Vilniaus Universitetas (Nuotrauka iš http://www.atsi.fsf.vu.lt/naujienos/bendros-naujienos/779-439-as-vilniaus-universiteto-gimtadienis)

So I’m firing up the Lithuania blog dar kartą, since I’m headed back to ol’ Lietuva in July.  I don’t know if you know just how stubborn I am, but two years ago, I started studying the Lithuanian language, and it’s really flippin’ complicated.  Like, way more complicated than the German and French I took in school.* So abstruse, in fact, that it pissed me off.  And made me determined to master it.  This stubbornness probably surprises my mother not at all.

So here goes.  I’m doing a 4-week intensive at Vilnius University in July.  I hope to test at C1 proficiency when I finish (but that could be a pipe dream).  To date, I’ve been doing self-study with the help of several textbooks and the assistance of a fantastic teacher, Šarūnas, with lessons on Skype, but now I’m ready for an intensive course.  I hope to really enjoy the University of Vilnius, which is older than Harvard (though the Russian Tsar did shut it down for nearly a century.  Guess he liked his peasants ignorant).

I’m bringing my Nikon, so expect more pictures.  Fellow students in the program say they’re ready to cook Lithuanian food together and possibly join me for karaoke.  Fun.  Now I just need to find a few lietuviškos dainos that aren’t completely cheesy to sing.  I do torchy, not cheesy.  Should be fun.

* Case in point, if you say a phrase like “The book, that I read last summer …” (Knyga, kurią perskaičiau praeitą vasarą) there are, and I’m not kidding, 24! different ways of rendering the subordinate conjunction “that”.  Like a freakin’ jigsaw puzzle, you have to find just the one that agrees both in number and gender with the noun to which it refers back (in this instance, singular feminine), and the grammatical case it occupies in the subordinate clause (accusative).  No wonder I hear people on TV, when they speak off the cuff, pause at that point and flip between possibilities while they try and figure out in their own heads where the rest of their sentence is going — kuris, kurį, kuriam, kuriame, kurio, kuriuo …

Barščiai su grybais, grietine, ir keptais moliūgo sėklomis.  Labai skanūs!

This one is hot and great in winter —   barščiai su grybais, or beet soup with mushrooms.  I threw roasted pumpkin seeds on mine for crunch and color.   There are meaty and vegetarian versions; I made the latter.  Although personally an omnivore, I find it an interesting challenge to craft food that’s both vegetarian and completely savory and satisfying.  This succeeded beautifully.  The generous dollop of sour cream is a nontrivial part of the reason why.  (Hint — other helpful tricks include sauteed mushrooms, broth from the dried mushroom rehydrating process, and a bit of soy sauce and/or tamari.  Thanks to the America’s Test Kitchen crew for investigating meatless savory cooking techniques.)

I gather that Lithuanians really like soup and have it with most meals.  They regard it as healthy.  I agree, cousins!  Ačiū labai!

Turned out pretty yummy.  I chilled it about 6 hours before dinner, but it definitely tasted even better after chilling overnight.  The clean vegetable flavors (beet, green onion, cucumber) reminded me of a good Spanish gazpacho, which, come to think of it, I haven’t had in years, and why is that?