How has a month passed so quickly? It felt like just yesterday I began orientation and now I’m sitting in a coffee shop reminiscing about my students who all left yesterday. I can’t believe it’s already been four weeks and what a busy four weeks it has been!
Since I last posted, SLI was crammed with events every day. Sunday I went to church which thankfully takes place on campus so I don’t have to worry about walking an hour across town like I had to do when I lived in Sarajevo. December and January church services were an adventure indeed with hiking through snow. After church, a group of us went into Old Town to grab lunch and I then met up for coffee with a recruiter at LCC named Jennie. It was nice to talk to someone who is going to be a part of my semester here and she told me all about the adventures I’m going to have with my study abroad class. Let me tell you, I am so excited to go to Latvia, Estonia, and Russia.
Monday was the last day of Tea and Games where all the kids and RAs gather to play board and card games and it was always such a highlight for everyone.
A group of the RAs went to the beach on Tuesday! I was expecting cold, Baltic Sea weather and wore a cardigan, but lo and behold, it was warm and sunny! Which put a mild damper on my day for two reasons:
1. I forgot my swimsuit and
2. I forgot sunscreen which led to a nasty burn.
But overall the day was enjoyable and I hope the weather stays nice until September so I can go swim in the Baltic when I return!
The talent show happened on Wednesday which was so much fun! I couldn’t believe the incredible talent that these students had — we had students sing, play instruments, and dance! I also somehow got myself wrangled into rapping a segment of “My Shot” from the musical Hamilton with one of the teachers and her daughter. Needless to say, I managed to surprise everyone with my apparent “flow” and I didn’t have the heart to tell them that this musical is the only thing I’ll ever manage to rap again.
Then came Thursday which was the beginning of goodbyes as two of my students moved out and headed home. In order to hang with everyone before they left, I organized an ice cream party for Second West which was wonderful as all my girls and one boy (out of three – I consider that a success) came to hang out and eat ice cream. We talked about our time at SLI and each took turns singing national anthems (we heard Poland, Netherlands, Lithuania, and USA and we wanted to hunt down more students from the other countries). Four girls on my floor from the Netherlands bought me silver four-leaf clover earrings and told me that “each heart on the flower represents each of our hearts with you” and I nearly cried then and there.
And then it was check out day! Yesterday was hectic as everyone started to pack up and head out and there was hardly a second to process anything other than “hurry up! Clean you rooms! Did you forget anything? Okay, safe travels!” I felt like these kids’ mother as I told them to scrub the toilet and make sure to look under their bed for a lost shoe. But eventually, the halls were emptied except for a few students who remained for the weekend to see Sea Featival in Klaipėda. I packed up the last remnants of clothing and filled boxes to stash in storage until fall and then moved myself up to the third floor with the other RAs.
Later that evening, we headed down to Old Town to Sea Fest which has been so much fun! All sorts of vendors are out – from home goods to jewelry to foods – and it’s near impossible to ignore those pretty earrings and just keep walking. But it’s so cool to see boats from all over Europe lined up in the canal and listen to street musicians while munching on kebabs.
And this all leads us to today where I’m back at Sea Fest! Hannah and I set out earlier this afternoon to check out some vendors and then she had to meet up with some friends, so I decided to grab coffee and updated the world about what’s been going on in this city in Eastern Europe. We’re meeting up with the RAs who remain soon and then I have to head back to the dorms to back for Bosnia! I can’t believe it’s tomorrow and I get to see my host family after four years of being away. I just hope I can brush off my Bosnian and actually form a proper sentence. At least I can order coffee in Lithuanian so I mean, that’s gotta count for something.
Anyway, I’m off to meet up with the rest of the motley crew.
Until Sarajevo!
Kate
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