Click on the links in the blog itself for relevant photos.
05.14.04: iauliai with adamkus
05.11.04: stick to potato mush
05.08.04: freedom from taxes day parade
05.06.04: sure, but how does this affect firewood prices?
05.01.04: non, non, 01.05.04
04.30.04: satellite burns down house
04.27.04: lithuanian prostitutes
04.21.04: pre-flight
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05.14.04: iauliai with adamkus
Went back to iauliai today, this time as part of the Adamkus campaign. Left Vilnius at 7am to get to iauliai in time to do the advanced work for the ex-President's events. Arturas and I were in charge of going around and making sure everything was all set. Unlike in the States, where advanced teams can go into action on the ground up to a week in advanced, we blew into town a couple hours ahead of Adamkus (after a delicious breakfast of McDonald's coffee and double cheeseburgers). Adamkus was set to arrive at noon, but was running about 15 minutes late out of a town called Žagariai that has about ten voters total. Needless to say the journalists left waiting in Šiauliai (100000 or so voters) were fairly bored.
In terms of actual advanced work, we first went to a children's hospital Adamkus' wife sponsored. We went over his route and went to pick up Ruta chocolates Adamkus was gonna hand out at the hospital. We ran into a bunch of kids on our way to the next site, so we gave thei teacher a couple bags of chocolates "from President Adamkus." After that, we met up with Irena (the party's election rep in iauliai), the head administrator of the municipality, and Vice-Mayor avinis...all LibCenter party people. One thought that comes to mind at this time is that I have a hard time understanding the campaign staff structure. In each major city, there are potentially six or seven different people I need to correspond with in order to make anything happen: Party leader, party election leader, Adamkus election head, mayor/vice mayor, patikiniai (people who can legally represent the President), party and election volunteer coordinators....oy.
At City Hall, we determined Adamkus should hold his meeting in a 50-person room rather than one for 200 people, and ensured that the construction taking place outsite would cease while the meeting was taking place. Afterwards, we headed down to the cafe where Adamkus was going to meet local journalists (the national press pretty much ignored our invite). Here we set up the seating, menu, and ventilation. When then strolled up and down the main street Adamkus was set to walk on after meeting with the press. We checked out a small amphitheater where a group of Liberal party students was going to present Mrs. Adamkus with flowers, and Adamkus himself with an invitation to their annual event. This meeting ended up taking place right in the cafe since Adamkus was running so late. The only other advanced work we did was setting up an extra table right before the President arrived and switched the seating around so he would be sitting in the center of the table rather than at the head. We met with the bodyguards and then waited.
The Adamkai showed up looking exhausted. Whatever they did in Žagariai took a lot out of them. Once they got outside, they seemed much more lively. They started walking up the main drag surrounded by a 20-foot circle of bodyguards, press, and advisors. People walking down the street would look up, notice that Adamkus was in their path, and they would scatter. I asked one of Adamko staff to have him go over and greet these ladies sitting on a bench. He needed to approach people himself rather than wait for them to come up to him and say 'hi.' Once he did, it seemed to become easier for him to go up to more people (girls, students celebrating the last day of school (this photo is pretty much a free commercial for Švyturys, but luckily, Adamkus didn't go shake hands with another groups of youngsters sitting at an outdoor bar across the street, as they were identified as local gang members!))
We made a wrong turn while following the Presidential motorcade, and had to take 'shortcuts' to try and beat the President to the hospital. We got there about five minutes after him, and had to run through the labarynthine hospital frantically asking stunned-looking people if they had seen the President. We found him, handed off the chocolates, and I set about to talking to hospital staff and found out that they were very concerned that the media there would not show pictures of the children. Also, they were concerned that they would get their picture taken with Adamkus as had been promised during our advanced work. Of course, the moment they reminded me, Adamkus left that wing with all the media in tow (except one guy - journalists here love to film themselves filming events and other totally random stuff like microphones, pictures on the wall, and telephones). Luckily, we were eventually able to take a picture with the hospital staff and Adamkus. They gave him a teddy bear, and again we were off.
