It has been almost 4 weeks since I arrived in this amazing country! Can you believe it? I can't. They say college goes by so fast, I now can vouch for that. They say your time abroad goes by even faster and so far I totally agree. Thank you to everyone who is reading this right now! I'm so thankful for your love, support and prayers. I literally would not be doing this well if it were not for you.
In talking to people I have been asked a very valid question, "What have you learned?" So this post is all about the little snipits of truth that I have learned so far. Just take them for what they are worth and feel free to ask questions :)
~Not everyone understands our New England sports dynasty
~The Saints dominating in the Superbowl is not as crucial to everyone as it is for me!
~America is from Canada to Chile/Argentina
~I'm from the States
~Everyone doesn't hate the US
~Everyone doesn't love the US
~Smiling at everyone on the street is a no-go (basically like Boston)
~Drinking at least 2 cups of tea a day is a must
~I know slim to none about the histories of other countries
~Not everyone wants to be infiltrated with American pop culture
~Not everyone from the LA area spends their lives on the beach
~Trying food, even when it looks funny, turns out to be a great experience
~Never say "I'll think about it to a pastor", it means YES
~God's church around the world is beautiful
~Power outages are a normal occurrence in Neumann
~God is God in Malden, Wenham, Chicago and Klaipeda
~People don't actually leave the building when the fire alarm goes off
~I still struggle focusing in my 1 1/2 hour classes
~The Lithuanian air has made me really good a the finger snapping thing
~When you step out, God lifts you up
~The language of love is more powerful than any words you could utter
~There are 20+ year olds that have never opened a Bible
~No matter how hard I wish I will not learn Lithuanian without practice and hardwork
~I'm still gullible (or as I'd like to say, very trusting)
~You have to pay to take a shopping cart...always take a hand basket instead
~"Prayer is the constant awareness of the presence of God"
~Living life as a testimony to God's goodness is hard
~Love like Jesus...no questions asked
~You can have co-ed floors and still love Jesus
~I'm still a SINNER...that needs forgiveness daily
~Judging others instead of myself is a no-go
~Messiah is not as in the middle of no where as GC people think it is
~Lithuania is not as cold as everyone (who have NEVER been here before) say it is!
~During my lifetime Lithuania has gone through a lot of pain and hurt
~The church is the church in all languages and cultures
~I represent more than just myself
~God is GOOD in all circumstances
I'm sure that is not all that I have learned, but it's a good chunk :)
Have an amazing day!! Live loved :)
Much love,
~Chrissy
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
3 WEEKS!!!
Wow!! I can't believe that it has been 3 weeks! It's craziness! For now I will just post about today...
Today was the first day that I went to visit the orphanage. It was not at all like I expected actually. I thought that it would be like one big room with all the children and their beds. Pretty naïve of me only thinking of what orphanages look like in movies. Actually the outside was a lot like I imagined. It was pretty run down. It looked like it had not gotten much attention, basically it was a building with off white bricks and kind of scary windows. As we walked in things began to change. It was bright, with some color and actually very clean and well kept.
My teacher went with me and we met the director who only spoke in Lithuania so my teacher did the translating though she said that she understood simple English sentences if there ever was an emergency. We talked about the basics of the home. There are 54 children that live in this large four floor building. It started out as a boarding school then shifted to a school and an orphanage, now it is only an orphanage and all the children go elsewhere to go to school. The children are broken up into for different groups called families. About twelve of the children are what we would think of as typical orphans because they have no parents. A little over thirty of the children are here because their parents have lost their parental rights. Seven of the children are hopefully only here temporarily until their families can get more money and take them back. All of the children here are between four and eighteen years old.
I will be working with a caregiver named Alina who also speaks English (I am so thankful for her because originally we did not think that any of the workers spoke English). She was very sweet and I am excited to get to know her. I got to meet a few of the children, but they were in the middle of watching television so probably not the best time for any children. A met two little girls in the hallway that were really sweet. I will be working with ten children ages 8-15.
One thing that will be interesting is that many of the children have not seen a black person in real life or at least not talked to one since Lithuania is not exactly the most diverse place ever. My teacher was a little concerned that some of the children would poke fun or say mean things. In my few minutes there, that did not seem to be an issue, but we will see come Thursday. I assured her that I was a tough cookie and I could put them in their place, in a loving way of course. Though I was a little nervous walking in there I was filled with peace as I began talking to the director (well kind of). There may be challenges, but I am excited. Like I always say sometimes the best things in life are the hardest. Once again I am stepping out trusting that God’s love will flow through me to these children and that I would be able to reach them even with my minimal Lithuanian. I am very excited to see how God will use me in this place. I would love continued prayers as I begin my time there on Thursday.
