A Diary of Lithuania - Part 3

 

*Photos taken of Leandra and Rebekah 

on their bikes after our air freight arrived.

*For some reason, I am unable to reply to comments on my posts.  I don't know why or how to fix it, but I'll have to reply here.  

Last post, my mother asked if she had seen the diaries because she remembered bits and pieces.  Yes, I had originally sent the diary to Mom, and she sent it to Sarena, my friend from childhood.  Sarena actually had it for several years, forgetting to get it in the mail to me.  I believe, and I could be wrong, she finally got it to me last year.  She can comment below when she did.  I enjoyed pouring over them when I got them back.  I believe after this initial diary, I started to blog about my adventures there.  I actually wish I had never deleted those blogs because my memories aren't as fresh as I would like them to be.  So, unfortunately, when I am finished typing up this diary, there won't be much more. 

August 8, 2007

We found out that DC [Washington, DC] screwed up once more.  They didn't ship our air freight because it was "unauthorized".  It was thrown on a truck with the HHE [household shipment] and headed for DC. It's so dumb!  Anyway, Al spoke to the movers and I guess they will pull out all the air freight when it arrives in DC.  Then, they will ship it.  We won't see it for two more weeks.

The family is sleeping much better now.  We are still pretty tired at night.  But, we are getting accustomed to the very early mornings by sleeping through them.  here it is 7:15 a.m. , and the kids are all still asleep.

Al has been doing a lot of start up paperwork at work for medical and such.  Evidently we are in a very heavily tick infested area and the ticks carry encephalitis, so the doctor is recommending a vaccine.  I am mixed on the idea.  I suppose it is better to not get ill.  They gave us a tick removal kit.  We are supposed to save any removed ticks to be tested. [for lyme disease]

Al wants me to go shopping for a cell phone, but I'm not really in the mood.  I told him it really isn't much more than a leash around my neck.  But, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a phone for emergency purposes. 

The kids have been fighting and arguing a lot.  Yesterday I sat them down to do a small bit of school and Bible writing.  It worked for a while but they began to quarrel again.  Rebekah is raising her voice to me a lot. She tells me I'm being mean just because I tell her not to do something. 

Al brought home a list of foods and products we can order from the commissary in Helsinki.  A lot of the food is very expensive.  I can, however, purchase a few items from them that are difficult to find here.  We still can't find any natural peanut butter.  I'll need to check on what the restrictions are on mailing to the APO.  There are a lot of restrictions on the diplomatic pouch service. 

Life is pretty normal here.  Things seem to go the same as before.  I try to think about anything different that would cause a disruption to daily life.  I'm not too sure what there is.  (other than not having our air freight) I don't feel as comfortable with the kids outside because Cassie doesn't bark at strangers.  Many people walk by in a day.  I see kids running around all the time.  Leandra is a bit sad there aren't any girls.  I have seen some girls but they walk far up the street.

I think I am doing well.  I am teaching myself the language.  I think the news about air freight brought me down.  Just one more thing to throw into the ol' pile of government garbage.  

Well, I better be going for now.  I thought about taking the kids to the corner store for an ice cream, but I am not too sure yet. 

August 9, 2007

It was nice to talk with you again [Mom].  Hopefully you can call sometimes and surprise us.  Just remember the 10 hour difference. 

The kids are out playing with the dog.  It's just before 9 a.m..  I can hear thunder and the sky is laden with fat, gray clouds.  I love it.  It hasn't rained too much since we've been here, but the weather is beautiful.  The warmer weather 78-80 degrees causes our living room to bake like an oven. [There were a lot of windows in this living room.] GSO brought some fans to help.  They also brought the dehumidifier for the basement.  In 8 hours, we had about 3L of water in the machine.  It can hold 6.  This morning I dumped another 3L.

We went to the mall yesterday with another family.  Tricia brought along two of her kids, Max and Kelly, aged 7 and 9.  They were happy to find friends their age. We ate at a restaurant (pizza and soda) and later ate ice cream.  Actually, it is Italian gelato, on scoop was about $1.  We paid 3 litas.  It is very hard to watch for sugar here because nothing is labeled for it.  You can read if sugar is an ingredient but grams aren't shown.  Andrew drank a Coke Light which I assume is sugar free.  But his ice cream wasn't sugar free.

