Day 7 - I Can't Believe It - A Whole Week!

We went to the University this morning to meet the communications department and map out some of Del's responsibilities for the semester. I went along to get some materials prepared and to meet some of my classmembers.  I think they will be supportive.  Several seem quite fluent, though they don't realize it.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the bus stop, a 20-30 minute bus ride and then another 10 minute walk to the communications building.  We left home at  9, finished the meeting about 1 and then walked to the mall.  It was a bit further than I had thought when I suggested we do that - a little more than 2 kilometers, Del estimated.  I don't know what that translates to, but my little cheeks were red after walking into the wind.  Our first purchases were a new stocking cap for Del and a hat and scarf for me.  Yes, folks, the man is wearing a coat, a hat and gloves, though he has taken the down linerout of the jacket.   He I brought 2 caps from home for him, but Carolina didn't fit right and Georgia has a long pull in it.  I had thought my hooded coat would do the job for me, but it makes it too hard to watch for traffic, and I do not want to get splatted all over the road.

We ate lunch in a huge cafeteria in the mall.  Del had a shish kabob looking thing ,and I am ashamed to tell you that  the woman who never met a piece of fat she didn't like had a "pig's hand".  You city people and healthy eaters are grossed out about now, I'm sure. It was off the bone, so I can't swear to it, but I think it was what we call a pig's foot.  I certainly hope so, anyway.  We used to eat them at home, either just boiled or boiled and then floured and shallow fried. and  always served with vinegar and hot sauce.  I have to tell you, it was pretty darned good, but I promise not to eat another one. I am on the look out for sause, - sort of like pickled pig parts jello- which really turns Del's stomach.  David always said I would eat things the dog wouldn't eat, which would be insulting, if it weren't true.  Of course we did have spoiled, city type dogs.

After lunch, we went to the grocery store for water, wine and a few other essentials and headed for the bus stop.  We dragged ourselves into the flat around 5, collapsed and eventually had apples and cheese for dinner about 8 o'clock.

I washed a small load of lights and a small load of darks, so we have wet clothes hung around to do what my mother called "rough dry."  I'll give the collars of Del's shirts a lick and a promise because he always wears a sweater and that's all people will see, but I am not going to iron underwear and socks like his mother did.  My mother ironed boxers, but not undershirts and socks, for goodness sakes!

Day 6 - Sunday in Klaipeda

We started Sunday with me hanging out a window shortly after midnight to see the fireworks down the street.  Apparently, Lithuanians love fireworks as much as I do and don't need a reason to shoot them off.  I hope they will do it again next week.  There is a good bit of laughter and talking out in the streets of the Old City on weekends, but it gets quiet around 1 AM.  Maybe that is when the pubs close.

We had a quiet morning and then went with a neighbor to the English church service a few blocks from us.  It meets at 5 on Sunday evening and is sponsored by ICC, the university I mentioned yesterday.  The minister had also emailed Del to invite us.  He and his wife (who will be one of Del's students)  have been here 9 years.  They are from  Harrisonburg and go home each summer.  I mentioned that we love spending time at Massanutten.  Their son is a ski instructor there, but I doubt we will be meeting him in a professional capacity.

After church, 9 of us went to dinner at a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood.  The food was a little different from what we are used to, but quite good.  It is going to be fun living in a neighborhood where there are so many little places to eat.

Our companions explained that tipping is optional because the servers are paid wages, and if one chooses to tip it is never 15 or 20 percent as in the US.  That may explain why the young woman who served us the other day was smiling at us so brightly.

Tomorrow we head for the University to meet the faculty and get some materials ready for classes.

I tried the baking soda in the dishwasher, and it did seem to help.  Thanks, Arlene.  I'm going to buy some vinegar to give it another treatment.

Day 5 - First Almost Home Cooked Meal in Lithuania

We headed out for the Iki today to get provisions - three reusable bags and a backpack full.  We really should stick with 2 bags to leave a hand free for the canes. but there are so many things we need to set up even a meager kitchen.  Iki is pronounced as you might expect,  which would be unfortunate in the US, but means "see you" in Lithuanian.  It is our closest market, only a half mile walk away, but is more limited, especially in terms of vegetables than the store we went to the other day on the bus route to the University.  I bought a store roasted chicken and made potatoes and zucchini for dinner, so it was almost homemade..  Those chickens are great!  I will never forget the first time I bought one.  I served that chicken, frozen mashed potatoes and salad from a bag for dinner that night.  Del complimented the meal, and I said "Thank you very much."  Some long time  and many similar meals` later I confessed my sort of lie.  It started with those little carrots  and has been a slippery slope ever since, though I don't buy them anymore, too slimy now.

