Meeting the kids...

Andryte writing...

Hello again from Zemaiciu Kalvarija!  Today was eventful because we finally had the chance to meet the kids.  This morning we woke up to the sounds of church bells ringing (and me snoring :/).  At ten a.m. we headed to the school and met the head of the center who is also the school's psychologist.  The school was small but homey.  We were surprised to hear that students from first through twelfth grade attended the school.  She offered us tea (of course) and then we discussed our responsibilities at the center.  We then headed to the lunch room, where we ate traditional Lithuanian food (they offered us soup, a large meal, and something to drink - our first warm meal here!).  We ate by ourselves because everyone seemed scared of us outsiders.  They would walk in, see us, and quickly run away.  

After we ate we went to the center where we were asked to organize a huge bookshelf/cabinet of random crafts, paper, many candles, and even a microscope.  As we turned the room upside down, two boys (who claimed to be 18 and 19 years old but, as we later found out, were 16) walked in and introduced themselves as Mantas and Tadas.  We talked about sports, music,and a variety of other topics.  They asked us to compare real high school life to what they have seen in movies.  They left us to our work as soon as kids started arriving. 

Approximately twenty kids trickled in over the next few hours.  We introduced ourselves and socialized with some of the kids while waiting for others to arrive.  While we were waiting, I played a boy in checkers...I was losing but the game was fun until several boys talking to me disrespecfully and swearing at me.  They were testing my limits, so I cut the game short, we cleaned up, and let the supervisor know what had happened.  

We gathered in another room where a teacher came in to lead the kids in a craft.  We cut out images from napkins and glued them onto cups and plates (decoupages).  We then decorated them with gold and silver paint.  The results looked pretty cool :)  We then sang a prayer and ate (some of the kids had helped a volunteer make casserole).  

It was our turn to formally introduce ourselves (although many of the kids had left on the bus).  We played an ice-breaker memory game in which everyone said their name and something that they like, starting with the first letter of their name.  (For example, I said "My name is Andryte and I like arklius (horses)").  I had a little bit of trouble remembering some of the relatively difficult names.  

We then split up into two groups and played Trouble and Twister, two games which we had brought.  The kids absolutely LOVED these games (especially Twister).  They finally came out of their shells and laughed a lot, so we really had a chance to bond.  Some of the little girls have already attached themselves to us :)

We can communicate with most of the kids because they speak in normal Lithuanian, but one kid named Vygantas doesn't understand that we don't understand ANYTHING he says.  That's how different the two dialects are. He tells us intense stories and asks us millions of questions, so we ask him to repeat himself and have other kids translate.  Sometimes we find ourselves just smiling and nodding.  Our goal for the end of the trip is to understand what Vygantas is trying to tell us. 

We love ALL of these kids so much already...some even walked us home to make sure we didn't get lost on the one main road in Zemaiciu Kalvarija.  They are so incredibly sweet but we know that their lives are more complicated than they show.   We're looking forward to befriending them and hopefully leaving a positive impact.  

We just came back from a three-hour tour with our two new friends - Agne and Silvija.  They showed us the best views in Zemaiciu Kalvarija and told us all about their local customs, classmates, and social lives.  We showed them Vija's pictures of Dainava (our Lithuanian summer camp), but they were more interested in her pictures of prom and school events.  

Today was an eventful day, but now we're ready to go to sleep.  Labanaktis!