More Apples

Some more unique apple dishes:
Rice and apples (Reis und Apfel in Deutch)
Noodles with pepper, carrots and... apples! (Nudel mit ____, ____, und ... Apfel!)

Apfel Kuchen :)

Words of wisdom from Steve Dintman, a theology prof that a group of study abroad students and I went to dine with at his and his wife's beautiful home downtown; and from Ian Grell, my insightful and faithful friend:

"Tourism is being able to leave a place unchanged" (Steve)
"There are too many tourists in Grand Rapids and Waukesha"


I can say that I did not tour those apple trees.

Apple Picking [Up]!

Yesterday Aurelija and I went apple-pick-up-ing. We picked up the ones that had already fallen off the tree. I guess that way we know they're ripe. But I reminisced, and shared with Aurelija, about my childhood when we would climb the trees at the orchard and pick them off the branches. The orchard wouldn't even be open until the apples were ripe -- that's how we knew they were ok.

She was enchanted by the idea of an apple orchard :)
I told her if she comes to the states to come in the fall so we can go together.
Then we realized that after December, we would never live together again.
That was a little depressing.

Anyway, now we have about seven thousand apples. So last night we made apple pancakes and fried apples, which turned out more like a delicious apple dip for pancakes and our favorite 99cent cookes :). The basket was still overflowing!

This morning, Aurelija made rice with apples.

For lunch I had some apples.

Our basket is still full.

I just love apples. Hopefully when the basket is gone, I will still love apples.

Symptoms of...

It is strange how I will often reflect on the small things in my life up to this point. I don't really think about the big, significant moments, but the small things, the secret pains, the times I cried and no one understood, the times I smiled and no one understood, the small moments that so reflect who a person is that my eyes are lit with wonder. I think of the people I know so well, and the times that they probably don't remember, but I hold close because secretly, they mean a lot to me.

On another note, today was a nice day. It was beautiful out, and Aurelija -- have I mentioned her? She's my roommate and friend. She's wonderful. -- and I went out and ate banannas by the river. We got to know eachother just a little bit better.



Here is a snipet of Aurelija's interesting life:

- She graduated from art school.
- She has one sister who is two years older than she is.
- She worked at a coffee shop and skate park in London this summer.
- She uses the word "interesting" a lot, a lot, a lot.
- She got to paint on a wall in Klaipeda.
- She was a scout for 5 years.

Aurelija is really the sweetest girl, and I could not have been paired with a better person to live with. She took care of me when I was sick the first week of classes, and we stay up late to talk -- my favorite! She makes me laugh, and she looks at life thoughtfully. We're going to Sweden in October, and I just cannot wait to travel with her!

Anyway, after we ate our bananas, we went to this Tai restaurant because she had to interview the owner for her class - Business Research Methods. I was actually kind of giddy to be there, because I got really excited to pick out words I knew, like:

studentas (can you guess what it means?)
skaito (read)
kalbu (speak)
neziunau (i don't know)

Even though I hear my roommates talk in Lithuanian on a regular basis, it was kind of cool to watch a whole conversation exclusively in Lithuanian. Also, we got free tea! Perfect! So then we were walking home, and decided to stop in this tall building to go up the elevator to look over Klaipeda. It was getting dark, and was kind of foggy, so no good photos, but just beautiful, beautiful view. On the other side was the sea, but the other side was a restaurant, so we just took a quick peak and went back down.

When we got back, our hall was making muffins, which was just great. We also decided it was about time that we actually made the apple pie/cake that we had been telling eachother we'd make for our friend Jared's birthday ... which was last Thursday. So we finally made it, and he was very happy -- despite the slightly flustered look in this photo...




Well, the point is, I am learning so much from Aurelija, and we get along so well. I am so grateful for her and to her. She has been the gem of the trip so far. Besides the opera of Sunday. :)

And the appel cake/pie was delicious!

English Conversations

Saturday, I got to spend some time with some local girls who are seniors in high school. They are planning to come to school at LCC, and they wanted to practice conversational English, so LCC set us up to meet at a sweet little coffee shop downtown Klaipeda.

I was so excited to meet with them and see where they were at. At LCC, everyone has already had their English skills tested, and they have refined it by speaking to most of their international friends here in English. So I was excited and honored to be a part of these girls’ first interactions with English speakers outside of the classroom.

One of the girls was very self-conscious about opening up and speaking in English. It was mostly fine, because her friend was very talkative, and there was never an awkward lull. I really wanted to get across the fact that it’s important to speak, and maybe mess up even, right now and with me, cause I can work with her and hopefully gently correct.

