My Lithuania 25th Anniversary

This month is the 25th anniversary of my first visit to Lithuania.  In July 1986, I traveled to the Soviet Union with a student tour group.  I was getting a bachelor’s degree in Russian and East European Studies and expected to see Moscow and Leningrad and, well, Russia.  I did visit Leningrad, but Intourist — the official and only Soviet tourist agency — sent me also to Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.  At the time, I didn’t know anything about the Baltic countries.  That visit, however, prompted me to start learning about them.  And that was how it all started…

I came back to Lithuania in 1992 for a language course and in 1993-1994 to do research for my master’s thesis.  I returned in the summer of 2007 — retracing my 1986 steps in reverse from Vilnius to Riga to Tallinn.  As my faithful readers know, I spent 9 months in Lithuania in 2009 conducting dissertation research and now I’m back again.

Twenty-five years, six trips.  I’ve experienced Soviet Lithuania, post-Soviet Lithuania and Lithuania in the European Union.  It’s been quite a journey for Lithuania and for me.  I don’t know what the post-Ph.D. future holds, but I am sure that it will include more adventures in Lithuania.

Four Americans and our Estonian tour guide in front of the Cathedral in Vilnius, July 1986