It is April 29th, it's rainy and gray outside, the central heat has been turned off for over a week so it's cold inside and we are desperately waiting for spring. We are in spring jackets but only because we can't bear to wear those winter coats. Gloves and scarves are still a necessity, most days. We do have hints of spring - the trees are showing buds, crocuses are peeking up from the ground and bits of green grass are making an appearance. Our long dark winter days are rapidly disappearing. The sun rose at 5:57 this morning and will set at 9:10, which would be fantastic if only the clouds would shift and let the sun shine through.
April has been a busy month - we celebrated Easter and my birthday (OK - that was the end of March)...
...we had guests from the states visit for a week in early April...
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...and finally, we had an outing to the beach to visit an old German fort (from WWII).
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The end of the semester has brought varying emotions. Ken has been energized by the connections he has made with students and he's excited to help to continue the growth of the Social Science department. We are also feeling a lot of sadness - some of the faculty/staff that we have gotten to know are ending their years at LCC and moving on. We are grieving their impending departure and pondering what next year will be like. We have been abundantly blessed with "things" as our friends have been packing - I'm now the happy owner of a crock pot, hand mixer, bookshelf, waffle maker etc. but as I have said many times, I would rather have the people here than the stuff. So as we say goodbye we know that we will think of the Millikens (Rachel, John, Chayah and Noah) whenever we make a meal in the crockpot or have waffles for breakfast, Suzi will come to mind when we light a candle, drink out of coke glasses and reach for that unusual spice and the Benthem's come to mind when we mix up a batch of cookies!
In other news this month, we have visited the orthodontist and acquired a retainer for Dylan. He had a top front tooth that was behind his bottom teeth when he bit down. When we visited the orthodontist I immediately liked her because she said I was a "clever lady" for bringing Dylan in to have his teeth looked at. She also shared that Dylan's teeth/jaw looked European, she wondered if we were from Great Britain. When I told her we were from the USA she was surprised because his jaw didn't look American. She took a mold of his teeth and a week later we picked up a crazy retainer. It's mostly normal but has a wire loop that hangs down to help pull in a bottom tooth that was being pushed forward. Dylan has been fantastic at wearing the retainer (it only comes out when he eats and plays sports) and we can already see that his teeth are shifting.
We also had our first visit to the vet. Dexter has been slowly losing his vision for the past few years due to cataracts. We suspected that his vision was almost all gone due to his tendency to walk into walls and fall over curbs. One morning, just as we were heading off to school, Katie noticed that the bottom half of his left iris was red. By mid-afternoon the entire eye was red. Ken and I decided that a visit to the vet was in order, so Ken rearranged his schedule so that he could help carry Dexter to the vet (he can't walk that far anymore). Upon arrival the vet took one look at Dexter and commented that he was old. We told him that he was 14.5 and he commented that he never saw a shih-tzu that old before! He checked out his eye and shared that in addition to the cataracts he had glaucoma. The pressure from the glaucoma burst a blood vessel causing the redness in the eye. The exam and some medicine for his eye cost 50 L. which is about $20 - the cheapest vet visit we've ever had.
One of the fun things that we've been involved in this semester was a Tri-S group. We met 3 times this semester with a group of study abroad students from the US. Our group had students from Cedarville, Messiah, Waynesburg, APU, and Taylor. Each meeting had goals. Our first meeting was a time to get to know each other, talk about cultural adjustments, and prepare the students for the highs and lows that are usually experienced when adjusting to another culture. Our second meeting was a time to share about their trip to Russia. During that meeting we introduced our group to the game of Things- good times. Our final meeting was devoted to talking about re-entry -what it's like to return to your home after living abroad. While talking about these things we ate a home-cooked meal that I prepared. We enjoyed our group of students and had a lot fun hearing about their experiences and entering into their lives in a small way.
April has been a busy month - we celebrated Easter and my birthday (OK - that was the end of March)...
Dylan and Katie on Easter morning with their Easter baskets, which were literally, baskets...
