Diversity is the Strength of Europe, Etoile sur Rhone 13

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Rodney Murphy
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1 Diversity is the Strength of Europe, Etoile sur Rhone 13 My name may sound strange to a stranger Rasa (pronounced with s, not z) Its typically Lithuanian, bearing a meaning in itself its dew, tiny drops of water on the grass after the night till dawn, till the first beams of the sun dry them out and away as if they were never here. As the dictionaries explain, an adjective dewy - eyed denotes naïve and trusting, sentimental and slightly sad just a little bit, sad in a very light way expression of a face. Or of a soul. Or state of mind. Or a characteristic feature of national mentality nothing to do with stereotyping of Lithuania. The last Pagans in Europe - with emphasis on archetypal psychology and a spiritual interest in nature Paganism is not a traditional religion per se because it does not have any official doctrine, but it does have some common characteristics joining the great variety of traditions and beliefs of the divine presence in nature and the reverence of the natural order in life, where the spiritual growth is related to the cycles of the Earth if to be defined. We still name our children after the forces of nature, the trees, the flowers, the birds - very naturally, without a second thought as if it flows from behind, subconsciously, we call them Vejas (the wind), Saule (the sun), Jura (the sea), Azuolas (the oak tree), Liepa (the lime tree), Ruta (the rue do these grow anywhere else except for in our gardens?...), Sakalas (the hawk). And Rasa as mentioned above. We still go to the oak groves to give a hug to a tree and to ask for its strength and power, if we feel week and vulnerable sometimes it happens, or shame to admit? And compare the following, please: ENGLISH: God gave teeth, God will give bread. LITHUANIAN: Dievas davė dantis, Dievas duos duonos. SANSKRIT: Devas adadat datas, Devas dat dhanas. - the most archaic living Indo-European language, very closely related to Sanskrit - even those who have not studied linguistics may observe the similarities. And, for sure, the basic dates, or, to be more precise, why they are the basic: 1009 Lithuania first mentioned in the Quedlinburg Chronicle. 13th century - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania established by Mindaugas, the first and only King of Lithuania (crowned in 1253) Lithuanians officially adopted Christianity and was the last Pagan state in Europe to do that Lithuania was one of the largest states in Europe extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The territories of present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia belonged to Lithuania, and not because of conquest, but because of diplomacy and inclusiveness Under the Lublin Union, Lithuania and Poland merged into a commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita), and remained in existence until The major part of Lithuania annexed by Russia.

2 February 16, The Lithuanian Council proclaimed the independent Republic of Lithuania Admission to the League of Nations Soviet Union occupation. March 11, Lithuania declared the re-establishment of its independence Membership of the United Nations Entrance to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Acceptance to the NATO alliance and the European Union Schengen area membership Millennium Celebration. And the fact of big importance, Vilnius not Riga is the capital of Lithuania. These were the highlighted points in my notebook to tell the others when I got the invitation to take part in a training course Diversity is the Strength of Europe (this spring, Etoile sur Rhone, France), where the others immediately turned into personalities with names, experiences and features to be admired for. Once again my name is Rasa, and it was repeated many times there, in Etoile, by them all: Gheorghe Rosfinschi Hayk Margaryan Dmytro Lehenkyi Charlie Rouviere Solveiga Dabasinskaite Daria Antsybor Meribel Sinikalda Lilit Danielyan Carolina Tenti Silvia Degl Innocenti Berengere Koralewski Arnaut Diana Moldova Armenia. Ukrain. Lithuania. Ukrain. Estonia. Armenia. Italy. Italy. Moldova. Mieke Bittner Jose Maria Sierra. Oana Perju Antonine Hadjadj (a copy of a contact list to be sure of name spelling) Spain. Romania. And I repeated their names, too was happy to repeat, to talk, to discuss, to argue, to play, to dance and the most important to know and share. Different backgrounds, different experiences, different looks, different worldviews, different opinions and to come to a common

3 point: diversity is the strength. Not specifically of Europe of humanity. Another common point the world is such a tiny and a cosy place, where there s enough of room and space for everybody, no matter of the colour of your skin, the language you speak, the education you got, or how big your bank account is. With just one if if you have tolerance and don t have aggression. In my case, one more thing was different: the age. I m 36, in April I was still 35, while the others all under 30. It was no mistake in the application form I indicated my birth year - beautiful number 1977, but due to good luck or whatever factor it was, I got the invitation. I was slightly worried about being the eldest what to talk about with the youngsters and what them to talk to me? No matter, that I wear violet socks with yellow sport shoes; no matter, that my hair colour varies from deep orange to blue (here I m a bit hyperbolic ); no matter, that I go out in short skirts and love dancing under the rain I m in my forties. Even if I have managed up till now to manage without quite a pathetic word combinations such as when I was young, in my days, it could have been another way, if only. The latter I would strongly advice not to include into one s vocabulary ever never it is, as it is, and no deep philosophy needed. Two marriages in the past the last, hopefully, is lasting still; two kids, named not after the forces of nature (Jonas Nojus (9) and Elena Ona (8)), diagnosis of bipolar depression after the they lived happily ever after in the first marriage (I console myself, that Angelina Jolie has the same ); hundred of poems, never been shown to a living soul; lots of mistakes and fall downs: that s my luggage I carry. Is there any place for wisdom in one of the suitcases? Hope so, but not sure enough. And yes, I was worried by this difference of age. The funny thing is, that in Etoile we became the best friends with a French boy Charlie, who is half younger than me. It was his name I shouted in the middle of the night, when after the last cigarette outside I realized, that the door of the chapel banged down from inside Charleeeeee! Tu peut ouvrire la port? still makes me laugh. And he ran downstairs parce que il peut! It made laugh everybody cause everybody was awaken by that wild scream out of the dark. Darja has visited me in Lithuania my daughter has drawn a cow for her, and I know, that this masterpiece is hanging on the wall somewhere in Ukraine. Oana has some health problems, so to keep her hand I sent her a brass bracelet (we the last Pagans believe that brass has the healing power ) I know she is wearing it somewhere in Romania. The father of Lilit is a collector of the lighters now he has got one from me and it is put on a shelf somewhere in Armenia. I forgot to give back an eye liner to Berengere. She said: Don't worry it's a pleasure for me to know that you have my eye liner... Memories - from Paris. Others? I see them smiling somewhere in the world. And when I m cold I put on the XXL size jacket of Charlie (Charlieeeeeee!) of quite an ugly colour (to put it in a mild way) - but with 5 beautiful wooden buttons and I feel warm. Cause it

is a present from the bottom of the heart he knew, that I have nowhere to stay in Paris through the night before the flight and it was still chilly in the street. It worked, my dear little friend.

4 is a present from the bottom of the heart he knew, that I have nowhere to stay in Paris through the night before the flight and it was still chilly in the street. It worked, my dear little friend. Not to forget in Etoile, under the arches of the chapel, during the intercultural night, I sang a song long Lithuanian ballade with quite a complicated melody, boring enough to listen, when you don t get the meaning of the words. For me it was a good illustration of the national character of Lithuania naïve, trusting, sentimental and lightly sad this dewy eyed expression. All remained silent. All heard and to hear is not at all a synonym of to listen. I realized, that they all got the message. Nobody knew, that it was the first time in my life I sang in front of the audience. Let s keep a secret. But now I know, that there are things in life still to happen for the first time even if you had it all. This makes me happy. I think that s all I wanted to say. Except for one last word thanks. Rasa Krivickiene. P.S. If interested, what they had to survive, here s the original song:

5 The sounds make the music.

6 Charlie. And me in his jacket.

7 Good joke that s the looks of Youth leader!

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