cafebabel.com

Ladies what oppose Belarus in Vilnius

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:50:35 -0000

Belarus is just 40 kilometres away from the Lithuanian capital. Belarusian human rights campaigners use Vilnius as an asylum and distribution centre - yet the Lithuanian president keeps up a good relationship with the Belarusian despot

Kirtimai: Lithuania's Roma on education and 'missing England'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:36:54 -0000

Less than 3, 000 Roma live in Lithuania. Representing 0.1% of the population, there are still enough Baltic 'gypsies' to serve as a scapegoat in a country feeling squeezed by the crisis. However, in one Lithuanian village, Romualda, Svetlana, Konstantin and Konsela are helping the community to lift its head

Nightlife in Vilnius: ethnic minority benders

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:12:17 -0000

6.7% Polish, 6.3% Russian, 1.2% Belarusian, 0.7% Ukrainian, 0.1% Yiddish, 0.09% Tartar…approximately 115 communities of ethnic minorities were listed in this vein in a 2001 census in Lithuania. How integrated are these groups in local society? One way of finding out is by hitting the tiles

From San Diego to Vilnius: all Jew you need for a library in Lithuania

('SoniaZ',) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:41:33 -0000

There is nothing more multicultural in Lithuania right now than the new library which opened in the capital of this Baltic state on 16 December. The concept is simple: all books, films and music must be about either a Jewish subject, writer or artist

Balkan basketball: Macedonia honour and no 'hate thy neighbour' syndrome

('shadow',) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:30:00 -0000

In 1991 SFR Yugoslavia won the 'Eurobasket' gold medal and ended its existence as the second most successful country in basketball championships (after the soviet union). Twenty years on, all of Yugoslavia's ex-republic national teams have met for the first time at the same event. The riveting European basketball championships have reunited a region and end in Vilnius on 18 September

Lithuania's female bloggers: cooking, sex and the city

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:11:53 -0000

Somewhere between the 200, 000 Lithuanians in the UK and the 3 million at home, bloggers are making their own female-shaped dent in the internet universe

Vilnius: 'Jerusalem of Lithuania'

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:47:26 -0000

Tired after a busy day and prepared for a casual chat, I meet a summer school student, with whom I've arranged to do Hebrew language tandem. 'Do you mind keeping me company to go to the synagogue?' Apparently, the person is a second year convert-in-progress to Judaism. 'Umm, my skirt is kind of short for that...' Anecdote from cafebabel.com blog ‘Wonderland'

How to deal with the tropical climes of Lithuania

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:20:21 -0000

Come to Lithuania if you doubt climate change. -22 degrees in winter, torrid floods in spring and unprecedented mosquito and pollen attacks in a summer with rains storms and plus 30 degree heat. How do people cope? Anecdote from cafebabel.com expat blogger ‘Wonderland'

Diary: Vilnius and I, reluctant bedfellows

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:24:52 -0000

The passion evaporated years ago, after the capital became expensive and inconvenient to live in, or maybe since I stopped being a student. However, jobs for a social science graduate with a Lithuanian passport are here. Anecdote from cafebabel.com expat blogger 'Wonderland

Polish people: 'united in diversity' in Vilnius

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:14:37 -0000

It wasn't the economic weakness of the crisis but the ideological one that harmed Europe most. Who wanted to be be part of the dominoes in the name of solidarity? Unfortunately, the dominoes of each member state provoked nationalist reactions. The region comprising the Lithuanian capital is one of the fewest cities where two nations claim to be at home

University-educated flee and woo Lithuania: emigration and erasmus

('Krisztian Gal',) — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:07:53 -0000

An increasing number of students are asking professor Žilvinas Martinaitis at the University of Vilnius to let them take their exams at the end of May. This would allow them to go abroad - most popularly, to the UK, Ireland or Scandinavia - to work, and return with some extra money in October, a month after the official term start. Lithuanian and eramus students, professors and politicians explain the phenomenon

Stalin, rock music and bad weather: story behind suicides in Lithuania

('Kate Stansfield',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:58:28 -0000

The River Neris splits Vilnius down the middle: to the North lies the university, the stadium and terraces with views; to the south is the heart of the capital: cobbled, colourful, and impeccable. But a sinister notice hangs from one of its bridges, followed by a telephone number

