How has Los Angeles changed for 60 years: the story of an emigrant from Lithuania
'21.04.2019'
Source: zagranitsa.com
Violeta Gedgaudas, head of the Lithuanian-American community in the Western United States, is not a novice expat. She lives here for more than 60 years and has seen how the city and life in it have changed. Violeta told how the Lithuanian community lives in the States, and explained why the new wave of immigrants does not want to integrate into American society.
This meeting at the Lithuanian church in Los Angeles before the mass can be called accidental, writes zagranitsa.com. Here, at the church, there is a sign indicating that, up to Lithuanian Kaunas, which since 1991 has been twinned with Los Angeles, is 5 901 a mile. There is another sign with an inscription in English: "Little Lithuania".
Viole was once in charge of a local Lithuanian school, and now she is in charge of the Lithuanian community. “Our Saturday school is nearby, where about 200 children study. The school opened 60 years ago. Here they teach mainly Lithuanian language, but also dance, traditions, teach history, folklore, ”says the woman. In almost 60 years that the school exists, the number of students has increased markedly.
In the past, Lithuanians in California were also few. As Violeta says, they could be counted on the fingers. But now there is also a Catholic parish and its own priest.
We go to the church, about 30 Lithuanians gathered for mass. Interestingly, priest assistants do not collect donations in a basket, as in Lithuania, but with the help of a kind of scoop, to which members send money in envelopes.
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“We also have a very strong folk dance ensemble that will go to Lithuania this year for the Song Festival. Our children grew up here, now grandchildren are growing up. And they speak Lithuanian. But, of course, the younger, the worse they say, ”complains Violeta. Her daughter lives in Canada, in Toronto, where a rather strong Lithuanian community was also formed. And Vaiva's granddaughter speaks Lithuanian very well and participates in the scout movement.
“Here we do not ask for help from the state: in our school, for example, students pay for themselves. Education costs about 400 dollars per year per child. In addition, several people bequeathed their money to our school, so that financially the school is doing well. And for those schools that are not doing so well, the Lithuanian community helps. After all, wealthy Lithuanians live in California, many have their own housing, ”says Violeta.
“How can I live under such a sun?”
When the Soviet government came to Lithuania, Violeta's parents fled to Germany. From there, the family hoped to return home when the Soviet government left, but this did not happen. “In Germany everyone was settled in special camps, we also lived in barracks - of course, very modestly. Then Germany was divided by the Americans, the British and the French. We were in the British zone. Everyone wanted to go to America, but they could not, because they needed a sponsor. And then the priest persuaded my father's uncle to make us documents. He himself did not want to do this, but since the priest asked ... And in this way we received the documents, ”Violeta Gedgaudas recalls his childhood years.
Since relatives of the family lived in Los Angeles, the Violeta family first arrived on an English military ship from Bremen to New Orleans, and then, by train, to Los Angeles.
“I was then 11 years old, and just remember that the sun was shining wildly here. And I thought: how am I going to live under such a sun? ”, A woman smiles.
She is fluent in Lithuanian. It turns out that all four generations of the Violeta family speak Lithuanian - from mother to grandchildren!
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“My parents loved Lithuania very much. They missed her a lot, sent packages and never felt like Americans. As for me, even when we lived in Germany, I was 8-10 years old, I was worried about my friends. They told us later: God, you were starving. But we were given cereal once a day, and that was enough. The children didn’t worry too much, ”says Ms. Violeta.
She recalls that on arrival in the United States, the priest helped the family. He took three men who had arrived from Germany (including Violeta’s father) to the hospital, which was headed by nuns. And he said: "They are hungry, die of hunger." The sisters could not refuse the priest, and not only fed the arrivals, but also gave the work. Our interlocutor recalls that then they received a dollar an hour, which was very much at that time.
Over the years 60 much has changed
“We’ve been here for 60 for years, and I can call myself a real American. But, by the way, I can be both an American and a Lithuanian. Life over these 60 years has changed a lot, and Los Angeles itself has changed. The society has changed, in Los Angeles there are now many visitors, many Mexicans, therefore there are many non-Americans in public schools. There are many classes in schools where instruction is in Spanish. As for the economy, now there is some period of chaos. If Trump had not made his statements, then perhaps there would be less chaos. Although in general, people now live quite well, ”sums up the American Lithuanian.
The main problem in Los Angeles, in her opinion, is expensive housing, which not everyone can afford.
