Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Lietuva

The Republic of Lithuania is a small country:

• Only slightly larger than West Virginia
• 90 km (about 55 miles) of coastline
• Population of 3,585,906 people
• I've met the USA ambassador to Lithuania at LCC
• It takes about 7 hours to drive from one side to the other
• Žilvinas Žvagulis lives next door. For those not in the know, he's a famous singer. Next time he's home I'm considering going and asking for an autograph
• The local jazz club hosts live music, and one particular musician and singer who frequents the place is also a member of parliament, and I just watched him participate in a musical reality show on television. I've also just been informed that my friend is hanging out with him this evening by personal invitation

More general facts:

• According to a friend, a major reason Lithuania is in the EU is because of Maxima...a Wal-Mart type store. Let me explain: Apparantly voting polls were bleak as far as percentages of Lithuanians voting to be in the EU and showed that the only people interested in voting were those who were against joining. Maxima came to the rescue by offering a free product to those who brought in their 'I voted' sticker, either a box of washing powder (laundry detergent), chocolates or beer. Three highly persuasive things when thinking of the target markets being women, young people and men! When confirming the story with another Lithuanian, he told me that he remembers how people were standing in lines for hours and that there was an actual injury when someone got trampled to get the free items.
  
• The movie The Hunt for Red October was inspired by real incidents. In 1961, Soviet Navy submarine captain Jonas Pleškys, a Lithuanian, sailed his vessel from Klaipėda to Gotland in Sweden, not the planned destination of Tallinn. The Soviet authorities sentenced him in his absence to death by firing squad, but the CIA hid him, first in Guatemala and later in the United States. A huge cross commemorating his life is in a park on my street. I will take a photo later and post it.
• Lithuanians get to celebrate two independence days - both from Russia. On February 16, 1918, Lithuania proclaimed the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania. After being occupied after a short period of independence, on March 11, 1990, they proclaimed the restitution of Lithuanian independence, becoming the first of the Soviet republics to declare national rights.
• Švyturys is a Klaipėda-made beer and is one of the best I've ever tasted. The name means lighthouse and it was established by merchant J.W.Reincke in Klaipėda in 1784.
• Kepta duona (affectionately called Captain Iguana after how my dad pronounces it) is a national snack consisting of fried strips of rye bread smothered in a melted white cheese, mayonaise and garlic mixture.
• Lithuanians need to have more babies! Their population growth rate is -0.3%!
  

I love Lithuania. I'll add more facts as they come up - but thought I'd share these for the moment :)