Hi Everyone,
Our long-awaited visitors have come and gone. We had a really full week, and it went by in a blink! It was so wonderful to have familiar faces from home here! We had a lot of fun showing them our part of the world. Some of the highlights: Klaipeda, Riga, Vilnius, Trakai, The Baltic Sea, Lithuanian Cuisine, Rain melting winter away, Bus rides, etc!
We took lots of photos....here is the link to the first album. Hopefully will be able to blog more soon!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Early morning post
Hi Everyone,
We are having a great week hosting Hannah and Eva! We both started out with a busy week, but I (Laura) have been able to take some time to show them around Klaipeda a bit yesterday. We have been playing lots of Rook, and just plain enjoy having them here.
The early morning post is because we are currently on a bus to Riga for the day (the same bus driver, I believe, that drove us that memorable time when the bus got stuck in the snow...I think we will be ok though). The bus has wireless internet, so I brought the computer along to try to get some work done from the bus (Steve, unfortunately, can't join us for this little excursion, he has too many tasks at school that he needs to get done by the end of the week...we hope to take the girls to Vilnius for the weekend before we send them home on Monday, so Steve will join us then).
Anyway, I am happy to report that when we got on the bus at 7am, the sky was a dark navy blue, and by about quarter after/twenty after, the sun was out. Yay for daylight! The sun will set a little after 6pm today -- wonderful!
I am hoping to sleep for the rest of the bus ride, but thought I would do a little post while I was still awake. Hopefully I will remember to take some pictures today while we are in Riga :)
Blessings,
Laura
PS....as I write this, it is still Wednesday in MN...but Thursday morning and the sun is risen here already.
We are having a great week hosting Hannah and Eva! We both started out with a busy week, but I (Laura) have been able to take some time to show them around Klaipeda a bit yesterday. We have been playing lots of Rook, and just plain enjoy having them here.
The early morning post is because we are currently on a bus to Riga for the day (the same bus driver, I believe, that drove us that memorable time when the bus got stuck in the snow...I think we will be ok though). The bus has wireless internet, so I brought the computer along to try to get some work done from the bus (Steve, unfortunately, can't join us for this little excursion, he has too many tasks at school that he needs to get done by the end of the week...we hope to take the girls to Vilnius for the weekend before we send them home on Monday, so Steve will join us then).
Anyway, I am happy to report that when we got on the bus at 7am, the sky was a dark navy blue, and by about quarter after/twenty after, the sun was out. Yay for daylight! The sun will set a little after 6pm today -- wonderful!
I am hoping to sleep for the rest of the bus ride, but thought I would do a little post while I was still awake. Hopefully I will remember to take some pictures today while we are in Riga :)
Blessings,
Laura
PS....as I write this, it is still Wednesday in MN...but Thursday morning and the sun is risen here already.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The holiday season is upon us.
Today is Shrove Tuesday (also known by many other names all over the world. In Lithuania, you could say Pancake Day or Užgavėnės), the day before Lent begins. There are many interesting traditions that surround this time here in Lithuania. Today also happens to be one of Lithuania's Independence Days (merely a coincidence that it lands on mardi gras this year). Today is a day off to celebrate independence, and on Sunday (also Valentine's day...also just a coincidence that that holiday was on Sunday) we celebrated Užgavėnės down town in the Old Town of Klaipeda. This celebration kicks off Lent, but also is a celebration of the coming Spring and saying goodbye to Winter. It was a fun and interesting time, and we ran into a lot of people we knew there (on Sunday). I posted an album on facebook, which you can see here.
Artsiom, Steve, and Sasha at Užgavėnės and sporting their Valentine's heart stickers.
Artsiom, Steve, and Sasha at Užgavėnės and sporting their Valentine's heart stickers.
Coffeehouse
A couple of weeks ago (already!) Steve's RAs hosted a coffeehouse in the dorm. They estimated that about a hundred students showed up to drink coffee and tea, and to listen to their fellow students perform a song or two. It was a great event!
RAs Vali, Ruxanda, and Olena by the big coffee pot (that makes over 60 cups, and they had to rebrew more!).
Ana poses by some tea. (Ana was one of my leaders last fall).
Students were invited to bring their own mug and the West side team would provide the hot drink.
The RAs made these witty coasters with a bunch of coffee quotes on them. Erik, Becky, and Artsiom hold up the ones that best describe them?
Conversations at the coffee bar.
Student life as a department just got this coffeepot for various events. We've already used it so much that we can't remember how we got by without it!
RAs Vali and Katia
Me and a random group of students.
Some of the performers, and the audience.
Erik singing his original songs.
RAs Vali, Ruxanda, and Olena by the big coffee pot (that makes over 60 cups, and they had to rebrew more!).
Ana poses by some tea. (Ana was one of my leaders last fall).
Students were invited to bring their own mug and the West side team would provide the hot drink.
The RAs made these witty coasters with a bunch of coffee quotes on them. Erik, Becky, and Artsiom hold up the ones that best describe them?
Conversations at the coffee bar.
Student life as a department just got this coffeepot for various events. We've already used it so much that we can't remember how we got by without it!
RAs Vali and Katia
Me and a random group of students.
Some of the performers, and the audience.
Erik singing his original songs.
Albanian Blessings
Last Friday evening we had some students over for dinner (we provided the ingredients, they provided the Albanian cooking expertise). Making and eating food together is such a great community-builder.
Juli making the delicious spinach/cheese mixture for the filling.
A look inside the goodness. A tasty peach dessert looks on.
I tried to introduce a bit of our culture, Monster Cookies.
Eri, making sure everything runs smoothly.
Steve getting 2 lessons at a time from Melisa and Aina on the best way to role out burek dough.
Juli making the delicious spinach/cheese mixture for the filling.
A look inside the goodness. A tasty peach dessert looks on.
I tried to introduce a bit of our culture, Monster Cookies.
Eri, making sure everything runs smoothly.
Steve getting 2 lessons at a time from Melisa and Aina on the best way to role out burek dough.
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