Dreams I Dream for You.

This morning I was listening to my iPod as I rode the bus to work.  "Dreams I Dream for You," an old Avalon song was playing.  It was a single that was never released for radio play.  The lyrics struck a chord as I listened to it thinking about the context of this move across the ocean.  I was (of course) almost in tears as I stepped off the bus at Kretingos 36. 

Here are the lyrics...

You taste the tears
You're lost in sorrow
You see your yesterdays
I see tomorrow
You see the darkness
I see the spark
You know your failures
But I know your heart

(Chorus:)
The dreams I dream for you
Are deeper than the ones you're clinging to
More precious than the finest things you knew
And truer than the treasures you pursue

Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you

You see your shame
But I see your glory
You've read one page
I know the story
I hold a vision
That you'll become
As you grow into the truth
As you learn to walk in love

(Chorus)
Let the old dreams die
Like stars that fade from view
Then take the cup I offer
And drink deeply of
The dreams I dream for you

The journey to Lithuania has been a long and difficult one at points along the way.  Not the trip overseas or even the process of applying for and getting the position, but the path God has taken me on to get me to the place where I was ready to accept this opportunity that came my way.  I am so so so very grateful that God didn't give up on me, but was with me all the way to this amazing point in my life.  I don't know what's next, but I want to continue to "drink deeply of the dreams He dreams for me!"

A trip to Nida!

I was invited by Veslava, one of my RDs, to join her in a trip to Nida on Saturday.  It was my first "trip" since arriving to Klaipeda.  I should have asked a few more questions about what this trip would entail.  I thought it was a little tourist town filled with shops.  I was partly right.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - featuring a large sand dune and a gorgeous beach.  I wasn't really dressed to climbing a sand dune or making the trek across the spit to enjoy the beach...I did both though!  My legs & feet were throbbing by the end, but that was ok.  I had a wonderful time getting to know Veslava better and thoroughly enjoyed the view from the top of the sand dune! 

Veslava and me on top of the dune.

To get to Nida we walked to the ferry that took us across the bay to the spit.  We then rode a bus for about an hour down to Nida.  On the way there we were under an open window and enjoyed a lovely breeze.  On the trip back the bus was so full that people stood in the aisle for the hour long trip - we were thankful to have gotten on early enough to grab a seat! 

I LOVE this photo that Veslava took.  :)

Another update...

Student Life comes back a week or so before the faculty do at LCC.  We do our training a bit earlier because student leaders arrive a week or so before school starts.  It's been great to be here a bit early - I've had time to get settled and see some things in the city before the beginning of the school year rush hits.

Thursday we had another birthday in the student life department.  Paul, our new chaplain celebrated his 54th birthday.  The Staves and I took him out to dinner to celebrate - hwo could we not?!  I mean, who wants to celebrate their birthday alone in a new country?  We went to a restaruant in town named "El Dorado."  It was a nice outdoor cafe with good service and great food!  I got to try to Lithuanian delicacy "Kepta Duona su Suriu" - which is rye bread cut in strips and then fried.  They put a sauce of melted cheese and mayonaise on it. It's very tasty! 

Kepta Duona su Suriu

My entree with dinner was a chicken with shrimp sauce.  It was delicious as well.  I appreciate the care that the restaraunts here put into making the dishes so pretty with how they arrange the food.  The use a very basic, but tasty vinagrette dressing on their salads - so good!

My delicious dinner!

Friday evening a bunch of us from the student life office went to the beach for a bbq to celebrate another Student Life birthday!  Becky (one of myRDs) has a birthday this weekend, so she and her husband planned the birthday party for her.  It was great to spend more time chatting with my new co-workers and enjoying the peaceful evening at the beach.  Erik & Becky provided the meat and everyone else brought things to go with it.  I made a make-shift oriental cabbage salad.  It was very well liked by everyone -which we all know made me very happy!  :)

Here are some fun scenes from the beach...

This is the Stave's adorable little boy - Isak.

Susie at sunset on the Baltic Sea.

Our group from afar - enjoying the evening.

The writing in the sand...I'm here to stay!

The sunset...so lovely!

The rest of the first week!

I've been here a week already!  You may be wondering what I've been doing since I got here.  Well, here’s the Reader’s Digest condensed version…


Saturday- went to the market in the morning with my neighbor (another LCC employee), spent the afternoon napping, went shopping with the Metelaks in the late afternoon to a cross between a Lowes and a Target type store, and then in the evening I went to the Staves house for dinner with a few other single LCC women. Highlight of the day was playing Ivea, the Stave’s 4 year old daughter. She reminds me a bit of my niece Lily and is too sweet for words! This is our tasty dessert plate…

The white rectangle on the left is vanilla ice cream, on the top left is an apple cake, and the chocolate on the lower left is called "tinginys".  Tinginys is a traditional Lithuanian dessert that I'd love to learn how to make...it was very tasty!  :)

 

Sunday-went to church at City Church. This church is in Lithuanian, but they provide headphones with a translation of the sermon in English. After church we walked down to the beach and I got to put my feet in the Baltic Sea! We also enjoyed some ice cream purchased from a vendor on the street. The rest of the day I spent at my apartment watching a movie and playing online. It was a lonely afternoon and evening. Here are some photos of Sunday at the beach…

Me enjoying banana ice cream by the beach!

