A Few Good Walks

We've been having some great weather over here on the Baltic. PTL. Good enough for daily walks to the sea, shamelessly buying ice cream cones, and overall happy moods despite the "what the heck am I going to do with my life" crisis happening in my corner. 

I took that picture (^) at an intersection and got weird looks galore (because: - coat // + ice cream). Except at this point, weird looks are the norm.

Looking up, this is all I see. No clouds in sight.

Lots of people come down to the beach after school/work hours. It's a gathering place and I like it.

Sandy boardwalks.

  

On the way back, a big tractor came up behind me to clean the sidewalk. He gave me a sheepish smile, because he knew he was kicking me off the concrete for a while. I didn't mind, because I got to walk through the woods. #happyplace

Finally, his slow crawling tractor (would have been faster if it was a JD, because nothing runs like a Deere) passed by and I walked up the stairs over the bridge...

...to see a train going by. You can see the caboose wayyyy down there. If you would follow the left fork, you would find your way to downtown Klaipeda.

Finally a sunset - almost gave a Midwest sunset a run for it's money. 

Thankful for walks like these.

File Under: My Bad

For the five or six of you who regularly check in, you might have recently noticed a lack of regular posts. File under: My Bad.

So many incredible things are happening. Incredible in the great-big-awesome kind of sense of the word. And when these incredible things happen, I just want to write and write and write about them - sharing the little details with you in an attempt to let you see what's going on through my eyes.

Except, when I finally sit down to write it all out, the stories and thoughts just seem long-winded and flat. And I HATE that because that's not how they are at all.

Take Valentines Day. I've sat down to write that at least three times and it still doesn't feel like I've really captured it. Not to mention I only took one picture, so I can't even speak through those.

Take Kaunas. Great weekend of exploring another Lithuanian city, or just kind of hopping from coffee shop to cookie shop back to coffee shop. Except, we did wander through Old Town and we did step into the most beat up old church only to see pews still lining the sanctuary and crayon-colored pictures strung up on the walls. Incredible.

Take my 'merican night. Dropping 21 litas on one meal never felt so good. I hadn't eaten beef in 6 weeks, and I cannot express how delicious that thick burger and fries tasted. Chalk that one up to simple things in life.

Take volunteering at the Baby House. How can my heart feel so beat up but so full of love at the same time? I can go from near tears to gut-busting laughter with those littles...stories to come.

Or take today. Going into Old Town to do homework only to spend at least half of the time if not more in an incredible conversation. A conversation that made me feel about 100 different ways and challenged and gave hope and food for thought. Top tenner for sure.

Take that last thing, today, and bring it back to that first thing I talked about...how it's so difficult to make these things come alive for you as they are for me but how badly I want that to happen. I try and type like I see and talk, but lately it seems like a different language. A roommate of a friend remarked that when she speaks English, she doesn't feel like she can be herself. That's how I feel with this little space...at least recently.

I wish I could sit with you and just talk about it. Have my pictures all lined up in a cute little Prezi and flip through them like I did with my church after coming back from Nepal. Or better yet, lay them all out on the coffee table with hot mugs and have all afternoon to catch up. Some day.

While writing, this song and this song and this song played.

Bas-ket-ballllllll

Imagine that title going to :23 of this Youtube clip. Get it Lil Bow Wow.

So we went to a basketball game today - the Klaipeda (remember, pronounced Clay-peh-da) Neptunas. Short recap: extremely tall men on the court, no calls on traveling by the refs, rowdy sections of fans with borderline fist-fights. Basketball is a serious thing over here, people.

We rode the bus to the stadium and got to our seats right before tip-off. The men were so so so tall, their kneecaps probably come up to my hip. It looks painful to have to walk with such long shins. Have you ever thought that? Anywho, they were tall and the rivalry was pretty big. Go big blue.

Let me give you a little bit of background on the dancers. They come out at every timeout - but not halftime - to do their little pump up dances. We think they save money by buying half-outfits. If you look closely in this picture, you can see one of the dancers standing on the basketball rim, doing a scorpion. There is also a girl hanging through the hoop. What.

Now I'm back at LCC. Ready to sucker punch homework in the face...kind of like how the Kaunas fan club was ready to tackle the Neptunas fan club. That got real.

First Coffee Break in Lithuania

Today I finally went to a coffee shop. Sat. Drank a mocha. Read a little. Talked more and it was great. After a slow morning (and lets be real, if you read yesterday's post, a dull evening), the coffee break came in clutch.

We met an interesting woman on the way - too long of a story for now a little sad as well so maybe not for today.

After a walk into town we settled at Coffee Port. In coming to Lithuania, I had the goal of being a regular. I'm thinking this place might stand as a contender.

They don't speak a lot of english - and I kind of get hesitant about the whole ordering thing but that will just make me more memorable for my "regular status", right?

I feel like this is always the shot. Coffee design in the foreground, something else, in this case Joel, in the background #nailedit

And we did actually study. But it was more of the relaxing reading type thing rather than the frantic cramming that quickly became my habit last semester.