More to come on
what I've been learning
new adventures
exciting activities
pics!
Much love!
~Chrissy
Today was the first day that I went to visit the orphanage. It was not at all like I expected actually. I thought that it would be like one big room with all the children and their beds. Pretty naïve of me only thinking of what orphanages look like in movies. Actually the outside was a lot like I imagined. It was pretty run down. It looked like it had not gotten much attention, basically it was a building with off white bricks and kind of scary windows. As we walked in things began to change. It was bright, with some color and actually very clean and well kept.
My teacher went with me and we met the director who only spoke in Lithuania so my teacher did the translating though she said that she understood simple English sentences if there ever was an emergency. We talked about the basics of the home. There are 54 children that live in this large four floor building. It started out as a boarding school then shifted to a school and an orphanage, now it is only an orphanage and all the children go elsewhere to go to school. The children are broken up into for different groups called families. About twelve of the children are what we would think of as typical orphans because they have no parents. A little over thirty of the children are here because their parents have lost their parental rights. Seven of the children are hopefully only here temporarily until their families can get more money and take them back. All of the children here are between four and eighteen years old.
I will be working with a caregiver named Alina who also speaks English (I am so thankful for her because originally we did not think that any of the workers spoke English). She was very sweet and I am excited to get to know her. I got to meet a few of the children, but they were in the middle of watching television so probably not the best time for any children. A met two little girls in the hallway that were really sweet. I will be working with ten children ages 8-15.
One thing that will be interesting is that many of the children have not seen a black person in real life or at least not talked to one since Lithuania is not exactly the most diverse place ever. My teacher was a little concerned that some of the children would poke fun or say mean things. In my few minutes there, that did not seem to be an issue, but we will see come Thursday. I assured her that I was a tough cookie and I could put them in their place, in a loving way of course. Though I was a little nervous walking in there I was filled with peace as I began talking to the director (well kind of). There may be challenges, but I am excited. Like I always say sometimes the best things in life are the hardest. Once again I am stepping out trusting that God’s love will flow through me to these children and that I would be able to reach them even with my minimal Lithuanian. I am very excited to see how God will use me in this place. I would love continued prayers as I begin my time there on Thursday.
More to come on
what I've been learning
new adventures
exciting activities
pics!
Much love!
~Chrissy
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Pictures!
Here's a link to some pics that are on facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032057&id=1236840181&l=a34c4b5173
Let me know if it works!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032057&id=1236840181&l=a34c4b5173
Let me know if it works!!
Easier??
So I've been doing a lot of thinking. I have been in Lithuania for about 2 1/2 weeks and on one hand it feels like I just got here and the time is flying by while on the other hand it feels like I have been here forever and have grown accustom to live on the other side of the ocean.
So like I promised we can rewind to our first "real" weekend here. Two of my roomies had gone home for family parties and the other one was unpacking and organizing so I didn't get to hangout out with them too much. A bunch of the SAs and one of our interns decided to go out to a karaoke bar. It was tons of fun!! As most of you know singing is not my forte and for those of you that are concerned about the safety of the ears of my new friends, I did not touch a mic all night! But we did pick some fun loud songs and all just sang and danced to them! It was a blast :)
Saturday was by far the coldest day since we have been here and a few of us decided it would be fun to go to the market! I did not really need groceries, but I'm always up for an adventure, so Jess, Mayu and I navigated our way to Karklu to meet up with some of the other SAs to go to the market. It was what you would think of as your typical outdoor, wooden stands selling clothes, shoes and food. There were also a few places inside which was great! There was a lot of fresh veggies, some fruit, breads and tons of meat. Even as someone who thoroughly enjoys meat I was a little taken back, I don't know how Jenn did it. Anyone as many of you also know my hands get numb ridiculously fast so as we are walking around I have lost pretty much all feeling in my fingers.
We decided to have tea and lunch at a cafe. When we sat down I literally just sat on my hands for a while until I gained some feeling. My new friends were concerned, but I assured them that I just had to thaw for a bit! They helped be order some warm hot cocoa which is just what I needed! ( In Lithuania, you need to be sure that you got the chocolate with milk because they usually just serve hot chocolate as literally chocolate that is heated up. It is very interesting and pretty sweet!) Anyway I eventually thawed out which leads me to Cheese Fingers! They are basically mozzarella sticks, but on a whole other level of goodness! There are pretty large and are served with this amazing sauce! It was wonderful!
