread, because "Irish bread is like chewing gum". The bread is baked in a Polish bakery in Dublin. "They love Polish bread, you should try it," Marta tries to twists my arm and I'm almost tempted to see if Polish bread is as good as Lithuanian.

Despite the fact that there are dozens of Eastern European shops in Ireland, last October Marta Fekulova decided that the market had a niche for another nationality and opened a Slovak food shop on North Circular Road. According to census figures, Marta is one of 8 thousand Slovaks living in Ireland. A dwarfish share, compared with the Poles, yet the empty shelves prove the owner of the shop might be quite right. Martha was begging not to photograph the shop, since she was waiting for the delivery on the day I was talking to her and didn't want others to think that the shop was not busy. When asked if Irish were buying anything, she said they liked the salads, yet there was only one or two of them.




Although Polish consist the largest ethnic group in Ireland, with official census figures showing that there are 63 thousand of them, Lithuanian grocery shops started to spring up earlier, with "Lituanica" opening on Amiens Street seven years ago. The shop is still there - looking greener than the fields Emerald Island and with the business soaring higher than the aircraft after which the shop was named. In 1933 "Lituanica", piloted by two Lithuanians, crossed the Atlantic ocean after taking off from New York. While the the aircraft crashed, Dublin's "Lituanica" is successfully moving on. Over a period of 7 years it evolved into a chain of retail stores, and today the company has become a wholesale supplier of Eastern European food to over 500 shops in Ireland and the UK. The success is obviously driven by the massive influx of Eastern European immigrants to Ireland.

Laima Adomaitiene has been working in "Lituanica" for a year and a half. The shop is popular among Polish, Latvians, Romanians and sometimes they even get Spanish or German customers. Laima observes that Poles tend to buy Polish food, while Lithuanians prefer Lithuanian specialities. "Even if it is the same chicken drumstick, people prefer when it comes from the same country as they do," says Laima and mentions the fact that when she arrived to Ireland, her diet included a lot of Irish food and she put on some weight. Yet after returning to Lithuanian products, she forgot weight problems.

Laima admits that the shop is not very popular with the Irish: "They are patriotic. They are loyal to Irish food," observes she. Even though "Lituanica" sells eggs and milk, they are not Irish.

Yet her colleague Almina Binkauskiene offers a possible solution: "Lithuanians must interact with the Irish more and introduce them to Lithuanian food. We must integrate more."

Integration springs to my mind when I enter "Perestroika" - a Moldavian food shop on North Circular Road, named after Mikhail Gorbachev's attempted economic and social reforms in the Soviet Union. The shop has an excellent selection of Lithuanian smoked meats, Polish cakes and Moldavian wines - the nostalgic mostly sweet tipple of Iron Curtain times.

After struggling to start a conversation with the woman behind the counter in English, I employ the bits of Russian I learned while watching Soviet TV in my childhood and the curtain of misunderstanding between us splits. Moldavian Otilia Vizdoaga explains that "Perestroika" is one of four Moldavian shops in Ireland and she says it is mostly popular with Romanians, Moldavians, Polish and Lithuanians. There are no Irish in "Perestroika" as I speak with Otilia and I doubt there will be many at any time soon.

I look at the brightly lit fridges, which offer a zillion times better range than my local Spar, and quietly thank God for Soviet TV.

photos©Lina Zigelyte
Written for "Metro Eireann"

I think I have a fetish for vintage gadgets. The other day, as I was passing "Oxfam" in Dundrum on the way to the bank, I couldn't believe when I saw it on the window display. On the very bottom shelf, besides jewellery. Looking so classy and almost new. All azure, with black keyboard. Not quite as vintage as the one in "Naked Lunch", but still - a typewriter. You don't come across them often nowadays. I needed one as a prop for a photoshoot. Well, the photoshoot became an excuse later on, at first I was just admiring the fact of it in the window and for only 20 Euro, even though I'm trying not to surround myself with too many things. And it was before Tom Hanks confessed his passion for them to Jonathan Ross.

Every time I was walking to the bank I was admiring the view of it on that Oxfam window. And then it was gone. That's when I realised I could use it as a prop, but farewell... it was no more. I went to a few other charity shops afterwards feeling like an dinosaur or an alien. Do you ever get typewriters? I was searching for time lost or remembering time lost. Like the other time, when I was doing a social documentary project for NCAD Course and photographing closed cinemas of Dublin. I think, I've calculated about 9, there are probably more.



Carlton on O'Connell Street. Rephotographed black and white handprint.



