At the end of September 2005, Matt was tasked as the project officer for
a last minute deployment to
Siauliai, Lithuania (pronounced like Chalet). The squadron was deployed to Lithuania for 3 months for
NATO's Baltic Air Patrol, where they flew each day '
patrolling' the Baltic skies. Although the conditions weren't the most optimal (the runway was a disaster, as seen in the picture), everyone seemed to make the best of the deployment.
The most favorable part of the deployment was the great
exchange rate (at the time it was
about 4
Litas to the US Dollar), the surprisingly delicious food, and the Lithuanian vodka,
Gera. The worst part was the water. Since the water in Lithuania is toxic to us Americans who haven't grown up (and immune to) drinking it, everyone had to use bottled water. From drinking and cooking to washing your hands and brushing your teeth, you had to use bottled water. Even boiling the water didn't sterilize it, as there was petroleum and other toxic agents that couldn't be removed regardless the sterilization/filtration process. We are both big bottled water fans, but the 'approved water supply' happened to be a mineral water that tasted like wet vitamins. It was gross. Here's a picture of the signs that were posted everywhere there happened to be a sink.
I was able to fly up to Siauliai one weekend to see Matt, which was really nice. He showed me around the town (which wasn't very big) on the day he was off, and I got to hang out with the other pilots there while he was sitting alert. They sat alert for 24 on- 24 off, so they didn't have too much time to entertain themselves. The single guys were in heaven, as the women in Lithuania and Latvia were some of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. When I went shopping (remember the great exchange rate!), I was pretty much in the 'short fat kid' section because the main sizes there were 24x36! 24" waist with a 36" inseam...seriously now, that's ridiculous! At night, the Lithuanian MTV station would air commercials with a Green card Lottery for girls to enter--that's how badly they all want to get out of Lithuania/eastern Europe. Needless to say, all the beautiful girls were crazy about all the single American pilots and the other military guys!
On the day that Matt showed me around town, we were able to go to the 'Hill of Crosses,' an incredible
hill on the outskirts of
Siauliai covered with crosses. People come from all over the world (even Pope John Paul II has been there) to this hill to pray and leave a cross.
Apparently the story behind the hill is that it was created several hundred years ago to represent the Catholic
Lithuanian's resistance to oppression. After several take overs by the
Soviets and the Germans,
Lithuania was finally independent in 1991. During the times of
Soviet rule, the
Lithuanians would visit the hill and bring crosses as a symbol of Lithuanian nationalism. Because of this dedication by the
Lithuanians, the
Soviets repeatedly removed the crosses, burned them or turned them into scrap metal, and even leveled the hill several times to turn it into a garbage dump. Despite the
Soviet's efforts, the Lithuanians continued to visit the area and bring crosses. In 1985, the Hill of Crosses was left in peace and has grown to house hundreds of thousands of crosses. In true tradition, I had to buy a cross, write our name on it, and leave it there.
On Saturday night, a group of us drove up to Riga, Latvia for dinner.
Riga is a completely
different place than anywhere in Lithuania. It is a booming city full
of beautiful architecture, great restaurants, and of course,
beautiful women. The only down side to Latvia is that they have pegged their Lita to the British Pound (they are trying to show the EU that their currency is strong so they can join the EU), so everything was twice as expensive than in America...and 8 times more expensive than Lithuania. Here we are on one of the bridges in Riga...with our $4 'to-go' coffee in hand.