This time we actually kept up with the motorcade, but man, do they drive like maniacs! Flying down city streets, swerving, blocking, driving on the wrong side, sirens blaring. Very cool.
We got to City Hall and outside, Adamkus met with the mayor of iauliai (Social Democrat). One of my favorite moments so far in Lithuania was when Adamkus turned his back on the "ex-commie" mayor and began talking to a couple of construction workers who were (per our request) not working at the moment (some great photos: 1, 2, 3). We walked into a nearby park after that with a couple of representatives from the iauliai Liberal Youth Club. This was supposed to be a photo op with young people, but there were only two of them. So, Arturas ran around the park getting random young strangers to stand next to the former President.
My biggest contribution of the day was to run out of the question-and-answer session Adamkus was having with city reps and ordinary people to go get flowers. The local party people did not provide flowers. Of course, running in a panic to find the nearest florist, my phone fell out of my pocket and shattered all over the sidewalk. But get this: IT STILL WORKS FINE!!! I was so psyched.
Arturas and I had some Southen Fried Chicken (it was actually pretty good), and then rode back to Vilnius. Long entry this time, but it was a long, exciting day. We sang songs on the way back because our car didn't have a radio...and although ArtUras didn't have any drinks in us, we were so happy to be done working that if we had been pulled over, we probably would've been arrested for drunk driving.
-dr-
05.11.04: stick to potato mush
If I've gained one skill while here in Lithuania it's that I've learned how to open six locks with seperate keys in the dark with a couple drinks in me in under 2 minutes. So many locks on doors here, and not for no reason like in most of America.
Anyways, today was another big day. Met with head of Adamkus campaign, who is also named Darius. He had asked to meet with me and this other US/Lith guy Edis yesterday, for the purpose of discussing what we could add to the campaign. There's much more I could say here, but I'm hestitant because I've been reminded several times that everyone's phones are tapped over here, so I don't feel exactly comfortable putting sensitive stuff on the internet. I will post what is no secret though:
It seems to me that the Adamkus campaign is very disorganized...more so than most political campaigns. The campaign itself is a campaign for different individuals to promote themselves more than the candidate himself. Lots of ideas and litai (Lithuanian currency) are being offered and then wasted.
For this reason, I was at first reluctant to put efforts into a campaign that might very possibly not use what I produce (I can only imagine how my frustrations compare to how high-paid consultants feel). However, this meeting with Darius changed my mind. He offered me something to do. Simple as that. I've been doing research lately on how to draw/keep volunteers on a campaign, and it looks like it all boils down to giving them something to do. A lot of times, even if they're not so hot for the candidate, they're just looking for something to do. I know that when I'm put a task to complete or given responsibilities, I do my job 100%...especially when I'm getting paid, albeit miniscule.
After meeting with Darius, I booked over to the Human Right Monitoring Institute to start helping them out. On the way, I stopped by what looked like a clinic to see about getting vaccinations for my upcoming trip to India. I got sent to 3 different people before I ended up with a lady who flat out told me "we NEVER do vaccinations here." Hmmm. She stared off into space when I asked who does do vaccinations. After what felt like 5 minutes, she said, "probably some private clinics do." Ok. I also had to find out how I was gonna ask the people at HRMI whether I was gonna get paid. The term is autorine sutartis. Turns out they're willing to pay me except I can't tell them even close how much time I'll be able to give them. I'm setting the end of this week as a deadline to decide what the hell I'm doing here. I did get started on helping them with translation work, which you should be able to see at www.hrmi.lt in the next few days.
Had dinner at Gabi, my favorite restaurant in Lithuania. I made the mistake of straying from my standard dinner of šaltibaršciai (cold beet soup) and cepelinai (meatballs encased in dense potato mush) and went with something like "Georgian Chicken." It sucked...too much sauce. Stick to the Lithuanian food in Lithuanian restaurants. And if you can't read the menu, just ask for karbonadas, you can't lose (unless you're vegetarian, then go with koldunai su grybais (mushroom ravioli)).