Stella in Rathmines. Rephotographed black and white handprint



Classic on Harold's Cross. Rephotographed black and white handprint

Last week I embarked on another mission, looking for 120 color slide film for my new Holga. The fact that I bought it for 35 Euro on ebay (shipping included), while the last time I saw them in "Urban Outfitters" they cost about 90 Euro is another story. The fact that apart from this funky shop nobody else seems to be selling them in Dublin, is another, yet even sadder story. Anyway. As some of you might know, a few years ago Agfa discontinued production of all their 120 films, thus the only way some manage to make shots like these is if they were stockpiling them in the attic previously. Therefore if you are looking for colour slide in Dublin, you are left with either Fuji or Kodak. After going to John Gunn, Camera Exchange and a few more decent camera shops in Dublin which seem to be resisting the evolution of photography into point-and-shoot-everybody-is-a-photographer-can-I-see-the-picture digitalisation, I had to sadly face the fact that getting such hazy bluish colours might not be possible while I am in Dublin. In John Gunn (by far the best film photography shop in Dublin with the most-knowledgeable staff) I was told Kodak slides are a bit OTT, while when I popped into a camera shop on Grafton street stupidly hoping that perhaps they might have a few slides secretly concealed on some God-forgotten shelf, I couldn't see anything film there - just memory sticks, basic point and shoot digital cameras and batteries. The fridge with slides was hidden in the staff room. Well, good things mostly are not sold on the high streets, aren't they? Film cameras are not in fashion anymore any way. Or are they?

You don't have to look too far. Go to flickr and enter 'film' or 'plastic camera' or go to my recent discovery Film is not dead, it just smells funny, or the largest pinhole gallery or Lomography... You get the idea. Many of the best film photography works are not even scanable, like these ones by my first (and best so far) photography teacher Jurgita Remeikyte. Some of photography works are not even recordable, like this one on BBC's Genius of Photography - watch minutes 4-6.

Of course, digital photography is cheaper, more accessible, easier and more 'sharable'. You just have to upload it to flickr and voila! Everybody is a photographer. You manipulate the pictures till they become sickly plastic and you hear 'wow'.

12 years ago Julian Stallabrass in his remarkable book "Gargantua. Manufactured Mass Culture" said that around 60 billion photographs are taken every year and with the arrival of domestic computer manipulation 'every sunset will be perfect'. There was much truth in his words, wasn't there? And that was before digital cameras cost a few hundred euros and almost all mobile phones had one integrated. Digital made photography a kind of a quickie. Point. Shoot. Upload. Print. In fact how many photographs are not even uploaded, just looked at on the back screen of our better or worse digital cameras.

At present, between three and five million photographs are uploaded to flickr.com every day. And then there is stock photography, blogs, etc... Recent cover story in "Monocle" convinced me that I'm not some nostalgic freak. Did you know that in Japan - the pioneer of digital photography - mainstream media oftentimes still uses film? And that one of the best photographers ever and one of my favourite ones - Hiroshi Sugimoto - it is being said, stockpiles rolls of film in a freezer. After some research and doubt I discovered that it is possible.

Of course, film per se doesn't attribute a photograph as a work of art. Just like digital does not make it less. It's just sad to see film disappearing so quickly. The first digital cameras for mass consumer were introduced less than 15 years ago and now almost everybody has one. We all have become photographers. When I took a picture of my 6-year-old nephew with my N65, he instantly said 'let me see the picture'. Now he knows his auntie is a bit of a freak, fiddling with plastic cameras and searching for what is no more in Dublin camera shops. Well, I got a slide film finally. Fujifilm Astia, Velvia and Provia are still quite widely available. Yet when cross-processed they can be a bit too indigo or too ruby. At least so far. Yet this is what I love about film, slide and cross-processing. No matter, what is the level of your control, it always comes a bit as a surprise. Although I still have digital (for quickies....) it is this bit of organic magic that makes me stick to film. And pay tributes to time lost. In the meantime - say cheese.



My first slide roll of Holga. Raheny. Dublin

All photos©Lina Zigelyte

As promised, Plasticiens Volants performance today in St. Patrick’s Festival was indeed spectacular.

Photo©Lina Zigelyte

In fact, not only awe-inspiring, but fire alarm-setting, since the fireworks set off the fire alarm in the shopping centre nearby and after watching Plasticiens Volants another performance took place, as the water was pouring down the glass walls of the centre and flooding the pavement. Miscalculation, I suppose?..



