Into the Woods
This past weekend Lithuania celebrated the summer solstice with a festival to honor Saint Jonines. I must admit we were too cowardly to participate in the main Jonines Day event which involves driving an hour out to the forest and celebrating till the sunrise. Not having a car was one reason we chose not to attend, but mainly we did not feel prepared to spend a night in the dark Lithuanian forest, dancing around bonfires, rolling in the dew to absorb its magical properties and foraging for a mythical flower that is believed to grow this night every year.
Instead, the following day we went to a Jonines Day celebration at the Lithuanian Folk Life Museum, a giant park in Rumsiskes, out near Kaunas. Mid-morning, we hopped on a mini-bus and headed out to the country, thankfully a fellow passenger told us which stop to get off at and after about an hour we were walking down a country road in the pouring rain. It was raining for the entirety of our solstice celebration. When we arrived at the park a woman gave us a ticket and sent us off into the massive park. We wandered through the trees, following the rising and fading sound of a distant flute for about 40 minutes before we finally located some activity.
It is difficult to explain what happened at this Festival because no one was able to translate for us, but from what we could tell the main event consisted of people in historical outfits and rain ponchos, dancing together in a kind of conga-line/follow the leader situation. Ariana and I observed, snacking on cheese and honey, as the leader grabbed the ear of the person in front of him and everyone followed suit, hopping around in a circle as the band played.
They danced for a ridiculously long time, after a while Ariana and I wandered over to the small bonfire that had been formed in the brief break from the rain. Once again, we were not sure what was happening, but through some later research we discovered people were throwing crushed amber into the fire and making wishes. At one point a man walked up to me, asked me some questions in Lithuanian, I responded with a polite smile and nod and he bestowed onto me a giant leaf crown! This was maybe the most amazing thing that has ever happened, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I turned out to be a solstice witch!
After a few hours in the cold Ariana and I caved in and bought waffles on a stick! Mine was dipped in melted chocolate and drenched in coconut flakes, it tasted like a warm Samoa Girl Scout Cookie and I nearly shed a blissful tear.
By the grace of the solstice gods we found our way out of the forest and to the bus stop. It should be noted this was not in fact a bus stop but just a random spot where a woman was standing. No sign, no bench, nothing! Had she not been there waiting for the bus I doubt we would have made it back to Vilnius.
The Seminar of Baltic Criminologists is this week!!! Ariana and I will be presenting on the first day of the two-day seminar. I’m so excited to hear some of the speeches, they range from considering heroin smuggling to recidivism rates. I think the one I’m most curious to hear is called "Prison: The Last Bastion of Soviet Culture", I’m sure it will be utterly fascinating!
In order to prepare for my speech, I met with the Deputy Director of the National Administrative Courts to discuss Lithuania’s e-filing system. I told her about my research on how technology and artificial intelligence can make the justice system more accessible and she told me about Lithuania’s e-filing system for civil and administrative cases and the impact it's had in the lives of victims and lawyers. This system allows people to submit their claims, receive decisions and listen to court recordings all online. This means victims can seek justice without engaging with a lawyer and can receive justice quicker. Additionally, courts and lawyers can be more efficient with their time when they don’t have to submit hardcopies in triplicate and appear in court as often. We also met with a local Lithuanian lawyer whose focus was in white color crime. We hardly got to discuss our topics because Ariana and I had a bunch of questions about being a lawyer in Lithuania, he matched all our questions with his own inquiries about what it’s like to be a law student in America. We definitely learned a lot this week!