Wouldn't it be loverly?

Saturday morning, I escaped the chaos of school and went to Liepaja, Latvia to stay at Agata's home for the weekend. She met me at the bus station and skipping with joy, she lead me to her house. After an incredible breakfast, we left her flat and she showed me her city.
I think what I loved best was being back at the ocean (well technically sea, but same idea) again. And being with a family...I had some of the best conversations with her mom about the challenges of being a Christian in Eastern Europe-where religion often refers to ritual. We spent the weekend relaxing and walking on the beach. Sunday evening before Agata and I had to leave, we took a walk with her mother and brother along the beach. As we gazed out at the water, Karolis remarked that the way the sun shone through the clouds it looked like there was an island on the horizon. We decided it must be Heaven--so close you want to swim to it, but it could never be reached on your own.
After the walk, we watched part of a football game through the holes in the outside fence--that was hilarious, just us and a couple of old men that didnt' want to pay! Finally, Agata and I loaded the bus...back to Lithuania for finals.

So I don't ever know who reads my blog because no one ever comments, thus I do not really post that often. So please if you do read it, drop a comment once in awhile...anything really so I know people read it and maybe even like it.

Acui labai. Jenny.

Thursday morning, after getting a tour of Old Klaipeda in our Lithuanian class, Peggy and I decided to ditch our last class and go to the beach. We grabbed Polly and Jess and took the closest ferry across the spit. 40 minutes later, we got off the bus and walked through the little city of Nida.

It was so misty (almost foggy, but different) we couldn't see where anything was. We found a little pier and walked out. Then I saw one of the most beautiful pictures ever: swans swimming out of this mist. It was incredible. Peggy made friends with them, we got some quality pictures (check out my flickr site for them) and then we went to a little restaurant for lunch. We sat on the second floor, all alone. The huge wine glasses and 3 forks at each setting told us this was a nice place. It was so cool.

By the time we were done, the mist had cleared up and it was sunny and beautiful outside. How sunny?! Well, for the first time this semester, I wore a tanktop outside and bare feet in the sand and I was hot! That's just not Lithuania, but it was awesome. We ran down some dunes, looked out the horizon and layed in the sun. I felt like I had taken a step out reality and was in a daydream...well, it was my perfect daydream.

Woah, talk about an eye-opening, mind-blowing experience. Today, one of our professors, Reuben, shared about his experience in North Korea, as a ?Canadian ambassador? during Spring Break. The way this country operates is so different from anything, anything I have ever imagined.

So I will share about what he said. I don?t know how informed people are on this topic, but I know I knew very little about it. (for background on North Korea, check out BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1131421.stm) Since the end of the Korean War, North Korea has been a closed country, run by Communist rule. The capital is Pyongyang, the main city that Reuben visited. From his experience, Reuben said that the Korean people have this mentality that they are self-reliable, able to survive by themselves?which is proving not to be true. Their economy is beginning to weaken, and they are very dependent on China for imports, yet they would never admit this. ...

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not going to miss them at all.

So it is getting near the end of school, only 2 1/2 weeks left until I leave Lithuania. Am I sad? Well, it is of course bittersweet (as seems to be so many things in life!). There are certain things I will miss: the many different recipes for potatoes--the Lithuanians are very creative with this vegetable: potatoe pancakes, boiled potatoes, cepilini (meat with potoates and dough wrapped around), potatoe salad and more. Other things I'll miss: public transportation and walking. I average at least an hour and a half of walking a day. Oh haha, and of course I'll miss the babushkas. But mostly, it is the people I will miss: from my babies in the orphanage, who I am starting to get very attached to, to my dear, sweet roommates. I have formed some close friendships, and it's a very strange thing to be with friends, who you don't know the next time in your life that you will ever be with each other. Somehow I know I will get to see a couple of them again, but when and how I cannot say.

But I realized today there are certain things I won't miss. And the biggest of these is the effect of alcohol in this culture. SO many people here drink, and many are alcholics. And men here are different: in general they are very closed, very "tough" in appearance. They will not talk to you at all if they do not know you, unless they've had alcohol and then they are what Peggy always refers to as "very aggressive." Together, she and I have had so many weird encounters. From walking down the street and having guys yell at us in Lithuanian, things which should not be repeated (ever!) to a boy riding by on his bicycle and screaming as loud as he could right in my ear. That happened today, oh and I was so mad at him, seriously! Oh there was also the time when we were walking by a group of guys at night and one guy launched at me, supposedly as a joke I guess. Somehow I didn't think it was that funny, but his friends sure did. And Monday night, a couple of us girls went to the sea to watch the sun set and while waiting at the bus stop, a group of drunk guys walked up. Luckily we had a Lithuanian girl with us, but we still wound up with one guy bending down and asking to hold my foot, why I do not know and introducing himself. Then they were splashing "pop" which I am sure was spiked with vodka around at each other. That lasted about 10 min. Never have I been more happy to see the bus come.

I have experienced drunk people back home, but never have I had such aggressive occurences. Actually, Klaipeda has a lot of muggings. Several people in the dorm have been mugged. I have been protected many times when I am out. And it is always a matter of trust that something bad won't happen. Talk about learning to trust God. Every night. Sometimes, when I step out of this setting, I look at my life and wonder how I ever wound up in Lithuania?! Of all places and of all my experiences...and yet I wouldn't not trade any of it ever. What I have experienced here, is different from anything else I could experience anywhere else. This is not a glamourous place, there is nothing extremely attractive about Lithuania, and Eastern Europe has little to attract people over Western Europe... and yet it is the place that I am attracted to the most. Somehow my heart has been drawn here, and when I leave a part of it will remain.