Photo©Lina Zigelyte

Many thanks to everyone who was voting! :D

Thanks to you guys, I seem to have been nominated in the Irish Blog Awards, Best Blog by a Journalist Category, as was kindly informed by Primal.

So who is playing God now and making the pivotal vote? :)

Anyway, thanks again, I'll try to keep up the good work.

Here's a photo from Vilnius yesterday - I'm trying to sort a few things back home. I haven't seen it snowing for more than two years - this was the best birthday present I could get (after the nomination).

Here's my story published in "Metro Eireann" last Thursday

It is Christmas day and it feels like Dublin has turned into a deserted ghost town, yet St Andrew's Church, adjoining Pearse Station, is nearly full. Some of the people, quietly sitting in the pews, had to walk for over an hour in order to get here - there is no DART, Luas or bus service today. Everybody is well-dressed and they quietly whisper greetings to their neighbors. A congregation of about 250 Lithuanians are waiting for Father Egidijus Arnasius to start a Christmas mass in their native language.



Majority of them are in their thirties, many sit in couples, while now and again children climb the steps trying to approach two brightly lit Christmas trees standing behind the altar.

There is a choir of 10 people, among other songs performing "Silent Night". The pipe organ doesn't work and they are accompanied by acoustic guitar and percussion. Some of them had never sung before, others used to perform in a folklore ensemble "Lietuviskas Dobilas" ("Lithuanian Shamrock") which had participated in many Lithuanian events in Ireland, but recently many of the singers returned to Lithuania and the ensemble started to crumble.

Socializing and keeping the tradition

Jurgita Karazija is one of the members of the choir. She arrived to Ireland this summer and for her going to this mass is the best way of meeting her friends, since they live all over Dublin.

"The whole day is dedicated for socializing with Lithuanians. We stay in touch this way and it has become part of the weekly routine," says Mrs Karazija.

A woman, sitting next to me, is visiting her son who has been living in Ireland for 6 years. It is the first time she came to Ireland and it is the first time her son crossed the threshold of St Andrew's Church. His mother mentions that going to the mass during Christmas has always been a tradition in the family.



The crowd today is large - on an ordinary Sunday about a hundred people would gather. Despite the fact that Lithuanians boast to be quite religious, with about 80% of the 3.4 mln population claiming to be Catholic, majority tend to visit the church only on special occasions - Christmas, Easter or All Saints' Day.

"We are that kind of Catholics. The culture of faith has been destroyed by bulldozer-like atheism," remarks father Egidijus.

Lithuania was the only majority-Catholic Soviet republic and during the Soviet occupation the Church remained a stronghold of resistance against the regime. Some of the churches were turned into storehouses, Roman Catholic publications were prohibited and property confiscated, but the Church was safeguarding Lithuanian traditions and the language - the most archaic among the living Indo-European languages.

The only priest on the island



Father Egidijus had been in Ireland for almost three years and recently his mission was extended for another three. He is the only Lithuanian priest in Ireland which, according to census figures, has become home to over 20 000 Lithuanians, although some estimate the real figure to be about 100 000. Father Egidijus had been busy throughout December, conducting masses in Ashbourne, Galway, Longford, Carrickmacross, Moy and Armagh, where over 500 people showed up on Christmas Eve.

"During those three years I saw many faces. Some had disappeared, because people returned to Lithuania, but new ones turned up instead," observes the evolution of the local community Father Egidijus and acknowledges that many appear in St Andrew's Church on Sundays in order to have a chat with their fellow countrymen.

As a matter of fact, the easiest way to meet them is to stay after the mass for a cup of tea - there are always biscuits and a kettle in a room nestled beside the church. Sometimes people bring along homemade goods and some claim that this is the best part of the day.

As they chat, a hand-carved wooden Rupintojelis (The Pensive Christ) is quietly sitting on Father Egidijus' work desk in his apartment - a characteristic Lithuanian art form, depicting a worrying Christ with a crown of thorns sitting on a stump. It shares our worries and reminds that hard times of life would become better. In the meantime Father Egidijus rushes to put the kettle on.

All photos © Lina Zigelyte

I promise to start updating this blog in about a week or so. In the meantime I am busy negotiating with the devil for inspiration. You will know soon!

What's the most annoying thing about immigrants coming to Dublin? Their unhappiness with the city. Especially Eastern Europeans. Would you agree? I catch myself doing that sometimes, or perhaps even often. But whenever I encounter such bellyachings I try to say (and to myself): come on, but you are not chained to the Spire and the flights are cheap!

