Pics and article about Ziemos 05'

Once again this is Kovas wearing Vytenio face as a flesh mask.
Through SRT networking, I contacted this lugan from chicago who has a rather popular young lugan themed website www.luganfolkmedia.com He is going to be putting up pictures from ziemos stovykla as well as an article that I wrote. They arent up yet but here they for your collective enjoyment.

http://community.webshots.com/user/Studentai

Here is the article, its gonna be a long one:

It is well known in Lithuanian-American communities across North America (and some select hotel lines) how much we love celebrating our culture and company together. When we do have the opportunity to gather – despite distance, college schedules, and work – we always have an amazing and unforgettable experience. Recently, winter break afforded us with another opportunity to not only renew old bonds but create new ones as well. Notably, New Year’s in Chicago was a major draw for the Lithuanian-American Youth community. Unfortunately, due to age constraints and lack of funds, not all of us were able to attend those amazing few days. Luckily, many East Coast lietuviai were still able to have a rather enjoyable, if not raucous time, ringing in the New Year at our beloved Neringa.
For all of those unfamiliar with Neringa, our Lietuvių stovykla is nestled in the green mountains of Vermont. It is a "neutral" stovykla, not associated with any "special interest" other than the love for celebrating all things Lithuanian. This interest, of course, we all share. Founded in 1969, our parents were some of the first to attend Neringa, and since then many of us have practically grown up there. To date there are eight different camps enjoying Neringa throughout the summer, including Šeimų stovyklos- anglų ir lietuvių kalba, Jaunimo stovyklos- anglų ir lietuvių kalba, and the newly created Meno8Dienos suaugusiems lietuvių kalba.
It is important to stress that we are not exclusionary. We have had people from all across the United States, Canada, and Lietuva come learn, love, and even become stewards of Neringa. For example, anyone who comes interested in making new friends, having a good time, and practicing the Lithuanian tradition is welcomed with open arms to our Studentų Stovyklas.
As graduates of Neringa, we took it upon ourselves to keep, if not strengthen our ties and start our own studentų grupe. This group now comprises the growing Studentų Reikalų Taryba (Student Affairs Council) in the Lietuvių Jaunimo Sąjunga (LJS). One of our goals is to get other Lithuanian college students involved in LJS. Our hope is to act as a somewhat of a recruiting service for LJS. We do not wish to detract from any "rajonai” or LJS Apylinkes, only to tie the Lithuanian-American Youth community together through fun and education at Neringos Studentų Stovykla.
Traditionally, we have two stovyklas a year: one in the summer and another in the winter. Our recent New Years stovykla was our third Žiemos Stovykla, and it was a major success. From December 27th to January 1st we gathered in the snowy backwoods of Vermont coming from as far south as Newport, VA. The night before the initial start of the stovykla, Gintas Stirbys (Philadelphia), Darius Subatis (Boston), Aistis Juška (New Jersey), and Kovas Juška (New Jersey) drove up to the ski town of Killington to see Matisyahu perform at the Pickle Barrel Night Club. Every year we try to make it to some local show, and the "rappin' rabbi," Matisyahu, kept all who could attend entertained with his unique style of beat boxing and eerily haunting reggae melodies.
Due to Neringa's ideal location for a mature Studentų Stovykla, we had plenty of opportunities to have a great time outside of Neringa. During our short time there we had a blast skiing and snowboarding at Mount Snow. While some were enjoying the slopes, others were helping Rasa Ardyte-Juškiene (head vadovė, founder, and ardent supporter of Studentų Stovykla) create a challenging scavenger hunt in downtown Brattleboro Vt. The former hippy refuge of the 1960's still exudes a vibrant and bohemian atmosphere situated on the Connecticut River. Though an absolutely tiny town, one could spend an entire day just visiting their coffee and tea shops, and thrift, antique, record and specialty stores. Not to mention the people of Brattleboro are extremely friendly and know us all as "the Lithuanian Camp down the road!" The scavenger hunt was rather challenging, but every year we learn a lot about the town. For example, one of the questions was to find out why Native American didn't settle in the town. The answer could be found at the local record store where a chippy little brunette told us that, as legend has it, Native Americans believed that the way the wind blew in the area would cause a man to go insane. After spending time downtown trying to complete the scavenger hunt, one could see the wisdom of the Native Americans’ belief.
