A final night in Lithuania

The night before I left for the summer in the US I arranged an evening of fun.  A group of us went out for dinner at Chili Pica and then back to the Ponds for games and fellowship.  It was a tremendously good time!  Classes were done, so we were all much more relaxed than we often are during the school year with papers to grade, events to plan, etc.  It was a fairly large group that sort of came and went throughout the evening.  We ended the evening holding hands around the Ponds living room and praying for the summer ahead...such a perfect way to end the year!

A shot of the dinner crew at one point...many more came and went throughout the evening though.

Maxine, John, Leah, Veslava, me, and Bethany.

Thanks to Jerry L for the photo I stole off his facebook page!  :)

I left for the summer ready to see friends in the states and confident in the decision to return to LCC at the end of the summer.  I wasn't so confident about where I'd be living when I returned, but that's a story for another post...

Cinco de Mayo!

The past 5 or so years at GC I have hosted a "Cinco de Mayo" party to celebrate a bit of Mexico's history.  I decided this year that I would do it here in Lithuania.  I invited several of the expats over for an evening of delicious Mexican food and some educational information about this holiday!  It was a fabulously fun evening! 

Guests included Leah, the Dintamans, the Staves, the Ponds, John, Robin and her mom who was visiting from Kansas, and Marlene.  Such a great group of friends!

Graduation!

Graduation was a wonderful event! I always enjoy graduation and the excitement of this rite of passage for students. One thing that I especially enjoyed about the LCC tradition was the role that flowers play in the celebration. Those who attend the ceremony bring flowers with them to give to the graduates along with their congratulations. It is fun to see the bouquets grow as the congratulations keep coming their way throughout the reception time.

Community Life end of the year gathering

The Community Life team and I gathered at my place for a brunch the week of finals so that we could spend one last time together and say our "see ya laters" to each other since 3 of our team will not be returning for the 2011-2012 school year.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship with one another!

The brunch spread!

My Team

Alex, Veslava, Olena, Becky, and Gabija

Gabija took this one with me and her little one, Emma, with the rest of the team.

Student Life end of the year gathering

One of our first student life gatherings this school year was a gathering at the beach to celebrate Becky's birthday.  It was only fitting that we ended the year there as well.  One evening during finals week we went to the beach and grilled a delicious dinner of shashlik (kebobs) with assorted chips and salads.  It was a great way to end our year together!

Sunset on the Baltic Sea...one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! 

 Kate crowded into the back of the Stave's station wagon.

 I had to put my feet in the sea - even though it was very cold!

Kim enjoying the shashlik!

 It was chilly on the beach so we huddled around the fire!

Student Life 2011-2012

Becky, Vaida, Olena, Margarita, Veslava, me, Alex, Bethany, Gabija, Kim, Mackie, and Ina

What a great group!

Faculty/staff farewell

The last week of school we have a faculty/staff gathering where we honor employees who have been at LCC for a significant amount of time and we also say farewell to those who are leaving us.  It's a bittersweet gathering.  As with any special occasion in Lithuania, flowers are a big part of the gathering.  Whether it was a single rose or a large bouquet, everyone who was honored received some flowers.  Those who were leaving received their LCC sash to take with them as a remembrance of their time spent in our community.

Bouquets of various sizes and colors - all lovely! 

Farewell to Mackie & Deborah

Farewell to Gabija and Jarrett

Farewell to Becky & Erik

 Farewell to Veslava

A close-up of one of the bouquets...so lovely!

Res Life end of the year party!

The last week of school the RDs planned a farewell party for the RAs.  I was happy that they invited me to be a part of their fun.  Here are some team photos of these wonderful young leaders!

Karklu RAs with their RD (Veslava - on the far right).

 Neumann East RAs with their RD (Becky - in the middle with the black top) and Erik (Becky's husband - on the far right).

 Neumann West RAs

The fabulous RD team and me!

Becky, Alex, me, and Veslava

Rumšiškės

The day after Easter is "Easter Monday" in Lithuania - a national holiday.  Since there was no work and it was the opening day, a bus load of LCCers went to Rumšiškės, an outdoor living history center near Kaunas, Lithuania.  Here are some photos from our day there.

me & Bethany as Easter eggs in the wagon. 

Marlene  :) 

Deborah & Mackie with some bunnies that they met!  :) 

Cardboard Easter eggs that children had decorated 

My lunch - a bratwurst and sauerkraut!  Yumm! 

The big pan that my lunch came from.Check out the ham hocks in there! 

  Lithuanian folk singing

  

Lithuanian folk dancing

There was a house filled with interesting wooden sculptures.  I'm not sure who the artist was or what it was all about since all the signage was in Lithuanian.  It was still interesting to look at even if I didn't fully understand it.

from the art house

maybe adam and eve in the garden?

another from the art house

Susie the butterfly

Easter Sunday

One problem with blogging months after an event has taken place is that details surrounding the event can get a little fuzzy.  That said, Easter was lovely.  I don't remember lots of details about it, but I do remember that I enjoy our church service, the brunch afterwards, and the wonderful Easter dinner that I had with friends that evening.  Here are a few photos...

Greta was all smiles as we played after church.  Love this little girl! 

Our Easter spread at the Dintamans on Easter evening 

 

Isak gives Greta a kiss as "Grandpa" Steve watches. 

Me and Deborah- my sister/mom

 Isak, me, and a basket full of fun

The Easter dinner gang (minus Kim who took the photo and Greta who was likely sleeping in her carseat).  Around the table: Marlene, me, Steve, Betsy, Ieva, Andrew, Deborah, and Mackie

Misc.

A few photos that aren't part of any big event, but seemed worthy of being shared with you all.  :)

Lattes at Max Coffee are a work of art! 

Bethany & me at the end of the year BBQ. 

Kim giving Adomas a gift for doing the lettering on the Student Life wall. 

 Ieva being silly at supper.  :)

Gorgeous flowers that Becky & Erik brought when they came for baked oatmeal.

Bakery Tour

In April the Career Development Center organized a trip to the Javine Bakery.  I got wind of it and quickly signed up to go along!  It was not what I expected, but was an educational and worthwhile trip none the less!  I expected a bakery where pastries are made.  Instead, this was a bakery where cookies, bagels, etc are made.  The production facilities did not seem as sterile as what I've seen in food production facilities in the US, but things were generally clean and the food produced tasted good.  :)

The logo for the Javine Bakery. 

 Bags upon bags of flour

Little crunchy bagels going by on the conveyor belt - the misshapen ones were thrown out. 

After they were baked

A worker stirring them to ensure the coating is well distributed

More cooking lessons

Vaida was kind enough to give us a second round of cooking lessons where she taught us to make balandeliai.  I must say that these are one of my favorite Lituanian dishes!  I could eat them on a regular basis and not grow tired of them!  :)

While at Vaida's I grew quite fond of her pets - Tymba and Razynka.  Razynka is a cat with good taste and Tymba is about the cutest thing you've ever seen!  :) 

 

Balendeliai (cabbage rolls) cooking on the stove.

 

Tymba 

Razynka wants some of my Coca-Cola Light!