On the other hand, I suppose the easiest way to stop complaining is to start looking for bonus points. Among other ones (Irish hospitality, sense of humor, ability to always have a story to tell, sublime nature (if it doesn't rain...), the sea, variety of wine and beer (that's in comparison to Lithuania), "Laser" DVD rental, etc.) I would like to add one more thing, which I discovered today. Dublin Docklands, in particular the right bank (if you stand facing the sea).

© me

To be honest, I've never been on the right bank before, mostly I stayed on the left one. Of course, the area can't compare to Copenhagen yet, where modern architecture is flourishing, but since today the light was extraordinary, glass constructions looked so refreshingly different to traditional Dublin: pubs, shabby pubs and more pubs. In fact architecture is one of those things I miss most when in Ireland and although Docklands are still expanding, the area seems to be promising. Just more terraced cafes needed, some trees, a few exhibition centres, bookshops and ... Imagination has no limits. I just hope construction companies and local government will realize that it would be great not to get stuck with apartments and office buildings only.

There is another reason I am so hyper about Dublin today. A journalist writing for the website I was working for before came to Dublin recently and yesterday she posted some photos from Dublin and captions for them in the editorial blog. I feel an obligation to mention and translate a few, since they are unexpectedly positive! And truth be told, they reminded me some good things about the city I've been living in for the past two years and a half. Here is Dublin as seen by a Lithuanian journalist Egle Digryte:

* Some fountains remind artworks rather than just mere architectural solutions. (she mentioned this one in particular)

* Footprints or handprints on the pavement look very playful.

* Dublin is incredibly colorful. (Here I would like to comment that it is Georgian doors that make that impression, in my opinion Dublin is quite monotonous, just plenty of red brick)

* Houses with climbing ivies on them.

* There are more plants and flowers in Dublin than in any other major city she has been to.

Despite the fact that the journalist came to conclusion she wouldn't like to live in Dublin, these are definitely some of the facts I will try to remember next time before starting another rant about the Irish capitol Dublin.

Sometimes my fridge faces metamorphoses like this one.



The photos are not staged and I would never dear to publish them if my mom had access to internet. I don't know if this is popular among Irish students, but during my study years those of us who were not from the capital used to fetch bags full of goods from parents' - mostly smoked meats and strawberry preserves. In the meantime capital kids (including myself) were savoring the pleasures of living in parent's gaff. Now worries about dinner or breakfast. More or less, depending on the welfare of the family.

Nowadays I am savoring selfish pleasures of living all by myself. No parents, no boyfriends, no roommates. Nobody to criticize me for eating raw cauliflower and drinking black tea with a wedge of lemon. Unfortunately, no mom to make sure the fridge is full, therefore sometimes I have to face the fridge as it appears in the photo.

A while ago a colleague of mine who is Polish and myself engaged in a conversation about the peculiarities of Irish food. Not to mention that my Polish colleague is quite unhappy about Ireland in general...

Anyhow. Despite the mainstream tendency for those who live in the Western world to get fatter, I keep loosing weight. Over the six months that I'd spend in the USA I lost about 10 kilos (about 1.5 st). Then again, I never had a burger and I didn't indulge in Philly pretzels too much. Since I was waitressing in quite a decent Italian restaurant (owned by a real bitch though) and the summer turned out to be extremely hot, my diet mainly consisted of mixed salad.

I try to make sure I eat plenty of veg in Ireland also - tomatos, broccoli, lettuce, courgette, carrots, etc. Ironically, perhaps to some extend tomatoes and broccoli are to blame for my anemia. After being diagnosed with one I started to eat more meat (apologies all vegetarians - I greatly admire the idea), but still I love vegetable stews, I cook stuffed chicken in an oven and whenever we go out to Yamamori or Wagamama I indulge in seafood of some kind.

Although there over 220 shops (!) in Ireland selling Lithuanian food, on average I visit them only once every two months and when I do I buy there either herring or diary products. I don't really miss Lithuanian food here and after my last visit home I came to realize that potato meals and me don't always go together (NB - potato is our national vegetable (isn't it the case in Ireland?), we make everything from pancakes to desserts with them). Sweets and cookies don't seem to tempt me as much as they did when I was younger. And despite the fact I adore red wine (on average there are about 85 calories in a 125 ml glass), I never seem to put on weight here.

My colleague notes that whenever she goes back to Poland she starts loosing weight. But when in Dublin, extra pounds become inevitable. Since her nitpickings about Ireland every so often can drive to depression (there are enough shortcomings anyway), I keep discharging the accusations. Yes, you can find tasty berries. Yes, organic and affordable chicken does exist (4 euro each in my local butchers). Yes, you can find good tomatoes.

