Okay so I’m physically not going back to Europe, but I wanted to close out my months in Latvia and Lithuania with one more blog post. Both months we were “ground-breaking” in new countries and ministries. There were some really long days and some weeks where we didn’t have a whole lot to do. But I’m thankful we had this time to begin processing the Race and prepare for home. Before I say anymore about Lithuania, I want to share some interesting and funny things about Eastern European culture. Yes, Eastern Europe and the U.S. share more similarities than any other continent, but there are still some things that definitely set EE apart!
- PDA. Everywhere. Coming from Africa where an unmarried man and woman are often restricted from walking together unsupervised, it was so strange to see couples making out left and right. No shame.
- They love taking photo shoots. Every time you passed a park, monument, or arrangement of flowers, there was somewhere posing for a camera.
- They play accordions! That’s not a misconception or something of the past. From my 76 year-old Latvian granny to some of the youth we worked with, playing the accordion is a common thing!
- Especially in big cities, street musicians and performers are common. Even young kids will perform in a park for practice and tips!
- Razor scooters and Segways are common and taken pretty seriously.
- Another thing that isn’t a myth: European men riding around on their bikes with flowers in their bag for a special someone. All over town, women line the streets with flower for sell. They love fresh flowers!
- Fashionista central, especially the men. Most of them look so nice and put together all the time!
- They either wear black or bright colors! Not much in between. Many of the youth like wearing bright-colored skinny jeans – green, purple, blue, pink.
- It is very romantic and couples really do take canoe rides down the river – oo la la!
- Very few things have English translations, especially in the grocery stores. It was harder to shop in these countries than in Africa and Asia! And people aren’t as excited to speak English with you as in other places.
- They LOVE festivals – music, beer, food. Every weekend in the spring there was some type of festival.
- Beer and coffee actually are cheaper than bottled water!
- Lots of people ride bikes! Some have baskets in the front and even the older generation rides bikes to get around town.
- Many, many people have dogs. And they seemed to either be really big and fluffy or small and dressed up in doggy clothes!
- House slippers are common; they don’t walk around their houses barefoot.
??** Shout out to my sweet sister, Kaitlyn Wolff, for helping me come up with this list!
So hopefully that gives you a better idea of some of the differences between the U.S. and Eastern Europe. As I mentioned in previous blogs, my team and I ventured around downtown Lithuania during our last months with “Spiritual Surveys” to get people talking and hear what they believe. We went with no agenda and prayed that our questions would give Lithuanians the space to think about things that aren’t very common in a post-modern culture. My teammate, Alison Gray, and I put together a short video to share some of the responses. Not everyone allowed us to film his or her responses, especially the older generation. But hopefully the video below gives you a little taste of the worldview and perspective many hold in Lithuania.
And one more video. My teammate Tyler, documented our first day in Lithuania when we arrived in Vilnius with NO agenda, NO place to stay, and NO contacts. It’s pretty sweet to look back and see the journey God took us on and the faithfulness He showed us that day specifically. Thanks Tyler for always making AWESOME videos!
Finding Lithuania from Tyler Vessels on Vimeo.
