Friday night dinner

Friday night after work I had a few friends over for dinner.  Most had never been to my place for a meal, so it was fun to welcome them into my home.  We had a tasty meal of "haystacks" followed by warm chocolate chip bar cookies.  The group stayed for about 3 hours just chatting and telling stories around the table.  It was so much fun to get to know these friends better and to share a meal with them.  I hope to do more of this sort of entertaining as the semester goes on! 

My friends - Mackie, Deborah, Robin, Jennifer, and Jerry.

KVN

All year I've been hearing about a campus event called "KVN".  Everyone said it is a "must attend" event on campus.  The reports were true...it was a great event and I am so glad I didn't miss it!

What is KVN?  It is actually a Russian television show.  KVN stands for "Клуб Весёлых и Находчивых" or in English, "Club of the Happy and Inventive".  It is a comedy competition between 2 teams - some prepared material and some improve stuff.  Our event was a live student competition based on the television show.  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!  The skits had me laughing so hard that I gasped for air.  The students were SO creative!  I loved it! 

The best part for me was that the humor was genuinely funny, but not crass.  I am so used to people pushing the envelope or quickly going to the sexual innuendo or inappropriate joke for a cheap laugh.  These students were really creative and truly funny without resorting those methods.  I was so pleased and proud - especially since many of our students are not Christians, but were just using good judgement.  It made me happy to be a part of a community that gave such things some fore thought.   

 During one of the skits

The team from Moldova...such funny people! 

Team "Eric Kasper" who won the competetion!  :)

Student Life January Gathering

As I have mentioned before, the Student Life department has a social gathering each month.  We believe in working AND playing together!  :)  This month we were all attending a video lecture on a Tuesday evening at 7:30 and decided to just all gather at before hand and have dinner together.  Several of us spent the afternoon making a big batch of spaghetti, some salad and garlic bread for the meal.  We enjoyed the meal as an entire group and anwered some questions from Becky's box of random discussion starters...it was a fun evening! 

Here are some photos from our clean up time...

 Kim & Alex packing up the leftover spaghetti.

Ina enjoying the last bites of the Gooey Butter Cake! 

Becky enjoying some laughter while washing dishes!

(I LOVE this picture!) 

Vaida and me

Another Susie self portrait shot!  :)

Ticket to Ride

A new favorite pastime of mine has become playing the game "Ticket to Ride."  I had heard about the game from friends back in the states, but never actually played it until I moved to Lithuania.  My friends, Kim & Andrew, have the game and we play it a lot...and I do mean a lot!  I've been back three weekends this semester and we've played multiple games each weekend.  I still haven't won, but I have hope that one day!  :)

Kim & Andrew 

me & Bethany 

And a bonus of going over to the Staves to play games is that I get to cuddle with sweet little baby Greta!  :)

Dolce Vita and Max Coffee

Friday evening I went out for dinner with our new Spiritual Formations Coordinator - Bethany.  We tried the new Italian restaurant in town, Dolce Vita, which actually ended up not being Italian and much as just a nice restaurant.  We did order the few Italian items on the menu, so it was an Italian meal for us - but there are plenty of other non-Italian menu options there as well.

The meal began with three types of bread and a bowl of seasoned olive oil to drizzle on the bread. 

 Spinach and three cheese ravioli - topped with a chicken sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and arugula.

The appetizer of bruscetta came at the END of the meal.  It was delicious!   

After dinner we went to Max coffee for drinks and more chatting.  I had a caramel macchiato.  It was highly caffeinated and extremely sweet...a perfect ending to a great dinner!  :)

A not-so-great ending to the dinner was the big dog who came into the coffee shop.  He didn't scare me or anything, but I had a hard time seeing a big dog walking around in the coffee shop - putting his paws up on the counter and such...guess this American still has more adjustments to make over here!  (He was actually a very pretty and friendly dog.)

Kazakhstan Independence Day

On Friday we celebrated Kazakhstan's Independence Day.  Their actual ID was December 16th.   We were in the midst of finals that week, so we waited until now to celebrate.  I always love going to these celebrations.  This one was of particular interest to me though, as some dear friends are in the midst of adopting a precious little boy from there.  :) 

The Kazakhstan flag being raised. 

Several of our Kazak students singing their national anthem. 

The Kazak guys answering questions from the group.

Some tasty Kazak treats made by the students. 

The Kazak gals in full costume! 

I LOVE that students bring their national costumes with them to school!

Our six Kazak students...a great group of kids!

A BIG treat of the evening was the girls doing a traditional Kazak dance!

A final hurrah!

The day before I left for home I went shopping in Old Town with my dear friend, Deborah!  We walked around all sorts of shops and then ended at a cute little chocolate/coffee shop where we enjoyed some chocolates and coffee.  It was a wonderful way to spend my last day in Lithuania before the holidays.

me & Deborah!