baltic sea.

I'm sitting in bed trying to think of what happened last week. And I cannot remember anything. I just know that we taught everyday. 

I don't think anything too exciting happened while teaching. There is this one little boy named Ignas whose favorite phrase is "What the f*** is going on here?!" so that makes lessons a little interesting. I still have no idea how these kids learn these words in English so young! I have lived in Ukraine and now in Lithuania and I have yet to learn a single curse word in Russian. The worst thing I can say to someone in Russian is go away, which isn't even bad, and "it came from a camel," which is a phrase that can be used in response to someone asking a dumb question. Oh well. All we can do is tell him not to say that and hope that he doesn't.



The kids here are absolutely adorable, although they can be hard to teach. Some like to cry if they don't get their way. Some do not pay any attention at all. Some cry until we bribe them with candy to get them in class. Some just don't speak. Some make bunny ears every ten seconds. Some think they are too cool for school. But they all have sweet smiles that always make you smile. 

One thing that I have been working on is finding the good in everything. If I am unhappy or annoyed with a situation or someone, I pause for a few minutes and think about everything that is good about the situation or person. It has helped so much. It's so easy to get caught up in the bad things, dwelling on them, riling you up even more. It takes more thought and control to stop yourself and point out all the good things, and then be thankful for them. 

Anyway, we went to the Baltic Sea on Saturday! It was so great! The car ride was just a little miserable. It took about 5 hours to get there and 5 1/2 to get back. But the time we spent in Palanga was amazing! The main street was so cute with lots of shops, restaurants, and food stands. We walked along the boardwalk and then we went down to the sand. The sand was sooooo soft. Like the sand at the beach at home. Except this sand wasn't white. As Hayden pointed out, it looked like our breakfast when we put cinnamon in it. But that's beside the point. The sand felt fantastic on our feet. Then we got closer to the water. And we finally were brave enough to stick our feet in. The water was FREEZING. At least it was at first. After awhile we got used to it though and it felt really good. I really wish I could have gone swimming. That would have been so fun. 

After walking on the beach we saw an old house and a bunch of people over there so we walked over to see what was happening. There were people dressed up in athletic clothes and girls dressed in nice dresses and guys in coat tails. We watched some tug of war games then walked around the grounds more. What caught our attention the most was the fact that they were playing the sound track from The Great Gatsby. Turns out, the people dressed up were reenacting the life of the main aristocratic family of Palanga in the late 1800s. It was pretty neat. 


Having seen all of that, we found a path to walk along. It was covered with trees and it was really peaceful. We just had a good time enjoying each other's company. We ended up finding a place called Birute's hill and it was a really pretty area. On a very tall hill. We climbed 103 stairs to get there. Which really isn't that much. But it felt like it. 


We made our way back to the beach so we could walk along the shoreline to get back to the main street. That was probably the best part. I got to take everything in while listening to the sound of the waves. It was a few minutes of bliss. 


Back on the main street, we pigged out a little. We bought waffles on sticks dipped in chocolate and gelato. Then we made our way to the grocery store to get some food for dinner. Which, for me, consisted of bread with cheese and spinach and a lion bar. So healthy, I know. 

At around 5 we hopped back in the van to head back to Vilnius. On the way back, Dima gave me more Russian lessons, so I can now say quite a bit more. Dima and I also got into an argument about space and the sky. That was probably the most hilarious argument of all time. While we disagreed, he did say that I put up good arguments and he would hire me as a lawyer.


Sunday night we tried to make dinner. It consisted of spaghetti noodles, what we thought was spaghetti sauce but actually tasted like ketchup, and taco seasoning to make the sauce taste better. Needless to say, it was horrible. Hayden and I decided we need to get Lion bars to get the taste out of or mouths. We were in sweatpants and sweatshirts, about to go live the thug life at Maxima. We asked Joni, who was still in her church clothes, if she wanted to go. Her response was, "I think I'm a little over dressed for the thug life." It was hilarious!! Hayden and I got our Lion bars and our mouths and stomachs were so much happier. Now we know, stick with butter and salt.