The Amazing Race

It all started last Tuesday during a conversation at the Jazz club. I don't even know how we got on the subject of hitch hiking, but the conversation quickly escalated to "WE SHOULD RACE TO VILNIUS!" It started as more of a joke, and then turned into a reality. Hitch hiking in the states is viewed as dangerous and uncommon, but in Europe it is acceptable, fairly easy, and much more safe. Come Saturday morning we were out on the highway with our VILNIUS signs, thumbs out. It was Bree and myself vs. Hannah and Kim. We started out very optimistic yet terrified. We tried a variety of tactics including jumping, waving, smiling, frowning, and looking tired/sad. At one point, about 20 minutes in, Bree looked behind us and realized a car had pulled over!! We were shocked and excited as we ran over to the car before it changed its mind. The middle aged man cleared a space for me in the back seat among his sons car seat, pillows, fishing gear, and other various objects (looked like he was moving). It was a little crammed, but we were just impressed that we even got a ride. We were on our way! The other team started a little further down and we didn't see them anymore, so the race was on! The most important first question, "Ar Jus kalbate angliskai?" ("Do you speak English?"). He responded "only little bit." He explained that he could take us to Kaunas, which is on the way to Vilnius. The rest of his sentences were a mixture of English, German, and Lithuanian. As we pieced together as much as we could understand, we learned a little bit about his family and what places he has lived in. We didn't talk too much after that. He mostly sang along to the Spanish music. As we approached Kaunas we spotted Kim and Hannah on the side of the road! It was a relief to know that they were safe and more importantly that we were now in the lead! We were dropped off a few miles past them. Apparently they caught a second ride within minutes and saw us on the side of the road as they went by. So much for being in the lead. Our location was poor, so after 30 mins of no luck we moved about 1/4 mile down the highway and got pick up without a problem at our alternative location. This man, Jonas, spoke much more English, which was very helpful. He was on his way back to Vilnius after visiting family in Kaunas. He took us to the outskirts of the city and pointed out a bus stop that we could take to get into downtown. Before leaving he gave us his business card and said "Please call me if you have any troubles in Vilnius. I received a lot of help from Americans when I was in Miami, and I want to return the favor any chance I get. Make sure to find me on Facebook and tell me how your stay was!" So we hopped on the first bus and just waited until we saw something familiar. After about 10 minutes, and after all sense of direction was lost, I happened to look down a side street and see what looked the Cathedral Square (the race destination) aaaaaalllll the way at the other end of the street. We got off the bus and walked down the main drag towards the Cathedral. We ended up running into Kim and Hannah who were looking for a place to eat. After a very joyous greeting we all found food and wifi. After eating we began the search for a hostel. We found one right away and they had room for us!

After settling into the hostel room, we headed out to walk around while it was still light out. We walked through the market and a few parks and ended up at the Balti Drambliai ("White Elephant") which serves fancy tea and outrageously delicious desserts. By this time it was 8:30 so we were able to wander around and experience the beautiful old town with the evening lights. We soon became hungry for some good old Kepta Duona. If you don't already know, Kepta Duona is the single most delicious snack in Lithuania, and maybe the whole world. It is deep fried rye bread with garlic and cheesy goodness all over it. Served at any restaurant, bar, or pub in Lithuania. We stopped in a sports bar for the tasty treat. Being full of great ideas, we decided the best thing to do would be a Kepta Duona crawl; trying as many different kinds as we could and determining the best place in town. We headed to the next place we could find, the Roast & Beer pub. After a lovely dish of Duona we were greeted by an overly friendly group of clearly drunk students. They were were quite entertaining, but also very annoying. We convinced them to pick up our check, and we went on our way. Our next Duona destination was recommended by our hostel hostess. The Pogo Bar (in association with the Pogo hostel we stayed in) had the best Kepta Duona as well as the best company. We met Povilas and Lukas who we shared a table with. We had good conversation about all sorts of topics. Of all the people we met during our adventure, they were the most fun. We headed back to our hostel and got a good nights sleep in preparation for our return trip in the morning. We weren't originally planning on hitch hiking back, because we didn't know how long it would take and needed to be back in time for evening events in Klaidepa. We had so much fun/success getting to Vilnius, we figured we should just go for it.