Met up with my mom at Baltijos tyrimai (Baltic Research) afterwards, but before I found her there, I mistakenly walked in on the research side of a focus group. Can't imagine what I would've done had I walked in on the focus group itself asking "where's my mom???" Got to see my first focus group anyways. They get a group of 15 or so people to sit in a room with nice little chairs and soda and cookies (Western technology), and discuss whatever it is the client paid them to find out. On the other side of the one-way mirror sit the analysts. Very psychological stuff.
-dr-
05.08.04: freedom from taxes day parade
Every year, the Liberals have parades throughout Lithuanian on tax day. From what I gather, high-profile Liberal mayors, MP's, etc, get together and drag a huge papier-mache stone through town. The stone is supposed to symbolize the burden of taxes. In some cities, they also release doves to symbolize freedom from taxes. My sources tell me that it traditionally rains on Laisvė nuo mokesčių diena (Freedom from Taxes Day). This was my first or second time seeing a parade in Lithuania, and certainly my first time marching in one...I was given the European Union flag to carry, which was sorta an ironic thing to be carrying in a Freedom from Taxes Day Parade.
There was a band who was quite good, and if I get around to it, I'll put a sound file on here of them playing...they made me laugh for two reasons: 1) the bass drum kept making all the car alarms go off, and 2) one of the smallest kids I've ever seen was bringing up the rear, and he didn't flinch when a cameraman got in his face.
There were also cheeleaders (all wearing jerseys with the word "Boston" on them), people handing out flags and leaflets, and a picnic to follow the parade. My favorite part of the parade was that even though there weren't that manyNo one really seemed to mind that it was raining.
Forgot to mention that at one point during the parade, a girl marching in front of the huge boulder got her heel stuck in one of the cobblestones during the parade. I tried to help using my flag as a pivot, but to no avail. I curse myself for not trying to take a picture instead. I will never be a good photojournalist.
-dr-
05.06.04: sure, but how does this affect firewood prices?
My first time driving around Šiauliai region. We almost didn't go even though we had planned on it yesterday due to another one of these meetings Ilona's always going to. She actually told me what this one was for (meeting with NGO people). Ilona and I sat in her expensive car and headed out of Šiauliai. The first district we came upon on her list, Bridai, had a church, a school, an abandoned store, and a few little houses. Didn't look like more than fifty people could possibly live there. Turns out there's over 1300 voters there. Hmm. Everything was totally run down: abandoned factories, abandoned stores, one person sitting in a huge bus lot, a horse-drawn cart with firewood...
side note: in one of the town hall meetings my mom's been doing with the mayor all over Lithuania, some pensioner got up and started asking how joining the EU would affect wood prices. It took them a while to figure out the question, but the guy was asking because he was concerned about home heating prices...no oil, no gas...wood.
The only thing I saw in any of towns we drove through (7 or so) was Gubernija (the largest beer producer in the region) signs. Thank God she's got friends there. I also thought this would be a good opportunity for me to get to know Ilona a bit. I asked her how she first got involved in politics, why is she in politics. Her answer was one word: Stasiunaite. Not having any clue who that was, I asked her to expand a bit. Answer "former mayor of Šiauliai. Very influential. Lot's of people knew her." Pause. "She was part of Naujoji Sajunga (New Union - the first party Ilona belonged to)." Pause. The End. This is something that will have to change once she makes the psychological break and starts talking to real people, and not just her close friends.
When we got back, I needed to go for a drink. I had been doing non-stop data processing for a few days, and I needed to get off of this laptop and have some human contact. Šiauliai university had organized a Studentiškas Pavaris (a spring festival for students) this week and tonight was the finale concert starring Bix. Being somewhat a Bix fan and thinking that I would feel better being around students, I headed over. The only person I ended up talking to was some drunk homeless guy who put his arm around me and thanked me when I bummed him a butt. And then I remembered the kid I met on the flight from Stockholm. Aha! Thank God. I know one person anywhere near my age, let's hope he wasn't freaked out by me on the plane. We met up 5 minutes after I called him and we had a couple beers and some pica ("pizza") at this place Broadveijus (Broadway). A note on pizza in Lithuania, it is only remotely related to the pizza we have back in the States. Lithuanians love it though - ultra-flat crusts, little or no cheese or sauce, and loaded with crazy toppings like corn and walnuts or eggs and olives. Yikes.