 There are dumplings to who laid the rail in the frozen food section.  I never saw so many sizes and shapes.  I plan to try lots of them, with good old gravy, of course.  It wouldn't be traditional, but most everything tastes better with gravy.  I think it should be a beverage. 

This afternoon, I worked a bit on my classes and then curled up with my Kindle, Earl Hamner, Jr., to be called EHJ.  He has let me down, however, because the things I tried to download today did not show up.  I probably need to read the directions for use away from the US.  Fortunately, I have plenty of books stored away.  I started reading Swiss Family Robinson  and am really enjoying it.  I know I saw the movie on tv years ago, but I am not sure I ever read the book.

We met the last two neighbors today.  Everybody seems quite friendly and helpful.  This apartment building has only 6 apartments, 4 of which are rented to Americans.  The owner keeps one for occasional use and one is not finished.  The other Americans work at LCC, a university that was originally called Lithuanian Christian College.

Question for you folks out there.  How do you cure a smelly dishwasher?  Google says baking soda, but I'm not sure that is strong enough for the job.

Day 4 - A Day at Home - Looking for My Energy

I can't explain it, other than to say that today I have been too tired to put one foot in front of the other, so we have had a restful day at home.  We got the suitcases put away, muddled a bit over our classes, and rested our smiles.  My jaws hurt I have smiled so much.  People have been so lovely to us on the buses, in the stores and on the streets, and my theory is:  If you don't know the language, you can at least smile.

One of the things I have always found difficult in other countries is water management.  It is so difficult for me to remember that I can't just stick my toothbrush under the water to wash it.  Since we have a kitchen here, it is more complicated because I have to remember that I can't just turn on the water to wash a dish or an apple.  We have a dishwasher which gets really hot, but I really feel quilty about running it mostly empty, but we only have service for 4.   We buy bottled water, but I also keep a big pot of boiled water.  I was surprised that the CDC says it good after 1 minute of boiling.

 I am not complaining.  This is much more modern than the farm was in my early days.  We started out with a hand pump on the back porch, moved up to water in the kitchen and eventually got an indoor bathroom when my brother was a freshman in college, and I was in first grade.  I always said Bubba had all the credentials to be on the Supreme Court.  Not only was he a lawyer, though I'm not sure that is required by the Constitution, he grew up in a house without indoor plumbing.  Remember the play that got in the hearings for at least one nominee?

At least I can solve my problem to a great extent by buying paper plates, cups and so on.  We didn't have them at home.  I don't know if they weren't invented when I was a little girl or if they were just too expensive.  One of my early memories was the day Mother and Daddy went to Richmond to a doctor's appointment and Bubba, who was in high school, kept me.  Going to Richmond to the doctor, about 60 miles away, was an all day affair in 1950. They left really early, so Bubba cooked breakfast for us - fried eggs dippy style and toast.  We ate those off the front of the plate, of course.  At lunch time he turned the yolky plates over and put our sandwiches on the back.  I was so impressed.  That night for supper, he cooked the frog legs he and Ronald Lee Pollard had giged the night before down at the creek.  I remember that some of them jumped out of the hot frying pan and that he made me pick them up and put them back, but it could be that he pitched a couple over just to tease me.   He started over with clean plates for supper, though.

Tomorrow we will wander a bit, work on our courses and hit the grocery store.

Out and About Day 3 - Cell Phones, Part 2

I spent last evening using the internet version of the cell phone guide to trnslate all the bold print instructions of the Lithuanian version, hoping to figure out how to change the words on the phone to English, but after figuring out how to set time and date, I gave up and went to bed.  I felt sure the people at the phone store could help me, and we needed to go out to forage and gather again today.

We started out by walking to the old city market - a very small scaled Westside Market for you NE Ohio folks - lots of pieces parts of animals, especially pork and sausages and some things I did not recognize.  We didn't buy food items, but did make a major score.  Del is a suspender kind of guy and a clip on the pair he wears with his more casual pants broke.  This left him with a choice of wearing dress pants with button on suspenders, walking around holding his pants up or having them end up around his ankles, so they were at the top of our list.  There were several stalls with hats, gloves, etc. around the outside of the market, and when I just happened to look up - there they were - suspenders!  The very thing we thought we would have to search the city for were right before our eyes!  He is a happy man - likes them much better than the ones he brought from home.