Tricia was telling me that most people speak English here.  I think that's neat, but they should not have to.  Just like we shouldn't have to speak Spanish in the U.S..  Anyway, they evidently "love" Americans.  I wouldn't go that far, but I don't think they hate Americans either.  I am trying my best to leave a good impression.  Tricia also told me the president of Lithuania is an Lithuanian American.  His family immigrated to the U.S. then went back. 

I finally asked a few questions about bathrooms or water closets.  1st - Do Lithuanians flush toilet paper? No, they use waste baskets, thus the reason the public restrooms stink.  I believe it is the same for Germany.  2nd - Why do the bathrooms have blue lights?  Well, Tricia told me that she was told you can't see veins that way.  It totally makes sense to me.

We had tacos last night for dinner.  The foreign foods section of the store had ramen, soy, Mexican food, and such.  The ramen I bought was the best I had ever had.  I miss refried beans but I am still new to the stores.  I told Al I need to go to the mall and search.  I need to try each store.  I think if I can find dried pintos, I'd be happy.  I found a few cans of beans or "pupeles", but I never looked to see the type of bean.  I have a running list of foods to search for.  Problem is you have to look hard for things and be willing to pay the price.  I'm not too picky.  The Helsinki Commissary has a shipment/mail order plan for a refundable $120 fee.  They don't have everything, but they do have some things.  Their prices seem somewhat high though.  Good thing is you can get seasonal things like turkeys.  I haven't seen turkey here [it was there, I just didn't see it at the time], but I have seen duck and chicken.  Hey, they even have quail eggs! I think shopping here is neat.  They have these huge tanks with fish swimming around.  You can't get much fresher than that!

We are going to another family's home for lunch and a play date.  The kids are excited.  Leandra's a bit bummed because the only girl is 5 years old.  But I am sure she can find something. 

Mail delivery seems to be pretty fast.  We received something yesterday with the date of July 27.  So, hopefully, we won't have to wait for mail too long.  But I do know it all sits in a box until Wednesday mail day. 

We killed our living room spider last night.  We watched him as he poked half his body out.  I had hoped he would come all the way out, but no such luck.  I finally sprayed a bit of Raid under the baseboard adn went to bed.  This morning we found a balled up spider on the floor.  Yeah!

We just got back from the Fellow's home.  The kids had a fun time eating lunch and playing.  They have two boys and a girl.  I am not sure about the boys' ages, but the girl is 5.  Susanne and I talked for quite a while about a lot of stuff.  She is really nice and seems to be somewhat like me when it comes to food.  She bakes her own bread and likes to stay away from too much sugar.  Their house is actually really close to the embassy.  It is absolutely huge!  It's much older than ours but it is pretty inside.  She has some hutches and closets in it which the landlord provided [I remember they were giant solid wood, antique]...Susanne doesn't like them though.  She talked with me about food you can and can't buy here.  I need time to look around and explore the stores. [I recall her telling me what there was and wasn't from my list.]

I think we will make a run to the HyperMaxima at Akropolis [an absolutely amazing mall] when Al gets home.  We will need a few things, mostly fruit.

August 10

Well, another day, another week.  I have steaks planned for tonight.  We bought charcoal and lighter fluid.  I just hope I'm not burning dangerous stuff and feeding myself toxins.  Kidding!!

Al plans to invite some of the single guys over to the house this weekend for a "homecooked" meal and laundry.  They basically live out of hotels and off restaurant food.  Not good.  Anyway, I told him I'd try my best to make a tasty meal without seasonings [they hadn't come yet].  I could make macaroni and cheese, but we'll see. 

I guess Adri [Al's mom] is shipping out a care package of whole wheat flour and other stuff.  I hope she sends her popcorn because we can't find it.  I also wish I could find some natural peanut butter.  Unfortunately, that is a little more difficult to mail. 

I'll send this off on Monday so it will make the truck to Finland.  I'll also include postage paid envelope to send it to Sarena.  I haven't spoken to her yet, but she would love to hear from me. 

