Disappointment

This week was fall break.  I had a trip planned to France to visit my niece who is with YWAM just outside of Paris this year.  Given the policial situation in France due to the the government's changes to the retirement system and the strikes/traffic problems caused by it, I cancelled my trip.  I was totally bummed about this change of plans, but felt that staying in Klaipeda was the best thing for me to do.

After some prodding from my supervisor that I really "HAD to get out of town" I decided to take a couple of days and go to Riga, Latvia for a few days during the middle of the week.  I took the bus to Riga on Tuesday morning.  When I got to town, I dropped my bags at my hotel "Radi Un Draugi" and went off in search of some food. 

The Radi Un Draugi

During my quest for food I found a fun, modern, pretty urban looking restaurant called K|I|D in Old Town.  I wasn't super hungry, but knew I needed to get something good in me.  I had a Roman Salad - romaine lettuce, smoked chicken, artichokes, croutons, and a creamy pineapple dressing...quite tasty!  

The Roman Salad 

After eating the salad I walked around town a bit.  I was SO excited to see some of the sights of the Old Town area....quaint shops, beautiful old buildings, fun narrow little streets to explore...a great couple of days were ahead of me!

House of Blackheads - SO ornate!

The cobblestone streets of Old Town

St. Peter's Church - so tall I didn't even get it all in the photo!

After about an hour or so of walking around town and taking these photos I realized that I needed to use the restroom.  Since most public toilets are pay-to-use and my hotel was just a few blocks away I decided to go back to the hotel for a few minutes...maybe freshen my make up, check facebook, and then head back out. 

WRONG!  I got back to the hotel and realized that I either had come down with a pretty bad case of food poisoning or the stomach flu or whatever - it was something that turned my digestive system upside down and inside out!  I spent the rest of my 2 days in Riga in my hotel room...chills, stomach cramps, various bodily functions that I won't discuss, and slept for hours and hours.  It was not the get away I had planned.  :(

Not sure what the rest of my break holds, but can say without a doubt that this has been my most disappointing fall break ever!



Food is art...

I really appreaciate the work that restaurants put into making food look so wonderfully appealing here in Lithuania.  Here are a couple photos from some recent meals out...

Pepper steak, baked potato, and veggies from Kurpiai - the jazz club down the street. 

 

Fried potato rounds with roasted veggies from the pizzeria in Friedricho Pasazas.

Naglis-Adakris Palangos

This evening I went to a basketball game!  Luke Zeller is a former Indiana Mr. Basketball and a former Notre Dame basketball player.  He is now playing for the Lithuanian team, Naglis-Adakris Palangos, which happens to practice and play their games in the LCC gymnasium.  Luke is also a friend of my friend, Bryce Bow.  Bryce "introduced" us via email last month and we have been trading emails ever since then.  And then today I finally had the time to go to a game to see him play.  

The game was fun to watch...lots of excitement in the crowd, some great shots, and a down to the wire finish - which unfortunately Luke's team did not win.  :(  I personally enjoy the games that are close like that over a blow out!  

The oddest part, other than sitting entirely alone at the game, was the fact that everything was in Lithuanian, not English.  I'm used to all LCC events being in English, but this was not because it was a Lithuanian professional sporting event, not a school sponsored event.  I need to take a Lithuanian with me to the next game so that I can at least figure out what the words to the cheers/chants are.  Also, the refs wear orange and black instead of the black & white striped shirts that I am used to!

Luke is in the blue next to #42.  You can see the ref in his black & orange shirt to the left of the basket.  Also, the guy in the front center with the blurred "master-card" logo on his shirt is also a ref.  All the jerseys had several different brand logos on them.

Here's the team in a huddle during a time out.  Luke is # 40.

Eat, Pray, Love.

Last night I went to the late movies with 2 of my favorite faculty gals - Leah & Teresa!  The movie going experience was a bit different than back home.  Things like...assigned seating, alcohol, and a full coffee bar available. The movie was in English with subtitles in Lithuanian, which made it enjoyable for me!  :)  I guess most American movies are like that - except for animated films which are compeltely dubbed over in Lithuanian. 

We went and saw "Eat, Pray, Love."  Several friends had said that they weren't that impressed by it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!  The gals and I were discussing this differing opinion and wondered if it is because I am currently living overseas and that impacts my perception of things.  Hmmm.  I'll have to ask my friends back home what it was that they didn't care for. 

