Sunday, September 21, 2014

Traveling to Revolutionary Lithuania

My mother had a rather cavalier view toward my well being. She seemed to think that as long as I wasn't dead or missing any limbs then all was good.

This played out when I was spending a semester in Washington DC and asked by the Non Governmental Organization (NGO) I was working for if I would go over to Lithuania to be their first Field Officer. They were offering me the grand total of $350 and a round trip plane ticket. I mean how could I say no?!

So I called my mom to ask if she minded and she said that I had her full support. Not emotional or financial support, but you know, her support as my legal guardian. So that's awesome.

Now, let's play a pretend game where your real or imaginary child tells you that she's been offered a round trip ticket and $350 to go live in a country undergoing a revolution. If you have more sense than a duck you would probably say no. I would say, "HELL NO!" If my child were so confused as to ask me this.

I would then wonder where I had gone wrong in my parenting that my 19 year-old child thought that they were in any way prepared to live in a country in the midst of a revolution.

Did I speak the language? No.

Did I understand the culture? No.

Did I have an exist strategy if things went to hell? No.

Did I have any support from the NGO sending me over there? No

Was there anyone on the ground I could rely upon to get me up to speed? Nope.


It was a great plan.

My mom did help me borrow a full-length down coat from a friend of hers, so there's that.
 
My initial flight to Lithuania was delayed because the Soviet Union in protest of Lithuania declaring independence, sent in soldiers to take over the television towers in Vilnius, Lithuania where 13 people were killed. It was a huge deal in the international news and in many ways a turning point in the revolution.
My NGO moved back my travel date and instead of living in Vilnius, I was supposed to live in Kaunas, Lithuania and work for the University there along with working for the NGO on the conference.


I was told by the NGO that I was traveling under a visa with a false description of my work. I would be working with the revolutionary governments of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to set up a conference with the USAID on how to run municipalities once they had their freedom. But in order to get the visa from the Soviet Union, my visa was applied for saying that I was going to do research at a university.

I was told that I should not get stopped by the police or KGB, because that would cause difficulties and if I got in trouble no one would be able to help me. (I know, I was brilliant for agreeing to this. But remember my other choice was my mother and this actually seemed like the better option.)

My plane landed at the Riga airport and was immediately surrounded by Soviet soldiers with their AK-47s pointed at the plane. This has to be one of the most frightening things to see when you're entering a country undergoing a revolution. Especially when your NGO told you that no one would come to your aid.

The soldiers didn't shoot me, but they did riffle through my luggage and I was on my way to do something that I was convinced had to be worthwhile.

I was met at the airport by an American-Lithuania young woman and a driver who took me to Kaunas.

I immediately started to learn new things just on the loooong drive. Things like, there are no gas stations on this route. Bathrooms are a luxury item not encouraged by the Soviet State. If you are hungry, you will stay hungry because there is nowhere to get food.

These are vital lessons. Especially if you need to pee and have to pee in the trees. I am still not skilled in this area.

We arrived in Kaunas, which is beautiful, it was late at night and I was promptly placed in a hotel across from the university and told who I should meet with the next day.

I think I passed out in my clothes that night. But I had arrived and that was a point in my favor.

2 comments:

  1. "Not emotional or financial support, but you know, her support as my legal guardian. So that's awesome." Your mom was a piece of work. Horrible, clearly, to live with, but hilarious to read about. I see a movie at some point. Tell us a child acting story! Didn't she do movies with Elizabeth Taylor?

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  2. Probably. I have a stuffed llama she got from Sophia Loren. The next one will be about the acting.

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