Balloons - our best idea yet.

Andryte writing...

The kids were absolutely NUTS today.  We started off our day early to go to the kids' end of the year awards ceremony/performance.  We were late and cranky because my coughing fits had kept us up all of last night (Emilija finally gave me Niquil to keep me quiet).  We saw some of our friends receive awards and before we knew it we were back at the children's center - EXTRA early...some of the kids were already waiting for us.  The center supervisor had invited her tenth grade homeroom class to the center to have some cake (because tenth graders get recognized at the end of the year). We spent some time getting to know them and then were left to our insane group of kids.  

I'm really not even sure what happened today at the center...I just know that it was crazy and pretty out of control.  The same art teacher had the kids make decoupages once again.  It seems

 like they have been doing this same type of art project for quite a while.  Not everyone could do the project at the same time, so there were lots of kids on the loose.  We amused them by playing the piano, taking out Twister, teaching them how to play the flute (Vija brought her old one), and leading them in a game of Pictionary with clay.  The kids loved the game at first but because they had to wait so long for their turn to come along, they got bored.  So then, we had the BRILLIANT idea of bringing out the balloons.  They were the long ones that can be shaped into animals.  At first we just gave them to a few kids to keep them occupied.  A balloon then popped and fifteen others raced upstairs.  It was CHAOS.  Everyone was begging for more balloons and asking us to shape them into all sorts of animals.  The constant squeaking and popping of the balloons seemed to really stress out the art teacher.  Eventually most of the balloons popped and we stopped blowing more up.  

The kids finally calmed down.  Vija herded them all into one room and we played with a few of the kids at a time...Emilija and I played chess and checkers with Aurimas and Vija took out her flute once again.  By the time everyone was ready to leave we were EXHAUSTED.  Today we learned an important lesson.  In order to avoid utter chaos, we need at least a little bit of structure.  Today we had too many things going on.  Tomorrow we plan to have a more detailed schedule and to take the kids outside for a bit so that they aren't as energized when we return to the center.  

We were planning to make our own dinner, but our host family had already prepared some chicken noodle soup for us.  It was delicious, but we were still a little hungry so we experimented with bread, butter, and garlic, eventually making fried bread with a butter-garlic dipping sauce...not much of an experiment but it was very tasty.  

Now it's time to take some Niquil and go to sleep.  Labanaktis!  

Hi class, we're from America.

(Vija writing...)

This morning, we had a quick bread-n-butter breakfast, because no matter how early we get up, we're always running late if we have to be somewhere before 10 am. :)  Our host mom and sister took us to the school (which is really nice, by the way) and we participated in an English class.  Because it's the end of the year, and many kids leave school early to start work, there were only 4 students in class today.  They were told that once they asked us 20 questions in English, they could speak to us in Lithuanian...in the end, I think that they really only asked us about 5 questions, but that's because we really elaborated on our answers.  Especially Andryte, who tried (unsuccessfully) to explain about her IB (International Baccalaureate) classes.  Also, because Andryte normally mumbles/talks a bit too fast and she had lost her voice, the teacher said that she had some trouble understanding her. (Oops...)

After we had eaten our lunch at the school, we went to the main part of town to wait for the President of Lithuania - Valdas Adamkus (Dalia Grybauskaite hasn't been inaugurated just yet).  The street slowly filled up with impatient onlookers.  A coach bus even brought a bus-load of "tourists" from a neighboring town.  When the president finally arrived (he was a bit late) we caught a glimpse of him going into the basilica....and on his way to lunch, he waved to us! :)  Hoping that we would get yet another chance to see Presidentas Adamkus, Andryte, Emilija, Ruta, Silvija (one of the girls who showed us around on our first day) and two of her friends and I sat on the sidewalk between the basilica and the parish center.  While we were waiting, a photographer from Plungės news took a picture of us....basically looking like bums on a sidewalk. :)

When we realized that we probably weren't going to get another chance to see the president, we decided that it was time to go home and relax.  At home, we were calmly making some friendship bracelets for ourselves and the kids at the center, when we heard a loud buzzing noise.  I looked up to see an enormous wasp fly into our room through our open window.  The wasp was really about 2.5 inches long....and pretty scary.  However, because it's so big, maybe it's more intelligent than most insects, because it soon found its way out.  The weather was gorgeous today and we wanted some fresh air, so thought we could avoid more encounters with unwanted visitors by closing the window halfway.  After having to catch/release about 5 more bees (smaller ones) in the next hour, we decided to close the window all the way.