Katie and Dylan made meatball sandwiches for my birthday meal. Here they are with their meatball hands!
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My sandwich was delicious.
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They also made me a red velvet cake, YUM!
Our friends, Elizabeth Patterson and David Cecil
...and during that time we went to Vilnius...
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Katie in Vilnius
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A bohemian community in Vilnius
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Uzupis in Vilnius
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A break for lunch, David tried Šaltibarščiai, cold beet soup
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Gediminas Castle from the 14th century
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At the top of the tower
and Hill of Crosses...
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Dylan was inspired after our first visit to Hill of Crosses and made his own cross to place there when we went again. This is where he placed his cross.
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Dylan also made a cross for me and this is where I left mine.
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I chose to place my cross by this carving of a "Pensive Christ" or "Man of Sorrows." This is a traditional Lithuanian carving. I have been drawn to these carvings - Ken gave me one as a birthday gift.
...and finally, we had an outing to the beach to visit an old German fort (from WWII).
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The entrance to the bunker. Katie and I found it to be a little creepy but Dylan was fascinated.
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Climbing on the top of the fort's remains
The end of the semester has brought varying emotions. Ken has been energized by the connections he has made with students and he's excited to help to continue the growth of the Social Science department. We are also feeling a lot of sadness - some of the faculty/staff that we have gotten to know are ending their years at LCC and moving on. We are grieving their impending departure and pondering what next year will be like. We have been abundantly blessed with "things" as our friends have been packing - I'm now the happy owner of a crock pot, hand mixer, bookshelf, waffle maker etc. but as I have said many times, I would rather have the people here than the stuff. So as we say goodbye we know that we will think of the Millikens (Rachel, John, Chayah and Noah) whenever we make a meal in the crockpot or have waffles for breakfast, Suzi will come to mind when we light a candle, drink out of coke glasses and reach for that unusual spice and the Benthem's come to mind when we mix up a batch of cookies!
Rachel and Suzi, who not only blessed me with their "stuff" also blessed me this year with their friendship. This photo was taken the day before my birthday, they took me out for breakfast.
We will miss you!
We also had our first visit to the vet. Dexter has been slowly losing his vision for the past few years due to cataracts. We suspected that his vision was almost all gone due to his tendency to walk into walls and fall over curbs. One morning, just as we were heading off to school, Katie noticed that the bottom half of his left iris was red. By mid-afternoon the entire eye was red. Ken and I decided that a visit to the vet was in order, so Ken rearranged his schedule so that he could help carry Dexter to the vet (he can't walk that far anymore). Upon arrival the vet took one look at Dexter and commented that he was old. We told him that he was 14.5 and he commented that he never saw a shih-tzu that old before! He checked out his eye and shared that in addition to the cataracts he had glaucoma. The pressure from the glaucoma burst a blood vessel causing the redness in the eye. The exam and some medicine for his eye cost 50 L. which is about $20 - the cheapest vet visit we've ever had.
We took a death picture - we thought Dexter might have to be put to sleep but he's still with us!
One of the fun things that we've been involved in this semester was a Tri-S group. We met 3 times this semester with a group of study abroad students from the US. Our group had students from Cedarville, Messiah, Waynesburg, APU, and Taylor. Each meeting had goals. Our first meeting was a time to get to know each other, talk about cultural adjustments, and prepare the students for the highs and lows that are usually experienced when adjusting to another culture. Our second meeting was a time to share about their trip to Russia. During that meeting we introduced our group to the game of Things- good times. Our final meeting was devoted to talking about re-entry -what it's like to return to your home after living abroad. While talking about these things we ate a home-cooked meal that I prepared. We enjoyed our group of students and had a lot fun hearing about their experiences and entering into their lives in a small way.
Our Tri-S group - Spring 2013
Random Picture of this Post: While getting some hot chocolate in Šiauliai I came across this picture and it made me think back to my days at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Stark County! Glad that BBBS is making a difference in Lithuania as well!
