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For a grandson of lithuanians as I am, the opportunity of being part of such a unique and historical moment as this one is, surely represents the beginning of a series of singular feelings. Although I have always pretty much exalted Brazil in a very strong way, I keep an umbilical relation with Lithuania as a result of the history of courage written on my ancestors’ past for the time they had to leave their country ,Lithuania, through the “backdoor” to be given a chance of a happier future in Brazilian soil.
After years, here I am entering Lithuania through the “front door”, appointed Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Brazil directly by the president of the country, Mr. Valdas Adamkus, and in this moment I have this more than pleasant mission of receptioning 12 heroes who had been crossing rough seas to meet lithuan communities all around the terrestrial globe, including the Brazilian one, in order to disseminate a message of love and hope, feelings which have been fading away so harshly in these days of intolerance and rage.
These “giants” of the seas have shown us a lot more than just patriotism and love for their country. These are men who have voluntarily left the warmth of their homes and the affection of their beloved families during nine months to become part of a jorney that means more than bad weather and dangers of the sea, but also fellowship, commitment and team spirit.
To push a sailboat ahead towards the ocean friendship and good relation build up a sine qua non prerequisite for each of the sailors’ step. The capitan Simonas Steponavicius, who has already crossed the sea of Tasmânia ,the Pacific Ocean, has brightly summed it up by saying that “everything is possible whenever you keep pressing your personal bottom of emotion”.
After years, here I am entering Lithuania through the “front door”, appointed Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Brazil directly by the president of the country, Mr. Valdas Adamkus, and in this moment I have this more than pleasant mission of receptioning 12 heroes who had been crossing rough seas to meet lithuan communities all around the terrestrial globe, including the Brazilian one, in order to disseminate a message of love and hope, feelings which have been fading away so harshly in these days of intolerance and rage.
These “giants” of the seas have shown us a lot more than just patriotism and love for their country. These are men who have voluntarily left the warmth of their homes and the affection of their beloved families during nine months to become part of a jorney that means more than bad weather and dangers of the sea, but also fellowship, commitment and team spirit.
To push a sailboat ahead towards the ocean friendship and good relation build up a sine qua non prerequisite for each of the sailors’ step. The capitan Simonas Steponavicius, who has already crossed the sea of Tasmânia ,the Pacific Ocean, has brightly summed it up by saying that “everything is possible whenever you keep pressing your personal bottom of emotion”.
Simple gestures, such as bottlenecking with all your mates, state clearly that to be in that boat solely in the company of the sea, sun, moon and wind, it surely takes more; it takes a complete surrender of one’s soul and body. As if in a marriage, sailors are commited in a pact of trust, and it would be right to say: “One for all and all for one” , in accordance with the thoughts brought by Alexandre Dumas in the classic book “The three Mosqueteers”.
In this epic adventure, performed by our lithuanian heroes, the sailors’ emotional balance and detachment surely amaze us more than their physical fitness in this wonderful example of inconditional kind of love for their country . It is not without a reason that such extraordinary feat, named “The Odissey of the Millennium” has been given the slogan: “One only name: Lithuania”. By the way, according to the dictionary Houaiss, one of the meanings of the word “odissey” is “long wandering or a journey filled by adventures as well as unpredictable and singular events”. I dare to say that to our sailors odissey means one more thing: challenging the unknown sea to disseminate one ideal and one special feeling, looking forward to a later return to the heat of their homes after a long journey.
The lithuanian patriotism, which has many times become a crew member aboard the Ambersail, lives beyond its territory . In Vilnius, the population was “contaminated” by the true love for the country and by this patriotism lesson taught by each of the sailors. These feelings have crossed the seas reaching all lithuanian communities around the terrestrial globe. What a wonderful thing to see, but it was surely more beautiful to see from a stateroom Lithuania’s name spread out by the means of communication, especially in Brazil.
That’s why the Ambersail visit to our country has left a very important message to Brazilians, and the other way round as well, as while such adventure helps us raise this feeling of patriotism, many times forgotten due to a financial and social struggle in our lives, we also could show the the nations why we are considered one of the warmiest hosts in the world, where a hug, a symbol of affection can do a lot after days or month in the sole company of the ocean. The sailors have a lot to say about that...
During their staying in Brazilian soil, having the opportunity of touching the Ambersail, when I entered this mystic place it sent me back to my childhood and brought me feelings which I had never had, and living for six hours in the waters of the Atlantic Sea as I did was absolutely extraordinary. Words are never enough to describe what I felt.