Sunday I went to a Lithuanian church. I got connected through Frank then Milton. It was really awesome!! Laura, who actually works at LCC, translated the whole thing for me. I was able to use the few words that I knew to communicate with people! Everyone was really warm and welcoming! It was really cool because a few different people got up and shared in between songs. They had such amazing testimonies of how God was working in their lives. It was truly beautiful! After church Laura took me out to lunch and it was great to talk to her and hear about her life! It was such a blessing :)
This week has gone by soo fast! I can't believe that it is almost Friday. It's crazy how fast life goes by! So Adam went to this conference called Passion in the beginning of the month and so I found some of it on a podcast. The first sermon was called Unthinkable You and it truly was just that! It was awesome and a good reminder of who I am really am. I got to thinking...
It's easier...
not to care about what I do
not to care about how I talk
not to care about my thoughts
to go along with everyone else even if I don't agree
to get washed into a sea of apathy
to judge others, but not myself
to slack
to only put in a little effort
to gossip
to do whatever I want
Or is it...
What may seem easy, may not actually in reality be that easy. To ignore the truth and only focus on wants seems tiring and draining. I've thought about this "easier" side of life and in reality I think it might be harder to live in denial of what I know is true! Holding tight to the truth, though it may seem harder at times is actually good! Life may be temporarily better when it's easy but in the long run I think it will hurt more. So, I'll hold tight to the truth and keep trekking!
Philippians 4:8 and Psalm 139
Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness,
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually who are we not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people
won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And when we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
- Marianne Williamson
Well I think that's all for now...I hope I got you caught up on my life and some of my thoughts!
Thanks for reading :)
Much love
~Chrissy
So like I promised we can rewind to our first "real" weekend here. Two of my roomies had gone home for family parties and the other one was unpacking and organizing so I didn't get to hangout out with them too much. A bunch of the SAs and one of our interns decided to go out to a karaoke bar. It was tons of fun!! As most of you know singing is not my forte and for those of you that are concerned about the safety of the ears of my new friends, I did not touch a mic all night! But we did pick some fun loud songs and all just sang and danced to them! It was a blast :)
Saturday was by far the coldest day since we have been here and a few of us decided it would be fun to go to the market! I did not really need groceries, but I'm always up for an adventure, so Jess, Mayu and I navigated our way to Karklu to meet up with some of the other SAs to go to the market. It was what you would think of as your typical outdoor, wooden stands selling clothes, shoes and food. There were also a few places inside which was great! There was a lot of fresh veggies, some fruit, breads and tons of meat. Even as someone who thoroughly enjoys meat I was a little taken back, I don't know how Jenn did it. Anyone as many of you also know my hands get numb ridiculously fast so as we are walking around I have lost pretty much all feeling in my fingers.
We decided to have tea and lunch at a cafe. When we sat down I literally just sat on my hands for a while until I gained some feeling. My new friends were concerned, but I assured them that I just had to thaw for a bit! They helped be order some warm hot cocoa which is just what I needed! ( In Lithuania, you need to be sure that you got the chocolate with milk because they usually just serve hot chocolate as literally chocolate that is heated up. It is very interesting and pretty sweet!) Anyway I eventually thawed out which leads me to Cheese Fingers! They are basically mozzarella sticks, but on a whole other level of goodness! There are pretty large and are served with this amazing sauce! It was wonderful!
Sunday I went to a Lithuanian church. I got connected through Frank then Milton. It was really awesome!! Laura, who actually works at LCC, translated the whole thing for me. I was able to use the few words that I knew to communicate with people! Everyone was really warm and welcoming! It was really cool because a few different people got up and shared in between songs. They had such amazing testimonies of how God was working in their lives. It was truly beautiful! After church Laura took me out to lunch and it was great to talk to her and hear about her life! It was such a blessing :)
This week has gone by soo fast! I can't believe that it is almost Friday. It's crazy how fast life goes by! So Adam went to this conference called Passion in the beginning of the month and so I found some of it on a podcast. The first sermon was called Unthinkable You and it truly was just that! It was awesome and a good reminder of who I am really am. I got to thinking...
It's easier...
not to care about what I do
not to care about how I talk
not to care about my thoughts
to go along with everyone else even if I don't agree
to get washed into a sea of apathy
to judge others, but not myself
to slack
to only put in a little effort
to gossip
to do whatever I want
Or is it...
What may seem easy, may not actually in reality be that easy. To ignore the truth and only focus on wants seems tiring and draining. I've thought about this "easier" side of life and in reality I think it might be harder to live in denial of what I know is true! Holding tight to the truth, though it may seem harder at times is actually good! Life may be temporarily better when it's easy but in the long run I think it will hurt more. So, I'll hold tight to the truth and keep trekking!