We got up and ready around 9:30 and found breakfast and coffee downtown. Vilnius is so pretty all hours of the day. We transformed our VILNIUS signs into KLAIPEDA signs, bused back out towards the highway and began hitch hike race part 2. Bree and I were having no luck after 15 minutes, so we decided to walk further out; But just as we started walking away someone pulled over! We quickly hopped in proceeded to drive past a jealous Hannah and Kim. "Awesome-heavy-metal-loving-young-English-speaking-on-his-way-to-Kaunas-guy" was a perfect companion for good conversation about culture differences, holiday traditions, and food. He said he once hitch hiked around Europe for 2 straight months with no particular destination in mind. He took us to "the best place to hitch hike from" in Kaunas, which happened to be directly across from where we were dropped off the previous day! He was incredibly helpful and encouraging in our journey. The next ride took about 15 minutes to catch. This time it was an elderly man on his way to Klaipeda for a exhibition show for the wool products that his company sells. He showed us the catalog of items for sale and they all looked extremely comfortable and warm. About 10 minutes into the ride we saw Hannah and Kim on the side of the road again! They looked kind of miserable. We waved and they saw us as we passed by. He was not confident in his English, so we didn't talk too much, but we did learn that he was born and raised in Klaipeda before moving to Kaunas as a young man. He was also formerly in the Soviet Military! Pretty crazy. He pointed out where he went to school as a boy and where he used to live and places he remembered going to in Klaipeda. After the tour down memory lane he took us to the University and we were finally home and we had won the race! I guess we will just have to have a tie breaker some other weekend. I don't think I would ever do this alone, and I would probably never attempt it in the US, but I'm glad that I was able to have this fantastic and memorable experience in Lithuania.

Regal Riga

Our second international stop for the weekend was Riga, Latvia! Riga is the capital city of Latvia, which is the country just north of Lithuania. We arrived Saturday evening around 6:30, just as it was getting dark. We checked into our hostel and broke off into small groups for dinner. We ended up at a buffet style dumpling restaurant. Each pot was labeled with a picture of an animal, such as a chicken/cow/pig, or a something else like cheese or potato. It was pay by weight and super cheap as well as delicious. We explored around old town for about an hour and found a folk club with live music. It was really crowded and we couldn't get service, so we went on our way. We eventually found a calmer location to relax and listen to music, sipping a local brew. As my group proceeded to bed, I went back out on the town with a friend and found two other study abroads wandering through old town looking for people. We ended up going back to the folk club, which had calmed down finally. After that we went to the grand bridge and enjoyed the ambiance of the full moon.

After a good night's sleep, we had breakfast in the hostel and loaded the bus up. We still had 3 hours to kill before heading out. We didn't waste a single minute. With the weather being so splendid we opted to stay outside and see the sights rather than be inside a museum or something like that. We walked along the water, went inside a few fancy churches, found the Riga castle, saw lots of monuments, wandered through beautiful parks, and even stumbled upon a carrot festival.

We were informed that it was a charity event raising money for a local hospital. They had lots of vendors and activities, as well as huge statues made of, you guessed it, CARROTS. We continued on and found a cute doughnut shop with flavors I have never dreamed of. I went safe and tried the cappuccino one, and I was not disappointed. We finished our walk with Freedom monument and the grand Orthodox Cathedral. All in all a great day to relax and be off campus. We are all really looking forward to our week long journey through RUSSIA!!! We started learning the alphabet in class :)

Tallinn is Callinn for You to Visit

The great city of Tallinn was our first international study abroad trip. Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia, which is 2 countries north of Lithuania. We took an overnight bus (10:30pm-8:00am) and tried to sleep on the way. I was fortunate enough to get two seats to myself, so I was able to stretch out and get some sleep and be ready to go when we arrived. We stashed our backpacks in the hostel and ventured out into old town (pictured above). Old town is the historically preserved heart of the city. It was pretty nice out, so we broke off in smaller groups and wandered around to get familiar with the area. We saw several colorful buildings, grand churches, and fancy architecture.

