2-16-10

Well, Fellow Rotarians, it’s definitely still winter here.  But today has been a big day for Lithuanians.

Uzgavenes 2-16

View From Town Hall Step

February 17 is Independence Day.  It is also Uzgavenes.  The latter is a very old celebration, dating back to pagan times, and now converted into the Lithuanian equivalent of Mardi Gras.  It is the night before Ash Wednesday.

See:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C5%BEgav%C4%97n%C4%97s

This year, the two aligned.  Quite the rare occurrence.  This afternoon I walked down the block to the Old City Square, and watched what is mostly Independence Day.  But Uzgavenes was there too.

People wear masks and costumes, and extort small change for candy (a mix of Halloween and Rotary fines??).  Uzgavenes always ends in a battle between the spirit of winter and the spirit of spring, and spring always wins.  I dunno, it still doesn’t feel that way tonight!

This country is very proud of their independence, it’s taken seriously.

Tiime For Lunch

The yellow/red/green flag is in evidence everywhere in the city.  And as some of my pictures show, kids will be kids no matter where you are.

Real Potato Chip 2-16

Crafts for sale.  Kids having fun.  Food…and beer over open fires to go with it??

I did decide to buy lunch.  And I remembered to take a picture of it when it was about half gone.

I happened to run into two students here who are on Fulbrights, so we wandered some together.  They even used my camera to take a picture of me.

Yikes!

We walked down Pilies Street to Independence Hall, and watched the ceremonies there.  And you can get very close to public figures…where’s the security?  It’s there.  Uniformed police are around, but note the picture of the overly serious guy with the earpiece hidden in his hat.

Security-Men in Black

And tomorrow the holiday is over and things are back to normal work.

Phil