It is true though that healthy eating costs more than gobbling down chicken Kievs or "Goodfella's" pizzas, although I have noticed if my financial situation drives me to go for these, my stomach doesn't tolerate them well. In those cases only a dram of "Highland Park 12yo" or "Ardberg 10yo" helps.

Nevertheless yourselves and myself are about to face winter, which means less fresh vegetables. I hope after the cold season I will not be able to boast about a few spare tires. Mens sana in corpore sano.

photo©Lina Zigelyte

See you after the 18th of September!

On Thursday evening I am taking off to Lithuania for 12 days. Really looking forward. I'm scribbling a list of to-do things. The list in no particular order looks as follows:

* Dentist
* Hairdresser
* Blood test (anaemia to blame)
* Grandma
* A night out with mom (and dad if he is willing)
* Meeting my friends with whom I took a photography course. That's us by the way:

Pinhole photo © Mad

* Exhibition "Among us" in the Contemporary Arts Centre. Give it up for my photography teacher Jurgita Remeikyte who is taking part.

* Classical music concert. This is one of those things I miss most in Ireland. Dublin is great for a pint, but good classical music concerts are scarce. I am not talking just about exploiting National Concert Hall. There are so many churches, why not use them as venues? I remember when I was working next to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadephia (PA) the students were giving free recitals every week. Bear in mind - this is one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world. If these students can do it why those enrolled in studies in Royal Irish Academy of Music can't? Unless they're secret. But if they are at least half decent they shouldn't be!

On the other hand, if there is a good concert coming up, especially with a foreign orchestra, the tickets are expensive beyond belief or they are quite often given away to participants of corporate support before I even manage to hear about the show. By the way, some time ago I was flipping through the pages of "Guardian" and what struck me was the ad of a concert in, I believe, Albert Hall or some other great stage in London where tickets started at 5 or 10 pound sterling. Moreover, a friend of mine went to a premiere in Vienna State Opera House in April for ... a mere 5 Euro. That's Vienna, ladies and gentlemen!

Although... there's an exceptionally good band from some Central European country playing on Grafton St now and again. That's how I try to satisfy my longing for classical music sometimes.

* Three days in the Curonian Spit - a long and narrow sand peninsula spreading between the Baltic Sea and the Curonian lagoon with unique sand waves in the rolling dunes, pine-tree groves and rare flora of the amber coast. As of 2000, the Curonian Spit is on the Unesco World Heritage List.

* Meeting friends in Vilnius' cafes, wine bars and pubs. I have a feeling there won't be that many of them left - distance does affect the intimacy of relationships, I noticed that when I was in Lithuania last time - over a year and a half ago. But then again I can simply enjoy Vilnius' Old Town, read books by new Lithuanian authors and sip masala in my favorite tea shop. Whenever I return to Vilnius I feel a bit like Duris in L'Auberge espagnole when he comes back home.

Last week I received an email from my previous boss in Lithuania saying perhaps I might be convinced to return. If I do I started scribbling the list of things-I'd-miss-if-I-leave-Dublin. To be continued in the next post... Although... in terms of returning - not yet, there are things I would like to do before coming back.


Vilnius | Cathedral Square| photo©Lina Zigelyte

I know, you're probably thinking that Lina got wasted somewhere underneath a chestnut tree. Sorry for staying off line for a while - came back from V on Monday, was scrubbing the dirt of the tent on Tuesday and was working in between. Heading to Dun Laoghaire for the Festival of World Cultures over the weekend (both to volunteer and to watch), therefore I've been working more.



Anyway. It was BRILLIANT! Although BBC thinks that the festival doesn't have as much charm as Glastonbury... I've always been dreaming of going to a big music festival. It was one of those "Things to do before you die". Like skydiving, riding a horse, climbing a mountain, kissing in the rain, making love on a forest floor, etc. Other possible suggestions you can find here. Or come up with yours. I'm just not sure about the forest floor... Doesn't sound too comfortable. Although as Laura Esquivel put it in "Like Water for Chocolate", necessity is the mother of all invention and of every position...