Monday, August 13, 2007

I finally got the kids started on the chore charts today.  They seem pretty enthusiastic, but I am sure it will wear off eventually.  A job well done earns them 3 litas minus the centus for bad behavior.  They basically draw 3 marbles out of the basket each for a room in the house.  They are responsible for those rooms for a week.  How well they do determines money earned.  Their poor behavior loses them money. 

Well, I spent a long time shopping at Rimi the other day.  I found some of the hard to find stuff like baking powder, yeast, and pinto beans.  I found they are very big on yogurt (jogurt) here.  A full blown aisle of yogurt bigger than in the States.  They sell a lot of their dairy products in bags.  The yogurt I buy is in large 1 liter bags.  They come in several flavors.

I enjoyed my peaceful stroll through the HyperRimi sans kids.  I was able to explore and find what I needed.  Unfortunately, there are foods we miss and can't get.  The only time we will get to eat those items will be during our R&R's if we choose to go to the States.  Evidently you don't have to take them in the States.  You can go most anywhere, but we are so far from our first R & R that we won't even think of it. 

It's nice to finally get back into my baking.  Adri sent me a few zucchini bread recipes to use up my huge zucchini (cukinija).  Anyway, because I got the zucchini from the neighbor, I took her half of the cake I baked.  We talked in Lihtuanian a bit about the ingredients, and she gave me a bag of tomatoes and cucumbers from her greenhouse.  I think she was somewhat surprised at my increased vocabulary.  Before I came home, she offered me coffee, which I declined.  Al told me I should have accepted.  I should have.  Oh, guess what else she gave me?  Another humongous zucchini!  Aye! What to do?  I decided to bake another cake for the marines at the embassy.  

I am attempting to make a loaf of oat bread (duona) without a recipe.  It looks good so far, but you never know.  I made pancakes this morning without a recipe and they were good.  We didn't have syrup, but they used honey (medus) and applesauce which I made as a topping.  They were quite content.

Well, I guess that is all for now.  We walked to old town yesterday.  We saw St. Anne's Cathedral.  It was beautiful and old.  The kids bought post cards.  One to you.  The shops are wonderful to look in, but no spoons.  I have tried to barter for large doilies.  They were stiff; I suppose from too much starch. I saw plenty of ideas for gifts.  You would love all the amber items sold here. Anyway, so much to please the eyes, but I told Al that usefulness is more important. Anyway, just make sure you are ready for the Lithuanian culture to touch your home. 

My bread is ready for 2nd kneading.  Then laundry and preparing my mail for Wednesday.  Love to you all.  I miss you bunches.  Take care, K?

ps. I forgot to mention the beautiful babuska dolls.  Some sets had as many as 20!  The smallest one was [I drew a small blob on the page, but it was the size of a mini-chocolate chip] This small!!! CRAZY, HUH?

~~~~

I actually thought this was the last post, but my pages were out of order and I found another section.  I don't think my diary got out to my mom that week.  

Most of you aren't familiar with the packing and moving process when going to a post.  We basically had two shipments (three if you count the car).  These two shipments, air freight and HHE, are supposed to be kept separate.  Then when you arrive at post, they immediately process and send your air freight.  The other items go via ship with your car.  This is why they take much longer.  Our air freight ended up not coming immediately.  Air freight typically has all the things you would want as soon as possible.  For us, it was toys, bikes, homeschool materials, spices, herbs, kitchen things, office supplies, extra clothes, etc.  So you can imagine not getting that stuff when we had planned to, was holding a lot back in progressing toward daily life.  But we were content and made do.  

Also, I wanted to make a note, that while it sounds like I was complaining about not having foods I liked, it was quite the contrary.  We found plenty to eat and were satisfied with the selection.  At the time, Andrew, our oldest son, was on a low sugar diet for ADHD management.  We were so set into that routine, it was hard to shift. Fortunately, around the time we moved, he was learning to control his sugar a bit better.  None-the-less, we did still work toward limiting the intake of sugar...at least initially.  By the time we moved to Poland, we did use a bit more sugar.