Besides providing some company, Simas invited me to his sodyba (beach house in the country/dacha) when I'm back in Šiauliai, so it always pays off to talk to people no matter how uncomfortable it is.
-dr-
05.01.04: non, non, 01.05.04
After another marathon first-day-in-Vilnius, I tried to recover. And I tried until 1400 to no effect. Maybe it's because I'm now officially a European citizen and need to sleep more. My mom and I barely made it to another event to welcome Lithuania into the EU at 1500. The Zuokas cut the ribbon on the new EuroPlaza, and Paulauskas made a live call to Brussels, and the call was broacast on a screen simultaneously. A few musicians performed afterwards, including these two who sang "What happened to your love?" They were terrible. Again, I wore schlubby clothes, as it was an outdoor event, and we had no particular plans to meet politicians. But, again, I met Adamkus, Jakelaitis (top TV news anchor), Zuokas, Paulauskas (holding hands with his wife Jolanta), Kubilius (former PM), Olekas (Minister of Health), Omnitel bigshots, and throw in some more of the top businessmen in the country. (2 photos from reception: 1, 2) At least this time I had showered.
When we got out of there, I headed to the Lithuanian philharmonic for a performance featuring Dominique de Willencourt (?) on cello. The show was spectacular and free (thanks to Jurga being the manager of the orchestra). After the philharmonic, Jurga and I met up with her sister Kriste, and we headed over to the city's skyscrapers to watch a "light and fountain spectacular." It was not very spectacular at all, yet somehow watched for about an hour. At least we also had a good view of Vilnius from the 20th floor of my mom's office. We could see thousands of people on the banks of the Neris whom I'm sure had little to no view of the wimpy fountains and dud fireworks. My mom had abandoned a Japanese party her friends were having to go to this, so we abandoned the fountains and went back to Trygve and Erika's for Japanese. At sushi, drank a little sake, said goodbye to Jurga and Kriste, and watched ET with Trygve.
-dr-
04.27.04: lithuanian prostitutes
I will not usually make posts like this one.
As a citizen of Lithuania - a country more often mentioned in "Oddly Enough" stories than serious front-page stories - I typically refrain from purposely bringing to light embarassing stories like the one I will write about here. My friend Aras steadfastedly adheres to this "rule" as well - he refers to the embarassing impeachment of president Rolandas Paksas as "Lithuania's shining moment as a truly functioning democracy." I like this way of putting it. But not everyone is looking out for Lithuania's public appeal. That said, AP recently ran a story with the headline "Lithuanian Prostitutes Overcharging NATO Troops."
This nifty story came a week after Lithuania officially joined NATO (the official part being the arrival of four NATO F-16's and over 100 apparently sex-starved service personnel). What I didn't like about the story was its light/funny tone. The increased presence of sex-workers is obviously directly correlated to the arrival of these troops. The story does not make mention of attempts by NATO administration to curb the ILLEGAL activities of their troops. It focuses solely on Lithuania's police cpmmissioner's comments on trying to take care of the problem..The despicable part of this story is not that prostitutes are charging the NATO troops triple, but that NATO troops are buying prostitutes, and at triple price.
Unfortunately, the story portrayed Lithuanian authorities as tolerant of prostitution, sympathized with the "discriminated against" troops, and _.
Just heard U2 song that made me think of the planes in Sharon.
Lithuanian reaction to 4 planes in Siauliai - charge the 100(!) soldiers there triple for prostitutes.
2 NATO troops get beat up...what kind of troops are those?!
Since I want to portray my country positively, my headline would be "NATO troops graciously, despicably pay extravagantly for prostitutes."
By the way, my friend Aras is looking to work for a company in Lithuania that pays American-styles wages. Click here for his CV...any takers?
April 8, 2004
Lithuanian prostitutes overcharging NATO troops
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) - The NATO troops dispatched to this Baltic state are being discriminated against, the country's police commissioner said Thursday, by prostitutes who charge them more than three times as much money as Lithuanian clients.