Here is the view from the town hall square. This area was a large open square (of cobble stone of course) with lots of outdoor seating for cafes and restaurants. There were people dressed in traditional outfits, and even some medieval wardrobes. One guy was doing a flaming nun-chucks show! There was also delicious roasted almonds that we sampled. A little further away we found several shops and souvenir stores. All of us bought some local tea for ourselves or friends back home. It started to sprinkle so we decided to get coffee nearby and hang out until we had to be back to check into our hostel rooms at 2. The place we went to was "voted best coffee in Tallinn!" The atmosphere was very rustic and relaxing. It was sort of in a cave haha. After checking into our rooms several of us went to an indoor water park, with lots of slides, pools, saunas, hot tubs, and water falls. It was the perfect way to relax after the long bus ride.
Dinner was reserved for all of us at Olde Hansa, which is an exciting medieval style restaurant. SO MUCH FOOD! They served endless courses of bread, cheese, lentils, ginger turnips, barley, beef, sausage, salmon, and apple pie. Everyone was stuffed and satisfied by the end of the event. That evening a group of us celebrated Ira's (one of the SA interns) birthday at The Butterfly Lounge.

In the morning my friend Bree and I got up to see the sunrise over the old town skyline (first picture). It was a little cloudy but still really pretty. We went for breakfast at a cafe that served delicious pancakes (and by pancakes they actually mean crepes) with fresh jam and fruit. We returned to the hostel and packed our things back on the bus. We still had free time from 10-2. Bree and I chose to rent bikes and tour beyond old town. We saw the options of tandem bikes and thought it might be fun/funny to give it a go. The rental guy was super nice about it and told us we could always bring it back and swap it out for real bikes if we wanted. Being the risk-takers we are, of course we went for the tandem.....and failed miserably. I think it was a combination of never riding tandem, having unbalanced bags on our shoulders, and cobblestone that defeated us. I think we are mostly going to blame the cobblestone. Needless to say, we quickly turned in the bike for 2 new ones. Best decision we ever made. With our new wheels we set out for Pirita, a district on the outskirts of Tallinn. We found the Olympic Yachting Center which was the event locations for the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow. We also saw a convent. On the return ride we went through Kadriorg, another district of Tallinn. It was basically one very large park where we saw a swan pond, fancy buildings and museums, as well as the national song festival grounds, where in 1988 the singing revolution took place as a massive musical demonstration against Soviet rule. (pictured below)

 

After returning our bikes we set out for the market to buy our handmade goods from old grannies. Most of the items being sold were knitted hats, socks, sweaters, or scarves. I purchased a really unique hat that has a scarf attached that wraps around my neck in one big knitted mass of awesome. 

So Much White Space

Every semester I make my class schedule in excel. By the end there is hardly any white space left because it is full of 18 credits of class, hours and hours of lab time, weekly meetings for RA, Biology club, Yearbook, etc. This semester is completely different. My classes start later and end earlier than ever before. I'm only taking 12 credits and I have basically zero commitments. This is the opposite of what I am used to. "I'm going to be so bored!" I thought. So far I have really enjoyed sleeping in. Waking up BEFORE your alarm goes off is the best feeling ever. No matter how much rest I get, History class always puts me to sleep. History is my least favorite subject (hence the fact I put it off until senior year). The professor I have is interesting and likes to talk mostly about the Bible and not much else. Since he doesn't lecture about the text book, I actually have to READ it (75% of the exam is from the text book). That is almost more boring than class. The day gets much better though. Cross-cultural semester class is basically all the study abroad students from America getting together and talking about Lithuanian history, culture shock, stereotypes,living in a different country, etc. Each class is completely different from the others so it is hard to explain. Probably the most exciting class I am taking is Lithuanian. My professor is Lithuanian (obviously) and really has a passion for teaching the language. Most students will take this course, unless they already speak it of course, so my class has people from all over Europe in it. It is interesting to think that Lithuanian is the 3rd or 4th language they are learning! So a Russian speaking person is in an English speaking class that is teaching Lithuania. I can't even imagine. Anyway, she makes the class really fun and we speak and repeat a lot of the language in class. Maybe about 5% of the class is spoken in English, the rest of the time the teacher is speaking Lithuanian, so we pick it up quite fast.  On Tuesdays I have Human Development, because it was the closest thing to Biology they offered haha. The course focuses on the psychological development from conception to death. This is the only class I have in which I am the only American, so that is different. Even the teacher is Lithuanian. I don't really feel too out of place, until people start having conversations in their native language and I can't contribute or even understand. Everyone in the university has passed an English exam, and all classes are held in English. Sometimes it is definitely hard to understand certain accents, but so far it hasn't been a hindering factor. If we break off into small discussion groups, I will often hear other languages spoken, because it is easier for them and more natural. My Conflict Studies course is another very interesting one. It is only once a week, but there is a lot of reading and assignments during the week. We basically discuss and define conflict, peace, violence, resolution, and everything in between. It is a fairly new field for the university setting, and it is growing in popularity. Most of the conflicts we discuss are about countries, so it is really neat to have a whole room full of different countries! So many different backgrounds, cultures, and viewpoints makes for some great discussions and new realizations. Although it is challenging, I am glad I chose that course. The class setting in general isn't that much different from what I am used to other than the diversity of the people. The professors use smartboards, power point, and youtube just like in America. The reading load and assignments are also similar, so nothing too shocking. They use a website called Moodle to post lecture notes, assignments, and readings for the week. I wish Waynesburg used that instead of the shared folders. Speaking of folders, they don't have folders here like they do in the States. We were told not to bring folders, because they have different size paper here (A4), so I planned on buying them here. THEY DON'T HAVE THEM. They have these file box looking things, and a portfolio looking thing, but no simple folder to slide your papers in. I am basically going nuts with all these papers and nowhere to put them. Most of their notebooks are graph paper too. Anyway, that's my classroom experience so far. I'll give you an update after midterms or something to see if things have changed.