Later today, we were told that a group of students from the other side of Lithuania had come to Zemaiciu Kalvarija to sightsee and that our host dad was going to be their guide.  We were invited to come along with them, and we ended up going on a little field trip to the birthplace and resting place of a famous Lithuanian poet (Macernis).  Once again, when we got on the bus, we received strange looks from the new students, but we're getting used to it.  "Hi, I'm Bronius, and I have three Americans with me today.  Emilija (wave), Andryte (wave), and Vija (wave)."  Sometimes, we even feel like we're famous!  (We don't feel like that every day in America.) :)

After we got back from our little "excursion" (as they called it), we hung out with Ruta, Silvija, and her friend Tadas.  There wasn't much to do, so we just sat on a public lawn and hung out for a bit, until a girl from the "excursion" asked if she could join us.  After a while, Silvija and Tadas decided to show us around Zemaiciu Kalvarija some more, so we got a chance to see some beautiful nature again.  We also picked some wild strawberries (zemuoges!), saw a stork in its nest, climbed some hills (ZK is known for being hilly), and walked through an evergreen forest to a beautiful field.  By 9:30 the sun was finally starting to set and the temperature was steadily dropping, so we split up and went home (where we had some nice, hot tea, fresh strawberries, and homegrown cucumbers with homemade honey - delicious!)

Tomorrow, we have been invited to see a special end-of-the-year performance of all the "best" students in the school.  We heard that students will be singing, dancing, and showing off other, various talents.  (Earlier, our host family had suggested that we also perform - but it doesn't look like that's going to happen...) :)

Iki rytojaus!

Liux

Emilija writing...

After a pretty boring weekend, we woke up and got ready to start another week with the kids. Because the president is coming to Zemaiciu Kalvarija tomorrow, we weren't allowed to go into the center because they were cleaning it. Instead of playing games with the kids inside, we were told to hang out with them outside. 

We went to their school's stadium and played soccer for about an hour. After that, we had a picnic outside on the top of a very windy hill. We ate some bread, sausage, cookies, and tomatoes, along with some orange juice. Even though it was a simple lunch, it was very filling.

We then played basketball on half of a court (the other half was taken up by a local flea market) and some local kids joined us in 

our game. After getting our butts kicked by some 10 year olds, we decided it was time to start playing dodgeball. Ohh wait...we got out butts kicked in that game too :( When we first saw them, they looked tiny and innocent, but once they started whipping the ball at us, we quickly changed our minds. We switched between basketball and dodgeball until it was time for the kids to go home. As al

ways, the local kids walked us home.

When we got home, we went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for our delicious and very cheap dinner. It cost us only about $1.50 each!! We bought 2 carrots, one tomato, garlic, an onion, and some rice. It was phenomenal (even our host family liked it!). Even though I spilled some (maybe it was a little more than some..) unground black peppers into the pan, it still tasted pretty good. Because it was our first time making our own real dinner, we're still thinking of ways to make it even tastier. 

Our host family also asked us to make them an American meal. Our thoughts so far include onion rings, hamburgers, chicken parmesan, and brownies for dessert. If you have any suggestions, please let us know. We would really appreciate it. Just keep in mind that our supplies here are really limited and we can't make a lot of traditional American dishes.

Our host mom teaches an English class at the local school and invited us to come to her class on one condition: we can only speak English to the students. It's going to feel really weird because we try to speak Lithuanian amongst ourselves, and we don't speak English to anyone else here. Even though we're kind of nervous, we're excited to meet some people our age!

We need to get some sleep because we have a big day tomorrow: speaking to some kids AND possibly meeting the president of Lithuania!!

Charging up for another week

Andryte writing...

After an exciting yet exhausting week with the kids, we spent our first weekend here at Zemaiciu Kalvarija mainly catching up on sleep.  Yesterday (Saturday) I woke up sick (probably because of our freezing hikes, sleep deprivation, and exhausting work with the kids).  I ended up sleeping for all but 2 hours that day.  During those two hours of consciousness, I consumed maybe twenty cups of tea.  Today I feel much better :)

As I slept through all of Saturday, Vija and Emilija enjoyed watching our host family collect honey from their bee hive.  They filled about twenty jars of honey that day!  We got to chew on delicious honey comb (left-over wax with honey) at lunch that day.

 

Today, Sunday, we woke up early and walked to the basilica with Milda,

Bronius, and Ruta for mass.  The mass lasted 2 hours and the church was freezing, but the experience was worthwhile.  We sat with the choir in the balcony (Vija actually sang with them, sitting in the front by herself), so we could hearthe singing first hand and see the entire church from a distance.  

We walked home in the rain and pretty much hung out at home, charging up for another week with the kids.  We can't wait to see them again tomorrow!