Philippians 4:8 and Psalm 139
Our Deepest Fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness,
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually who are we not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people
won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine as children do.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And when we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
- Marianne Williamson
Well I think that's all for now...I hope I got you caught up on my life and some of my thoughts!
Thanks for reading :)
Much love
~Chrissy
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Laba Diena!!
For those of you that are not fluent in Lithuanian like I am the title means "Good Day" (Truth is I'm not really fluent I just wish that I was) I really will start posting more regularly! So much life has happened since my last post! I guess I can begin with what I promised to include from last time! But first...
I am doing great!! I am really loving it and am back to Chrissy 100%. (Thanks for the concern and encouragement)
FOOD. We all eat it but as we all know the different types of food can vary greatly even in our own country, never mind on the other side of the ocean. As most of you also know up until almost a year ago I was one of the pickiest people that you could imagine. Anything that looked, smelt or felt different or funny to me I would not go near. I was basically like a 5 year old in the food world, but no worries I have grown up a lot in the last year! I decided that I would follow the model that I told my groups this summer, "Ok friends, you really should try a little bit of everything even if it looks funny. You don't have to like it but just taste a bit." So far it has done me well! The food adventure started on the plane when I got a cheese sandwich that was covered on top with different seeds and such and then inside had some type of sauceish ordeal that was white with pieces of something in it. Needless to say, my challenge started even before I landed. So as I took a bite into the bread I realized that it was actually very good! From there I was ready to take on anything! The first night I had a more traditional potato pancake dish which was a little heavy, but actually really good! My roomies made buck wheat that is kind of like rice but it opens up as you cook it and it was really good! Then today one of my roomies brought back a home cooked meal of meat wrapped in cabbage in a sauce with small potatoes on the side! That was probably one of my favorites! I have really enjoyed all the traditional food so far! For the most part we all cook our own food so really I can eat whatever I want most days, but I'm trying to be open to all types of food!
LANGUAGE. As I mentioned before I am not exactly fluent in Lithuanian yet, but I am taking the Intro to Lithuanian course! I am learning, a little slower than I would like but I'm getting there! Spanish is the only other language that I mildly know so sometimes I try to say things to waiters or cashier's and realize they will still have no idea what I am saying! The word I say most is Acui which sounds like achoo (as in a sneeze) and means thank you! So not only am I really polite but I have tons of fun saying it! All the students at the school do speak English so I can still communicate well with them which is great! But I can't wait until I can hold even a mini conversation in Lithuanian.
BLACKOUTS. I live in a dorm that is only a few years old, but there are a few things that are just funny about it! One of them being the semi-regular occurrence of blackouts. One night within six hours there were about 8 blackouts each last about ten minutes! Now we have grown to just chuckle at them but the first time I thought it was just my apartment and I assumed I had broke something until my RA came by and asked if I was doing ok and all. The blackouts are most fun when you are in a kitchen with about 10 other people all attempting to cook dinner and you're wicked hungry because you realized that you actually had to cook in order to eat. The whole stove going on and off ordeal is not exactly the best situation when attempting to boil water, saute veggies, or make chicken!
CLASSES. So I'm not sure exactly who thought it was a good idea, but apparently some thought it would be cute to make students actually study, go to class, read books and write papers while studying abroad. While this may come across as common sense to some it is a little difficult to grasp when you are in a fun new country and think you should be able to run around, travel and explore everyday! To be honest I did not even think to bring my planner (for those of you that don't know I pretty much love my planner and would not be able to make it at Gordon w/o it), notebooks, folders or any other school basics. Needless to say I had to make a few purchases before Monday. I am currently taking Intro to Lith, Cross Cultural Seminar (a course that is just for SA students taught by our SA leaders), Theories of Personality, Social Psychology, Practicum and will be starting an on line human biology course next week. So far they have been interesting. My two psych classes are back to back, same room, same teacher of 1 1/2 hours which makes things a little challenging. I have tried to counter this by sitting in the front right in one class and in the middle left in the other. I'll keep you posted on that and where I am doing my Practicum.
ROOMIES!! Yes, I did finally get roomies! The first week or so was pretty lonely so I was pumped when they came! Two of them moved in on Thursday and one on Friday! They are awesome and tons of fun! They are all soo easy to talk to and get along with which is really nice!! Their names are Ruta (who actually lives on my side of the apt), Erika and Vicki. Ruta and Erika are both from Lithuania so they are going to help me learn the language. Vicki is from Belarus and she's going to help me learn a little Russian. Pretty much, they're ballin :)
Well I should head to bed so that's all for now, but no worries, more to come soon!
