By the end of our stay in Lithuania, I had to force myself to not listen to the language being spoken for fear that I would start chuckling. Simply put, it sounds funny. Lithuanians are very proud of their language, however. For over a century of Russian occupation under the czars, the Lithuanian language was forbidden to be written or spoken. Today, two-thirds of the elementary school children learn English which is quite popular.
Linguists already worry that the Lithuanian language is becoming too Anglicized.
Our chemistry program took place on our second day in Lithuania. This was our last program of the trip and perhaps I should describe our programs in brief detail. Most programs consisted of approximately twenty-five chemistry demonstrations suitable for chemistry courses in high school or in college or university. All of our materials fit snugly into three suitcases. When everything was set up on a table, one could almost imagine that we came with a truck instead of just three suitcases.