A Diary of Lithuania - Part 1

I found an old photo of Leandra making bread with Rebekah.  This photo was in the first house we lived in when we moved to Lithuania.  

I was cutting a loaf of sourdough bread this morning and for some reason, the firm texture of the whole grain loaf brought me back to Lithuania when we purchased freshly baked, whole grain loaves from the local markets.  I'm not talking about loaves of bread wrapped in plastic (which they did have) but loaves found in a bin!  These loaves were very dense and tough to cut.  My own loaf, left out on the counter for the last day, was very similar to cut. 

It brought to mind a little diary I kept when our little family first moved there.  I wrote it to keep my mom and dad up to date (belated) while we were getting set up with internet.  I didn't want to miss a bit of the excitement!  

That's when it hit me.  No one but a few people have ever heard of our first days in Lithuania and I thought it would be a great experience for anyone else to read. Or not, you can be the judge!   

So, this will be the first post as I reminisce about a time in the past, that has left a lasting imprint on my mind and heart.  It is a place I hold dear to my heart and is often in my dreams.  No other place I have ever been, has ever taken root of my dreams like Lithuania.  I hope you enjoy!

August 1, 2007

We still aren't set up with phones, but it has only been one day anyway.  I totally forgot to pack a few envelopes and paper in my carry on, so I won't be able to mail this for a while.  I think Al called to have our belongings shipped, so hopefully it won't be long.

The house is very nice despite a few problems.  The kitchen counters are quite low but washing dishes hasn't been too bad.  The refrigerator is small, but they have provided a full sized one plus a large freezer in the basement.  The windows don't have screens but I have decided to allow a few mosquitoes to get a cool breeze.  Overall, the neighborhood is a "hit-or-miss" neighborhood.  The houses in the area are old and large, but are being completely refurbished.  The house next door has a humongous yard filled with a garden.  It truly is beautiful to look at.

I had my first experience shopping at Maxima.  It was a glorified convenience store.  Very small according to our standards.  But I was able to pay $165 litas for a few things we needed.  The currency exchange rate is approximately 2,50 litas per $1.  I had a difficult time calculating in my head.  I think I didn't care.  I paid 15,99 litas for Tide - probably not too great a price but not sure.  It will be hard to find products to match ones I am used to, but I think things won't be too hard.  As long as I learn to handle the other shoppers who know what they need and rush around me with little or no manners.  I joked with Marian [our sponsor] that the Lithuanians shop like they drive.  

Anyway, we are all tired and jet lagged.  Poor Rebekah fell asleep just after dinner.  The other two are equally tired.  The kids absolutely love it outside and spend a lot of time out there.  In fact, they found a few "very large" snails.  Andrew has named them already.  Cassie [our dog] loves the place and even found buried treasure...a bone.  She is content outside staring at all the cats. 

August 2, 2007

Well, another night with little rest.  Rebekah woke just as we were retiring for the night.  She fell out of her bed and was hanging upside down while she cried for me.  I got her a cup of milk and she went back to bed.

I wanted to say a little more about the store.  1st - you buy the grocery bags.  2nd - you bag your own groceries.  I think shopping is done in small amounts here so the sight of someone with an overflowing cart is probably seen as greedy or something even humorous. [shocking is more like it]

We have quite a few large spiders sharing the house with us.  Did I mention they are large? I hope they are as scared of us as we are of them.  We have killed 4 already  I have my sights on #5, but he hides behind the hinge of the back door.

The kids have met a few other chidren.  One boy, David, speaks Lithuanian as well as English.  Andrew automatically assumed if he spoke English he can't possibly be Lithuanian.  Funny, huh?  David just gave the kids some candy. Andrew, after some reminding, said his only known word, "Aciu".  [Thank you] I had him ask if he said it correctly and he was pretty close.

David, from next door, invited the kids over to play.  I walked over and his grandmother came out.  Her English is very limited as my Lithuanian is.  She is very nice.  I asked about a few things in her garden.  She picked me a zucchini the size of a watermelon and said, "present to you".  She also gave me a bouquet of calendula, daisies, and onion blooms.  [very fragrant blooms if you enjoy onions] She also gave me a handful of parsley and a few of the largest beans I had ever see.  At any rate, our talk was limited but I enjoyed the friendship.  I feel badly I can't give her much of a return gift.  I will bake something for her when my UAB [air baggage shipment] comes.  Oh, her name is somewhere along the lines of Adonia or Aldonna. 

