Tulpės

September 25, 2011

From Lithuanian Heritage March/April 2008

(Tulips)

When it’s raining in February and snowing in March, it’s nice to know that I can get fresh tulips (they claim they are grown in Lithuania!) at the flower market on Basanavičiaus gatvė. There’s nothing like a large bunch of bright yellow tulips on a wet, gray day to put a much-needed smile on a person’s face!

Kaziuko Mugė (St. Casimir’s Market) was bigger than ever this year. It extended down Gedimino prospektas from McDonald’s to the Cathedral—yes McDonald’s is used as a landmark in Lithuania too! Stalls were not allowed on Cathedral square, but they lined the road a long way past Užupis, and were packed in all the way up Pilies gatvė in the Old Town. Marceliukės Kletis, a popular restaurant serving excellent Lithuanian food, had two cafes set up this year, grilling sashlykai (Lithuanian shish-kebabs) on pitchforks over a fire made in a pair of giant shoes. The grill masters, wearing traditional work clothes and straw hats, stood around with very serious looks on their faces and a bottle of water in their hands to tame the fires. There must be an explanation that I’m not aware of, but Kaziuko Mugė for some reason loves really big things. Besides the giant shoes, there was a giant chair, giant coffee cup, a giant window and giant pot of tulips. A few years ago, they had a giant chicken; I wonder what happened to him?

There was certainly no shortage of items available for purchase, from honey, baked goods and dried meats, to baskets, jewelry, and colorful ceramic fish. The most important purchase to be made is a stick of dried flowers called verbos which Lithuanians take to mass on Palm Sunday. During the service, the priest sprinkles Holy Water throughout the church and in particular onto the dried flowers. When I was growing up my grandmother, Klara Rugys, sent me an egg she made especially for me. She doesn’t make eggs any more, but walking through Kaziuko Mugė, I’m reminded of the beautiful collection of eggs, and just to keep the tradition going, I buy a new one each year. This year’s egg I purchased from a kind, elderly woman standing alone on Pilies gatvė; she wore a long woolen skirt and a bright red ski jacket and held a straw basket full of delicately decorated eggs. I choose one in yellow and red, with an abstract design that resembled tulips and snowflakes—appropriate for the season I think.

I was asked recently about the Lithuanian reaction to the recent Russian elections. I didn’t have an answer since I’d only even heard the Russians were having elections that same day when I turned on CNN. It got me wondering, so I went to delfi.lt to find out. I did find a short article briefly discussing the turnout, and the percentage of the vote received by each candidate. What struck me was how many articles about news, sports, and culture in Lithuania were available that single day! One such article that caught my eye was entitled, Ukmergėje vyko konkursas “Ilgakasė – 2008” and featured a charming young woman with a crown of hair piled on top of her head somewhat in the style of Marge Simpson, and braids tied with red bows falling every which way. She didn’t look too concerned about the Russian elections to me.

A friend of mine was recounting to me the story of her husband’s first trip to the grocery store in years. She always did the shopping, but because of an injury, her husband took the grocery list and drove over to Maxima (a large store like Target, but also with food). He was shocked by the price of each item on his list, and when he returned home with only half of the things his wife asked him for, he told her it was simply too expensive. And it is expensive here. Price inflation does not match wage inflation, and prices on everything from bread to hair dryers seem to raise several cents each week. Gasoline has seen the sharpest increase lately, as it has in all of Europe and the United States, but Lithuania was always known for having low prices at the pumps. It was only a few months ago that a liter of 95 octane gas was approximately 3.05Lt Last week I went to fill up, only to find that I was paying 3.67 per liter, almost six dollars per gallon—for diesel! The sad fact is that we are being priced out of Lithuania. It’s getting hard for anyone to afford to live here comfortably when a dozen tulips at the flower market cost $14.

It was sunny this morning, the first clear day in many weeks. The soft, warm light spilled through the kitchen window, and the cat lay snuggled up next to the vase of tulips on the sill. The air outside was deceptively cold though, and before I went to bed it had started snowing, hard like it should have in January.

Filed under: Daily Life,Festivals and Occasions,Lithuania

Tags: clips, entertainment, Lithuania, Lithuanian, Lithuanian Heritage, one way ticket, one way tkt, onewayticket, onewaytkt, Vilnius