The rest of our time was divided between programs, discussions, group games, and generally hanging out. The approach taken at Žiemos Neringa was that of a relaxed stovykla with engaging discussions. Some topics that were discussed included “Stewardship in Neringa” and most importantly organizing our newly-created Studentu Reikalų Taryba. Apart from the discussions, we watched a movie from Lietuva entitled "Nacionaliniai Piršlybų Ypatumai". The movie from Lietuva was about different ethnic groups from around the world vying for the hand in marriage of a lietuvaite through song performances. After the movie, we discussed why and how lietuviai were able to basically portray these groups in an unflattering and stereotypical manner. In addition to discussions, we further celebrated our heritage by means of making traditional Krupnikas. In my most humble opinion, I believe we made an outstanding batch that would make any lietuvis proud.
This year stood out from others because the vadovai, Rasa Ardytė-Juškienė and Jonas Bielkevičius prepared a rather mature and thoughtful dinner program for New Year’s Eve. Our beloved cook, Jonas Kunca, prepared a delicious Argentinean dinner with grilled vegetables and steak. To start off our iškilminga vakariene, our vadovai set up a wine tasting course. Six wines were served in small portions while we were read the makers’ descriptions. We were to guess, using our noses and our developing palates, which wine corresponded to which description. The object of the game was to figure out if the wine makers were correct in their descriptions or if they were hitting the bottle too hard while making their asinine labels. We learned how to responsibly enjoy wine, which wines matched which meals, and the proper tasting techniques. It was a truly educational and mature introduction to the world of wine. After our outstanding meal, we properly rang in the New Year with noisemakers and a little bit of bubbly.
We really had an outstanding time together in the snowy landscape of the Green Mountain state. Old friends came together, and new bonds were made. A few campers from the English-speaking Lithuanian Heritage Camp also came, and their addition was truly welcomed and enjoyed. The plans are already in the making for this upcoming vasaros stovykla with the same spirit of the New Year’s Stovykla. The vasaros stovykla will be workshop based. We will have guest speakers concerning various topics, all relevant to modern Lietuva. These will include religious discussions, social concerns such as high rates of suicide and the new role in the EU, lietuvių kalbos seminars – from beginner to creative writing – as well as others. Additionally, workshops concerning what LJS is, what it does, and how one may get involved will be held. Suggestions are always welcome! We will have speakers from Lietuva and all across the United States present these interesting and engaging topics of discussion.
Just like any other stovykla, we will have traditional užsiėmimai'. In the past we've had rather intense games of Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, swimming in the prudas, drama, dainavimas, tautiniai šokiai, and everyone's favorite, rankdarbiai! In addition to the standards, we are currently planning a guided kayaking trip, a hiking trip, and a theme day, which has yet to be decided and planned. We will be also having a Talentų Vakaras, but of course, with a unique spin on this stovykla standard. We will get a half hour time slot at the Moles Eye Café during their open mic night. Not only do we show off our talents to the locals, but we also get to see how talented the locals are themselves. Last Studentų Stovykla we even had the chance to hear a Haitian native sing in Creole.
After my long-winded propagandist spiel, I hope that college-aged lietuviai who have never been to Neringa would consider coming this year. The cost is really affordable, the drive is picturesque, and the people will greet you with open arms! More information and registration forms can be found at www.neringa.org. If anyone has any questions, I, Kovas Juska, can be contacted through myspace and facebook.

Iki Pasikratymo
Kovas