February 16 in Lithuania is the Independence Day. 92 years ago Lithuania was declared an independent country. So we celebrated… Did we..? I have to confess I didn’t… (I’m not proud of it) Most of my friends didn’t celebrate too. It was just a day when you don’t need to go to work and can watch stupid films on TV all day long… Why are we so passive?
The answer is obvious. We are stressed and tired to live in Lithuania today. We are not proud to be Lithuanians most of the time… Unemployment, rising prices and corruption do not make Lithuania the best country to live in. So not much to celebrate…
But some people really tried to make this day special for Lithuanians. When I looked through the window on the morning of February 16, I saw the preparation for the festival. It was unusual. My district is on the outskirts of Vilnius, so usually nothing is going on here.
In the afternoon the festival started. Loud music, huge fires and grilled sausages for everyone! Although it was very cold, many people living in the neighbourhood came to celebrate.
I thought what a nice idea to organize a festival here, not somewhere in the center of the city. What a great gesture to invite simple working class people and children to celebrate! And that was a moment I realized what was the purpose of this festival. How could I forget, municipality elections are in a few weeks! So some political party decided to organize a festival and to buy some votes for sausages! Great idea, isn’t it? We, Lithuanians, are so smart! Happy Independence Day!
3 comments:
To be honest, I think you have alot to be proud of. Lithuania is a pretty nice country. No, it is not perfect, but no country is. It will take several generations to get over the heritage of being part of the USSR. But I really think that the future of Lithuania is pretty bright.
So you are an optimist ;) I hope you are right... It's hard for me to imagine future of Lithuania when I see my friends leaving Lithuania one by one...
LT is famous for inventing very sophisticated ways to attract voters
Aciu
ps if you familiar with history of LT and I sure you are
there always been strong immigration waves throughout different periods of your national history
it is just normal historical-demographic process like anywhere else, so don't worry to much
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