Back to V. Coming from a country were TV shows fight for the audience showing this (the girls are a band called "Yva", revealing their cleavages more than any musical talent and the guy is one of the best theater actors in the country who unfortunately has to do some TV work for the living) I felt like Alice in Wonderland. The mud, the crowd (75 000 in Staffs alone), the amount of tents, the booze, the weed (it was everywhere, yet only 70 arrests!), the scale of the main stage, the quality of sound and video projections and everybody performing LIVE! Everybody could find their own wonders - for some it was pot, for me - maybe once in a lifetime chance to see such acts as "Foo Fighters" (I am no music connoisseur, therefore I saw them first and then found out who they were...), "Casabian", "The Killers" (my favorite), "The Editors" (the runners-up), "Snow Patrol" (slightly too blue) and the Hoosiers (the best discovery, just watch the website! I want their CD).

Of course the Wonderland didn't avoid the usual trouble - blokes were pissing in the drinking water point or right in the middle of the audience (barely 2 feet away from me), somebody tripped over our tent at around 1 am (the same tent for 40 euro - it's fabulous!) and blah blah blah. Well since the picture tells a thousand words - here are some shots taken by my friend Liuda who took off to this wonderful trip with me all equipped with wellies, a raincoat and plenty of socks.


My 40 Euro tent - probably the best investment



All around is full of wellies as the song goes...


Sometimes focus is irrelevent


Sleepless in Birmingham International

PS came back loaded with condoms - anybody needs a spare one? :)

All photos © Liuda&Lina

Usually we would read Decanter or Wine & Spirits. One can only guess how a glossy magazine with hot girls wearing nothing but tight-fitting hosiery, lace bras, an extensive amount of makeup and sporting hard nipples found its way to a wine shop. Ah well... Must be a customer...

I wouldn't be able to reveal you the origin of the magazine, yet it seems it has something to do with Playboy. A supplement perhaps.

However, as I was flipping through it, my sixth sense was whispering to me I should encounter a Lithuanian girl in these pages. And voilà. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Giorgita.



So what, you might say? Nada. For further details please look at my previous posts here and here.

Somehow I am always taken by surprise when I encounter Lithuanians in the Economist, Newsweek or The New York Times. Actually it doesn't happen often... Unlike in the publications mentioned above... On the other hand, they are the greatest PR campaign for our tourism industry.

My ramshackle bike. Goddam it.



Last night noticed that the back wheel is crooked and that meant no Dublin City Cycle for me. And it is not worth repairing... :(

Yes, I know it is not Tour de France and, yes, I realize Dublin streets are not the best for cycling (compared to Amsterdam or Copenhagen). Have you seen the poor eco-friendly bike-taxis stuck in the traffic? My dear friends, if you want to go eco-friendly, Dublin desperately needs less cars and more cycle paths.

In a rather recent discussion in "Metro" newspaper's Letters to the Editor section somebody had pointed out this issue. At the moment a cycle path in Dublin most of the time is a 2 feet wide lane painted in red on the bus lane. And those double-decker busses are freaking scary...



Anyway. I guess Dublin City Cycle (a joint initiative by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, Dublin City Council and the Dublin Transportation Office) aims to encourage more people to swap their cars for bikes.



If my observation is correct, there were about 300 participants in the DCC. Lots of families, a few foreigners, no obese people, plenty of smiling faces and (surprise!) - sunshine!

All photos of Dublin City Cycle © Lina Zigelyte

Finally.

"Human crisis or welfare tourism". The front page of The Irish Times supplement Weekend Review on the 21st of July. Alison Healy's story about 32 Roma adults and 22 children encamped on M50 motorway roundabout near Dublin airport.



It is Ireland's busiest road and Roma have been living here since early May. It took nearly three months to break Irish patience and now the story is all over the place: The Irish Times, BBC, The Observer, etc.

Like a refugee camp

According to The Observer, conditions at the camp have deteriorated over the past few days. The scene resembles the slums of an Asian city rather than 21st-century Ireland.

The air around the two camps reeks of human excreta and rotting food; children as young as two play in mud and filth; grass verges to either side of the families' makeshift shelters are covered in rubbish and colonies of tiny flies attach themselves to anything that moves. The tents they sleep in have been flooded during the recent heavy rains. A number of parents have even put down discarded posters from the last general election; one child could be seen last Thursday having a nap on top of a picture of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Last Thursday two children from the camps were taken to Temple Street Hospital in central Dublin following an outbreak of severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Non-governmental organisations campaigning for the Roma to stay in the state have claimed that there is a danger of disease breaking out.


Photo by J P. Ireland Photoline

In A. Healy's words, the conditions resemble a refugee camp, but when the people are asked why they don't take up a Government offer to be flown home, the answer is always the same. "I no want to go back to Romania. I die from the hunger in Romania. Here I have somewhere where I can sleep", says one of these Roma people in English which far exceeds many Lithuanians' and Poles' who have been flooding Ireland since 2004 - after being accepted to the EU.