After that, we headed out for the bus stop to go to the Acropolis, the largest mall in the Baltics, to get the phones fixed and look for the other things we needed.  The nice young man at the phone store downloaded English instructions for the phones and changed them over to English.  I almost hugged his neck, but decided it might not be appropriate.  We then toured a Lithuanian vesrion of super Walmart to get a few things for the flat, including water, extension cord, a few food items a clock, curling iron and coffee pot.  We decided instant coffee will not work for the duration.    

  Who knew how much my big ugly Hummer backpack from Marcs (I miss that place.) and a big old reusable grocery bag could hold so much.  We squeezed onto the standing room only bus with our bags and our snow canes and  were home in a jiffy.  We live only about 4 blocks from the bus stop, so we really are fortunate.

Regarding those canes.  I strongly recommend that travelers who tend to be clumsy consider them or hiking sticks to give that third point of stability.  Hiking sticks probably look classier, but canes are what we had, so we brought them.  Even in warm weather, the streets are often cobbled or otherwise uneven and can be a problem for some of us, bless our hearts.

Another really good day!

Out and About on Day 2 - Cell Phone Saga

Our host person, Daiva, kindly came to help us navigate the bus system to visit the university and hunt for cell phones.  We had a lovely day with her, and it was  good to see where we will be and how to get there.  Because my first class starts at 8, she recommended that I cab in.  At this time of the year, it is still dark, and she doesn't know it yet, but with my sense of direction, I could end up anywhere in daylight.  Who knows what would happen in the dark!
 
Everyone at KU was very accomodating and seemed genuinely glad to have us here.  We will go in on Monday to meet with the whole department and will begin classes next Wed. and Thurs.  We are also signing up to take Lithuanian lessons.

After lunch, we headed for the mall to buy cell phones.  Daiva guided us through the process and after being assured that everything was in English as well as Lithuanian, we headed out in blissful ignorance - not unusual for us in the electronics field.  When we got home, I discovered that the instructions in the box were only in Lithuanain, but I quickly found a manual online, so that was no problem.  I got the pin numbers in and the phones on, but all the words on the phone are in Lithuanian, so that is as far as I got.  My next plan is to compare the words on the internet to the words in the paper guide to see if I can make heads or tails of it.  If not, I'll go back to the mall and see how well the salesperson and I make out.

Our upstairs neighbor, Brooke, and baby Levi came over tonight bearing homemade sugar cookies.  She is from the Pittsburg area, so I know I will like her. 

I'll let you know how the phone thing turns out - getting them set up, learning to keep them charged up, on and with us, learning to SMS (Lithuanian for texting), etc.  You know which of those will be hardest for us, don't you?

I Love My Kindle!

I am not what you would call on the cutting edge of technology.  Our televisions were born in the last century, and our son David points out that people in third world countries have cell phones newer than our rarely used ones, but I love my Kindle.  How else would I have managed to lug 288 books, some of which are actually collected works of this author or that, all the way to Lithuania in this day of pared down luggage?  As it was, I had to bring only the Kindle, my take off and landing book for the time when devices are not allowed and the books for the dreaded ELS classes.  Most of the books were free, so they may or may not be  what I would have paid money for, but they are there, waiting for me, and I am content.

My friend Sharon pointed out to me that you can download Kindle books to various devices, including your lap top, and I have found a wonderful service called Free Kindle Watch.  It is free, and after you sign up, you will get twice daily notification of the books Amazon is offering for free that day.  I have found several really interesting, to me, anyway, authors I would not have found otherwise. Of course, the way it usually works is that an author offers one book for free, you get hooked, and spend money for subsequent titles.

My current favorite discovery is Jefferson Bass.  The name is a combination of the names of Dr. Bill Bass and journalist Jon Jefferson.  Bass is the forensic anthropologist who started the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee. That's where they put donated bodies to determine how different circumstances affect decomposition.  For those of you who have high tolerance for gore, check out his memoir, Death's Acre.   Then move on to the mysteries, but be sure to read them in order.  You know how I know that, of course.  I  like them so much that I paid for several of them.