August 4, 2007

Well, our third day went better in some ways, worse in others.  The kids have begun to fight like cats and dogs again.  It's much harder to cope with when you are jet lagged.  Usually I am sleepy all day long, but yesterday it hit me around 1 pm.  

I, or we, made our first trip to the embassy yesterday.  The people are so nice.  I met with the ambassador and his wife at the "Hails and Farewells" party.  The Marines who guard the embassy cooked up ground beef [hamburgers], hot dogs, and chicken.  Then they had several types of potato, rice, and pasta salads.  [all very bland] The cost was 50 litas for all of us to eat.  Plus the cost of drinks.  It raised money for something, but I can't remember what.  Anyway, like I said, the foreign service "family" seems to be very nice.  The kids met some friends there and had a blast.  At one point I heard Rebekah screaming in terror and found her poised a top the perimeter wall [four feet up].  I think she started at the 1 foot end with her back to the street, almost got to the 6 foot end, and then looked behind her.  I had to rescue her.  She didn't realize that in front of her only dropped a foot. 

After the party we drove to the XXX Maxima.  NO!  It has nothing to do with porn!  Maxima is a store chain.  The more X's the more stuff they sell.  This store was huge...more like a Walmart in Yuma.  You have to pay about 60 cents to use a shopping cart.  We ended up carrying a small hand basket because we didn't have change.  I like the store even though there is still the language barrier.  There were many more products and some of which have English [England] on them.  Hey! they even have Cheetos!! But I don't want to buy junk food.  Our trip last night was for basics until today.  I [bought] about 1 1/2 gallons of milk, [a] chunk of bacon, 2 loaves of bread, box of tea, 10 eggs [don't sell by dozen], 2 liters OJ, and 2 long use grocery bags for about 45 litas.  That wasn't too shabby. We bought the long shelf life milk which is about 2 [times] the cost of the other.  The other milk comes in a bag and needs a pitcher.  I don't have one. 

Our trash can is so small and service is once a week.  It's full already and we still have 1/2 a week to go.  I hope they give us permission for a mulch pit.  They said to bring the rest to the embassy cans.  

Rebekah had her first tumble down the stairs yesterday.  She bumped her face and said that nothing else hurt.  I think she learned not to come up without holding the bar.  We have decided to request bars to hold onto for the basement stairs.  They also said we could request carpet remnants if slipping was the problem. 

They had provided baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, but we removed the main staircase gates.  We left the one to the basement until later.  Evidently they had ordered a few dehumidifiers for the basement, but they hadn't come yet.  The basement's external walls seep when it rains, but I don't know if that is normal or not.  It's the internal leakage that is my concern as well as GSO's. Evidently, the owner was told to fix it or lose rent money so GSO could fix it themselves.  Not sure how they will fix it.  The portions that are wet look just like the wet spot in our old bathroom.  Some could be old, some new.  They need to look at what is above the wet walls and check the pipes.  Seems simple enough.  The bathrooms all have access doors to the pipes. 

Oh! Funny note...They don't really use shower curtains here.  The shower sprayers are adjustable height and you sit in the tub to shower.  Nate said he's been doing it for 4 years.

Let's see.  What else to say?

Oh yes.  We have to make a list of damages already present on the furniture, drapes, and carpeting.  That way we aren't responsible for damages unless we do it.  For the most part, all problems are small.  We also had to do a house survey to tell or report any and all damages [or] problems.  Hopefully everything is okay when we leave.  Evidently there has been a problem in the past with people not reporting any damages and leaving [for] their next post without paying for replacements. I am glad God has given me a sense of honesty. I would pay for damages to anything I broke or the rest of the family.  

Well, I guess that's all for now.  Today's schedule includes shopping and dinner with another family.  Actually, the guy and his wife are scheduled for c-section Sunday.  Hopefully I can get a little more sleep in before we leave.  I may snuggle on the couch while Rebekah plays.