While I was aboard the Ambersail, another remarkable happening to mention was the moment I had to hoist the main canvas towards the new destiny. Such gesture, full of symbolic meanings, almost drove me to tears. The scents of my childhood and the respect for my past raised the memories of my grandparents’ struggle and their overcoming history. The word that may better express it all is probably “honour”, being on the side of the real heroes and, above all, being able to share this moment with my son, fruit of a generation of winners, which once crossed the ocean to begin a new story witten by my father and me and which is promised to go on with my son and, who knows, with my grandsons too.
I now want to borrow the lithuanian president’s words which are as follows: “fate had written its course through the history where lithuanians would be forced to rebuild their State several times. And people(...) from all Lithuania(...) have been ahead of this job, as much as lithuanian communities around the whole world. Such union, confirmed by history, shall witness the existing big and indivisible family of lithuanians.. No matter how far from our Nation we may be, we will always be in Lithuania in our thoughts, spirits and in our feelings as sons of the same land, of one single Nation. We are people who are united by a common past brought by our ancestors, by the same cultural roots, by the same hope.”
In this epic adventure, performed by our lithuanian heroes, the sailors’ emotional balance and detachment surely amaze us more than their physical fitness in this wonderful example of inconditional kind of love for their country . It is not without a reason that such extraordinary feat, named “The Odissey of the Millennium” has been given the slogan: “One only name: Lithuania”. By the way, according to the dictionary Houaiss, one of the meanings of the word “odissey” is “long wandering or a journey filled by adventures as well as unpredictable and singular events”. I dare to say that to our sailors odissey means one more thing: challenging the unknown sea to disseminate one ideal and one special feeling, looking forward to a later return to the heat of their homes after a long journey.
The lithuanian patriotism, which has many times become a crew member aboard the Ambersail, lives beyond its territory . In Vilnius, the population was “contaminated” by the true love for the country and by this patriotism lesson taught by each of the sailors. These feelings have crossed the seas reaching all lithuanian communities around the terrestrial globe. What a wonderful thing to see, but it was surely more beautiful to see from a stateroom Lithuania’s name spread out by the means of communication, especially in Brazil.
That’s why the Ambersail visit to our country has left a very important message to Brazilians, and the other way round as well, as while such adventure helps us raise this feeling of patriotism, many times forgotten due to a financial and social struggle in our lives, we also could show the the nations why we are considered one of the warmiest hosts in the world, where a hug, a symbol of affection can do a lot after days or month in the sole company of the ocean. The sailors have a lot to say about that...
During their staying in Brazilian soil, having the opportunity of touching the Ambersail, when I entered this mystic place it sent me back to my childhood and brought me feelings which I had never had, and living for six hours in the waters of the Atlantic Sea as I did was absolutely extraordinary. Words are never enough to describe what I felt.
While I was aboard the Ambersail, another remarkable happening to mention was the moment I had to hoist the main canvas towards the new destiny. Such gesture, full of symbolic meanings, almost drove me to tears. The scents of my childhood and the respect for my past raised the memories of my grandparents’ struggle and their overcoming history. The word that may better express it all is probably “honour”, being on the side of the real heroes and, above all, being able to share this moment with my son, fruit of a generation of winners, which once crossed the ocean to begin a new story witten by my father and me and which is promised to go on with my son and, who knows, with my grandsons too.
I now want to borrow the lithuanian president’s words which are as follows: “fate had written its course through the history where lithuanians would be forced to rebuild their State several times. And people(...) from all Lithuania(...) have been ahead of this job, as much as lithuanian communities around the whole world. Such union, confirmed by history, shall witness the existing big and indivisible family of lithuanians.. No matter how far from our Nation we may be, we will always be in Lithuania in our thoughts, spirits and in our feelings as sons of the same land, of one single Nation. We are people who are united by a common past brought by our ancestors, by the same cultural roots, by the same hope.”
The concept of globalization, which has been so spread in the fields of economy, may be here applied in a very simple manner, but equally important. The lithuanian sailors are now “globalizing” the love for their nation, preaching universality and communion. All it takes to live such experience is to let your heart speak by itself, whether lithuanian, brazilian or both hearts in one. It is to say that it is not without a reason and that it is not a coincidence that both geographic drawings, Brazil’s and Lithuania’s have so much in common.
Francisco Ricardo Blagevitch
The Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Brazil
