A large family who changed their comfortable life in the old town of Vilnius to the most remote corner of Lithuania: we would not return to the capital for nothing

When you think of Nida, it seems like it is just a perfect corner of paradise, and living here would be just a dream, but the truth is that not everything is so simple, I. Dikavičiūtė openly tells not only about the pleasant side of relocation, but also difficulties encountered.

“The biggest challenges are finding a permanent place to live if you don’t have your own home here and adjusting to a small community. We learn every day, trying to feel and absorb a different rhythm together. And although now we live quite nomadically, because Twice a year we move to other homes with all our belongings, children and cats, the advantages of living here still outweigh those disadvantages, says I. Dikavičiūtė, who has changed the course of his career in a new place :, as artist, opened more opportunities. There was no success in Vilnius wrinkle I started my activities, and this time I went back to ceramics at full speed, and started sewing kimono-style linen clothes, so the changes, although not easy, are very beneficial for us ”.

Currently, the woman is also responsible for organizing cultural events in Preila – she got a job at the Nida “Agila” Culture and Tourism Information Center. Her husband, Kęstutis, is carrying out minor repairs and maintains a villa in Juodkrante. All three children are elementary school children and go to the same gym as Neringa.

Dreamed of escaping the noise

Before moving to Nida, the family had been thinking for four or five years that they would like to leave Vilnius. As they say, they felt that everything had become too much, they wanted peace.

“It just came to our knowledge then old Town, specific children, but the city started to drive us crazy. It seemed that we had created a really comfortable life, we did not have to travel all over Vilnius to go to work or school, we lived in the old town, together with my family and my husband’s. But we were bothered by all that noise, the visual pollution of the city, ”says I. Dikavičiūtė.

It is true that Nida herself was never on the list of her dream places. The family continued to search other Lithuanian resorts. “We analyze the offer in Anykščiai, Druskininkai, where nature is so special. Only then did I realize that Nida is a resort too, only that season it probably feels stronger here. It really wasn’t the land of my dreams and my love. When we were on vacation in Neringa, we preferred to choose Preila, we didn’t even go to Nida itself, ”recalls I. Dikavičiūtė. The woman says she sees others who are burning with love for Nida, for whom this land is very important, but admits that neither she nor her husband did.

The location of the new family home was determined simply by a randomly discovered job listing online. Unexpectedly, a woman saw an advertisement for Nida Art Colony’s work online, and it almost instantly changed the lives of the entire family. “It just came to our attention then. It was at that time that we were on vacation on the other side of the lagoon, so the man, having transferred by ferry, was able to participate in a job interview. So he got a job and became a the administrator of the Art Colony ”, says the interlocutor.

In Vilnius, K. Minderis had worked for many years as a civil servant in the Environmental Protection Agency and had decided that bureaucratic work was not for him, so for some time it had been a pleasant activity, usually one that required manual labor. . So the new job offer turned into another great opportunity.

Initially, a man traveled from Vilnius to Nida every two weeks. At that time, the wife who stayed in the capital not only took care of their three children, but also worked in a nursery and a school in the capital. After a while it became too difficult to live like this, so the family decided to move and they all found themselves in the farthest corner of Lithuania.

He felt the harshness of the locals

“Frequent on Nida has created a beautiful image of the holidays. I myself thought that people here, whether in the dunes or in the lagoon, would smile and greet each other politely. Only now have I realized that only newcomers do. That ideal image in which everyone is very friendly has been created, it has collapsed ”, reveals I. Dikavičiūtė about the first“ shock ”he experienced.

According to the woman, the Nidis keep their distance and need more time to get used to other people. But there is a good reason for it. “At first, the locals may seem very tough, but it turns out that it is their own defense, because when so many people pass by your house, they don’t get too attached to them. After all, are there really some people who, it is still unclear how much will be left here, deserve your time, attention and strength? ”, Share.

