My thoughts are very disjointed in this entry; there’s so much to say, and very little connection between the pieces. Sorry for obtuse pronouns; I have to be careful about using names.
Week two was tougher than the first. I was very busy at work, but in a good way. Again, I must avoid details, but I can say that the first part of the week was spent learning about the economic situation in Lithuania. I went to several meetings with entrepreneurs, bankers, and government officials to hear their take on the economic crisis (which is felt in Europe as well as at home), energy projects, and investment opportunities. The biggest message I got from these meetings is that it is a very exciting time to be a Lithuanian. Lithuania’s population is generally young and very well educated. But there is about 15% unemployment here, and it is growing. They are something of an untapped resource for companies in the service sector looking for employees. Recently a British bank opened a service center here to outsource labor; cheaper than paying British citizens, but more expensive than going to India. Lithuania won over India, though, because the bank didn’t want to have to spend time and resources training the work force, as would be necessary in India, and they noted customer dissatisfaction with the language skills of their Indian employees, and Lithuanians speak a sound, accent free English. One entrepreneur said the problem is getting on the long list. Companies usually don’t even think of Lithuania as an option. (Right? I had to look up where Lithuania was on a map when I was offered the job here.) But he did say that if they get on the long list, they almost always get on the short list because site identifiers for companies are impressed when they come to Lithuania. I would be too. So, the challenge going forward is exposure, putting their name on the map.
My Lithuanian friend who works at the Embassy told me that when he was a boy, Lithuanians had to speak Russian, and then in school they could take a second language like English or French. Now, he said everyone learns Lithuanian and English almost simultaneously, and later they can choose to learn Russian or another European language. He said he first realized the difference one day when he heard a group of boys chasing each other in a park and saying, “Drop the money, robber!” He told me when he was a boy that they ran around screaming in Russian.
I saw a pigeon the other day and realized that for a city there are remarkably few. That’s how cold it is here.
This whole weekend was the Kaziuko Fair, celebrating the coming of spring and the patron Saint of Lithuania. All of the main old town streets were closed so they could be lined with tents where vendors from all over the Baltics came to sell their homemade foods and crafts. The two biggest crafts were woodworking and knitted clothing; I saw beautiful wooden spoons and cutting boards, and awesome wool socks. The foods included bagel necklaces, which people ate as they walked, smoked fish, cookies and treats in the shape of mushrooms, and piping hot beer. The most traditional item sold were staves covered in dried flowers. Everywhere people were carrying these staves, which were several feet long, and so it looked like hundreds of dried flowers bouncing up and down the sidewalks. At many of the stands, sadly, was the normal plastic, cheap crap one might expect; China exports to everywhere these days.
I was lucky enough to have a friend from the Embassy be my cultural guide at the fair. She explained the significance of most of the traditions, but even she occasionally had to ask her mother what things meant. I was grateful for their insight. We were also invited by one of the Fulbright students to take a tour of the Royal Palace, which is in the process of reconstruction. The Palace has a long history—it has been built and torn down three different times by various warring factions—but if I understood correctly, it was last taken down in 1790. Now, 200 years later, the Lithuanians have decided to rebuild it exactly as it stood at that time. Well, some of the Lithuanians. The man who gave us a tour, who is in charge of the whole project, said it is a big political topic. For one thing, some citizens are upset that during this economic crisis they are spending millions on constructing a museum. Since the Palace hasn’t been there for so long, the media sometimes refers to it as the “invented Palace.” Another thing is that the Palace is being built in the same square with the Catholic Cathedral, and many people are upset that once the Palace is complete, it will dwarf the Cathedral. My invitation to this place was special; few Lithuanians have entered the Palace since it began construction. I personally believe that once the project is complete, tensions will be cooled because it is amazing inside. It is a true testament to Lithuania’s near-ancient history. I have a picture of this square below.
