When I arrived to Lithuania, the first thing, that local people asked me was why I have choosen Lithuania for my summer exchange. The answer was very simple, beautiful landscape and country, lot of historical monuments and buildings and also very good beer. Lithuania is a small country, which is situated neer the Baltic see and is one of the three baltic states. Another reason why I have choosen Vilnius was that whole country and especially Vilnius is not a typical destination of summer holiday. There were lot of CPs (contact person) who helped me with everything I want and try to help me with my problems and also were very kind and friendly. They managed a lot of trips around the country and social program was good. Especially my CP was helpful, she was waiting me at the airport, when I arrived and explained me all of basic information and necessary thing what I need to know. She also showed me my dormitory and provided me my month ticket to public transportation, so I was able to travel around the city. Dormitory was average and didnt provide much luxury but had very cosy atmosphere. There were three people in one room and two rooms had mutual bathroom. Bathroom was old and litlle bit destroyed. There was one kitchen on the floor which was also old. People in Lithuania are very conservative and sometimes there was problem with comunication. Many people dont speak english and almost in public places, train and bus station you can have problem to buy tickets and other stuff. This problem was also in my hospital. I spent all month in Gastrointestinal department and many of doctors didn´t speak english. My main docotor, who should cared about me, was not interested, because he don´t have much time for me. My only medical experience was watching daily operations in operation room, without any scholary explanation, so this was little disappointment for me. On the other way, operations were variable and I saw lot of interesting surgery procedures, but without professional interpretation it wasn´t beneficial for me, as I expected. We got tickets for lunch in three euro prize at hospital, but local kitchen didn´t offer variable meal and the portions were too small. Traditional lithuanian kitchen mainly include minced meat and potatoes. Most traditional meal is zepellin and cold beetroot soup. This food is quite good but you must choose good restaurant for it. Weather is cold and rainy and dont represent the summer weather in Slovakia. I expected cold weather, but it was really rainy and cold, average temperature was between 18 degrees and it was very changable. There was a lot of internationals students in our group. There were people around the world, so I had big experience to know other cultures. I found here a lot of good friends. We spent a great time together. I really liked our parties, „cooking evenings“ or sightseeing. The time which I spent in Vilnius was really good. It was first time to be on some exchange and it was really enriching experience for me.
