Tallinn and Riga.

Last weekend the study abroads took a 3 day trip to the capitals of Estonia and Latvia.

Probably the worst part of the trip was the 10 hour overnight trip to arrive in Estonia in the morning... but thankfully I caught up on sleep the other two nights. (my only complaint)


Tallinn was probably the favorite for all of us, but only because we spent the majority of our time there. We went on a tour of the old town, shopped all around in the souvenir shops and ate at a medieval restaurant. Wool products are the major souvenir such as hats, sweaters and mittens.

After wandering the streets of Tallinn on Friday we all met up to eat at the medieval restaurant. It was "family style" with large dishes passed around the whole table. The dishes consisted of radish in spices, wild boar sausage, and fried cheese. Random but good none the less. Also, that evening after dinner four of us ran to a hotel that had a "water park" inside of it. The so called water park had 3 different slides, a competitive swimming pool, and tons of hot tubs. It was a fun and relaxing time.

Saturday we headed to Riga and ended up getting there in the late evening. We all split up and went to different restaurants. A group of us ate at a local food chain here in the Baltic States called Cili Pica (Chili Pizza). It is super good. They have tons of pizzas to choose from and they all are very different since the cultural tastes are different here.

Sunday morning there were three options for church. An Orthodox, Lutheran, or Anglican English speaking church. I ended up going to the Anglican and wished I had tried out the Orthodox to see the differences. Thankfully we will have an opportunity to go to a Russian Orthodox church in Russia.

After church we raced over to an Occupation Museum where we got a tour of it. Honestly, I had no idea that the Baltic States went through so much oppression. Either the Russians were controlling the countries or others. During WWII either the Russians were deporting and killing people or the Nazis were wiping out their Jewish population. Not once did the United States intervene, and sometimes I wonder what it would have done...
Learning about this specific part of their history shows me that their is a reason behind some of our drastic differences.

We ended up eating at a place called Lido for our lunch/dinner. It was a grab all kind of grub. We were able to choose from more than a dozen different stations. It was delicious and all of us were stuffed after filling our tummies. A really neat fact: the owner of Lido is a Christian and after they close up at night any of the food not eaten that day by guests is donated to the local soup kitchens to feed those in need.


Overall it was a really great weekend and a lot of fun memories were developed. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my weekend.

Some pics from the weekend

A beautiful cathedral in Tallinn

Zane and I at an overlook of Tallinn

A propaganda poster in the Occupation Museum in Riga

Palanga.

Today Chelsea, Jordan and I went to Palanga, a seaside town about a 20 minute minibus ride from Klaipeda. It was quite chilly, but we had a fun time exploring. We ate at a local cafe and I had banana crepes and coffee.

I can not believe that I am into my third week at school and that next week we take our weekend trip to Tallinn and Riga. If it has already flown by so quickly in the beginning I am expecting it will do the same all the way through.

Tea time is one of my favorite times of the day. There is no specific time, but it always involves my roommates and I sitting down, drinking tea and either laughing about the things we say differently or the serious topics of our world. Tonight we exchanged how we would say what animals say. It was hilarious. They also like learning my expressions, like when something goes wrong I say, "Oh no!" and they usually Oye (if you can imagine how to say it...). They love it when I say Oye, because I say it so softly and I love it when they teach me new Russian words.
It has been so wonderful getting to know them better and the Lord has blessed me with some awesome times with them already. I look forward to even more.

There is a bakery on the way to school that makes AMAZING pastries and most of the pastries are only one lita. On our way back from school we usually stop and get one, and they are always straight from the oven and still warm. It is wonderful!

These are all random stories, but all that I have for now.

Jordan, Chelsea and I on the boardwalk to the beach at Palanga.
a changing station at the beach...
My roommates and I.
Until next time.

Klaipeda

Labas rytas! (good morning)

For most of you it is morning... and for me it is almost dinner time. I kept my clock on my computer to the time for Indiana so that I had an idea of what people were up to.

Classes started. They are going to keep me busy, quite a few papers for Philosophy of Religion, homework each night for Micro Econ, Hebrew Prophets is going to switch around so I will keep you posted about that, Theology has been so interesting, and Lithuanian has in all honesty been really fun to learn. The professor of Lithuanian is so energetic and really desires for us to learn which makes the class 100x better.

For anyone who wants to know my address here it is:

Karklu 5
Klaipeda, Lithuania
92243

Every day it gets a little bit better and I am really looking forward to feeling comfortable here... just not exactly there yet.

Emily and I went to a restaurant last night for some friendship time. It was a blessing to talk with her and just hear each other's perspective on where we are at at the present time. We had tiramisu AND the restaurant we went to was on the top floor of the Klaipeda hotel with windows all around so you can see all of Klaipeda. It was a great time.

A group of us went to the beach today after church. Can you believe it? I swam in the Baltic Sea... and yes, I actually got all the way in (except for my hair) It was a fun time and there were tons of people there.

Please continue to pray for me as I continue to adjust to a new life for 4 months. It will fly by and before I know it I will wish I had it all back again.

I praise Jesus that He is with me through this time I couldn't be here without Him.

And now. Some more pictures to tide you over.

Karklu... my home for 4 months.

Emily, Chelsea, Zane and I at the Jazz Club.
At the Baltic Sea for a day
Until next time.

Viso Gero (all the best)

First weeks of Lithuania.

Well. I have arrived. I have been in Lithuania for a whole week now.

Started out in Vilnius (the capital) sightseeing with the 30 other Study Abroad students and our Study Abroad interns working with us throughout the semester. It has been great to have people here who you can go to when you need some understanding.

We spent time in a KGB musuem, which was literally where the KGB ran their office and prison at, so we saw where people were executed and the likes. It was eye opening.
We took a walking tour of Vilnius and saw 4 magnificent cathedrals and heard about their history's as well.
We also went to Trakai where there is a 13th century castle still standing; Nida which is on the Kuronian Spit, and it is such a cute little resort town with cafes and sand dunes. Lithuania's history is rich and alive. The people of this country take pride in their language and culture.

Classes started yesterday and I couldn't have been more ready for them to begin. I have Micro Economics, Intro into Lithuanian, Intro into Theology, Hebrew Prophets, A Cross Cultural class developed for the Study Abroad students, and Macro Economics. Thankfully it will keep me busy and my mind constantly working.


My roommates are all from Ukraine. There are actually a lot of students from the Ukraine and Belarus. They are sweet and accomodating.

It has been a struggle for me to get used to being here. I am never a fan of change in my life, but it is the one thing that makes me a better person. I am looking forward to the next few weeks as this place starts becoming more comfortable to me and I can find my niche. Please pray for me during this time.

And now. A few pictures for you to see from my eyes.


This is my favorite cathedral we went to in Vilnius. All the bricks come from all over the world and it was one of the only buildings that didn't get destroyed during WWII.



my first granola bar in Lithuania. Corny big... hah!

the dunes of Nida.
Emily and I on the dunes looking over Nida.
Iki. (which means "until we meet again) and it is also the name of the major grocery store here in Lithuania.

So.

Iki.