Author Inara Cedrins presents the Baltic Anthology of Contemporary Poetry

Congratulations to author +Inara Cedrins on the occasion of the special presentation of her recently published Baltic anthology of contemporary poetry, three books for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The anthology presents three generations of poets: those born before the Soviet occupation, during it, and shortly before the countries regained their independence in the 1990's. Come by the Balzekas Museum Book Club and learn about individual experiences of exile and homeland!

Why does a diplomat go to Varena? To pick mushrooms, of course!

Have you ever ventured deep into a forest in search of mushrooms? For that matter, can you even differentiate an edible mushroom from a poisonous one? The people of Varėna can, and they’re more than happy to show how it’s done. Each year, on the last weekend of September, the small Lithuanian town plays host to a Mushroom Festival, where the Lithuanian people celebrate their culture, their country’s natural beauty, and of course, their mushrooms.

The Varėna district municipality, situated in Lithuania’s southernmost region, is quite possibly the country’s best kept secret. An important center of rail-and-motorways, forestry and tourism, Varėna is first and foremost a preservation area for Lithuania’s unique nature and cultural heritage. Many jointers, carpenters, weavers, and ceramicists practice their crafts here. Traditions of wild-hive beekeeping are preserved. Likely for this reason, the Varėna region is developing itself into a popular tourist destination. Thousands of tourists, both Lithuanian and foreign, visit the area each year.  Famous for its history, old villages, folkloric traditions, and well-developed infrastructure, the provisions of Varėna’s tourism industry range from exciting hikes and water activities to more leisurely strolls through charming meadows.

Varėna district is also the largest and most forested region of Lithuania. The town of Varėna, founded as a

small settlement in 1862, yielded lower harvests due to infertile soil, and began supplementing its economy by collecting berries and mushrooms. Following industrialization in the 1970s, the town grew rapidly, and mushroom picking in particular became a staple of the economy. And thus the idea for an annual Mushroom Festival began. . .

Festival activities begin early in the morning with a mushroom collecting competition, held in Dainava, one of Lithuania’s oldest forests. The competition consists of a varying number of teams with four participants on each. Together the teams, accompanied by musicians performing traditional Lithuanian songs, make their way into Dainava and begin the mushroom collection process. Three hours later, the competitors submit their baskets for weighing; the team that produces the largest supply of edible mushrooms wins! Following the contest, celebrations take place in Varėna City Park.

My Mushroom Festival experience, however, included no personal mushroom picking. At 8:30 am, I climbed aboard the Mushroom Train and took the two-hour journey from Vilnius to Varėna. Even the train ride, I learned, is part of the affair. Men and women dressed in cultural costumes escorted us to our compartment, where a small band performed a string of cultural tunes. Throughout the trip, we were served delightful culinary treats (many including mushrooms, of course), treated to a series of wine tastings, and even personally serenaded by the Mushroom Train Choir. It was a memorable ride, to say the least.

DCM Robert Silberstein participating in the festivities

The festival itself was very much a continuation of my train adventure.Mushrooms, red and yellow autumn leaves, and various squash types ornamented the park. Folk artists proudly displayed their hand-crafted souvenirs, intricate weavings, and unique pottery designs. Costumed men and women sat behind small tables, superfluous with baked goods, vegetables, mushroom, and potato dishes. On stage, children sang and danced. Offstage, they participated in old traditional games and sporting activities. Adults, meanwhile, partook in the multitudinous beer and wine tastings. Throngs formed around the woodcarving exhibition, where people could purchase original creations made from the local artists. Others still watched as the local townspeople demonstrated their crafts: spinning and weaving and woodworking. Robert Silberstein, the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), even gave a short speech and was honored with a basket of Varėna's famous mushrooms!

It was an affair to remember, certainly a festive inauguration of the autumn season. So, if you ever find yourself in search of a fall excursion, keep Varėna in mind. Hop on the Mushroom Train, help yourself to a bowl of cream of mushroom soup, and experience an authentic blend of the medieval and the modern!

Lithuania's Honorary Consuls: Daiva Navarrette, Los Angeles, California

Today, we begin a new series profiling Lithuania's Honorary Consuls in the United States. Thanks to Aiste Zalepuga who conducted the interviews with each Consul and collected additional materials. 

Daiva Navarrette has been serving as Lithuania's Honorary Consul in Los Angeles for three years. She was born and raised in the Los Angeles area and studied Economics at UCLA. After obtaining her degree, she worked for more than 17 years with investments and financial markets. 

Los Angeles, with a population of more than 18 million, is the 2nd largest city in the United States and the 11th largest globally. Among the biggest economic and culturally rich centers in the world, it is the epicenter of the entertainment and media industries. However, the city has also recently experienced a boom in tech startups, and boasts strong textile, garment, fashion, auto, defense, and advertising industries. International trade is significant as well. In fact, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are two of the busiest in the world. And tourism too plays a vital role in LA's economy; more than 41 million people visited the city in 2012. 

Much of the world knows of Los Angeles as the home of Hollywood, as a place dominated by the entertainment industy (television, motion pictures, video games, and music). In truth, though, while Hollywood's presence is certainly visible and no doubt contributes substantially to LA's economy, it is not without competition. Few people are aware, for instance, that some of the most rapidly growing and promising industries in Los Angeles are, in fact, technology startups (noted above) and the green sector.

Fulbright Alumna at Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab--From Page to Stage

In our continued series profiling +Fulbright Program alumni, today we feature a post by Aiste Ptakauske who traveled this summer to the New York City to spend a month at the +Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Here is her essay about the experience.

