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... )

Classes!!

Monday:
8:30 Introductory German I
9:45 Teaching English as an International Language (!)
11:00 Non-Violent Social Movements
12:15 Cross Cultural Seminar
1:30 Introductory Lithuanian I
2:45 Introduction to the Bible I
3:00-7:15 Marriage and Family

Tuesday & Thursday:
8:30 American Literature

Wednesday and Friday:
8:30 Introductory German I
9:45 Teaching English as an International Language
11:00 Non-Violent Social Movements
1:30 Introductory Lithuanian I
2:45 Introduction to the Bible I


It has been a joy to start learning other languages again! One of the things we have learned to say on the first days is what language(s) we speak. Of course, as we go around most people's answers sound like this:

"Halo. Meine name ist Ilya. Ich komme aus Ukraine. Ich sprechen Ukrainisch, Russisch, Englisch, und ein bisschen Weisrussich und Lietuanisch."
In other words, "Hello. My name is Elijah. I am from Ukraine. I speak Ukrainian, Russian, English, and a bit of Bellarussian and Lithuanian."

Of course, my language would look something like this: "Ich sprechen Englisch."
People would immediately notice the difference. So I would throw in "und ein bisschen Spanisch." It made me feel a little bit better about life. When I come home, I will be able to say,

Halo. Meine name ist Diana. Ich komme aus America. Ich sprechen Englisch, Duetsch, Lietuanisch.
OR
Labas! As vardas Diana. As gyvenu America. As kalba angliskai, vokiskai, ir lietuviskai.

The Borshch Stomach

Firstly, I'm pretty bummed today. Yesterday, I had this random thought while I was spinning my nose ring (which I do often to keep it from getting grown over -- also, i do it self-consciously hoping people don't think i'm picking my nose...). So anyway, I had this thought that -what if my nose ring fell out?- I've always planned not to have my nose ring forever, but i certainly haven't reached the time when i wanted it to come out. But it fell out sometime last night, and i have no clue where it went, and even if I can get another one tomorrow, I'm not sure if it will have grown back over! So I keep reaching to spin it, and it's not there. it feels really weird.

Anyway, Two days ago, my roommate made borshch, which is Ukranian beet soup. I was terrified of it. Beet soup is really common here. And it's pink. But I tried it and loved it! would you imagine? Then yesterday, another of my Ukranian friends made some. I wasn't really hungry, but it was so tantalizing, so I had a bowl. So, we were all talking about how, growing up, we would say we were full from supper, but of course have room for dessert; how everyone has a dessert stomach. Then, we talked about how we all have borshch stomachs, because both i and another guy there had already eaten, but could make room for borshch. Let me just give you an idea of what's in it:
beets (obviously)
potatoes (pretty sure they're in everything here)
tomato paste, or something tomato
basil/spices
other delicious things

and add sour cream to make it pink and extra delicious.

So, i advise all people of the world to make yourself some borshch to experience the satisfaction of filling your borshch stomach, which, like me before two days ago, you may have not even known to exist!

Nida

Today we went to Nida, a little town on the Curonian spit. If you don't know what it is, you must not be familiar with Lithuania. [dry laughter]. Anyway, if you go back in time on my blog to a post called "The Place," you will see a map of Klaipeda, and the Curonian spit is the awkward bit of land that stands between the city and the Baltic Sea. We climbed the sand dunes and laid out and read for about two hours. It was fantastic.

ALso, I discovered a cheap alternative to Nutella called Finetti. I'm about to have some on bread with banana for dinner, so I'll have to let you know how it goes!!

I am excited for all the students to be on campus. right now it's just student leaders (like RA's and the students who have been with us our whole trip so far), and us Americans, and a freshmen. I met a lot of people on my hall yesterday. There were these boys who were just going around to all the kitchens to see if there was anyone to meet there. I thought that was pretty brave. Our kitchen/lounge is huge and wonderful. We have three stove tops and a few sinks, and plenty of cupboard space! How cool! Already yesterday, people were cooking for eachother and I had tea with my friend Oksana, her roomate, and my roomate Tanya. I also met a guy named Dima who is rooming with three other guys i know already on my hall. He looks a lot like a boy in our Study Abroad group, so the first time i saw him, i just walked right past him after making eye contact, then i thought to my self, i don't think that's Bjorn! So i turned back and introduced myself. I was rather embarrassed. but he was understanding, and several other people would comment on how Dima looked like Bjorn, so i felt better :)

We had a little bit of a Lithuanian Language session, so that was good to see in print some of the words people were teaching me as i went along. I'm really excited to have the lady who was teaching us as my teacher all semester. she is enthusiastic and patient.

Well, we have to go to the acropolis, which is just the big mall, to get visa photos for our russian visas! So I'm off! Iki! [later]

some photos

probably my favorite statue i've ever seen. this is the poet who wrote the lithuanian national anthem.



the only picture i could take at the KGB museum. here, i also quickly proved that i am an easy crier :) or perhaps the only one not desencitized by violent movies. or maybe just the only one who took russian literature last semester.



The president Dalia grybauskaite's palace.



The exquisite cathedral at the University of Vilnius.



a statue by a student at UofV



The cathedral that Napoleon wanted to take back to Paris.



In lithuania, when people get married, the groom carries the bride over a bridge and they will put a lock on the bridge and throw the key in the river. i want to do this.



Trakai.



My friend Oksara and I in Trakai.



:)

Arrived!

We were descreasing altitude, and I am staring out of my window mesmerized by normal things -- a huge quary, a rail yard. Obviously, everything looks beautiful from above, but I was particularly entranced because these weren't just a quary and a rail yard -- this was a Lithuanian quary and a lithuanian rail yard. I'm also reasonably sure that I saw a house that my dad and I had just seen about 48 hours ago on Google Earth. White squarish with a blue roof. WOw.

God is awsome. Not only did he make these:



but litterally every thing went smoothly. I kept expecting something to go awfully wrong, but I met a bunch of kids heading to Vilnius with me at Chicago, plane left on time, I was able to sleep on the plane (thanks to tylenol pm!) and I met the lady next to me named Maria who didn't speak any English. And I got all my bags. Literally nothing bad happened. And now I'm in Lithuania!

Before we got on the plane from Warsaw to Vilnius, I overheard a man saying he was going to a University in Klaipeda, (which, by the way, I finally learned how to pronounce! CLAY-pe-dah) so I asked if he was going to LCC (I"m pretty sure there is not another university in the city). And he was! His name is Asher. He is from Iran. He became a Christian and left the country so he could study the bible. His family is Zorastrian. He's thirty-one and starting his bachelor's degree. He's very excited to spend time in a Christian environment. How cool! I realized how much i appreciate having grown up in an envirionment that nurtured my faith instead of not being able to talk about it without fear of being killed. He is going to be couch surfing until orientation starts in like 4 days. Hopefully I will see him at school!

So, for now, the US study abroad students are going to be in Vilnius for three days. Orientation starts on the 26th, and classes start on the 29th.

For tonight, we have dinner paid for us! Great! We're staying at a very lovely hostel, where I'm sitting right now :)

Weather: chilly, grey skies.
Status: tired, but overjoyed about where I'm at and the fact that everything is going so well! Praise God!
Favorite part of the day: Clouds.I did some meditating on the water cycle on the plane. We drink the same water that has been on the earth since Adam and Eve, the Ancietn Egyptians, Abe Lincoln... etc.
Lithuanian words I've learned:
Labas = hello
Achu = thank you [bless you!]
Polish word I learned:
[I have no clue how to spell it but it sounds like:] jin-COO-yay = thank you.