We have arrived!

We have spent all of five nights in Vilnius at this point, but I think I can give you a few first impressions now while they are fresh. Basically – it’s pretty awesome here!  Our housing is nice and spacious; the Old Town is literally around the corner; and I think my job will be really interesting and enjoyable. Of course, we’ve already made several missteps (“Oh, so what I’ve been using for laundry detergent actually is actually fabric softener?” or “What? No I don’t have children. Oh, this check-out line is for parents with young children only? Sorry, didn’t see the sign”).  But in general, we’re adjusting, and looking forward to living here!

About our apartment – you know us, and most of my (limited) readership has been in our last apartment in Missouri. We had enough space, but not much more.  Here, that is definitely NOT the case. We have three bedrooms, but since we don’t need them, one has been turned into an office/den, which means J and I have plenty of room to spread out.  The kitchen is also much fancier than anything we would ever have on our own. For example, the dishwasher and fridge are actually hidden behind the same paneling as the cabinets, so they just blend in. I had to ask ahead of time if we got a dishwasher, because I couldn’t see it in the pictures! The bathroom floors are heated (I haven’t tried this perk yet, since until today we weren’t sure what it was, but I’ll will tomorrow!). 

On the flip side, considering that we are in a post-Soviet country, there are still some remnants of the old system. One of them is that the decision to turn on the heat in the fall or off in the spring is made by the government. At least city-wide, if not country-wide, one blessed day in October (hopefully!), the radiators kick on. Before that, even if it is really, really cold in your apartment, the best you can do is to go buy an electric heater, because your heat won’t work. And you better buy it early, because there will be a run on heaters that first cold night. Also, I understand that residents often have little control over how much heat their apartment receives, even though they are responsible for the heating bill in the apartment. Unfortunately, it takes time and money to update these systems, and many buildings just haven’t been updated yet.

The Old Town looks beautiful!! We haven’t had a chance to really explore it yet.  I promise to post some pictures next time. I’ve heard that it is one of the largest preserved “old towns” in Europe, and I believe that a large swath of it is part of a heritage site or something like that. It’s worth checking out. The skyline is filled with beautiful burnt orange rooftops, church steeples, and white walls against a backdrop of evergreens in the distance.  It’s really hard to describe, but hopefully I’ll do a better job as I get more accustomed to it. It reminds me of a thought I used to have frequently in Oxford as I walked down ancient cobble-stoned streets: These buildings have been here for ages – they are older than my own nation. I like history and being in historical places. I’ll read up on my history of this area and have some good stories to go with pictures next time.

Overall, after one year of training (literally!), we are thrilled to be here, and I think we can say that it was worth the wait. When I’m over the jet lag, I’ll try to keep a mental note of the amazing and quirky things I see or hear, and also get some good pictures. Suffice it to say now, things are going well and I’ll have more to say when I am back to my normal sleep schedule. 

P.S. I counted 3 yarn stores when we walked around a small portion of Old Town yesterday. I’m still waiting for my knitting needles to arrive, but I can’t wait to go pick up some new yarns and get started on a new project. I’m not usually a spring knitter, but perhaps since it has snowed the past two mornings, I just don’t feel like it’s spring yet here. That is in stark contrast to DC, which was 80 degrees or more when we left.