Finito to welfare tourism

Unlike Lithuanians or citizens of any of 10 countries who joined the EU in 2004 Romanians and Bulgarians are restricted from working in Ireland unless they have a work visa or are self-employed, although they do have freedom of movement within the EU. They are not entitled to social welfare payments, child benefits or emergency accommodation.

It seems that Irish government has learned from its previous mistakes when in the years before my country had joined the EU hundreds of my fellow-citizens surged towards the generous embrace of the Celtic Tiger. Some of them on the claims that they've been blackmailed by gypsies were seeking asylum here (and I happened to witness such an interview in the Department of Justice as a translator). If their wives gave birth to a child prior the decision thanks to the newborn baby they would become residents of Ireland and thus get the right to work. The days of "welfare tourism" are way behind now.

Romanians are not among the supporters

Pavee Point - a group supporting Irish Travellers' in Ireland - seems to be have become the main voice in the fight for Government's intervention in the "Roundabout Roma" situation. "They don't need Hilton Hotel, they just want one chance to work", The Irish Times quotes George Dancea, director of the Roma support Group, which was set up by Pavee Point Traveller's Centre. Pavee Point is also calling on the Government to provide emergency accommodation for the group.

This call is supported by 20 non-governmental organizations, yet strangely (?) enough the Romanian Community of Ireland is not among them. Quite the contrary. The groups' chairman Vasile Ross points out that if the Government gives in to Pavee Point's pressure, more Roma will come. And some figures say that there might be about 2 mln of them in Romania alone. "This is how Roma work. They will try to gain access. Give them a finger and they will take both hands", says Vasile Ross in The Irish Times.

If you aspire for a job, you'll get one

Tolerance and bloodsucking slothfulness are two totally different things. Let me remind you that before my country had joined the EU hundreds and quite possibly thousands of Lithuanians arrived to Ireland seeking to work illegally. For cash, yet half the amount of the minimum wage, without paying taxes, blue-collar workers sweating in unbearable conditions in mushroom processing factories in the Northern Ireland, students with Master's degrees working as kitchen porters in order to save money for Ph.D studies, husband's leaving their wives back home and doing nightshifts while meditating how they'll make love again in the newly refurbished house, etc.

I've always believed if somebody wants to work and is prepared to work hard, one will find the job. Let me ask you then why those gypsies who beg on Grafton Street in the heart of Dublin city don't? Why they make their 8-year-old children beg (and I've seen this)?


Flights, benefits and possibly free housing offered... in Romania

A spokesman for the group on the roundabout confirmed to the BBC they had been offered free flights back to Romania by the Irish Government, but none of them wanted to return. They were also promised by the Romanian government that they would have health and education benefits and would be considered for free housing.

Romanian embassy officials in Dublin say they are embarrassed by the activities of the gypsies, many of whom are begging on the streets of Dublin. The embassy, according to The Irish Times, even doubts "Roundabout Roma" claims that their living conditions in Romania were unbearable. According to the embassy sources, the families had sold their houses to fund their trip to Ireland.

15 days left

On the 21st of July, at around 5.30 am, Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNBI) officers served immigration papers on 86 Roma people camping in Ballymun. The group have 15 days to make representations to Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan as to why he should not make a removal order, in which case they would be transported back to Romania.

New Irish Government faces a very tough challenge now. Ireland previously has made decisions which earned this country the name of a Celtic Tiger. The Gordian Knot on M50 is a test that questions Tiger's courage and determination. And the situation is being observed by 2 mln. Roma in Romania and the whole EU, who previously had doubts about accepting Romania to the club and I am convinced Roma people were one of the main reasons for these reservations. But let me remind just once again - tolerance and bloodsucking slothfulness are two totally different things.

Forget Catholicism - basketball is the official religion in Lithuania. Besides, we were the last in Europe to be baptized - barely in 1387. Yet one could be totally ignorant of basketball and one will be forgiven. The worst heresy of nowadays is to be an emigrant.

A beautiful yet painful journey towards new beginning

On the 23rd of August 1989, less than three months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - three tiny Baltic countries with a total population of about 8 million - joined their hands to form an over 600 kilometer long human chain across the three Baltic states.

About 2 million people joined their hands in this completely peaceful protest. Demonstrators linked hands for 15 minutes at 7 p.m. local time.