Jim Gaffigan & Lithuanian Donuts

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been connecting with people back home (big hugs). Most ask:  What's it like? What's different? I've gathered a few observations, and while I may sound a little down about them (like, say, clothing)...really, I'm fine about it.

Since we're talking about clothing...while I feel like I'm looking presentable for my standards, there's not really a comparison. Vests (new favorite thing pre-Lithuania) aren't really a thing here now and neither is athletic wear. High heeled boots, fur on coats, cute sweaters, super tight jeans, leggings & tights, skirts and scarves are everywhere. In the meantime, I'm rockin' my slightly skinny jeans, Goodwill men's flannel & flat, plain brown boots. Yee-haw. 

Laptops are a complete no-go in classes. Teachers just don't allow them (genius, my attention and participation has skyrocketed). Also, lined notebook paper? Nearly impossible to find. I'm working with the graph style and had to pay 11.99 litas which rests at a hefty $6 for one notebook. You better believe this cheapskate is going to get by on one and only one notebook for the semester.

As far as content, classes are about the same difficultly as Taylor. It varies of course. Intro to Lithuanian will kick my butt, but hey, what's new with a foreign language doing that to me? Prof Klotz, if you're reading this...it's not only Spanish.

Every time you go into the school's gym, it costs 1 lita. Also, it seems like there's a prerequisite of wearing fairly tight clothes and rocking an already incredibly tall & fit bod. Yes, Jim Gaffigan.

In restaurants, you pay for water...comes in a bottle, no refills. Also, tipping is only 1-2 litas. 

Adaptors and converters are tricky things to navigate. Fingers crossed for the survival of my Apple products. 

We walk and we walk and we walk. This aspect is one of my favorites - exploring the city is a definite highlight. Downtown is about 15/20 minutes away and Old Town requires an additional 10/15. Walk another direction, take 30 minutes and you're on the beach. Now, if the sun would make an appearance, that would be AWESOME.

Temps are in the teens most times and while that may seem okay to the Midwesterners out there, it's a different ballgame here. Because we walk so much and for relatively long periods of time (as in, longer than building to car to building) it has that much longer to sink into your bones.

The produce section and I (or is it me...Mom?) are becoming the best of friends. Why, you ask? Because I can't read anything on the prepackaged foods. However, this new friendship also includes the bakery, conveniently located in very close proximity to my fruit and veggie friends. Get at me, Lithuanian donuts.

1.19.14 in Pictures

Tracks.

Ship. 

Canal.

Old warehouse (read: club).

School.

Expectations

Disclaimer: a work in process.

There were very few expectations I held before this semester. As I would talk about living and studying here, some said eastern Europeans were cold and distant. In preparation for living with us Americans, they most likely got ready for loud, rich and crazy. Both arguably hold a little bit of truth.

We have only been here for a little while, right? So, disclaimer, this is writing from relatively few experiences. In a very specific kind of environment. With people from all over. Except, I can already say that the "cold and distant" thing isn't at all true - at least for my generation. Perhaps it's too soon, but I have a hunch it's not.

Stereotypes have never particularly bothered me - stereotype as Google defines it, at least. If anything, I felt they helped me understand where another individual came from. Using them as context clues, maybe? 

After some reflection, my indifference is most likely a result of never experiencing anything seemed too harsh or off the mark, unlike the case for so many others.

Earlier this semester, Taylor streamed the Q Women and Calling conference. In an open discussion, one of the women voiced her opinion that stereotypes strip an individual of their uniqueness & individuality. At the time, I just thought that, well, if the stereotype was true, it was true and that's that. No harm done. 

Earlier this summer, I distinctly remember a conversation a few of us had on the porch of Lick-a-Dee Splitz where my nonchalant view of stereotyping was challenged. Rightly so. Even earlier than that night, there were a few situations in which I assumed things about those I was working with, only be proven completely and utterly wrong. 

So the past few months seem to be culminating into quiet build-up of coming to break down my stance on stereotyping. The assumptions I make about people are often inaccurate and unjust. They keep me from seeing what is deeper and what is true and from forming friendships that change the way I see the world. Always a good thing, I think, to keep developing the way you see.

The First of Many Baltic Walks

So far, on a scale of 1 to mom-status of taking pictures, I would say I'm at about a 2 at best. Believe me, I've brought my camera along lots of places, but it just doesn't hit me to take it out and capture.

We went to the Baltic today, which was fun. Brought my camera. Used it.

After my 1:15 class a few of us decided to take a walk down to the coast to catch some of the sunset. After a 30-minute walk the sidewalk opened up to this...what.the.sea.

The walk wasn't that bad, either. It's a busy road, but on both sides are beautiful forests all covered with snow. Then the sidewalk opens up to this: 

In related news, my boots met the Baltic.

Look, Mom! Two of my roommates and me - Ariel & Melissa. 

Now that the whole school-thing has been reintroduced, syllabi distributed and the fact that my desk is a mess, the reality that we're going to be here for another 4+ months is starting to hit. At this point I'm excited about the opportunity to sink into a place and live instead of flying by to catch the high points.