In recent days, prostitutes have been arriving in the city of Siauliai, where 100 NATO soldiers are stationed, part of a team to service four Belgian F-16s that patrol the skies above Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Police Commissioner General Vytautas Grigaravicius told journalists.
He said that the sex workers were hiking their rates for the western troops, who come from Belgium and Norway.
"Prostitutes take 100 litas (about $45 Cdn) an hour from Lithuanian citizens, while NATO troops are asked to pay 350 litas (about $160 Cdn) an hour," he said, calling it a clear case of discrimination. Prostitution is illegal in the country of 3.5 million residents.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were inducted into the U.S.-led alliance on March 29 along with four other ex-communist countries. Moscow expressed particular anger at the entry of the Baltics, which share borders with Russia, and criticized the deployment of the NATO fighters.
Last week, two NATO soldiers were beaten up, prompting outrage across Lithuania and calls for better protection for troops sent to defend the country.
Grigaravicius met with acting Lithuanian president Arturas Paulauskas on Thursday and pledged to boost the number of police in Siauliai, 200 kilometres northwest of the capital, Vilnius.
04.30.04: satellite burns down house
The trip started out like any other. I drove into Manhattan and the car overheated when I got there. My dad took over driving from there, and we went the rest of the way to Newark the heat on full blast. I made it to the airport about an hour late, but check in went fine. In stockholm, I heard my first Lithuanian of the trip. Always an interesting moment when this happens. I usually catch myself paying extra close attention when I hear foreign tongues and had been doing so, but not understanding the Swedish.
The first Lithuanian I heard, of course was political debating on the presidential races which the impeached president was getting ready to run in. I began listening lest the group of 10 or so Lithuanians mention anything Ilona Stulpiniene - Liberal Center Union candidate for parliament from Siauliai region (meaning RURAL). After a sufficient amount of eavesdropping, I gathered up the nerve to strike up a conversation with one of the women, Antanina, who, it turns out lives near Siauliai and had heard of Ilona. Antanina, by the way owns a cafe in which she keeps a live brown bear!! (Miško Užeiga in Kelmes raj., Lithuania: +370 699 53 261)
I spoke with a girl and a guy there too, and they were both pretty nice. The guy was from Siauliai too, and said he would vote for Ilona, but that he's actually from Siauliai city, not the region. I sat next to him on the flight from Stockholm to vilnius, and we traded stories on car accidents. Turns out he's much more lucky to be alive than I am...although I guess we both are, as the propellor plane flight from Stockholm to Vilnius was...vibracious.
I arrived in Vilnius at around 1000, and the rest of that day was a blur of activity. First to the apartment to drop off my stuff and mistakenly fall asleep during the hour that I wanted to wash up. From there, it was off to the Mayor's office, which recently moved into Vilnius' first skyscraper (click for a photo...it's the non-round skyscraper). Of course, I met the Mayor (Arturas Zuokas - notice all the people staring at him in the photo), unshaven, smelly, worn, and dressed like a schlub. It just so happens that that day I also shook hands with Arturas Paulauskas (acting President - the one getting some chin makeup), Valdas Adamkus (former President and current candidate for President), Brazauskas (PM - far right), Petras Auštrevicius (presidential candidate), and the top lawyer in the country.
From my mom's office, we grabbed a quick dinner at the new mall right next to the new skyscrapers in Vilnius, and then booked it over to the main Cathedral Square, where a large event was taking place to welcome Lithuania into the EU (at midnight). That's where I met all those bigshots. The event was organized by the Lithuanian equivalent of PBS, and was not too bad...kinda boring though. Lithuanian reactions, while vastly improved from even a couple years ago where noticeably "clap weakly for your favorite band"-ish. One problem with the event was that another concert was taking place simultaneously...get this...with the same bands playing at both. Don't ask me to get into the skinny of it, but it had to with some nasty politicking by the Mayor's opponents.
