As mentioned in my previous post, classes have begun which means my study abroad group is getting acquainted with Lithuania and the wonderful goodness of kepta duona! Here are some highlights of what’s been happening these past three weeks.
Day 1: I flew into Vilnius late afternoon and found myself back in a country where I had cell service! Which was good, because I couldn’t find the LCC employee who was picking up the study abroad students, but I was able to go on Facebook and figure out who it was. It was also fortunate that there was another student who had a tag on his suitcase, so I quickly met up with them before we headed out to the hostel. After dropping off my stuff (everyone who saw my suitcase was surprised I managed to bring one suitcase and a backpack, but I had to begrudgingly admit that I had a massive suitcase and boxes left in storage), myself, another student, and two interns grabbed coffee before we met up with the rest of the crew. I quickly found one of the students who I had been talking to over Facebook, as well as a George Fox student and one of the recruiters who also went to Fox! Once everyone was briefly acquainted, we piled into a bus and headed out to dinner.
Dinner was traditional Lithuanian food, meaning kepta duona, potato pancakes, and another potato dish where the potato is stuffed with meat and drizzled in butter and dill. All of it delicious and put nearly everyone in a mini food-coma. We all got to know our study abroad group (which will now be known as SALT – Study Abroad Lithuania) and after dinner, different groups headed out to either hike, get ice cream, or just sleep. I was one of the few who wasn’t jet lagged or missing luggage, which was wonderful.
Day 2: We got a tour of Vilnius! I was especially excited for this because the most interaction I had with Vilnius the first time was a bus from the airport to the train station. Old Town was lovely and I enjoyed getting to know my fellow students. After breakfast at a nearby coffee shop, we headed over to the KGB Museum where we learned about the Nazi and Soviet occupation of the country and Lithuania’s eventual independence in 1991. Once the tour was over, we split into small groups for lunch and an extended tour of Vilnius. We wandered up to a hilltop fort and then headed over to an interactive museum displaying Lithuania’s extensive history. After dinner was free time and we decided to use that time to wander around the city some more because the next day, we left for Klaipeda!
Day 3: Packed up and headed out for Klaipeda, but not before a few fun stops like Trakai Castle! It was a gorgeous day, so when we pulled up to a fortress/medieval castle on an island in the middle of a lake, all of us were quite excited. The fortress had been turned into a museum, so we all broke off into our own groups as we toured the grounds and yet again, I wished I was royalty. Once we were done touring, we had free time so a group of us rented paddle boats to paddle around the castle. This was probably the most fun part as we all tried to race – turns out, paddle boats don’t go very far. But we were all laughing and enjoying the warm weather. After we docked our boat, we grabbed ice cream and then boarded the bus for the drive to Klaipeda.
Arriving in Klaipeda was like returning home. It had only been a month, but once I saw familiar buildings, I started pointing and giggling like I did when I returned to Sarajevo. I only got more excited when they announced that I was going to be in the same dorm, just a floor above. I’ve only walked into my old room once so far so, so far so good. Later that evening, we all grabbed groceries and made dinner together which has since become a regular thing! Now that classes have started, it can be difficult to get all of us together, but this has become a favored event. Once I returned to my room, I met two of my roommates, Marija and Sofya, who are both from Ukraine and they invited me to watch a movie with them! We ended up watching a French movie, with English subtitles, but I had never felt so multi-cultural in my entire life.
Day 4: This was our “Get to Know Klaipeda” day! We had orientation and went over what to expect in this next semester, as well as dorm rules, followed by a city-wide scavenger hunt! I had strict instructions to not cheat, but I couldn’t resist pointing our group in the right direction whenever we started veering off track. We wrapped up our day by having a family dinner with the majority of SALT which has now become a weekly event!
Day 5: Despite the stormy weather, SALT headed to the beach town of Nida. We wandered around town in the rain and managed to trek up a sand dune, which caused Kinzie, one of the study abroad students, to wipe out. But we warmed ourselves up with hot coffee (or hot chocolate) and headed back to Klaipeda where ourselves and some of the other students at LCC huddled in the tiny TV room to watch a few episodes of Stranger Things.
Day 6: This was our last day of orientation as we headed out to Kretinga for church. It was a traditional service and none of us could see anything as we were all stuck behind massive pillars. But the church was pretty and I entertained myself by admiring the architecture. After church, we headed out to a restaurant/theme park/zoo (?) near Palanga called HBH. Here we had lunch and then spent some free time wandering the grounds and taking pictures with the sculptures that were scattered throughout the park., before we piled back into the bus and drove out to Palanga! Palanga was an adorable beach town and we treated ourselves to waffles that were dunked in chocolate and sprinkles.
The next day begun school which is where I’ll stop giving a day-by-day account, but I’ll give some highlights!
The Study Abroad group has had weekly family dinners, which is especially nice because I only see a few people in class due to our different majors. This is one time a week where we all get to eat and hang out and just ignore our homework for an hour or two.
I’ve shown the majority of the SALT kids where good coffee and food are and have also become a regular at one of the coffee shops here in Klaipeda. I may or may not have an addiction.
A group of us went to the Curonian Spit a few days ago and visited the aquarium/museum. We grabbed lunch to go and then took the ferry over so we could see some animals. The museum was built into an old marine fort and there were penguins and seals for us to see and I managed to buy my ticket in Lithuanian. I had no idea what I was saying, but I managed to do it successfully. Once we wrapped up at the museum, the groups split with half of us going to the beach and the other half heading home to do homework. My group dipped our feet in the Baltic (which was freezing. Autumn is in full swing here) and then headed home, but not before picking up pizza so we could have dinner while watching a movie.
There was a group who performed traditional Georgian music and dancing the other night which was incredible! We all had fun listening to the songs and watching the dancers leap and bound across the gym floor.
And that’s everything! More or less. I could give a lot more details, but I think that’s the important information. Next week we are heading out to Riga and Tallinn, which makes me so excited. More countries and cool new places!
Anyway, family dinner is tonight and I have to at least attempt homework before we meet up.
Until after I see the rest of the Baltic states,
Kate
Comments