First Weekend
Practicum
and other fun happenings
As tave myliu (I love you!)
~Chrissy
I am doing great!! I am really loving it and am back to Chrissy 100%. (Thanks for the concern and encouragement)
FOOD. We all eat it but as we all know the different types of food can vary greatly even in our own country, never mind on the other side of the ocean. As most of you also know up until almost a year ago I was one of the pickiest people that you could imagine. Anything that looked, smelt or felt different or funny to me I would not go near. I was basically like a 5 year old in the food world, but no worries I have grown up a lot in the last year! I decided that I would follow the model that I told my groups this summer, "Ok friends, you really should try a little bit of everything even if it looks funny. You don't have to like it but just taste a bit." So far it has done me well! The food adventure started on the plane when I got a cheese sandwich that was covered on top with different seeds and such and then inside had some type of sauceish ordeal that was white with pieces of something in it. Needless to say, my challenge started even before I landed. So as I took a bite into the bread I realized that it was actually very good! From there I was ready to take on anything! The first night I had a more traditional potato pancake dish which was a little heavy, but actually really good! My roomies made buck wheat that is kind of like rice but it opens up as you cook it and it was really good! Then today one of my roomies brought back a home cooked meal of meat wrapped in cabbage in a sauce with small potatoes on the side! That was probably one of my favorites! I have really enjoyed all the traditional food so far! For the most part we all cook our own food so really I can eat whatever I want most days, but I'm trying to be open to all types of food!
LANGUAGE. As I mentioned before I am not exactly fluent in Lithuanian yet, but I am taking the Intro to Lithuanian course! I am learning, a little slower than I would like but I'm getting there! Spanish is the only other language that I mildly know so sometimes I try to say things to waiters or cashier's and realize they will still have no idea what I am saying! The word I say most is Acui which sounds like achoo (as in a sneeze) and means thank you! So not only am I really polite but I have tons of fun saying it! All the students at the school do speak English so I can still communicate well with them which is great! But I can't wait until I can hold even a mini conversation in Lithuanian.
BLACKOUTS. I live in a dorm that is only a few years old, but there are a few things that are just funny about it! One of them being the semi-regular occurrence of blackouts. One night within six hours there were about 8 blackouts each last about ten minutes! Now we have grown to just chuckle at them but the first time I thought it was just my apartment and I assumed I had broke something until my RA came by and asked if I was doing ok and all. The blackouts are most fun when you are in a kitchen with about 10 other people all attempting to cook dinner and you're wicked hungry because you realized that you actually had to cook in order to eat. The whole stove going on and off ordeal is not exactly the best situation when attempting to boil water, saute veggies, or make chicken!
CLASSES. So I'm not sure exactly who thought it was a good idea, but apparently some thought it would be cute to make students actually study, go to class, read books and write papers while studying abroad. While this may come across as common sense to some it is a little difficult to grasp when you are in a fun new country and think you should be able to run around, travel and explore everyday! To be honest I did not even think to bring my planner (for those of you that don't know I pretty much love my planner and would not be able to make it at Gordon w/o it), notebooks, folders or any other school basics. Needless to say I had to make a few purchases before Monday. I am currently taking Intro to Lith, Cross Cultural Seminar (a course that is just for SA students taught by our SA leaders), Theories of Personality, Social Psychology, Practicum and will be starting an on line human biology course next week. So far they have been interesting. My two psych classes are back to back, same room, same teacher of 1 1/2 hours which makes things a little challenging. I have tried to counter this by sitting in the front right in one class and in the middle left in the other. I'll keep you posted on that and where I am doing my Practicum.
ROOMIES!! Yes, I did finally get roomies! The first week or so was pretty lonely so I was pumped when they came! Two of them moved in on Thursday and one on Friday! They are awesome and tons of fun! They are all soo easy to talk to and get along with which is really nice!! Their names are Ruta (who actually lives on my side of the apt), Erika and Vicki. Ruta and Erika are both from Lithuania so they are going to help me learn the language. Vicki is from Belarus and she's going to help me learn a little Russian. Pretty much, they're ballin :)
Well I should head to bed so that's all for now, but no worries, more to come soon!
First Weekend
Practicum
and other fun happenings
As tave myliu (I love you!)
