So, 2018 marks a special year for the country of Lithuania. Both Virginija's parents and mine managed to flee from their homes as the Soviets were advancing during WWII. (Virginija's father's story - at the tender age of 12 - was especially harrowing). As they grew up and built their new lives in the US and Australia, they went to great lengths to preserve the language and traditions that they were forced to leave behind, in the hopes that someday Lithuania would be free again. They also somehow managed to instill this same love of Lithuania in at least some of their children.

Lithuania became a modern state when it declared independence from the czars on February 16, 1918. It lost that independence during WWII and became a Soviet (ptui!) republic. On March 11, 1990, in a peaceful revolution (called the Singing Revolution due to the Lithuanian tactic of mass protests consisting of no violence, just song) it regained it's independence. However, the Feb 16th date still holds precedence in Lithuanians' hearts, since this was the modern establishment of the country, though it has been a discrete country now for over 1000 years.

I mention this to help you understand why this summer will be so special to us. Every four years, a large song and dance festival is held. This year, as we mark the 100th anniversary of Lithuania's independence, the party will be, literally, a once in a hundred year celebration, and we will be attending!

Previous years have featured a choir of 15,000 from all over Lithuania and the world, over 9,000 dancers, countless musicians and folk artists. This year, they expect something more like 20,000 in the choir. The choir that I have belonged to for the past 36 years auditioned in April, and was accepted to perform with the main choir! This is not only the realization of a long-standing dream of mine (I have been a member of at least one choir at all times since I was about 8 years old), but to put the icing on the cake, I will be accompanied by both Virginija and Anika. To stand among 20,000 people with my family, raising our voices in song in honor of the country of our parents' birth is something totally beyond my ability to imagine at this point. But it will happen July 6th, 2018.

See this video invitation:


That choir at the end! Awesome!

We are departing July 2nd, arriving in Vilnius July 3rd. There will be all day rehearsals on the 4th and 5th, and on the 6th, the day starts with a parade of all performers through the streets of Vilnius to the city park where the event will take place. We will be wearing our national costumes (please - no rain!) and smiles a mile wide.

After the event, we will be visiting the hometowns of all of our parents (my folks will be accompanying us) and seeing some of the historic and cultural landmarks that Anika has studied in Lithuanian school.

After that we will fly to Athens. Anika has always been a fan of Greek mythology. I expect she will be correcting tour guides ("No, the brother of Hephestus actually married a woman from Crete.. blah blah blah...") and she is excited to add some actual history to her Greek knowledge. We'll take a ferry to Crete and spend a few days driving around to the various archaeological sites and getting to know the Greeks better.

After that (not enough yet??) we will fly to Rome. One of our main goals is to visit the Casa di Bambini, where Maria Montessori started implementing her awesome teaching methodology. Anika is currently in the process of writing a letter requesting a visit, which we will forward to the Head of the School via Anika's school's Head of School. Apparently, the school in Rome is an active public school. aware of their history, but not otherwise open to the public. To stand in the very room that Maria Montessori taught in - that will be a treat!

After some more sights in Rome, we'll head by train to Florence. Anika studied the Renaissance this past year, so is primed to lead us on the tour. We will be met there by my cousin Roberto, who lives up on the Italian Riviera. He will drive us to his place where we will relax for a few days after our touring, maybe drive over to Nice or Monte Carlo, and catch up with our Italian family.

Well rested (we hope) we'll take the train to Venice, where we'll spend almost 2 days before flying back to Vilnius, Lithuania, to spend a couple days without all the crowds of the big celebration.

Finally, we fly home, just short of a month after our departure.

As you can imagine, this is consuming all the resources we can muster for this year - savings, vacation time, rehearsal time, planning, etc, etc.... But it will be worth it. With Anika getting close to the point where she will be working summers, off to college, on with her own life, we decided that now was our potentially last chance to do something of this scale with her, and while she doesn't mind hanging out with us either! To do it this year, when the visit to the homeland is particularly significant, puts the proverbial frosting on the cake.

And yes, Anika is sufficiently fluent in Lithuanian that I don't think she'll have any problems. My Greek and Italian, however…….

So that's what we're doing for vacation this year.

Sorry I haven't been around much. I miss hanging out here, but life is still on an accelerating path. I guess it beats the alternative!

Jonas

That all sounds wonderful, Jonas. It is good to hear from you. Please give our regards to the family. It’s nice to hear you and Virginija still find time to sing. You have such beautiful voices. I’ll alway remember the Watkins Glenn spring fling with her leading the singing. (At least , I think it was Watkins Glenn... I know it was her voice I remember.) It is hard to think of Anika in terms of going to college soon. Where has the time gone?

Thanks for sharing a bit a bit about the exodus from Lithuania. I was not aware, or perhaps didn’t remember you families’ stories. It’s nice to keep up the cultural contact and traditions. I have heard of similar efforts in the Latvian community. It can be a lot of work to teach your children about the ancestral customs and language while living in America and being bombarded by US “culture.” It sounds like your daughter has been exposed to a wide range of international history, languages and customs. That is so wonderful and rare today.

Have a wonderful and safe sabbatical with the family. Please share the pictures and stories when you return. I hope we see each other again in person some day.

Awesome! Enjoy.

I agree! Hope you guys have a wonderful time!