The summer of 2013 was the nineteenth summer in a row when the Lincoln Center Theater (LCT) gathered directors from all over the world into an LCT Directors Lab. For three weeks the LCT Directors Lab provided its participants with a truly lab-like environment where theater-makers experimented with their processes and ideas in hope to discover newer, better, fresher, and more exciting ways to create theater. All experiments were geared in one direction: from Page to Stage. 

How do we direct contemporary plays for contemporary audiences?
What should be the relationship between the playwright and the director in the room?
What are the processes of developing new plays? 

Coming to the Lab, we all thought we’d find answers to these questions. But these questions appeared to be just the tip of a much larger and harder iceberg…

What the Secretary Said--John Kerry in Vilnius

Remarks

John Kerry
Secretary of State

U.S. Embassy Vilnius

Vilnius, Lithuania

September 7, 2013

What has taken place here in 20 years plus one is really remarkable, and I am told that back in 1992 when we were first setting up shop here after the end of the Soviet Union, they had to bring truckloads of cash down from Finland in order to be able to just pay people because there weren’t even banks. It just wasn’t even functional. And so now, you all have this incredible burgeoning economy. We have – we, the United States, and Lithuania--have a remarkable relationship which is built partly on security, partly on economics, partly on democracy, on hopes about the future.

And what really excites me is what’s happening with respect to the energy diversification, climate change efforts, the efforts to create the European Eastern Partnership. All of these things are going to guarantee that not only will this relationship stay strong and flourish, but as we go forward, the economy here is going to get stronger, the democracy here will become more entrenched, and this will become really one of the great models for transformation out of a period of just kind of crushing restraint and oppression, and I don’t even want to go back to some of the stories. In fact, as I drove up here, the Ambassador pointed out what is now a Holocaust museum that used to be a place where the KGB used to take people and terrible, terrible things went on.

So that’s the transformation. All of you are part of this amazing adventure we get to be part of. I get to be the Secretary and parachute in like this for a few hours, and I know that these visits aren’t simple and a lot of work goes into them. I also have learned that the minute I get out of here, there’s a pretty good wheels-up party – (laughter) – which I never get to share in. But I just want to say thank you to you on behalf of America, on behalf of the President, and all of us who are privileged to work for our fellow citizens. There honestly is no more rewarding kind of work.

For those of you in the consular division, you’re the face of America. Somebody walks in and they talk to you and you have an interview and they need to get a visa, and they want to either emigrate or they want to just visit or be a student and go over and study or have an opportunity to sort of touch our values and our dreams, that’s a big deal. For many of you, you may be the only American people we’ll ever see. And whether you’re a civil servant or a Foreign Service officer, you get to come to work every day and build a bridge, build a relationship, reach out to people with a set of values that we all believe in, which historically have made a huge difference to people all over the world.

That is good work. That’s a great, great job. I wish it was better paying for everybody. It’s not what we all get into this for. We’re in it because we love what we do, we love the opportunity to change people’s lives, we love the opportunity to bring America to other parts of the world, and we love to build the friendships and the relationships that go with it. And they last a lifetime and they’re worth every moment of it.

In tribute to that, the Ambassador, Deborah, was just in Afghanistan, and we’re pleased that we have a special working relationship here in Lithuania for a small country – I think it was the smallest country leadership of the PRT – and working with us and others – Georgians, I think, and some others in there – we had this tremendous PRT effort. And just the other day – we’ve now transferred that PRT, as we are now transferring and transitioning out of Afghanistan – the PRT commander honored us, all of us, and particularly the Ambassador by giving to her the flag that was flying there.

It says “The USA National Flag was waving over Forward Operating Base Shield of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ghor Province of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The hard work, dedication, and actions of the USA representatives directly supported and assisted the PRT to reach the goals and objectives in support of the ISAF mission,” and that’s dated 25 August 2013. Folks, that belongs to all of you, to this Embassy, to our efforts jointly, and it’s a huge statement about this wonderful relationship and participation we have.

Beer Ambassador? Not Quite, but a Great Time Was Had by All

When Don Russell, a nationally know beer columnist from Philadelphia, agreed to come to Lithuania to explore local microbrews and share the experience of American brewers, he probably didn't know his report of the trip would end up in Washington Post. 

But it did. Whether it was the great variety of Lithuanian micro- and nano-brews, or the great interest in Don's experience as a blogger and writer, or the beatiful summer day Don spent at the Pakruojis Beer Festival--there was plenty to write home about. Here some highlights Don especially enjoyed:

In Vilnius, members of the local chapter of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, the worldwide gastronomic society, agreed that the Philly beers served with a gourmet menu were at least as good as wine. So good, in fact, it took them just three hours to nearly polish off a supply of Yards and Weyerbacher that was supposed to last a full week.

At a beer festival in Pakruojis, a small town not far from the Latvian border, I was introduced to the mayor as "Donas Russellas," and the organizers let me help tap the first keg.

In a taping of a popular Lithuanian cooking show, "Virtuves Mitu Griovejai", I gobbled down an excellent Asian-spiced salmon dish that the hosts had simmered in +Yards Brewing Co. George Washington's Tavern Porter. 

At the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, I briefed Lithuanian journalists and bloggers on the growing American microbrewery scene. Then I presented the deputy chief of mission with a +Philly.com Beer Week T-shirt, which he promptly wore at the Pakruojis festival, where we greeted more than 4,000 attendees.

At a farmhouse brewery in Joniškelis, a village 175 kilometers north of Vilnius, I was smothered in kisses by a brewer's wife (or cousin or fiancée - it was kind of lost in translation). Apparently"Virtuves Mitu Griovejai" is her favorite TV show.

"John Kerry, eat your heart out," wrote Don in his column about the trip. When you watch this video, you'll probably agree.