Volcano: travelling Vilnius to Paris by train

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:19:15 -0000

Once upon a time, in the space of six days, airline companies lost 1.7 millions euros - and they weren't alone. I don't know exactly how many million euros Iceland 'owes' to the world aviation sector. With little sleep and lots of beer, it certainly owes me two days of my life by train across 2, 000 km of Europe

Kasparas Pocius, not quite the father of Lithuanian anarchism in the millenium

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:23:12 -0000

The 27-year-old is too young to be fairly branded the 'father' of Lithuanian anarchism today. However, as one of the co-founders of anarchija.lt, the critical magazine Juodraštis ('Draft') and the Vilnius Free University, he is the most visible public figure when it comes to presenting Lithuania's anarchist ideas to the wider public

Romas Lileikis on how 'man has the right to laziness'

('Andrew Burgess',) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:03:15 -0000

Drumroll for a president like no other: with great vitality, he directs his own republic, the district of Užupis. The 'Lithuanian Montmartre' of Vilnius declared independence in 1997, and is much like Christiana in Copenhagen

Soviet nostalgia: Russian drink, bunker parties and film in Vilnius

('Ed Saunders',) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Twenty years after the Iron Curtain, the Baltic tiger is experiencing a bout of nostalgia. A young, trendy generation, fed up of hearing about the past, is looking back at a not-quite-so ‘carefree’ childhood under the soviet regime

15.5% unemployment, diaspora: Lithuanians try luck elsewhere

('Darren Thompson',) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:13:39 -0000

Whilst Vilnius welcomes visitors from around the world because of its status as the European capital of culture 2009, countless are leaving the country in an attempt to escape widespread unemployment and salaries which are under the European average for the most part

Visit to the EHU: Belarusian elite university exiled in Vilnius

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:19 -0000

The decision was taken: the European humanities university, created in Minsk, Belarus in 1992, packed up to join Vilnius (and democracy) in 2004. In this oasis of free education, Belarusian youth have been exiled further and further to the west

Traffic jams go on in Vilnius

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Cities are home to more than half the world's population, whilst EU urban congestion causes 40% of CO2 emissions, according to the European parliament ...

Europe’s eastern bloc palaces

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:30:00 -0000

Berlin, Bucharest, Vilnius and Warsaw - four examples of what to do with those eastern state building dinosaurs

Soviet mentality brakes Lithuanian educational reform

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:32:00 -0000

The educational system has changed as many times as the capital of Vilnius has changed hands – the current system is as young as the independent country, and much criticised

Picturing faith in Vilnius

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Vilnius’ landscape is defined by the number of houses of worship scattered throughout it. This reflects the rich heritage Vilnius has with the number of religions that have co-existed together for hundreds of years

Justice: common good? Never heard of it

('Nicholas Dobson',) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:02:00 -0000

Lithuanian legislation still has many gaps to fill before it complies with EU standards. The adoption of a law on common good is a priority for MPs and players from associations

Lithuania: a stranger in the south of the north

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Since achieving independence in 1990, it has strived to walk steadily on its own. On the eve of reaching adulthood as a self-governing country, Vilnius is like a little girl who has been picked on too many times by her bigger neighbours

Bribing doctors: a Lithuanian custom

('Erin Woycik',) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0000

In Lithuania people must pay for access to the public health system. Many medical specialists receive informal 'under-the-table' payments to give priority or better treatment to generous patients

Gediminas Urbonas: 'There were no real Communist ideas in occupied Lithuania'

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The former Soviet soldier, 40, has spent half his life sculpting in Lithuania’s evolving public spaces, prodding the West into understanding what the face of Communism once looked like, and fighting privatisation

Baltic style

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 06:52:00 -0000

33 year-old Daiva Urbonaviciüté is a stylist in Vilnius. Her original brand, both stylish and comfortable, seems all set to infect the West.

Lithuanians crazy about basketball

Tue, 03 May 2005 14:00:00 -0000

Basketball is the most popular and emotionally intense sport in Lithuania, which is quite a conservative catholic country. Basketball becomes the second religion when an important match is taking place and the sport has a long and great history in this Baltic state