When Lithuania (re-)declared independence on 11 March 1990, I was not yet even in high school. I often wished I was about eight years older, so that I might somehow throw myself into the mix out there, in the wild edge-of-reality process of nation building.1 I’d have, you know, adventures and stuff.
If I were born [...]
Continue reading about Sometimes it’s good to miss the boat of history
One of my favorite movies of 2008 was Edward Zwick’s Defiance. I didn’t particularly like it because of its cinematic qualities—though the color, photography, and performances by the two leads (pictured) were excellent—but, rather, for the way it subverts in its retelling a story familiar to every child of the Lithuanian Diaspora: the fight of [...]
Continue reading about Brown is never equal to Red; Brown is always worse
The road is over. I wrote my first “Guide to a Passport” post just under six months ago, and in that time I’ve been in contact with governmental agencies of three nations at varying levels. I’ve read laws, I’ve made ill-prepared phone calls, I’ve scanned in documents. It was a process. But it paid off, [...]
Continue reading about Penultimate “Guide to a Passport” post
There’s a writeup (by me) of the exciting documentary The Linguists over on Donkey Hottie. The movie closes with a bunch of ostensibly Chulym children illustrating a (Chulym) story for a children’s book to be published in Chulym, a language that, however, the children do not speak.
The linguists celebrate this “reconnection” with one’s “history” via [...]
Continue reading about Language and history via The Linguists
No, this isn’t going to become a smut page, at least, I don’t think so. But if I’m to judge by search results bringing people to this site, my snippet of Lithuanian erotica from earlier in the month was kind of a (secret) hit.
So for today, I offer this photo that was making the rounds [...]
Not much has been going on in the “Guide to a Passport” front, as I’m waiting for Michigan to send me a copy of my grandfather’s death certificate. I mentioned in my last post, however, that a professor at my university recommended that I contact the International Tracing Service based in Arolsen, Germany, about documents [...]
Continue reading about Unexpected proof of post-1940 flight from Lithuania
The very idea of Lithuanian erotica, like Lithuanian profanity, strikes me as such a weird proposition. This is largely because my exposure to the language was mostly through my mom, and profanity and the like is probably not appropriate grounds in talking with mom.
That all said, an author on Café Blogas today unearthed a tome [...]
[UPDATE 8 July 2009] Having received my letter of citizenship from the government, described here, I can say that, in fact, showing proof of flight from 1940–1990 is still important, but that using ITS’s services is sufficient.
[UPDATE 15 April 2009] Having submitted my application, and having had nearly no attention paid to this part [...]
Continue reading about Proving flight from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania
Now that I’ve completed the first step on the Roadmap to Citizenship, proving that I’m my grandparents’ grandson, it’s time to move on to the second step, which is proving that my grandparents were citizens of Lithuania before 15 June 1940, which covers this installment of the “Guide to a Passport” series.
This step I actually [...]
Continue reading about Proving Lithuanian Citizenship pre-1940
In honor of the just-passed anniversary celebration of Lithuania’s independence on 16 Feb 1918, Darius Udrys released a 26-minute video made up of stills, titles, and music, which surveys episodes from the last 215 years of Lithuanian history. The movie, Road to Freedom: Lithuania, is also available with Lithuanian titles as Kelias į laisvę: Lietuva, [...]
