English to Afrikaans Art/Literary Poetry & Literature

Wherever I go my country's scent stays with me

Everyone loves to bring back souvenirs from their travels to remind them of the sights and sounds. But it’s not easy to bring back the smell of a destination.

Unless it’s Lithuania. In which case you can buy a “national perfume” that captures the country’s scent.

That’s right, Lithuania’s foreign ministry has come out with a fragrance that synthesizes the smells of the country into a single bottle.

And in Lithuania’s case, that smells like paganism.

We’re not kidding. The perfume is a blend of sandalwood, cedar, musk and moss, which is designed to recreate the scent of a pagan wood-burning ritual in the woods.

In other words, you’ll walk around smelling like a forest fire. And chances are this stuff is strong because the whole idea behind the perfume is that it’s supposed to reflect the “Lithuanian strength of character.” Strength of character means hard-working, and hard-working means lots of sweat… and that doesn’t translate into perfume form well.

So far the “Feeling Lithuania” perfume has only been sent to Lithuanian ambassadors and soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, but soon visitors will be able to take home the smell of Lithuania as embassies, hotels and airports will also distribute the perfume.

We guess the “I ♥ Lithuania” t-shirts aren’t as popular as they used to be.

Okay, this sounds like a terrible idea… but it could be worse. Just think what the national smell of other places would be. Like America. That perfume would smell like fried food and used tires. Kinda makes the smell of a pagan ritual seem refreshing.