On the other hand, by settling here, he quickly becomes involved in community life. This was probably the most surprising thing for the family, especially since they had not belonged to any community before living in Vilnius. “And here, if you have kids, you don’t want to have to get involved. You can’t even make a decision, you just become part of that community and that’s it,” he says.

Locals accustomed to ever-changing visitors find it difficult to accommodate new residents, but true Y fake the state of the population is very important. Everyone who comes here doesn’t just take a short break, they settle down. I. Dikavičiūtė estimates that it is only now, in the third year of family life in Nida that he feels that his adaptation in this place is ending.

The interlocutor laughs that it would be time for me to learn subtle communication a little more, because without complaints, some complaints from locals are received in a very personal way and people just don’t like it. Here it is customary to praise out loud, but everything else is preferable to silence.

The biggest challenge is finding a home

When the family moved to Nida, they immediately had to get used to the idea that they would have to live in a temporary home. It is not difficult to rent an apartment for a long time in the cold season, but it is practically impossible to find a house during the season and to eat something. It is a very delicate subject and lasts for years, says the interlocutor.

“Now we are dedicated to the search for long-term rentals. Before we were lucky and we were a couple of years in Art Colony, and this year we had to look for another home. However, we see that that life is already dissolving our savings,” he says openly the woman.

The family even had a plan to move to the other side of the lagoon for the summer, but I. Dikavičiūtė got a job in Preila and could no longer leave. “The same is waiting for this summer, and this year Neringa has been declared the Capital of Culture of Lithuania, so I plan to work a lot with various events. It would be ugly to trust and leave temporarily, although economically it is not worth it at all for our family”, calculates.

This year, for help, the family even turned to the Social Department, but there they heard the answer that this way of life in Nida is normal, many times used to constantly moving here.

“Before we moved in, we really didn’t expect that we would have such a problem. It seems, and we can pay enough for the rent, but the house just doesn’t show up. The people of Nidiškis say that the long-term rent doesn’t compensate them, but I think they don’t count well. People used to work here during the season, summers don’t even see it. But when you think that if they distributed that amount throughout the year, it wouldn’t be around, and the money would be the same, and in the end, and in summer, you would finally see it yourself, ”shares I. Dikavičiūtė.

Celebrate child employment

The family’s three children attend Neringa’s only gym in Nida: daughter – first grade, sons – third and fourth grade. There are not many children in the classes of this school, there are 10-16 students, so the teachers can pay more attention to each of them individually, the interlocutor is happy.

“All the children adapted successfully. Our first grader went to school only on the second day of the school year, because he feels safe and welcoming here. We parents also quickly got rid of that anxiety that continued to plague us in the big city. And when that inner peace comes, you start to think more deeply, because in a city where everyone is constantly in a rush, you too keep running and quickly forget yourself completely. You do what you need and you don’t think about why you do it ”, I. Dikavičiūtė compares life in the capital and Nida.

Until the quarantine was introduced and each member of the family had to rush their own affairs, life here still seemed idyllic. After landing a job in Preila, 10 km away, I. Dikavičiūtė fulfilled his old dream and bought a scooter, so he was happy to have fun on the road to go to work and have lunch by the sea. It’s even more fun knowing that you don’t have to worry about the kids because after school everyone makes it to their favorite groups on their own.

While it may seem that the capital’s children would have had more opportunities for extracurricular groups, a burly mother assures that the options in Nida are indeed sufficient. Remember that when she arrived, she was very pleasantly surprised by the choice of various children’s activities, and even more so by the fact that everything is at hand.

“All our children are very busy. Everyone attends classes according to their hobbies and in this sense we really do not lack anything else. There is a sports school here, as well as probably the strongest sailing school in Lithuania, the children are transported to the pool, there is also an art school, where you can attend art, music, dance and singing. From what I have noticed, practically all students “work” all day, go to sports or art after school high school and they’re still busy until the evening, “he says.

The family was also pleasantly surprised by the group prices. For the price of almost a group in the capital, the family calculates, in Nida it is possible to pay for the three children’s classes.