cafebabel.com

Alina Orlova, free atom on Lithuanian indie music scene

('Ja\xc5\xa1a Pipan',) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:14:23 -0000

In the shadows of a nuclear station, an artistic proton was born in the outskirts of Vilnius. No, she's not a mutant; she's a 23-year-old musical 'ice bomb', as the French media has called her

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

Pan-Slavism, Slovio and Polish the 'status symbol'

('Francesca Reinhardt',) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:00:00 -0000

The Slavic languages all have their roots in Proto-Slavic. Since the twelfth century, however, they have drifted apart. One of them reached its zenith in the seventeenth century: Polish

Poland, Lithuania, Romania: inside Europe's Guantanamo Bays

('Ems_8674',) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:00:00 -0000

A white horse struggles to drag itself along after abandoning the exhausted body of Vincent Gallo through the snow. The animal is soiled with human blood. Such is the breathtaking epilogue of Essential Killing, the latest feature length film from Jerzy Skolimowski, where the American actor portrays a Taliban deported to a secret CIA base hidden in a forest in Mazovie, Poland. In the screenplay by the Polish writer, the prisoner still has the possibility to escape. Terrorist suspects who land in total secrecy in the airport of Szymany in Poland do not have such luck. An investigation ensues.

Smelling Lithuania: perfume new 'national symbol'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:55:09 -0000

The Lithuanian foreign ministry is angling for something more than its tired coat of arms – evoke musk, moss and you’re halfway to the 'Smell of Lithuania', which has already reached the nostrils of international ambassadors and soldiers in Afghanistan. Tourists are next to be sprayed

Polish vs Lithuanian language: is your surname 'bitch' or 'vulva'?

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:50:56 -0000

Whilst the likes of The Economist alarmedly predict a major energy-security-everything conflict between Lithuania and Poland over spelling, many in both countries aren’t even aware that the issue has reached such diplomatic heights. In fact Poles in general might be unaware of it at all - language dispute of the week

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

Diary: a Lithuanian checks in at Tel Aviv airport

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:03:50 -0000

Many people have complained it took lots of time for them to leave Israel. I was a rather unclear case, and being a woman from eastern Europe often spells trouble. Anecdote from cafebabel.com blog '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

Perspective: what has the EU done for LGBT rights?

('aqueertheory',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:45:00 -0000

The international day against homophobia and transphobia is celebrated on 17 May in over fifty countries around the world, and as the Baltic Pride parade in Lithuania on 8 May showed, people are taking action in even the most homophobic places

Babelblogs on bureaucracy: a Lithuanian looks for medical help in Tel Aviv

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:16:21 -0000

Health insurance is not institutionally universal here in Israel. My advice? Don't go to live in Israel unless you're perfectly healthy and have no inclination towards extreme sports, and so on. And don't wear high-heels, just in case

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

Michael Jackson dies aged 50: eastern EU grab their crotch in tribute

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:48:42 -0000

On 25 June, the king of pop died after a cardiac arrest in LA. He remains a firm musical reference for the 'eurogeneration’ growing up in the seventies and eighties. Ukrainian folk rock, Lithuania’s late MJ and Bulgaria’s Wacko Jacko wannabe – soundtrack tribute in videos

Energy in Lithuania: tick A, B or C for 'nuclear', 'renewable' or 'both'

('Kate Stansfield',) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:49:22 -0000

From 88% nuclear energy in 1993, the Baltic country used just 26% in 2007. The intervening 14 years saw its entry into EU and a dramatic increase in energy dependence on Russia. Lithuania is relying on Europe to guarantee its energy security but what is the answer? Nuclear, renewable or both?

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

Lithuania gets first female president

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:05:07 -0000

It's been a member state of the EU since 2004 and has just elected Dalia Grybauskaite, 53, to run the country - latest newsbite from Vilnius

China reacts to the Guantanamo proposal

('Daiva Repe\xc4\x8dkait\xc4\x97',) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:15:00 -0000

On 11 February the Lithuanian government announced that they were ready to take up to 10 Guantanamo prisoners. US president Barack Obama has said the Cuba-based prison will be closed within a year

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

Bad European universities

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Non-existent courses in Italy, freezing toilets in France, everyone having to sit on the floor in Germany, bribery in Lithuania. A trip around the universities of the EU

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

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

Sarkozite strike

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:00:00 -0000

We're beaming live to you from the scenes of the first strike in France since president Nicolas Sarkozy came into power. Where does the word actually come from, and what are its European counterparts? Term of the week

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