Nida and Kretinga

One of the trips we took during orientation weekend was to Nida. We took a ferry over to what is called the Curonian Spit, which separates a lagoon from the Baltic sea. The town is a German style resort with lots of shops, restaurants, cafes, hotels, and activities. The area was very scenic whether we were walking along the lagoon shore, or the coast of the Baltic sea (we did both). There are dunes that separate the two that you can climb to the top of. This picture above is at the top, overlooking the lagoon. It was a pleasant day despite the overcast sky.

The next day we drove to Kretinga to go to a contemporary Catholic church service. It was a massive cathedral full of people. We had to stand because there were no more seats. The service was in Lithuanian, so we just observed and absorbed what was going on as best we could. After the service we got a tour and history of the church, being a part of Franciscan monastery. For lunch we went out for a traditional Lithuanian meal. We all had the kepta duona appetizer, a black bread fried in oil and garlic smothered in cheese. For my entree I ordered the salmon. It was very salty, and came with little fish eggs on top. It was tasty. After lunch we wandered around outside where they had lots of wooden toys and playground equipment. Our favorite one is pictured above. It had 4 ropes with handles and spun around when you ran. If you got going fast enough you would all lift off the ground as you rotated so you had to hold on tight!

It was frightening at times, especially since you weren't always facing forward as the rope twisted and turned. All in all it was a good way to finish our weekend before classes started up.

Dorm Living

 

Now for the grand tour of my dorm, Neumann hall! 6 floors of student and faculty living. The entrance leads into a lounge with about ten couches and a ping pong table. There is also laundry on the ground floor. Only three wash machines for the whole dorm, but many people just wash clothes by hand. There are also two dryers but we were told that the only people that use them are the Americans haha. Instead of using the dryer there are rooms with hanging racks on each floor.

When you walk into room 501 West you will see a small kitchen area. On the left and right of this unit are the entry ways into the bedrooms. 3 of us live on the right, and 2 on the left. There are no door into the rooms, so everything is very open. 

If you turn to the right you will see an entry way closet/storage space. It was a little messy in the picture because we were all still settling in. This is a nice area for coats and winter wear that we will use later in the semester.

If you turn 180 degrees from the kitchen unit you will be at the sink/bathroom area. You see a toaster and kettle as well as bathroom toiletries. A very multipurpose area haha. Off to the right there is a toilet room and a shower room. The shower is ideal temperature and pressure, so I was really happy!

Walking into the bedroom area you will see the desk area. My desk is the one with the pink towel. We have 2 Ethernet ports to share between three of us, so we take turns using the internet haha. If you walk down the hall to the lounge you can get good wifi though, so it's usually never a hassle. We did experience 2 days with no network access in either of the dorms, so EVERYONE was using the wifi, making it very slow or even unable to connect. It was very frustrating, so I am glad it didn't last long. They said last year it was like that for 2 weeks once! When the internet IS working, I have great connection and I have been able to skype without any problems, except with Angie. We will try again soon.

This is the view from my desk window! A cute little row of houses with adorable backyards. A few days ago it caught on fire and 2 of the roofs were burned down, needing repair. I'm not sure how it happened, but it looks a little different than this picture now. You can also see a large modern catholic church in the background.