~Chrissy
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Icy Dunk
Wow, so much has happened since I last posted so I am not sure exactly where to begin. First of all to be perfectly honest, though I loved my new Study Abroad (SA) friends and was enjoying being in Lithuania I was not really feeling like myself. As you all know I am normally really outgoing, talkative and loud at times, but that was not be the first few days here. I was kind of quiet and did not have a lot to say. I was really annoyed because I did not know what was wrong with me or why I was not my typical self. It is not like I was not enjoying myself or was miserable I just felt kind of off which is a pretty sucky feeling when you're across an ocean with a bunch of people you just met. There were times when I thought, "well this was fun! I'd be fine with going back now" but then I would stop and think that no it really would not be fine it would suck and I'd be wicked sad that I copped out. Then, things took a turn...
....FOR THE BETTER!!
Things have been looking way up these last 2 days. I feel like I am becoming me again which is baller! I went to drop something off and was talking to Emas who is one of our SA leaders (he’s is freaking hilarious and so much fun!!) and he said that was perfectly normal. He reminded me that I’ve only been here a week so I’m totally fine! It’s feels so good though! Some said it was culture shock and that may very well have been the case. I remember feeling the same but to a way lesser extreme when I first got to Chicago. I still don’t have any roommates yet which is kind of a sad story, but the housing director assured me that I would have some soon!
Well I’m sure that a lot of you are curious about my current weather situation. It is cold here to say the least. To be honest it’s not that much colder than the last few days in Boston except that we spent the first 5 days of our time here doing a ton of walking. Which normally I stay inside or run to the car and drive places so I feel a lot more of the cold here. Even for the people from this area they said it was very cold for this time of year and that it is normally a lot warmer which gives me hope that it won’t be this cold all the time.
The SAs and I have done a lot since being here! Some of us were hanging out in a lounge earlier and talking about how it feels like we’ve been here forever yet we have not even been on campus for a week yet. Well thinking back to before classes started feels like ages ago. We spent the first few days in the capital. One of the best parts of our time there was getting to go to a really old church and have a tour down in the catacombs. It was kind of creepy because some of the tombs still had remains in them, but at the same time it was actually pretty exciting!
One the way to go to the school we stopped at a castle in Traikai. It was beautiful and huge! We decided that it would be a fun place to play hide and seek in but did not think the owners would really appreciate it! We still enjoyed ourselves and walked around and got to see some of what was actually in the castle at the time!
One of the most exciting parts of the trip was definitely the polar swim! First off we took a ferry out to this huge island. We went to a sauna that is right on the beach. Unlike my dear friend Cas, the temperature here is not exactly, “yay, let’s run and jump in the water weather” but for some reason they decided it would be a fun and cultural experience and most of us went right along with it! So we went into the sauna and got really hot and toasty until our bodies were hot and we were dripping with sweat then we ran out (through the snow and sand that was frozen solid) into the Baltic Sea and then dunked down so we were covered with water. We then attempted to run back into the large room but it was more like a slow jog because our bodies were so cold. Because we are such brilliant and crazy cool kids most of us decided to do this two times and a few brave people (not me) went for a third dunk. Though it was kind of crazy, it was tons of fun and definitely a once in a lifetime experience!
Well thanks for reading this far! I hope you are enjoying my life updates :)
Up next:
Food
Language
Blackouts
Classes
Roomies-hopefully
Much love
~Chrissy
....FOR THE BETTER!!
Things have been looking way up these last 2 days. I feel like I am becoming me again which is baller! I went to drop something off and was talking to Emas who is one of our SA leaders (he’s is freaking hilarious and so much fun!!) and he said that was perfectly normal. He reminded me that I’ve only been here a week so I’m totally fine! It’s feels so good though! Some said it was culture shock and that may very well have been the case. I remember feeling the same but to a way lesser extreme when I first got to Chicago. I still don’t have any roommates yet which is kind of a sad story, but the housing director assured me that I would have some soon!
Well I’m sure that a lot of you are curious about my current weather situation. It is cold here to say the least. To be honest it’s not that much colder than the last few days in Boston except that we spent the first 5 days of our time here doing a ton of walking. Which normally I stay inside or run to the car and drive places so I feel a lot more of the cold here. Even for the people from this area they said it was very cold for this time of year and that it is normally a lot warmer which gives me hope that it won’t be this cold all the time.
The SAs and I have done a lot since being here! Some of us were hanging out in a lounge earlier and talking about how it feels like we’ve been here forever yet we have not even been on campus for a week yet. Well thinking back to before classes started feels like ages ago. We spent the first few days in the capital. One of the best parts of our time there was getting to go to a really old church and have a tour down in the catacombs. It was kind of creepy because some of the tombs still had remains in them, but at the same time it was actually pretty exciting!
