The Woman Behind the Iron Curtain

I had an enlightening summer in the mid ’90s. I met a lifelong friend, was employed with work I loved, and had a unique experience in a country I knew nothing about. I was off to Lithuania! Most importantly I was in possession of a round-trip flight to Europe. My plans were to work that summer acting in Bad American TV, and then I would get to indulge my love of travel. This American production company took a small troupe of actors over to Vilnius and used this troupe to fill in the smaller parts and background for the series The New Adventures of Robin Hood. Many of the principals and guest stars were flown in from London. Our Robin Hood was American, but other than that England was a great, easy way to get good actors and it was a much cheaper and shorter flight. The troupe was being paid a ridiculously small salary. They supplied housing and the dollar was so powerful you had to try pretty hard to spend more than ten dollars in one day. By the end of the six weeks, I would have saved enough to travel. I could hear the decadent streets of Amsterdam calling my name. The first week I was put up in a hotel. Or, as I nicknamed it, The Little Brown Prison. The word “Bloc” in Eastern Bloc also refers to the architecture. I believe brown and cement were the national colors. My hotel room had the aesthetic of a novice nun’s quarters. I was no stranger to low-rent accommodations.
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