But I was just reminded by how nervous I can get to speak Lithuanian and German, both of which I’m just starting now. I’m so embarrassed to speak a new language, especially to a native speaker, even though they are the best ones to help. I am so afraid to butcher their language. But from talking with these wonderful girls, and from trying (and admittedly failing) to speak Lithuanian with my roomates, I’ve learned something important

–

If I wait to understand something fully before do it, I will never do anything, and it will take longer to understand it.

Spontaneous Travel and Classic Literature

What a whirlwind weekend!(Appologies for the cheesy expresion, but really, where did it go? And was it real? It was too good not to be a dream?!)

First off, I started doing some reading and homework Saturday morning -- unreal enough, I know. But I knew that I was doing group project work, cleaning,having a skype date with Ian, and then meeting with some local high school girls who are coming to LCC next year and wanted to practice their conversational English. So I wanted to get a head start. Plus, we're reading Scarlet Letter in American Lit, which I could read over and over again.

Also, there was a vague fantasty-notion in my head that maybe, just maybe, I could afford and organize a little outing to Vilnius -- about a 4-hour bus ride from Klaipeda -- on Sunday to see Onegin - the opera by Tchaikovsky based on the poem novel by the Father of Russian Poets, Pushkin.

Reasons I wanted to go:
1. I LOVE Vilnius. I'm looking into becoming the US Ambasador to Lithuania so I can live and work there. Also, I hear the American Embassy is beautiful, and located by the river (Juro, in Lithuanian).
2. I have always wanted to see an opera!
3. We read Eugene Onegin, the poem novel, in my Russian Lit class last semester, and I really loved it. Like really.
4. Tchaikovsky is a favorite of mine.
5. My Ballet final last semester was to the waltz from the opera, so I knew one of the songs.

This was obviously meant to be.

No, really it was, because it happened! My fellow Study Abroad students, Paige and Anders took the plunge with me, and we met a friend who goes to LCC, but is from Vilnius, Ruta, went to lunch and went to the opera!

It was beautiful. It was so exciting to see my first opera. The singers were just magnifico! It was in Russian (of course), and they actually had Lithuanian "subtitles" on a screen above the stage. Since I had read the poem, it was relatively easy to understand. So far, it was probably my favorite experience while I've been here.

PS, for those who are wondering, or at least expecting -- yes, I cried.

Your Lithuanian Homework:

Aciu = Thank you ["c" = "ch" in this case]
Ar jus kalbate angliskai? = Do you speak english? [the "s" in "angliskai" is said like "sh"]
Kiek kainuoja kava? = How much is coffee?
Ar galite man padeti? = Can you help me?
Kaip sekasi? = How are you?
Gerai/Blogai = Good/Bad
Atsiprasau = Excuse me (This one is key!!) [second "s" is "sh"]
Sekmes! = Good luck!
As Tave myliu! = I love you! ["s" in "as" = "sh"]

Wow.

I just realized I still have a little mark on the tippy-top of my middle finger from when I failed for the third time to give plasma. That was 15 days ago. Is this the same world? I guess so, because I still have that little mark.

An update

some friends along the beach.


This is my friend Amanda and Me.


there were all these ruins at the beach. I'm not totally sure what they were, but my guess is that they had something to do with the Soviet Union... most things do. I tried to dance inside this sunken, circular, cement structure. It's harder to dance in sand than on a lot of other surfaces... Sherry Lee would be very disappointed in me. (She was my ballet instructor last semester.)




Last night, friday, was our last day of classes. What a week! I love my classes. So, to celebrate the end of the week, we went to the sea to watch the sunset. There were lots of clouds, but the kind that just make it more beautiful instead of hiding the sun completely.

The other day I went to the store by myself for the first time! Iki (which is the equivalent of "see you later" -- which i think is like the best choice for the name of a store!) is about a block away -- right past all the identical, tall, brick soviet-built buildings. For some reason, it felt like a really big deal to go by myself. I guess that just means I'm still not totally at home yet! Which makes sense. But, of course, everything went just fine!

I can't remember if I said this before, but everybody walks all the time. Very few people actually have cars. At the beginning, all of the Americans' (including mine, embarassingly) legs were SO sore. It seemed like we were walking such long distances. But really it's fantastic.

People will walk to the store about every three days or so to get food for the next few days, then they will come back for the next few days, etc. No one really buys food with preservatives in it. They have it, but everyone is grossed out by it. I accidently got milk with preservatives -- it was my first time getting milk, and of course, no one was around me, and i can't read the labels! -- and I offered some to my roommate, and she didn't want any. Then she went over to the other part of our dorm to ask if she could have some of my other roommate's milk. Then when we were sitting together eating, I had the milk out and she pointed out the expiration date. So I learned that if I want to share, I should make healthy food choices. (Or vice versa... )