One the way to go to the school we stopped at a castle in Traikai. It was beautiful and huge! We decided that it would be a fun place to play hide and seek in but did not think the owners would really appreciate it! We still enjoyed ourselves and walked around and got to see some of what was actually in the castle at the time!
One of the most exciting parts of the trip was definitely the polar swim! First off we took a ferry out to this huge island. We went to a sauna that is right on the beach. Unlike my dear friend Cas, the temperature here is not exactly, “yay, let’s run and jump in the water weather” but for some reason they decided it would be a fun and cultural experience and most of us went right along with it! So we went into the sauna and got really hot and toasty until our bodies were hot and we were dripping with sweat then we ran out (through the snow and sand that was frozen solid) into the Baltic Sea and then dunked down so we were covered with water. We then attempted to run back into the large room but it was more like a slow jog because our bodies were so cold. Because we are such brilliant and crazy cool kids most of us decided to do this two times and a few brave people (not me) went for a third dunk. Though it was kind of crazy, it was tons of fun and definitely a once in a lifetime experience!
Well thanks for reading this far! I hope you are enjoying my life updates :)
Up next:
Food
Language
Blackouts
Classes
Roomies-hopefully
Much love
~Chrissy
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Home? Well Kind Of...
Since leaving Boston life has been rather interesting!
The flight to D.C. was rather quick with no interesting stories. Flying to Frankfurt on the other hand was very special. First of all I have never been on a plane that huge! I was amazed! We got in at the middle of the plane and there were beautiful large cushy chairs which I assumed I would also be sitting in. Come to find out that was not the case. I actually had a rather average sized plane seat. It was a little disappointing, but I just had to chuckle at myself! I don't sleep very well in general so the flight was filled with two movies, dinner, music listening, a lot of fidgeting, trying to get comfortable and a neighbor that had a secret cool kid hangout and only sat down when the seat belt sign was turned on. From there I flew to Vilnius.
As I stepped out of customs I was met my Lara!! She is friends with my buddy Frank and was the sweetest lady in the world. She was soo sweet and loved me so much! She gave me a huge hug, which was an amazing entrance to the country! Everyone thought I had known her so ever even though I have never met her. I met the other study abroad students and program leaders and we were good to go.
Most of the students are from Azusa Pacific University, a few from Messiah, Taylor, Bethel and Eastern. They are amazing and tons of fun!! So far I love them a lot!!
We spent the first few days in the capital city, it was beautiful! Very modern except for the Old Town which was more old school. It was pretty sweet! I will post pictures shortly. We walked around a ton! Especially the first night so that we did not fall asleep! It was snowing tons, I guess God didn't want me to get too home sick since it doesn't snow a lot of here.
We stayed in a hostel which kind of reminded me of mini dorm rooms. They said it was a pretty nice one! We went on a long tour of the city. The coolest part was going to the catacombs of a church! It was awesome! Kind of dark at parts, but we got to see some tombs and old floors and such! Sounds kind of weird, but pretty sweet!
We moved into our dorm a few hours a day and it is glorious! It's actually really nice and I like it a lot! My roommates aren't here yet, but I'm excited for them to come this weekend!
So we are actually seven hours behind so here's the scoop!
Boston Lithuania
8 am 3 pm
9 am 4 pm
10 am 5 pm
11 am 6 pm
12 pm 7 pm
1 pm 8 pm
2 pm 9 pm
3 pm 10 pm
4 pm 11 pm
5 pm 12 am (next day)
Facebook/ Email for Skype dates!!
Here's my mailing address for real:
Kretingos 36, LT - 92307 Klaipėda, Lithuania, LCC International University, Neuman dorm, campus, W306, Chrissy-Jonassaint
Sorry for all the confusion. Well that is all for now!
Much love :)
The flight to D.C. was rather quick with no interesting stories. Flying to Frankfurt on the other hand was very special. First of all I have never been on a plane that huge! I was amazed! We got in at the middle of the plane and there were beautiful large cushy chairs which I assumed I would also be sitting in. Come to find out that was not the case. I actually had a rather average sized plane seat. It was a little disappointing, but I just had to chuckle at myself! I don't sleep very well in general so the flight was filled with two movies, dinner, music listening, a lot of fidgeting, trying to get comfortable and a neighbor that had a secret cool kid hangout and only sat down when the seat belt sign was turned on. From there I flew to Vilnius.