At the end of the afternoon, my friend and her mother invited me over for lunch the next day. I gratefully accepted. Finally! A home cooked meal! On Sunday morning I went to buy tulips for my friend, so I did not show up to her home empty handed. This was a good move. When I got to her apartment, I met her very friendly father, and he clapped at my gesture. My friend’s brother and his wife and son also joined us for lunch. Only my friend and her brother could speak English, but I still managed to talk with everyone with their help. They all had many questions about American cars and driving in America because my friend’s brother is considering buying a car, and there are a lot of American cars in Lithuania. It also turns out that they don’t have easy access to reports on VIN numbers like we do, so they could very likely buy a car that was in an accident in the U.S.
Lunch was amazing. My friend’s mother made cepelinai, Lithuania’s national dish. I’m glad I had this for the first time homemade. Cepelinai are boiled dumplings stuffed with meat and cheese. They also cover them with a wonderful sour cream/cheese sauce before serving them. It was quite good! We also had chicken, broccoli, and rice. My stomach had not been so happy in three weeks.
It was interesting to hear my friend’s father talk about the time of Soviet occupation. I asked if he went to college, and if it was common for people of his generation to go to school. It was explained to me that it was more common for his generation than the newest; education was free under Communist rule, and students were provided a stipend to pay for the cost of living and riding the train to their university. This surprised me, but maybe it shouldn’t have. The Russians did not want to destroy the Lithuanians; rather, they wanted to assimilate them into their culture, and there can be no better way to achieve this than through a strictly controlled curriculum. I also asked if they have a problem with drugs here, and he said it’s been growing ever since the Soviets left. I didn’t understand this, and he explained that the borders were very secure at that time; Lithuanian’s couldn’t get bubble gum, so they certainly couldn’t get drugs. I joked: “So, there were some benefits to Soviet occupation.” He nodded, but declared that freedom is better. There was something powerful in this declaration that an abstraction—freedom—was better than free education and secure borders, even if the freedom came with new responsibility. As someone born into freedom, I will never know how to value it like the people here do.
The last thing I must mention is my growing friendship with Milda, who I met through the Marines at the Embassy. She got coffee with me last night while I pretended to write a paper for my online class, and we went to the grocery store to get the ingredients for spaghetti, which we plan to make tomorrow night before going to see one of the Embassy guards play in his funk band. I appreciate her company because I’m still feeling lonely here. It’s hard being with my big family one second and living alone the next. I also met a language teacher this week who is a part-time employee at the Embassy, and she asked if I would meet her daughter and her friends, so they could practice speaking English. I said I was looking for friends and it sounded like fun. She said I spoke clear, accent-neutral English. I laughed and proceeded to give her my best Southern drawl. Hopefully I will meet these people next week sometime.
I just went to buy my train ticket to Warsaw. I’m meeting Mallary there early Friday morning. I can’t wait! The train station is in a creepy part of Vilnius, though. I got out of there as fast as I could. I’m almost certain I saw women working the corner on one street. Creepy. I ran to my favorite place to get coffee. The girl working tonight spoke no English, but I know coffee = kava and cookie = sausainiai, so I was fine.
I’m sure this is full of writing errors. I wrote it up as fast as I could. I’m still having trouble finding time to get on the internet with my laptop. But I am committed to writing; it will be nice to read this in a few years. I’ll write next week about the trip to Warsaw. Closing with a few pictures. 1) A vendor at the fair. 2) An example of those dried flower staves, carried during a small parade. 3) The square with the Cathedral and the Royal Palace. It was below freezing that day, but the sun was out!
"As someone born into freedom, I will never know how to value it like the people here do." I was born into freedom and material excess as well, and like you I will probably never know the true value of freedom. Still I think this is one of the biggest issues in today's society; how easily people give away their freedom for a feeling of safety which often seems to be illusionary. I guess it moves in a waveform, so that when a group of people have had it too easy for a while they forget what's really important, and then when they lose it they have to fight to get it back again, thus being reminded, until one of the next generations comes along and harvests the fruits, ready to forget again. It's interesting to read about your experiences and thoughts of a place where people are at a different level in this waveform (or whatever I should call it).
I'm glad you're making friends Alex, it's not fun to feel alone in a new environment for too long. For me Glasgow felt like that in the beginning, but then I started hanging out with you and everything turned out great.
Keep writing Alex! Can't wait to see you.
Posted by: Thomas Longberg | 03/10/2010 at 09:35 AM