At the Beach with Z! 

This is our pretty amazing sand castle, that I talked about in my last post.

He wanted to wear my sunglasses lol.

END. 

Palanga, Lithuania.

My roommate, Hillary, and I were invited by one of our student’s family to go to their “Flat” by the Baltic Sea. On the drive there our student, Z, would drill us for games to play, yet none of the Actual games were never good enough LOL. So eventually I taught him the “sloth” game, where you act like you climb a tree and then fall asleep. It worked for a little while, yet still was not his favorite like such as I spy or rock paper scissor were. When we arrived at their flat we ate some dinner, which was a famous Lithuanian cold soup that was the color pink. After, we sat and talked a little when they, the parents, introduced a small glass of dark liquid. They explained the drink as a Lithuanian drink that is made from herbs and such, “People don’t drink it to get drunk” they said. I am thinking it must not be alcohol and they were so excited to share a little bit of their culture with us, saying “you must try it!” So I did. Yet as soon as this sip of “herbal” liquid entered my mouth, my body said “EVACUATE INCOMING LIQUID!” so I did… all over their couch and a little in their faces… Just Kidding, I didn’t spit it (just trying to see it you were paying attention.) Yet, my throat did burn and so did my nose… and my eye…  I tried not to talk for a minute so the liquid could make its way past my throat. I politely put it down and continued listening to them speak, when not even a couple minutes later Hillary picks up her cup of burning LAVA. Before I am able to give her a polite hint of the potency of it, she takes gulp… watching from the corner of my eye, I see her stop and register what it was when I hear a gasp come from the red teary eyed face. “WOW! THAT IS EXCITING!” she says, fallowed by a couple coughs. To them the drink is not that strong so that is why they told us people don’t drink it to get drunk. On the other hand for us, someone that doesn’t drink , iiiiittttsss pretty strong LOL.

After we refuse the drink multiple times, they ask us why aaaaand we tell them. The dad says that the only time he has heard of the LDS church is when he heard about the USA election’s on NPR. So they ask more about it and we tell them more, it ends up being a very spiritual talk and they seemed to enjoy learning about what we believe. Yet, they were very interested when I started talking about the importance of family and how we feel about the family unit. I said that the world would have one believe that the family is not important. Agreeing he said “The happiest people are not the ones with fancy cars or lots of money, they are the ones that find beauty in what surrounds them and who. It’s  a frame of mind.” He told me that to brush up on English he listens to NPR and on it he heard a study about the happiest people in the world and that they found the really happy people are one’s that are taught to see beauty in everything and value family. This is all coming from a guy that lived through soviet times and was a part of the human chain across the Baltics to gain freedom and remembers what it was like during the years after when they had nothing… they have had to build their freedom, their careers, and their families from the bottom. They know what hard work it takes to succeed when you have nothing to start with.

The next day we wake up and go to a pretty garden and green house, as seen in some pictures. We make our way to this beautiful castle that is what seems like something straight out of Pride and Prejudice.  The gardens were amazing and inside the castle there was an amber museum with all types of amber jewelry and rocks. Z, found a particular enjoyment looking at the amber with bugs in them.

Later, we went out to eat at a restaurant that served traditional Lithuanian food. They, the parents, ordered a couple of famous dishes for us to try. These dishes included Pig’s ear, Pig feet, Pig intestine, Zeppelini, a cabbage soup, another soup, a yummy raspberry drink, and glass of “non alcoholic drink.” I can now say I have eaten almost every abstract thing one could eat on a pig LOL. Yet, the soups were my favorite. When they handed us this drink that is “non alcoholic” I double check with them before I try it to make sure it does not have alcohol in it. I try a sip just to see, and low and behold I taste like a yummier version of bud light or miller light what, ever people call light beers. I take a polite sip and move it strategically away from Hillary, so as to not repeat the alcohol incident from the night before. A little bit later they urge us to try it again and are so excited for us too. I take a small sip and so does Hillary, when she says “This is good!” and continues to drink it during the dinner. Later that night, she starts to feel really icky and lets me know when we get some time alone that she feels like throwing up. Later we look up the drink later and it very a mild beer. Yet again to people that don’t drink anything like that it can have some effect LOL.  

The next day we go to a dance festival in town and I join in on some line dances and so does Hillary. That evening we make our way to another town that was hosting the Lithuanian Jazz festival. You see Jazz is very popular here and the jazz artists are good too! Even the mayor of the town was jazz trumpet player, he was so good! There we listened to Nikki Harris live! SHE WAS AMAZING! She seemed to have come to this particular concert with the intention to make everybody happy! She is a famous American jazz singer and it was so nice to hear happy songs that I knew. During the concert Z and I danced and laughed, this is odd because Z would never do anything like this at school lol. We even got his parents to dance! It was beautiful seeing them together as a family happy and smiling all because of good music and dance! I FREAKING LOVE DANCE!

Our last day at Palanga we went to the Baltic Sea!!! It was so nice to be out in the sun, feel the sand on my feet, hear the ocean waves, and feel the ocean wind! I am pretty sure I was as excited as Z was about going to the beach, and he was very excited! I showed Z the game that you run as far to the water as possible and run back up when a wave comes while trying not to get touched by the water lol, he enjoyed it and I felt like a little kid again remembering when my siblings and I would do that. Z and I made a sand castle and it reminded me of when my father would help my siblings and I make the most extravagant sand castles, at least I thought they were so very amazing. At that age, it seemed to me that my dad was a sand castle Master! When it was time to leave a giant crocodile came out of the water and destroyed our sand castle, as Z and I kicked the sand towers over and stomped on the remains. (Just letting you know ,that last little bit was a little thing I call imagination. LOL)

“Everything you can imagine is real.” ~Pablo Picasso

Palanga, Lithuania 

 

END.

Tallinn, Estonia. 

The Clock On The The Holy Ghost Church. One of my favorite pics.

Riga, Latvia.

Our hostel was on the pot floor. 

The lock bridge, where couples come to lock their love. 

The cat house, there is a strange obsession with cats here. 

I would be the only one making a face like the animals. 

The 4 animals making faces in the direction that the iron curtain was. 

END.