Meca (a student), me, and Diane M standing in the Baltic Sea!

 

Monday was my first official day of work! It was a similar day to what the first day of the year was always like at GC, so it felt comfortable. We went out for lunch and I had a Lithuanian pork dish. Here’s a photo of it…

Breaded pork tenderloin w/a mushroom sauce, boiled & then fried potato wedges, and salad.  This meal was 9 litas - which is about $3.60.

I spent most of Tuesday in the office reading through binders and documents – trying to figure out how to do my job! In the afternoon I had my first Community Life meeting. It was a lot fo fun to have the people that are going to work with me all together and to start talking about our year ahead. It was during that meeting that I had the first real sense that I am going to be totally ok here. I’m known it in my head and clung to God’s promise that it would be ok, but at that moment I looked around the circle and knew I was exactly where I’m supposed to be for this season! Tuesday evening I ventured to take the bus to the mall on the south side of town and do a little shopping. It was a successful and fun trip!

And today I spent in meetings most of the day at work. During lunch though I walked to the mini mall near campus and had lunch with one of my RDs, Veslava. It was really fun to get to know her a little better outside of the context of work meetings. After lunch we had a Student Life “get to know LCC/Lithuania” game time. It was also a birthday party for Ina, our counselor. Then we had a migration/student housing meeting where I was on such information overload, I about slammed my head into the wall! Thankfully my boss is very patient with my questions and she’ll explain it all to me!  And then for dinner I went to dinner with my other RD and her husband (Becky and Erik). Veslava came as well and we had a wonderful evening of eating (chimichangas-YUM) and getting to know each other. They are going to be great people to work with!

Ina with her birthday cake!

RDs - Veslava, Becky, and Becky's husband Erik.

a photo of me

This is one of my famous self portraits!  I am sitting at my computer desk by the window overlooking the square.  It was around 9:15 in the evening when I took this photo - notice how light it still is outside!  It's a lovely 66 degrees out and I am enjoying the sounds of the city. 

A few new things

While many things in Klaipeda are similar to what I see/do/experience at home, there are some funny differnet things as well.  Such as...

For some reason the toilet paper holders all have these little "dust covers" on them.

I have SERIOUS locks on my apartment door!  The top one has 5 dead bolts that come out!

They sell SQUIRRELS in the pet shop!  Squirrels...seriously people?!

The doorways between rooms have frames all the way around the door...I trip a LOT!

Rather than an escalator, there is a "people mover" like you see in an airport, except it is slanted and you just ride up!

I hardly know what to post!

There is SO much new and exciting stuff that I'm experiencing these first few days in Lithuania!  I hardly know what to post.  It's been packed full of so much that there is no way I can fill you in on all the details.  Sorry.  So, here are a few of the more meaningful/important/noteworthy moments from Friday.

I took a tour of the DeFehr Centras - the building where my office is located.  Here is a photo of it.  Please note that I still need to add a bit of the "Susie-touch" to it!  :)

* notice the GC portfolio sitting on the desk!  :)

I then took a tour of Neumann Hall - the residence hall on campus.  I really liked the facility and am anxious to hear from the RDs this week about how it's used by students currently.  I have lots of ideas of programs that could be done there, but first want to hear what's working for them at this point.

I already wrote a post about my lunch with my landlady!  :)

I spent the afernoon and evening with Steve Metelak and his family.  Steve was the Director of Community Life (DCL) last year.  Since I will be taking over his role, it was good to begin establishing a relationship with him.  I think he'll be a very cooperative and supportive person to collaborate with this year.  He reminds me a of a combination of 3 men I know.  He is built like/moves like/dresses like Tim Demant - the AD at GC.  His eyes/profile/wisdom/compassion/care for others reminds me of Charles Buller - a friend/former pastor from my church back home.  And his smile reminds me of Jake Pavelka - ABCs most recent Bachelor!  OK, so I don't actually KNOW Jake, but I saw a lot of him on tv this winter!  :)

The Metelak's mentor a young gal from the local orphanage.  She was at the apartment with us on Friday.  She's a precious gal - her eyes are bright and full of innocence and love for people.  She was a little shy with me at first, but began to open up to me more as the evening went on - even giving me a big hug when we dropped her off at the orphanage at the end of the evening.  I cried a little as I left the orphanage with Steve.  It's such a cold and ugly looking place - a building leftover from the Soviet's use.  Steve assured me that it is nice inside and that she gets good care.  I kept thinking of my nieces back home who are about that age and what it would be like for them to be at a place like that.  I plan on getting to know this gal better as the year goes on and others at the orphanage as well.

I think I'll end her for now...more is on the way for sure!  :)