Baltic Way. Photo by Z. Kazėnas

This demonstration was organized to draw the world's attention to the common historical fate which these three countries suffered. It marked the 50th anniversary of August 23, 1939 when Soviet Union and Germany in the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact divided spheres of interest in Eastern Europe which led to the occupation of these three countries. The human chain symbolized the Baltic peoples' solidarity in their struggle for more autonomy and eventual independence from the Soviet Union.

Lithuania - a country of which majority of the people living on the other side of the Berlin Wall have never heard before - was the first Soviet republic to proclaim its renewed independence on March 11, 1990. It took nearly a year for a Western country to recognize Lithuanian independence and the first to send a message of acknowledgment was Island - on the 4th of February, 1991. A month before that the world heard about a Singing Revolution and 14 non-armed protesters who died in Vilnius defending the Vilnius Television Tower and the Parliament from Soviet troops and tanks.

The people were united as never before.

A new foe is facing the country

16 years have passed since those events. With fireworks we proudly joined the prestigious club called the European Union. Our economy is improving, there's more and more building sites rising in the capital Vilnius yet for the past 5 years or so another foe - well-known to the countries like Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Italy - has been threatening the future of the country. Since 1990, around 404,000 people have emigrated, driving the population down from its level of 3.6 million people 16 years ago to its present level of 3.2 million. The number of Lithuanians emigrating has more than doubled since the country joined the EU.

Welcome to the joys of freedom of movement, - I say. Loosers, you were not able to adapt in the changing situation, - say those who have remained in Lithuania.

The people are divided as never before.

Life is improving yet people are moving

Every second Lithuanian has a relative or a friend who have emigrated after the restoration of the independence. According to the survey which was conducted in the beginning of this year for Lithuanian weekly "Veidas", another 13 percent of the population claim that they will be leaving the country shortly. Nearly half of them state that if the salaries were increasing more rapidly the emigration might be stopped. The second most important reason which drives Lithuanians to leave their home country is the attitude of employers and officials towards them.

Minimum monthly salary in Lithuania is 174 Euro a month, average (before taxes, there's a flat 27 percent income tax) - 503 Euro a month. During the past year though average salary has increased by 21 percent. As they say in one Russian propaganda movie - life is getting better, life is getting happier.

Propaganda and accusations

Speaking of propaganda, in the beginning of this year a campaign called "Stay in Lithuania" was launched. It aims to encourage young people to seek better living in Lithuania, not abroad. Ironically, the campaign was not initiated by Lithuanians, but by a Canadian and a Danish. Perhaps there's not too many locals who believe the message? Lithuanian celebrities, businessmen and politicians keep repeating the message "stay", yet more than a third of emigrants are 20-29 years old. Yet these are the official figures, but there those who have never officially stated of going to UK or Ireland for a couple of years. Like myself for instance. In fact I don't even know why should I, since I don't even know how long will I be away for.

This is were I face the impossibility of defining who is an emigrant nowadays. My Oxford American Dictionary defines emigrant as a person who leaves his or her own country in order to settle permanently in another. I don't even know were I want to settle yet. Although probably somewhere sunnier and warmer than Ireland, but with white Christmas, please.

I've been away for two years now. I don't know when will I come back, but I am certain I will. I do not despise Lithuania and now and again I send some money home. Like thousands of other Lithuanians who are working abroad. It's been estimated that last year alone over 300 million Euro where transfered from personal foreign accounts into Lithuanian banks - which would be about 1.2 percent of our GDP. Yet those who are away are blamed for wasting Lithuania's budget - especially the resources that have been invested into our education.

Thus the accusations start to flow: we are not patriotic, we don't care about Lithuania's future or about the future of our children who may not learn to speak Lithuanian, we live or get married to the people of other races than white, etc. As if those who remain were chained to their jobs, friends or lovers like Prometheus to a cliff. A toast to them, a gold medal and a statue!

At the end of the day humans are selfish and pragmatic. That's the reason we try to get better education, better jobs, better living conditions. And if somebody has found this in Ireland or Greenland why should one be despised? At the end of the day - wasn't it this freedom that we were yearning for?

Perhaps it is time to encourage to come back rather than to stay and preferably not only by propaganda means? And remember the days when we were like one fist working for one cause - we could achieve much more this way.


PS
I have been trying to look up for some information on whether other countries who ever had to face emigration had so much hostility towards those who have emigrated. So far I've only come across an attitude sported by the Polish president Mr. Lech Kaczyński calling Polish emigrants in UK and Ireland “born losers” or “feckless”. But he shouldn't be an inspiration!