A self portrait of Leah, me, & Teresa in the theater!  :)

A festival in town!

This morning I woke up to hear a bit more noise on the streets than I normally do.  When I looked out the window I saw that a few streets over there appeared to be a festival of some sort going on.  I decided to walk over and explore it for myself!  There were many vendors out selling all sorts of handmade items and goodies.  Here are some photos of what I saw...

The local newspaper had a "face in hole" of the front page of the newspaper.  :)

They were decorating a tree shaped stand with leaves and then writing on/hanging paper leaves on the tree in the center of the street.

 A booth of assorted items...kinda flea marketish.

Amber jewelry for sale.

Decorated ginger cookies

 Wooden untensils

Slippers...lots & lots of slippers!

 Dried fish.

 Colorful jewelry

A youth band playing on a stage near the square.

 A cute little coffee car!

 Tasty & beautiful pastries

Warm fur lined hats!

Huge slabs of bacon!

Welcome Home Baby Greta & her family!!!

Kim and Andrew had their baby girl last week in Vilnius.  Greta Louise was born on October 6th.  She was a couple of weeks early, so her lungs were a little weak and she was in the neonatal unit for a week.  The Student Life department had their monthly social gathering this week and decided to make some decorations for the Stave family's arrival back in Klaipeda at the end of the week.  Here are some photos of us working on the banner and my Community Life gals hanging it in the Stave's apartment...

 Working on the banner!

Margarita is SO talented! 

The BEAUTIFUL banner! 

The banner and LOTS of balloons!

My crazy Community Life gals!  :)

An evening with Levi!

The only other family in my building is another family from LCC - Brooke & Dariusz.  They both have birthdays in October.  A few weeks ago they asked me if I'd like to babysit for their 5 month old son (Levi)some evening so that they could go out to celebrate their birthdays.  Tonight was the night I got to hang out with little Levi.  We played, giggled, and listened to music on my iPod.  After about an hour or so he started "growling".  I was worried that he might start fussing, so I started walking/rocking him aroudn the apartment.  Within 5 minutes he was sound asleep.  I lounged on the couch the rest of the evening with him resting on my chest.  I used that time to just rest and to pray for people.  It was a delightful evening!  :)

Self portrait time w/ Levi!   

He loves that binkie! 

 Big bright eyes!

 Sleeping babe.

 I promise that I wasn't sleeping...just resting my eyes.  I DID take the photo afterall, so that should convince you! :)



More Supper @ Susie's!

The Res Life team from Neumann East came for dinner this week.  We had Pizza Rice Casserole - a "More with Less" cookbook favorite! 

 The Neumann East staff and their fearless leader - Becky!

The Neumann East staff brought me a flowering plant!  :)

Friday night fun with my First Year Seminar students!

Friday evening I met up with some of the students in my First Year Seminar group.  We went bowling and then came back to my place for dinner.  Here are some photos from our time together!

Bowling balls! 

A little bashful about getting their photos taken! 

The other team AKA: the Losers! 

My team AKA: the Winners! 

The Losers - the three on the right are students of mine.  The one on the left is a friend of one.

My team!  My student assistant is next to me in the photo and the guys are students in my class.

Gathered around my table after a wonderful meal of spaghetti & garlic bread.  You can see the highlight of the meal on the green plate...fresh baked homemade chocolate chip cookies!  :)

Another Supper @ Susie's! :)

The Karklu RAs came for dinner too!  They were SO much fun!  :)  I made Pakistani Kima...yummm!  Most people are used to having applesauce with a meal with me, but these sweet kids just gave me a confused look and asked me what it was for.  I explained that we usually eat it as a side dish.  They gave me a funny look, shrugged their shoulders and said it was worth a try.  I don't think any of them fell in love with it, but at least they tried it!  :)  I think that here it is most often used like applebutter is at home - to spread on bread.

The Karklu team with their fabulous RD - Veslava (in the pink in the middle of the photo) and me! 

Intercultural Olympics!

Last weekend we celebrated the LCC Intercultural Olympics!  Students broke into groups by country and participated in light hearted Olympic events...pillow fights, slip n slide, etc...

 The welcome banner!

The running of the flags during the "opening ceremonies" 

Pillow fights on a "log" 

Slip n Slide fun! 

Throw an egg at Niko - he's protected!

Wheelbarrow race...Lithuania's in the lead! 

The beauty of LCC!!!