Blogs from Lithuania, Europe - page 14

Advertisement

Europe » Lithuania » Siauliai June 22nd 2011

The three of us have been here less than a week & have already been interviewed twice by local journalists. They were anxious to hear about the Lithuanian community in America, our reasons for volunteering & our impressions of Lithuania thus far. We enthusiastically answered every question & amazed the journalists by "speaking Lithuanian so beautifully !" After our chat about life in America, we experienced a true reality check. Roma wanted us to see the neighborhood that a majority of the orphans grew up in. We were appalled at the degree of poverty seen in these slums. A social worker in the area took us into homes that were full of stench & soot, naked babies holding moldy dolls & rotten food covered in flies. It was hard to muster up a smile when all ... read more
One of our favorite group shots
Hiomemade bat
Our makeshift baseball field

Europe » Lithuania » Siauliai June 21st 2011

Today after breakfast, the three of us stayed in the kitchen and learned how to make "kugelis", another famous potato dish, which was served for lunch. I don't think I have ever peeled so many potatoes in my life. In the time between lunch and dinner, everyone was making friendship bracelets-even the caretakers and cooks joined in. For dinner, we helped make a crumble cake which was made with "uogiene" or fresh jam. What we soon figured out was that in Lithuania, and most European countries, lunch is the main meal with the most food, and dinner is either a light dish or dessert. Today was probably not the best day to have dessert for dinner, because the kids went WILD. Kids were jumping from swings, racing chairs down the hallways, tickling us, locking eachother in ... read more
Making kugelis
Martynas playing with the kitten named Puma
Mother with child

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius June 20th 2011

I've been pleasantly surprised with Lithuania. Granted, I've only been here for 5 days but it has a good feel about it and, the roads have seen a significant improvement. Yay! What I am a little disappointed about though, if that's the right word, is that there's no fanfare when you cross the border, no passport inspection, no stamp. You're lucky if you get a welcome sign. I'm not saying bring back the days of old but I am nostalgic about trying to discern which country's stamp it actually is in my passport... And you know, if you're on the road for 3 months (or longer say) it would be great to have a little more proof, other than the this-is-the-date-you-arrived stamp and the this-is-the-day-you-left stamp with nothing in between, that you actually travelled through the ... read more

Europe » Lithuania » Siauliai June 20th 2011

Our weekend of fun adventures finally ended as our first official "work week" began. The house was a little less chaotic this morning since three of the little ones went to kindergarten class, and one of the caretakers took several of the older kids to her home to help dig up potatoes. After an hour of soccer, basketball, and piggy back rides (which is when Jonas thought it would be funny to try to eat Julija's hair), Roma returned from a court case at which she was representing two brothers who live at the house. She called us into her office and began telling us the horrific stories of the kids' pasts. We are going to try to write about one child or family each day. The two boys Roma represented today, ages 8 and ... read more
Jonas & Julija
the kids love playing with our cameras
our paint-balling experience

Europe » Lithuania » Siauliai June 19th 2011

Last night the 3 of us literally laughed ourselves to sleep after exchanging funny moments with the children that day. Once we heard the rooster crowing and saw the sun rising (already at 3 am) we decided it was time to sleep. After a few hours we woke up to chickens clucking - not quite the alarm clock we are used to. The best part of our day was opening the door and finding a dozen kids sitting on our step, waiting impatiently to give us our morning dose of hugs and kisses. We already feel like a part of their huge family. We played with them and even got the older boys to join us in a basketball game. Every Sunday the 30 kids eat lunch together, clean up quick and make their way to ... read more
drawing with chalk and playing basketball outside
Nedas, Gabrielius, Austeja
Julija, Ziba, and Raimundas

Europe » Lithuania June 18th 2011

Today Roma decided to take us to the Medieval Festival that was going on in the nearest town. When we arrived, we met up with some of her close friends. It was nice to be able to talk to some of the local youth who were not much older than us. The festival was filled with tents that had food, games, and various handmade goods like jewelry and wooden bowls. We spent the next few hours dancing with jesters, riding horses, posing with knight swords, shields, and helmets, and watching pigs race. After waiting nearly 2 hours for our food at a nearby restaurant, we had the opportunity to work with a blacksmith which involved hammering out metal and pumping oxygen into the fire. It started pouring rain during the medieval dance performance, so we decided ... read more

Europe » Lithuania » Siauliai June 17th 2011

After three full days of touring Lietuva, the three of us have finally arrived at Šv. Antano Vaikų Namai (St. Anthony's Children's Home) in Pamušė, Lithuania. During our 5 hour drive through dense forests, rundown farms, and abandoned shacks, the three us were getting more and more nervous about our upcoming adventures. We had no idea what to expect as volunteers at a foreign, rural orphanage, so we expected the worst. There was actually no need to worry. We felt so welcomed and comforted by the modern day conveniences like a computer lab with internet access, our own bedroom and bathroom, an excellent cook, and candy in our bedroom. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by Roma, the head of the orphanage, who was excited to meet the first American volunteers at Pamuse. ... read more

Europe » Lithuania June 6th 2011

We have the computer working again, so now we are well behind, these photos on the Coronian spit in Lithuania were last May 31st. It is a forested version of the Coorong, beautiful setting and fantastic weather.... read more
Prei Marieu accomodation
sunset over the Baltic sea at 10.30pm
Sunrise over the lagoon at 4.45am

Europe » Lithuania » Trakai June 2nd 2011

Before breakfast we went next door to the Gates of Dawn which houses the chapel of the Virgin Mary, very moving to watch the old ladies struggle up the stairs to pray. The alter was spectaclarWell we set off from Vilnius HK wishing we had a GPS, but after one slip up finding the old church in Trakai we did find the castle,, built of red brick it was amazing built around 1400 restoration started around 1920's... read more
Pope John Paul
Trakai castle
Inside Trakai castle

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius May 31st 2011

A Jewel of a City There is much to visit and see in Vilnius and, heaven knows, we walked many miles, went to museums, visited numerous churches and explored many streets to see as much as we could in our limited time there. It is not just the historic places that are interesting, life in general and events taking place are also interesting. Festival We were fortunate in that a folk festival was in progress the Saturday and Sunday we were there. The square in front of the town hall was full of folk craftsmen/women displaying and selling their wares. These were not factory mass-produced "trash" but the real thing, handcrafted items. Sadly we have seen the real hand made items disappear in similar stalls in Prague during times of festivals, such as Christmas and Easter ... read more
Beautiful colors
Lady making & selling her craftwork
Playing traditional music




Tot: 0.194s; Tpl: 0.008s; cc: 9; qc: 78; dbt: 0.0967s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb