Grocery Shopping

I have been in Klaipeda, Lithuania for almost 3 days and I have already been to the grocery store twice. This is not a significantly different experience than at home except that there is far less variety and all the labels are in Lithuanian and Russion and sometimes also Polish and Latvian. This gives me a new appreciation for items that come in transparent bags, such as oats. While working at LCC I will be responsible for my meals, so I need to figure out what is available and what I want to eat every day. There is a kitchen on the floor of the dormitory with a range and pots and such, but of course I don't want to stock up on a lot of food that need cooked since I don't actually like cooking. So today for my lunch I packed a cheese (don't know what kind, but white and mild) and cherry jelly sandwich on a dark rye bread, and half a red pepper. Not bad. This morning I made oatmeal in my room (God bless Europe for their standardization of hot water kettles). I also got plenty of instant coffee. Buying these few items probably took 45 minutes, mostly spent figuring out what kind I needed and how much it cost. I hope to go to the farmers' market on Saturday and get more fresh produce.
I have had a few Lithuanian meals at restaurants as well. Yesterday for lunch I had Lietenas (a lot like crepes) with spinach and cheese. For dinner I had Saltiborschi, which is cold beet soup with hard boiled egg in it and warm potato on the side. Tonight I had cauliflower roasted with egg and cheese and baked potato with garlic sour cream. All of it has been very good. As is the local beer.
I am staying in a dorm room about 1/2hour walk from the LCC campus. I have a roommate named Carol, a bathroom, desk, bed, table, shelved, refridgerator, kettle, and sink. It really is a very nice set up.
The last 2 days we have had orientation, which has been surprisingly laid back. We've talked about some cultural stuff and some teaching guidelines, but mostly we are just getting to know each other. My teaching team includes all the Advanced level teachers, so there are 6 other people for me to get ideas from and coordinate with. Each of us will be teaching our own class, but there will be some crossover with the students from morning and afternoon sessions. It is a really intense program: 3 hour class in the morning (what I'm doing one section of) then 3 one hour classes in the afternoon, then maybe 4-5 hours of homework.
Lithuania is great so far, and Klaipeda is lovely. I have much more exploring to do, and perhaps future posts will be a little less random.

All Grown Up

I recently returned from Baby Tour 2010, a whirlwind romp through Washington to visit dear friends from Whitworth and even a few from PTS, several of whom have gotten married, had babies, or started new jobs since I saw them last. I have heard tell of what a tricky time this can be for friendships. Many of us are at different places in life than we were when we graduated from college. We have scattered geographically and in life seasons: new coasts and countries, spouses, new and continued singleness, babies, careers, etc. With all that has changed, how do our friendships remain the same? Well, they don't. We change and grow, and it takes more effort (and more frequent flier miles) to nurture our relationships. We have felt the distance, the challenges of time zone calculation, the full days of work that leave us too tired to call, and the surprising amount of time child-rearing actually requires even when the babies spend most of their time sleeping. My joy in Washington was to rediscover old friends made new by growth and maturity, marriage, parenthood, labors of love and tedium, independence, occasional loneliness, the influence of new communities, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. When I spent time with Fishy, Shelly, Anna, Mel, and Mary it was different on the surface, but still deepened by the years we shared in such close proximity. But we didn't just reminisce, we made new memories. I look forward to having these friends in my life in years to come not because of what they once were to me, but because of what they still are, and what we have yet to become together.