mrbreeze
From: Lithuania
3/28/2008 05:26 EST
The dollar is way down so 40 lt is about $20. A 2 liter bottle of coke is 4 lt. A package of 3 small boneless chicken breast 15 lt. Veggies are of terrible quality and big bucks. If you are alone and eat well, figure 40 lt a day from the grocery store. A studio flat 1 room and kitchen just outside the city in an old cement building at least a 1000 lt a month for a dump. Don't give a security deposit you won't get it back. Add about 70 lt a mont for trash, elevator and other service they charge you for. Hot water if you shower everyday like a good American about 70 lt a month, cold water add about 30 lt a month. Electric say a 100 lt a month. When you rent watch out for cockroaches could be a real nightmare, so best thing to do is turn the oven on high for 10 mins to see if they run out that is where they live. Watch out for mice, look in the closets for traps, or eaten pieces of paper. Look around outside on the ground for needles, I seen a lot in the Gabijos area. Bring a smoke detector with you. Pre paid cells are expensive 10 lt will get you a card that will last about 20 mins, no charge if someone calls you. You can get a bus pass about 35 lt. Bring as much medicine you can. Dentist are very good and cheap. Hospitals are a joke, and won't take any insurance, so don't waste your money. TB is a concern, don't let anyone cough near you. BRING hand sanitizer by the gallon! It is a must! Everything is dirty and you will be sick a lot if you ride the bus. Can't find it here.Bring spices to make your meal a little more tolerable. Bring extra socks, the ones here last about 3 days. Make sure your flat has a washing machine that works, forget about a dryer. Drying on a line destroys your cloths too. You can get an electrical convertor for about 80 lt my wife uses her sewing machine with it. Bring coat hangers they are expensive here.If you are an American man, bring extra underwear, because what they wear here will make you laugh then cry.
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noelcor
3/28/2008 11:04 EST
Again, Mr Breeze, you are referring to the worst type of apartments available in Vilnius.There are many developments very affordble all over the city that compare to any capital city, albeit a touch on the small side.I lived for a while in an apartment in Jeruzale and it was equivalent to aything I have lived in Dublin in terms of being modern.Dublin also has its rough apartments similar to any other capital city.
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mrbreeze
From: Lithuania
3/29/2008 03:22 EST
No school in LT... ESL that is will provide you a flat, you need a leg breaker to get a nickle out of them. They count the copy paper. If you were making 2800 lt a month, you worked night and day. I do not think you are being honest with your story. I have lived here a year and a half, been here 4 times. My wife is Lithuanian, my kids are Lith, my in-laws are Lith. You say you were here a year and did not register and don't know if you were " illegal" even Forrest Gump knows you can't just show up and live in another country for a year without declaring yourself. I am not calling you a liar, but something is not right with what you are saying. As the owner of a school here, I know what teaching pays, I know Lith's and know they are cheap. The fact you are Irish makes you less marketable as a ESL teacher because the students can't understand your accent. Also, from may -sept teaching grinds to a halt because of the summer. To make 2500 lt a month like you said you would have to teach 30 acd hrs a week. That is the truth and you know it. The demand for that just is not here anymore. Private students are poor and don't pay much. Why fill the people who read this board with false hope? I have my doubts you were even ever here because your thoughts directly contradict the reality of life here.
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noelcor
3/29/2008 21:17 EST
You Americans cant spell English, so dont preach to me about English capabilities.And sorry, we in Europe prefer British English, not your version.
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noelcor
3/29/2008 21:19 EST
If I was a Lithuanian national, I would want you deported immediately due to your lack of respect for the country.Do you respect your Lithuanian wife? I doubt very much.Take a plane out and leave Lithuania alone.
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noelcor
3/30/2008 15:04 EST
Apology to Mr Breeze
I just wish to apoogise to Mr Breeze for my last 2 messages which were completely disgraceful.I have no excuses for making those vile comments and turning this forum into a personal slagging natch.These remarks should not have been made
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Abakan
From: Lithuania
4/10/2008 04:39 EST
Mr Breeze is very lucky. Mice are nothing compared to rats. My friend has one. About the only way to get rid of it is to have a friend with a weasel. The rat knows what traps and poison are and won't go near either. In the meantime, he is gnawing his way through any electric cords he finds, like for the refrigerator.
A woman comes around every couple of months asking if we have mice. I always say no since I brought a live trap from the US. But I haven't had a mouse in about 5 years now.
Roaches are not really a problem here. There are publicly advertised exterminators who do a great job. I try not to wash as many of the concealed surfaces as possible and even 2 years later, the poison does a pretty good job of killing them. But the stuff for sale in the shops usually doesn't do much good.
The cost of living is rising quickly right now. Before it was housing. My flat has more than tripled in value over 10 years. But life is what you make of it. You can buy prepared foods or fix your own and the price will reflect it. Many people here have gardens and so don't buy fruit and vegetables. I can tell you that the selection in the shops here is much greater than what the shops that I knew in the States offered.
One thing that has declined has been movies. People here are unwilling to pay 15 euros for a DVD so we are mostly getting older movies on TV and in the shops. And children's movies in cinemas are always dubbed now. However you can special order such things from certain shops or have a friend/relative abroad who will ship them to you.
What Mr Breeze has not mentioned is the increase in wages. 5 years ago, the average wage was about 1200 litas per month. Now it is around 2000. 2400 for white collar workers. With wage increases like that, you are going to get inflation.
I find life here very comfortable. I do not own a car and can use public transport to get pretty much anywhere in the country. Unfortunately, there is no control on cars, so traffic jams are getting worse and worse. They have started adding bus lanes though. As to the buses, they are being run intelligently and I am happy to pay the fare. The money coming in has been consistently used to buy new and newer buses and to improve the bus stops. Schedules are now posted at the bus stops and on the internet. The glass was broken out of our local bus stop over the weekend. That monday they replaced it.
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