Turing to your left you will see my roommate, Ingrida's bed area. She is a Freshman from Lithuania. She is really sweet and friendly and help me with my Lithuanian pronunciation :)

Now doing a 180 degree turn, you can now see the bunk beds where me (on top) and my other roommate, Dana (behind blanket), sleep. Dana and the other 2 roommates on the other side of the suite are from Ukraine. They are all 3rd year students and love to have a good time. We also share the closet/wardrobe area. You can also see the door that leads into the hallway in the background. My bed has a lamp and outlet, so I can do work up there and charge my electronics haha. The bedding was provided by the study abroad program. The down feather blanket is extremely comfortable.

Going down the hallway you will come to a community kitchen shared by the 22 girls in my "pod." Neumann hall has an stairway in the middle that divides East and West sides. So 5th floor West has 4 rooms identical to mine with either 4 or 5 girls in each. We take turns cleaning the kitchen each night. The West side of the dorm is all female, while the East side and Enns hall are co-ed. The study abroad program also provided us with cooking supplies: Pot, frying pan, cutting knife, silverware, plate, bowl, cutting board, cheese grader, potato peeler, and spatula.

The other side of the kitchen area is a pod lounge. If both ethernet ports are being used I come out here and use the internet wifi.

Here is the view from the kitchen/lounge. This pond is part of LCC property. You almost always see people fishing here. This is also where the Ugly Ducking Cup boat race took place. Look for a blog post about that in the near future!

My New Home: LCC International University

 

After exploring the castle and surrounding town at Traiki, we completed our journey to campus. LCC University is located in Klaipeda, a city of 200,000 people. We settled into the dorms and relaxed a little for the night (Thursday). We had more orientation activities on Friday (campus and city tour and lots of meetings about academics and life in Lithuania), Saturday (trip to Nida), and Sunday (Traditional church in Kretinga and traditional meal at restaurant) Pictured above is my home for the next few months. Neumann Hall, home to aprox 200 students and faculty. Built in 2007, the facility is modern and accommodating. You can also see Enns hall in the background in the right, a similar dorm. Look for a blog post later about my room and pod on the 5th floor!

 

Here is the heart and soul of the University. This building serves as the academic building/library/offices/student services/business office/registrar/chapel/student lounge/mailroom/EVERYTHING. It is only a 2 minute walk from my dorm. It may look small, but it packs a lot in. I am still getting lost in it almost every day. It's like a maze or stairs, hallways, and rooms.

 

 This is the 4th and last building on campus (Talk about tiny campus! Yeah, I thought the same thing.) This is the gymnasium/fitness center/cafeteria/study abroad offices. The gym is the best in the county and Team Lithuania practiced here for the Olympic basketball games! The fitness center is quite small, but has everything necessary. I have yet to use it though :p The cafeteria is more like a salad bar looking thing with lunch type food. I haven't eaten there yet, so I don't know exactly what sort of food they have. There is no "meal plan" here, but you can pay a small price to eat lunch. They are not open for dinner unless you go at like 4:30pm. I'm sure I will check it out sometime. I have been enjoying making some of my own meals, eating out, or eating ethic food make by other students from various countries.

 So where is Klaipeda? Oh, you know...just on the BALTIC SEA! No big deal. Our first night on campus we walked 30 minutes to the shore line for dinner on the beach to watch the sunset. It was absolutely perfect. It was like an ocean beach. The waves were a little bit calmer and it was probably only 55 degrees out, but hey, it was still a beach. I usually go to a beach on the East Coast in America at least once a year, but this summer I didn't go at all, so this was a treat! I mean, how many people can say they went to school by the Baltic Sea?

Downtown Klaipeda is a 30 minute walk from campus, or a 5 minute bus ride. While it is still nice out, I have been walking most of the time. I'm sure as it gets colder I will be riding the bus more and more. The bus only costs 1 Lita each time you ride, which is about 27 cents when converted to USD. Downtown has one main street that contains lots of shopping and restaurants. If you keep walking along the main street it will turn into Old Town, which has the cobblestone and older looking German style buildings. A little past that you have the harbor and piers where you can watch ships going in and out. Even further on the road is a big mall called Acropolis. This is your typical indoor mall minus all the American stores. The shops are mostly clothes, shoes, bags, coats etc. There is also a giant grocery store called Maxima in the center (basically a Walmart) and an electronic store than reminds me of Best Buy. In addition to the shops there is also themed restaurants, ice skating, a cinema, and bowling! So far I have been to downtown for shopping, thrifting, coffee, dinner, dancing, jazz music, and taking pictures.