As I stepped out of customs I was met my Lara!! She is friends with my buddy Frank and was the sweetest lady in the world. She was soo sweet and loved me so much! She gave me a huge hug, which was an amazing entrance to the country! Everyone thought I had known her so ever even though I have never met her. I met the other study abroad students and program leaders and we were good to go.
Most of the students are from Azusa Pacific University, a few from Messiah, Taylor, Bethel and Eastern. They are amazing and tons of fun!! So far I love them a lot!!
We spent the first few days in the capital city, it was beautiful! Very modern except for the Old Town which was more old school. It was pretty sweet! I will post pictures shortly. We walked around a ton! Especially the first night so that we did not fall asleep! It was snowing tons, I guess God didn't want me to get too home sick since it doesn't snow a lot of here.
We stayed in a hostel which kind of reminded me of mini dorm rooms. They said it was a pretty nice one! We went on a long tour of the city. The coolest part was going to the catacombs of a church! It was awesome! Kind of dark at parts, but we got to see some tombs and old floors and such! Sounds kind of weird, but pretty sweet!
We moved into our dorm a few hours a day and it is glorious! It's actually really nice and I like it a lot! My roommates aren't here yet, but I'm excited for them to come this weekend!
So we are actually seven hours behind so here's the scoop!
Boston Lithuania
8 am 3 pm
9 am 4 pm
10 am 5 pm
11 am 6 pm
12 pm 7 pm
1 pm 8 pm
2 pm 9 pm
3 pm 10 pm
4 pm 11 pm
5 pm 12 am (next day)
Facebook/ Email for Skype dates!!
Here's my mailing address for real:
Kretingos 36, LT - 92307 Klaipėda, Lithuania, LCC International University, Neuman dorm, campus, W306, Chrissy-Jonassaint
Sorry for all the confusion. Well that is all for now!
Much love :)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Safe and Sound
I made it.
Safe and sound in the hostel in the capital.
Going to bed.
Will update soon :)
Thanks for the prayers :)
Safe and sound in the hostel in the capital.
Going to bed.
Will update soon :)
Thanks for the prayers :)
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Few Short Hours
In a few short hours I will be flying out of Logan Airport. I have been asked many times if I was excited, scared, nervous? And my answer to all of those have been yes, but I do not think it really has set in yet. Even though I'm packed with itinerary in hand I don't think it will really hit me until I'm on the plane.
There have been some interesting happenings since last week. For one I learned from my dear friend that Frankfurt is a large city in Germany so I am really flying into Germany and not Denmark like I told everyone. So I apologize if I accidentally lied to you. I also realized that I will have spent more time out of Massachusetts than in MA since last summer.
For those of you that do not know. I hate packing. In fact packing and unpacking are two of my least favorite activities. Normally I do not start packing until the morning I am leaving. Maybe around 12:30 am I finally decide it is a good time to start packing. Even going to college I packed up a large room full basically overnight. But, I decided to make a change. By 11:30pm last night everything, but my laptop and ipod were packed securely where they belonged. Some of you may think that I would have been super stressed, worried, concerned, but actually I was pretty impressed with myself for getting done that early! With a little help from my sister and a few hours I was golden.
Here is my actual address which apparently I never really posted.
Kretingos 36, LT - 92307 Klaipėda, Lithuania
I am also six hours ahead so the best time to skype is 8 am- 7 pm EST. Which will be 2pm- 1am my time.
Thanks for all your prayers thus far and the ones to come. I'll post that I am safely there whenever we get internet.
:)
There have been some interesting happenings since last week. For one I learned from my dear friend that Frankfurt is a large city in Germany so I am really flying into Germany and not Denmark like I told everyone. So I apologize if I accidentally lied to you. I also realized that I will have spent more time out of Massachusetts than in MA since last summer.
For those of you that do not know. I hate packing. In fact packing and unpacking are two of my least favorite activities. Normally I do not start packing until the morning I am leaving. Maybe around 12:30 am I finally decide it is a good time to start packing. Even going to college I packed up a large room full basically overnight. But, I decided to make a change. By 11:30pm last night everything, but my laptop and ipod were packed securely where they belonged. Some of you may think that I would have been super stressed, worried, concerned, but actually I was pretty impressed with myself for getting done that early! With a little help from my sister and a few hours I was golden.
Here is my actual address which apparently I never really posted.
Kretingos 36, LT - 92307 Klaipėda, Lithuania
I am also six hours ahead so the best time to skype is 8 am- 7 pm EST. Which will be 2pm- 1am my time.
Thanks for all your prayers thus far and the ones to come. I'll post that I am safely there whenever we get internet.
:)
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