“But you don't have to live in California,” says Violeta. - A lot of people here work in the film industry, but this does not mean that it is necessary in Hollywood. For example, our house was used twice for filming. Relatively recently, the film “Nostalgia” was filmed in our home, it has not yet appeared on the screens. And I saw with my own eyes that there were two or three actors, and all in the crew there were 200 people. They come as a company and wash the floors, hang pictures, drive in nails. This is a huge industry. And, of course, not only Americans strive to Hollywood, they come here from all over the world, but very few people manage to get through. ”
The main problem in Los Angeles, according to Violeta, is expensive housing, which not everyone can afford.
“In addition, information technologies are highly developed, especially in the San Francisco area. They pay very well here, because these are the areas that attract young people, ”continues our interlocutor.
As for the Lithuanians, there are not so many of them here. They used to come to work, but now they are going to Europe, says Violeta Gedgaudas.
“Recently on Facebook, I saw a recording of a Lithuanian girl. She wrote that she is a graduate of the Faculty of Philology, speaks French, German and travels to Los Angeles. So people come here mainly for adventures. It used to be, in 90, they took up the lowest paid jobs here and agreed to look after the elderly, but now everything has changed. For example, for my mother, when she was an old woman, I hired two assistants from Lithuania. Wonderful women! And now there are none. If it were necessary, it would be difficult to find, ”says Ms. Violeta.
On the whole, this is a strange time, she says: people are divided by political views, the issue of emigration has become more acute.
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“There are many Mexicans who live in their territories and they don’t even need English. They have lived here for 50 for years and do not know English like their children. In schools, they should be specially taught English. But before that, it was the opposite: you immediately got into American society. And not necessarily losing his identity. For example, in my school my friends were American, but I have not forgotten the Lithuanian language. And now there is some kind of separation, and this makes me sad. This is the trend of the last 10 - 15 years, when there are even more people in the country who do not speak English, ”says Ms. Gedgaudas.
“There are many Mexicans here who live in their territories and they don't even need English. They have lived here for 50 years and do not know English, like their children. "
As for the separation wall with Mexico, which has been talked about a lot lately, according to Violeta, there is a wall between the countries now, but it does not fulfill its function.
“There is no rent: seven times the emigrants return to their homeland and seven times they return. So, it turns out, there is an opportunity to bypass the wall. For example, when you go to Mexico, you pass quietly, but on return you will get a long queue, because all the cars are checked. And how many times climbed over the Berlin Wall! If a person wants to go to America, no wall will stop him, ”the interlocutor is sure.
In Lithuania: do not teach us!
The last time in Lithuania Violeta visited three months ago.
“For the first time I returned to Lithuania in 1984 with a guided tour, we were allowed to stay there for five days. And here relatives meet us, cry, and I don’t recognize any of them. So it was rather the first acquaintance. Then a few more times I came to Vilnius and Šiauliai and taught theory to teachers of the English language, ”she says.
Violeta does not consider it a big problem that Lithuanian youth are increasingly leaving for the West in search of a better life.
“If I were young now and lived in Lithuania, I would leave to see the world. I do not think that I would have left and never returned, but I would like to see Spain and other countries. Especially now, when the borders opened. Even then, people wanted to travel. It does not surprise me at all that people are going - the main thing is that they want to come back so that in Lithuania they see their future. To here they felt that they were waiting. As for me personally, yes, they are interested in us in Lithuania, our history is interesting for everyone, but in order to be listened to, they asked our advice, this is probably not, ”Violeta says.
According to her, talented engineers and scientists had returned to Lithuania before, but they were told: “Do not teach us. Do not think that we are such fools, we ourselves know everything. ”
“As a teacher, it may have affected me less - in Lithuania they were interested in our teaching methods and the examination system. But I know that, for example, businessmen with good work experience came to Lithuania, and their experience was not interesting to anyone there, ”says the leader of the Lithuanian community in Western America.
When asked whether Lithuanians manage to conquer Hollywood, Violeta Gedgaudas smiles and shakes her head.
“There is such an actress Ruta Lee, she comes to us, but she has such a kind of Lithuanian language. She is quite famous here. But so that the Lithuanians made their way here and were known precisely as the Lithuanians, this is not so. Yes, sometimes there are famous people of Lithuanian descent, but sometimes they themselves do not know it. After all, America is a huge country, there are so many talents! And how many talents come to California! ”She says.
In addition, according to Violeta, Lithuanians are not too ambitious and aggressive, and it’s hard for an unknown actress to get into the film industry, we need connections. “No one goes into politics from Lithuanians at all. As for the business, for example, my husband created a company for the production of parts for nuclear power plants, which he managed for almost 30 for years, and very successfully, he had a 200 man. Others are engaged in real estate, and also quite successfully. But there is no such thing that the Lithuanian left some significant mark on America. And then people are mixed up and it is already difficult to trace who has some roots, ”Violeta Gedgaudas concludes her story, and she and her husband hurry to pray in the church.
