Blogs from Lithuania, Europe - page 13

It broke our hearts to wave goodbye as the van, filled with kids ready for camp, left Pamusis. It only got worse when we had to finally part with the remaining children and workers. These past two weeks have changed our lives. There are no words to explain how much we long to return to the children. The instantaneous bonds we formed were deeper than simply friendship. At times, we felt as though we were siblings or parents. Simple actions like drawing pictures or teaching a new game brought excitement to the kids' relatively monotonous lives. Their horizons were broadened just by hearing our stories of mountains, tropical beaches, big cities, and life in America. We were honored to find out that our presence even affected the other workers at the house. By seeing us ... read more

After Estonia and Latvia, I arrived in the final Baltic state of Lithuania. I was heading to the country’s small coastline and Lithuania’s third largest city, Klaipéda, but I stopped along the way at the fourth city, Siaulai (more or less pronounced Shoo-lay). This industrial city doesn’t really have anything to detain the visitor for that long, but 10km outside Siaulai is what has been described as the most “awe inspiring sight in Lithuania”, namely Siaulai’s Hill of Crosses. Essentially there are 2 small hills which, over many years, Lithuanians have taken to putting crosses in. There are more than 200,000 crosses there now, of all sizes. I was amazed at how many people were actually at the site when I visited – I assumed something so obscure and essentially in the middle of nowhere would ... read more

This morning was filled with excitement when the kids found out we would be having a picnic at Skalų Kalnas, a hill and river nearby. The weather was hot, and after cramming 15 people in a 8 person car, everyone was more than happy to cool off in the river. After spending 4 hours in the sun, we knew it was time to go when we ran out of water and energy. Although we felt exhausted, it didn't take long before the kids bounced back . On a normal basis, these kids only have 2 caretakers that watch them throughout the day. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to keep track of what each of these 30 kids are doing at every moment. For example, one of the youngest girls was innocently digging in the dirt today, ... read more

After a fun, yet exhausting weekend, we were so glad to be back at our new home-Pamuse. Unfortunately, in the middle of the night we awoke to the sirens of an ambulance in our driveway. The one-year old baby was having trouble breathing and had turned completely blue. This morning we were relieved to find out that he is fine and was probably only experiencing a complication of his case of the chicken pox. At some point this morning, the mother of the two children who were brought to us last week came to retrieve them. The courts gave back her custody rights which allowed her to take them home. Hopefully she will clean up her act, and they won't be taken away again. Roma and kids wanted to teach us a new craft-making angels ... read more

Exhausted from last night's festivities, we enjoyed taking a day of rest. Roma had told us earlier that we needed to make sure that we took some time for ourselves while staying at the orphanage, because the job is so exhausting and doesn't allow for any breaks. Since today was Jonines (St. John's Feast Day), we started off the day by going to mass at the local parish nearby where Daiva read the first reading. After a beautiful procession around the church, we went to Roma's house. We played board games, listened to music, and baked some goods for our upcoming trip. She is planning on taking us kayaking on Minija River, and showing us around the towns of Nida, Palanga, and Klaipeda. During a last-minute stop to the grocery store, we had a Hollywood moment. ... read more