The flight was delayed, leaving us stuck on board an Air Lithuania plane for about an hour before we finally taxied and took off. When we arrived, we are met by V, whom we had arranged our rental apartment with. He takes one look at our luggage - all 9 cases and a few hand luggage pieces and realises his car is not up to the task. We have 4 people in our team; Jesse and Dan, who will handle the camera and video; Shiv and I, who will deal with the interviews, archiving, collection of samples and audio transcripts. Really, it is my partner Shiv's project and part of her PhD research. I am playing the role of research coordinator. Jesse and Dan will be taking footage and shaping it into a documentary. We have 2 hard cases for the video and sound equipment, two long carrier bags for tripods and boom pole, plus a few other cases holding everything else including an audio recorder, laptops to a scanner, though we did decide to skip on the printer.
We decide to split up and grab a cab since V's car isn't big enough for us and our luggage. The cab driver doesn't look too pleased; he refuses to let us put one of our bags on the back seat. He motions with his hands; he doesn't want us to scratch the back of the seat. V comes over and shows his disapproval, helping the cab driver pile the bags high in the boot. It's all in. V tells the cabbie the address of the apartment we are going to. We get in; Dan and Jesse go with V. The cabbie veers off from the pavement and screeches away. For the first time in a very long time, I actually decide to put on my seatbelt, though I don't usually when I am in the back seat. His driving is nerve wracking to say the least. He doesn't smile and he doesn't seem to care for strangers. Similar to the people we passed at the airport; most don't smile and when they bumped into us, they didn't look up; they didn't make way either despite the overladen trolleys - I come to the conclusion that Lithuanians in general aren't particularly friendly. Then again, it's early days.
We are deposited in front of a building. It looks like an office block, with shops downstairs. Are we in the right place? There is no sign of V or the guys. A lady comes towards us and I realise it's J, whom we made the payment transfer to. We are joined by Vy, a skinny man with dusty blond hair. They ask us to follow them. Shiv and I drag 3 suitcases between us up to a heavy wooden door. Vy opens the door and I catch a glimpse of a long flight of wide stairs. I groan. Shiv's bag alone is 29 kgs. Thankfully, Vy helps lug one case up the stairs.
The apartment is sparsely furnished but clean. V and the guys join us 5 minutes later. They are huffing and puffing. They went up 3 flights of stairs, as did we. We give the apartment a once over to make sure we know where things are and what's in it - kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, washing machine, etc. But no internet. Why? Okay, it appears there's a mix up of sorts. V is talking. Vy is talking. J is talking. All deep in animated conversation. I don't understand a word they say but I do know we specifically asked if there was internet access when we booked. J, who we paid the deposit to, is apologetic. So is V, whom we corresponded with and answered all our queries before we booked. Vy is anything but. There is talk about payment to Vy. Apparently, he is the landlord. He says to me haughtily, "I, no money, no internet." I try and explain that we were expecting to do an online bank transfer to pay the rental, but no internet, no money. He tells me he is too busy tomorrow to come and put in a modem. He suggests I go to an internet cafe and pay him first. I decide that I am too tired to haggle. I get straight to the point and tell him that we agreed to take the apartment because we were informed there was internet access. No internet, no money, I say sternly. He tells me he'll come tomorrow to fix it. Fingers crossed.
That night, we hunker down to discuss the brief for the project...
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