Sojourning

Laba diena!

Where to start? This is certainly a place far different from home. Already I have been challenged by different ways of thinking and doing things. I love it -but I'm not comfortable. Not that I'd have it any other way.

We spent our first few days in Vilnius - the beautiful and intriguing capital, with its narrow network of streets and wide open squares. I could spend days wandering from one to the next, never sure of what shops or cafe/bars or people I would encounter - except that the people would be fashionable. The hostel was simple but great and was in an artist's portion of the city which jokingly pretends it is its own republic.

Anyone for a tatoo?



Uzupis' Constitution (English translation beside Lithuanian, Russian, etc versions)

I laugh to think of all the people I assured that the weather would be more mild than Chicago. That is certainly not what I encountered in Vilnius, Trakai or Klaipeda. It is frigid - with a 1-2 ft snow covering. The shocking bit is that shoveling seems to be optional - if not superfluous. I trek city sidewalks and streets covered in snow and ice. This makes me more thankful for my boots than I am for, say, my liver.

In Trakai

Also Trakai

Now I am in Klaipeda, at my dorm (Karklu) which is 35ish walking minutes from LCC. The dorm is a former Soviet apartment house and recalls the harshness of those days. The lounge is sweet and fresh though. The dorm on campus is far nicer than Wheaton dorms.

I have met wonderful people here. Our study abroad group has three LCC student interns named Ieva, Vaiva, and Bekzhan. The first two are wonderful women from Lithuania. They both are lively, funny, kind, and helpful. Bekzhan is from Kazakhstan and is an awesome guy.

Lastly, I must reflect on the fact that I am a forienger, a sojourner, alone in a place which knows nothing of me. The only one who truly knows and cares for me here is God. God is here, God knows this place and God is with me. This is the purest and most joyful part of being in Lithuania. It is lovely to relate to those who were and are "strangers in a foriegn land." If all I have is the presence of God here, I will be happy. But I think that there be more in store for me than that...