taken 3.

Last week was full of teaching. As always. I don't think anything too exciting or different happened. Except that one of my teachers got sick, so I had to teach for her. It was actually really nice to teach again after not teaching for 10 months. I've missed that interaction with the kids. 

 My time here has been so different than Ukraine. It's been a lot harder for me for many different reasons. I love this country and everything that it offers, and I will never regret the decision of coming here. It has taught me a lot. Lessons that I might not have ever learned if I hadn't come here. So I will always be grateful for that. But Ukraine will forever have my heart.

Saturday we got to go to Uzupis. It is a country within Vilnius. It a tiny little place, but they have their own constitution and everything! It's actually pretty funny. It was such a neat experience to go there. They had some very interesting art in the gallery that they have there. Some of the paintings I really liked, but then there were some that disturbed me enough that I could have cried. But I can't really judge art that I don't understand. To someone it could be beautiful.

After we walked around Uzupis for awhile, we walked down this tiny street that had walls covered in graffiti that lead us to the end of Uzupis and to a beautiful park in Vilnius. We cut through the park to get to a tower that used to be part of a castle. The castle had been built on a huge hill so that it would be hard for enemies to reach it. This hill basically went straight up. It would be pretty hard to climb. When we got to the top we had a gorgeous view of the city. I had never seen the skyline of Vilnius but I loved it! I could see all the colors  of fall, the red roofs of Old Town, and the vibrant people who make this city exciting. 

Our friend, Luiza, was the one taking us on this tour of Uzupis and up to the tower. Luckily for us, Luiza is not only awesome because she is Luiza and so much fun, but she also has connections. We were able to get free Mexican food from our favorite Mexican restaurant because of her! It was fantastic! After the Mexican food, Luiza, Hayden, and I all went to Coffee Inn and got some hot chocolate and a treat and we headed out to the terrace at Swedbank. I had never been to this area of Vilnius before, so it was great to get to see everything that I hadn't before. 

When we finally got to the terrace it was absolutely perfect. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was just this area with a few lights in the ground and some cool chairs spread out in twos and threes all over the place near bushes so that you could be separate from other people. I'm not really doing a good job of explaining it, but it was just perfect. We spent a good amount of time there just talking and having a good time. 

Sunday Luiza took Hayden and me to Trakai. It's a small little town that is surrounded by a lake, and in the middle of that lake there is a castle! The walk down to the lake was beautiful! All of the buildings and houses were colorful. I think I could live there. I'm pretty sure I said "This is beautiful!" and "This is gorgeous!" at least 50 times while we were there. The sun was setting, and the water and the castle just looked stunning. 

The castle was closed by the time we got there, but that didn't stop us from wandering around the outside. Hayden and I ended up having a little photo shoot. It was a fun time. Then as we were leaving the sun was setting. That was seriously the best ending to wandering the castle on this amazing lake that I could ask for. 

We then went to eat some traditional Lithuanian food called kabinai. They kind of taste like mini pot pies. Except they look more like a pastry and all that is inside is meat and onions. I think.  

On our way back to the bus station we saw a man in the grass. My first thought was that it was a statue man like the ones we see in Vilnius. Then as we passed him we realized that it was actually a person. And we had no idea if he was alive or not. He was in a position that looked totally unnatural for any person to be in. Not to mention he was face down in the grass. We seriously thought that he could have been dead or injured, so Luiza called the emergency number to let them know where he was. Once we let them know, the man in the grass moved his head a little so at least we knew he was alive. After that we left, so we could make our bus. Hopefully that man is okay.

We wanted to find the train station instead of taking the bus, but we didn't really know where it was. We came upon the bus station and there were two guys in a car. As we passed the front of the bus station the one guy in the passenger seat leaned out of the car and spoke to us in Lithuanian. Luiza said they were asking if we wanted a ride so we kind of just ignored him and kept walking considering it's not exactly the smartest idea to get in the car with two strangers driving a car with completely blacked out windows. The guys in the car then left the bus station and drove over to where we were walking and started talking to us again. Luiza told them that we didn't speak Lithuanian (even though she speaks it) and that we spoke English. Then the guys started to try to speak to us in English asking if we wanted a ride to where we were going. I told them that we were just walking home. They asked again if we wanted a ride. I told them that my house was just ahead so we didn't need a ride. After that they drove off, as fast as they could of course because that's what guys do, and that's when we decided it would probably be safer for us to ride the bus back rather than trying to find the train station. Plus, we did not really want to become the story that Taken 3 was based off of. 

Overall, this weekend was great. It wasn't too fast paced and the company was nice. It was a good precursor to the stressful week that I am about to have. Heaven help me as I go into this week. I'm already feeling the affects of it.

Oh, and this fall is the most gorgeous fall I have ever seen.