The same opponents organized a promotion where they distributed tons of these lights to people all over the country. At 2140, people were supposed to turn on all their lights and point them to the sky as a satellite's orbit passed over Europe, making Lithuania the brightest country in Europe as it joined the EU. The only problem...minor detail...the satellite wasn't scheduled to fly over until 2240. Duh. I didn't see anyone flashing any lights in Cathedral Square at 2240, but that's probably because everyone had entered that zombie mode Lithuanians get into when there's a promise of fireworks. (turns out there was no news the day after about the outcome of the lights thing, except that some guy in Panevezys left his lights on when he left his house in order to ensure the satellite would see, and his house burned down. go figure).
After that I went to start drinking with a couple girls who my mother and Ilona had met while bar hopping the week before. We got flaming Metaxas and debated women's rights, etc. I must say that they are some of the first Lithuanians I have met who I probably couldn't tell were Lithuanians if I just saw them on the street. Jurga fell asleep towards 4am, and Vaida got her a cab. Meanwhile, I had to get back into the apartment without keys or a phone, and my mom out carousing with her crazy artist/rich friends. I figured out where she was and got the keys, but not after getting dragged into the apartment to spend a couple of really uncomfortable moments watching millionaires and eccentrics do their thing. Mind you I hadn't slept since the beginning of this blog, and had only slept 4 hours between the 48 hours before that.
I got home around 0400, only to have to go let my mom in at 0700!
-dr-
04.21.04: Pre-flight
Yesterday, on the last day at my nine month internship (unpaid) with Trickle Up, one of my coworkers was sending me off with questions about my newfound job. My favorite was something to the effect of "what's the deal with corruption over there."
I had to think for a moment.
Obviously, politics will be different in a country that was under Communism for over 60 years. But Lithuania has had it's independence for over ten years now as well. Just how clean would these elections be?
I have a couple of frames of reference I would like to share here. One is my view inside a political campaign - that of Dan Grabauskas for State Treasurer. Dan's behavior during the campaign convinced me that he was the cleanest politician around. There were frequent arguments in the campaign HQ about whether to cash this check or whether so-and-so had reached their donation limit. We were often checking in with the campaign lawyer and checking websites to bone up on the law. The staff worked diligently to get the former head of the RMV elected. They constantly met with the press, the PR guy was sending out media kits left and right, and letters-to-the-editor were sent in by grassroots supporters.
Contrast that with a recent book I read: Darkness at Dawn: The Criminalization of the Russian State -by David Satter. The book frighteningly chronicles the rise of the Russian mobster, and the officially-sanctioned takeover of private industry and government by (literally) gangs. Satter details assassinations, arson, non-payment of wages, criminals' political campaigns, and general disregard for human life. The book actually gave me nightmares.
As for Lithuania, I have heard stories of politicians ranging towards both ends of the spectrum. Let us compare Lithuania's acting president Arturas Paulauskas and recently impeached president Rolandas Paksas. Paulauskas' bid for President was my first exposure to a political campaign. With a new party: Naujoji Sajunga (New Union), Paulauskas was embarking on a campaign that (in 1998, at least), would be the closest run for president anyone had seen. Paulauskas had gathered a "ragtag" group of supporters who worked hard at building the party, attracting supporters, and running events. I saw Paulauskas, the former Attorney General of Lithuania who took down major mafia groups, as the epitome of a respectable politician out there to make peoples' lives better.
This has hardly been the modus operandi of all Lithuanian politicians. Recently former president Paksas was the first European president to have been successfully impeached. On April 7, Seimas (Parliament) voted him out on 3 seperate counts, including promising favors to a shady Russian helicopter dealer. Paksas has been accused of numerous wrongdoings that I won't get into here, but for me, he represents the other end of the spectrum of Lithuanian politics, the epitome of tainted politics.
I told my colleague that I think that the level of corruption depends on what the in-country sentiment is. I have heard that in Lithuania, politicians can buy favorable news articles for an established standard rate. Would my candidate refrain from such practices and risk fostering a rabid press corps (in this case consisting of two reporters), or will she buy good news? My colleague advised that this may be a good opportunity not only to learn how to run a campaign, but also to test my own limits in terms of corruption. How clean will I be myself?
I hope I have the strength to do what is right (not to mention actually do my job to begin with).
-dr-