Tolerating the Intolerable: Lessons Learned from Dr. David Frick's Lectures in Lithuania

Dr. David Frick with book Kith, Kin, and Neighbors

Last week, Dr. David Frick, a professor of History and Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California Berkeley, visited Lithuania to deliver a series of lectures based on his book Kith, Kin, and Neighbors: Communities and Confessions in Seventeenth-Century Vilno.

Dr. Frick began his lecture, titled “Tolerating the Intolerable: Coexistence in Seventeenth-Century Vilnius” with the following address:

To say that early modern Vilnius was a multi-confessional city risks understating the variety of competing and overlapping demands that religions, cultures, languages, and ties of ethnicity made upon individual Vilnans; it also obscures the means by which co-existence in the city was made feasible.  In my comments today, I will attempt to locate Vilnius on the map of confessional Europe:  to assess the range of its multi-confessionalism; to reveal some of the manners and mechanisms its citizens developed for encouraging, facilitating, and sometimes imposing toleration among its inhabitants; and to place the city on a spectrum of the solutions found in contemporary European communities for addressing the problems that arose when members of more than one confession attempted to live in one city—from exclusion at one extreme to types of inclusion at the other.

In the course of an hour, he took me and the other audience members back to 1665, to a place known then as Vilno, a modestly-sized city populated by Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, Ruthenians, and Tatars (in addition to some numbers of Scots, Italians, and other immigrants). These people worshipped in 23 Catholic, nine Uniate, one Orthodox, one Calvinist and one Lutheran church, one chief synagogue, and one mosque; they spoke Polish, Ruthenian, German, Yiddish, Lithuanian, and some Tatar; and they prayed in Latin, Church Slavonic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and a little Arabic.

For me, and I’m sure for many of you reading this post as well, such a city is not unique. We, after all, live in a globalized society. But imagine yourself in 1665. For that matter, imagine yourself in a royal city in 1665. English Parliament was in the process of enacting the Five Mile Act, seeking to enforce conformity to the established Church of England. The Portuguese were battling Spain to retain their independence. In what is now present-day India, the Mughals were fighting the Maratha Empire for territorial gains. And yet, within all of this madness, there existed the city of Vilno.

Lithuania's Honorary Consuls: Ingrida Bublys, Ohio

Another installment in our 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. 

Ingrida Bublys is the owner of IB International, a trade consulting company. She serves on various business and organizational boards, in addition to being active in the local Lithuanian community. With a partner, she heads the Lithuanian Trade Office in Chicago, the official branch of Enterprise Lithuania.

As Honorary Consul, Ingrida Bublys is responsible for promoting Lithuanian culture in the Midwest states, principally Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. "Ohio has a very large presence of Lithuanians," she told us. In fact, the northeastern section of the state alone boasts more than 17,000 Lithuanian-Americans. "Indiana and Kentucky have smaller, but still active communities. They are all special because they strive to continue making people aware of Lithuania."

In Ohio, Lithuanian cultural organizations are plentiful. Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Catholic Church, for instance, provides a number of opportunities for those who wish to establish or maintain ties with Lithuania. It offers Saturday school, where children can learn the Lithuanian language, history and culture, thus preserving their heritage. It also provides cultural celebrations, like folk dancing and scouting, throughout the week. Lithuanian Scouting is especially prevalent in the city of Cleveland, the second largest city in Ohio and the 45th largest in the United States. It is further home to the Lithuanian Cultural Garden, a memorial site depicting Lithuanian history and the country's struggle for a national identity.

U.S. Marines visit local school in Marijampolė!

Sergeant Deondrick Fleming and Corporal Erik Haj

Recently, two marines from the +United States Marine Corps at U.S. Embassy Vilnius visited a school in Marijampolė, Lithuania, to discuss the history, development, and significance of the English language.

Corporal Erik Haj and Sergeant Deondrick Fleming arrived to an auditorium full of applauding middle school students and faculty. They began their presentation with a brief overview of the English language’s genesis story, dating back to the fifth century, and proceeded to document its progression from Old English (the language of Beowulf), to Middle English (that of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales), to Early Modern English (such as the plays of William Shakespeare), and finally to Contemporary English and its many variations. “The great thing about English is that it is always changing. There is no such thing as ‘standard English,’” Sgt. Fleming told the students. It is interesting to note here that, quite contrarily, the Lithuanian language is extremely conservative, retaining many linguistic features found only in ancient languages like Sanskrit and Ancient Greek.

Lithuania's Honorary Consuls: Randy Miller, Portland, Oregon

This is a continuing 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. 

Today we feature a post about Randy Miller, who has been serving as Lithuania's Honorary Consul in Portland, Oregon for ten years. He received a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University and an M.S. in Economics and Political Science from Portland State University. He currently serves as the President of Produce Row Property Management Company, and is listed in "Who's Who in Finance and Industry" and "Who's Won in the World."

Portland, with a population of nearly 590,000, is the largest city in the state of Oregon and the 28th largest (by population) in the United States. It is the national leader in land use, urban planning, transportation, environmental stewardship, and many livability innovations. 

"The Lithuanian disapora here is not large," acknowledges Miller, "but there are one thousand people of Lithuanian descent, with about 10-20% connected through organized efforts to retain Lithuanian culture and pass it on to their children. Many events are held each year around their several days of Independence," of which there are two. These include: the Day of Restoration of the State of Lithuania (1918); and the Day of Restoration of Independence for Lithuania, which celebrates the country's emancipation from the Soviet Union in 1990. These festivities are typically celebrated in the form of folk dances, singing, and story-telling, and are organized by Portland Lithuanians.

Randy Miller's selection as Honorary Consul is an interesting one. Unlike our first profile, which chronicled the goals and responsibilities of Daiva Navarrette, a Lithuanian-Amerian serving as the Consul to Los Angeles, Miller has no familial connections with the country. "I was selected by Ambassador Usackas ten years ago because of my interest in the international community and participation in international organizations in Portland, as well as my involvement in the economic development of Oregon." Though he didn't have any obvious connections to Lithuania at the time, he recognized his ability to aid the Lithuanian community in Portland with regard to their economic development, and therefore accepted the position.

As Honorary Consul, Miller attends the Oregon Consular Corps meetings and events, as well as tourism and international festivals. He is also responsible for consular affairs. "I respond to many emails and phone calls from people all over the United States inquiring about immigration, citizenship (including dual), student or work visas, and similar issues such as those. I also fulfill requests from the Embassy regarding any political issues that may arise, connecting with our Congressional delegation." His current goal is to maintain a public representation of Lithuania in the Portland area, and do what is necessary for the promotion of Lithuanian culture in Oregon. 

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!