Covered in Paint

Vija writing...

Okay, so if you've been following our blog, you've probably noticed that we haven't posted anything lately. That's because we accidently used up our host family's internet minutes. It's not as bad as it sounds - that "free, password-less" internet that I wrote about a few posts ago...yeah, that was their internet. The thing is, our host family didn't even know that their minutes were limited, and they didn't know that htier internet was out there for anyone to use. We had told them we were using some free wireless we had found, and they assumed it was a neighbor's. Needless to say, we apologized and even gave them some money. (They now have unlimited internet access, so we'll be writing our blog regularly.)

Also, we spend this weekend by the beach. Lithuania has gorgeous beaches by the Baltic Seas, with lots of sand dunes. We stayed with Emilija's and my relatives who had rented our a vacation apartment near Palanga (The California or Florida of the U.S.). Our relatives have two girls (ages 2 and 4), so we didn't actually get a break from kids for the weekend, but it was still nice to take some time off.

Over the past few days, we've started to really get to know Zemaiciu Kalvarija - not just its pretty outer shell. We found out more about the kids and their individual situations and how they affect them. Also, the past few times that we have taken the kids outside to play soccer, basketball, or dodgeball (their favorite game at the moment), we have seen drunk men. While we urgently herded them away from the scene, the kids seemed completely unphased, and some of the boys even approached the men and swore at them. This is really distrurbing to us, and we feel like it's only a small glimpse of what really goes on here.

The more time we spend with these kids, and the longer we stay here with the locals, the more we notice how poorly people look upon and treat these kids. We know that they mignt not act like the angels they are to us towards other people, but we definately think that they are underappreciated here. There have been several occasions where people have blatantly put them down for minor reasons.

Today, we came to the center just as the church bells rang to announce one o'clock. There was already a small group of kids on the steps, waiting impatiently for one of the center supervisors to unlock the door. Other than the small group we met at the door, not many other kids came today. We each made a cross that we are going to bring to a chapel tomorrow. (We're going on an 11 km hike with the kids tomorrow...not really sure what to expect.) :) Vygantas, one of the youngest kids here, decided to paint his cross with drops of blue, acrylic (non-washable) paint. He ended up getting his entire sweater dirty four times! Andryte just stayed in the kitchen for about 15 minuts, as he went back and forth - getting his sweater covered in paint, and then getting it washed. The kids found this as amusing as Emilija and I did.

On the 20th, Marija celebrated her 13th birthday, so we decided to give her a present of our own. We carefully selected several small things that we thought she would appreciate, like a necklace, a mini dreamcatcher (aciu t. Mirga), and pencils for writing us letters once we leave. We also wrote her a very nice card, on which Andryte drew her guardian angel. :)

Nothing else very eventful happened today. (Although, we've noticed that some of the younger boys who used to eye us playing on the basketball court have started to come to the center -- which thrills us.) By now, we've become very tired, and the day felt especially long for some reason, so we only played dodgeball for a little bit after we left the center.

When we came home, we made ourselves our regular dinner of pasta and sauteed vegetables, and then went for an exploratory walk around Zemaiciu Kalvarija by ourselves. We didn't just want to see the pretty views it has to offer, but also some of its poorer areas. Thankfully, we didn't get lost, and we got a chance to pick some groundberries along the way. :)

Right now, we're going to finish making all of the kids' personalized bracelets so we can give them to them soon.