As I said, I love my Kindle.  I'm thinking of naming it  Earl Hamner, Jr.  for the guy who created the Waltons and did the narration at the beginning of the show.  Hearing his Virginia accent each week helped when I was young and homesick.

For future reference, I am now my own spell checker.  Somehow or another, my computer found out I skipped the country and now speaks fluent Lithuanian.  As a consequence, when I hit spell check, all the words are highlighted as incorrect.

Novice Blogger Alert!

It was just pointed out that my comment section was not enabled.  Sorry to anyone who might have tried because I need all the advice and encouragement I can get, obviously,  Thanks for the help, Daryl Lynn.  Please give it another try.

Out and About on Day 1

We slept in a little this morning, did some unpacking and then hit the streets.   First stop was the bank to get litas.  I was able to complete the transaction without difficulty, and proudly said "Aciu" pronounced "Ahchew"  (Thank you.)  Imagine my disappointment when the teller replied "Bless you."  Not only did she not understand me, she now thinks at least one American sneezes without covering her mouth.  I did not make this up, Daryl Lynn, I promise.  Seems I have a good bit of work to do, don't you think?   We then had lunch at a fun little restaurant where the server did an excellent job with English and gestures of getting us to the grocery market.   I think we will shop every couple of days, because we can only buy what we can carry. When we went in, I headed for the carts, but Del cleverly suggested that we each take one of the little hand baskets instead so I wouldn't throw in more than we could carry. Only the self check -out lines were open when we were there, but I didn't require any more assistance here than I did the one time I tried it in the US.  Which is to say that I pretty much needed hand over hand assistance from the salesperson while the line piled up behind me.

My most successful communication attempt of the day came when a deaf man came up in the restaurant and put a toy and deaf alphabet card  on the table for a donation.  He was surprised to be rejected with a combination of signs and fingerspelling, though the US alphabet is probably different from Lithuanian.

We had wet snow all day today, and it was quite gray - felt like Akron.  We enjoyed getting some fresh air, but were glad for the shoe tires and canes for extra stability when walking.  It was not a day for picture taking, I didn't think.

We're here!

Knock on Wood, everything regarding this trip has gone as though people who had a clue were planning it!  Not a hitch.  David, Tracy and Rosa, to be known from here out as DT&R, picked us up, squeezed suitcases with clothes for two seasons, computers, CPAP machines, teaching materials and  us in down coats into the mini van and dropped us at the airport.  Moonpie, the weiner dog, to be referred to as MP, from now on, unless I forget, had the good sense to stay at home where he was safe from luggage.  We flew to Newark and then to Copenhagen.  Newark to Copenhagen was three movies and a tv show long.  After a 5 hour layover, we headed to Lithuania.  I can't tell you about that trip because the only thing I saw was the inside of my eyelids.  It was quite short.

During the layover, we breakfased on actual Danish Danishes (Thanks to Del  for that observation.) .  They were yummy.  Then we walked around the airport a bit, people watched and read.  I love you, Kindle.

Our contact, Davia and her husband Arvidus, picked us up in two cars and drove us to the flat, as they say.  The sky looked just like Akron in winter, quite gray.  They had had lots of snow in December, so there was snow piled up on both sides of the road, but the roads were clear.  Sidewalks are quite icy in many places, so those snow tires for shoes will be lifesavers.  Thanks, Guys.

The flat is in the center of Old Town and is just wonderful.  More about it later.  Denuta and her husband are our landlords and drove in from their city to meet us.  They keep a flat in the building which they will lend to us when you come to visit us, hint, hint.  They had stocked our kitchen with everyting we need for breakfast, and Denuta had made the most wonderful dinner for us- steamed fish and vegetables, roasted potatoes and a delicious, most beautifully decorated cheese cake.  It looked like it had stepped out of a magazine .

What a welcome!  We were in bed shortly after 9.  I woke up at three, just like home some nights, and am all cozy on the wonderful sofa, writing to you.  I expect I will be dozing here in a few minutes.  I do love to nap on the sofa.

Now if you were dealing with a high class blogger, there would be pictures to bring this post to life, but you a not, and the camera is stowed away in a suitcase somewhere.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Today, we will find the camera and explore on our own, and tomorrow, Davia will teach us to use the bus, etc.

Last Post Before Heading Off

8:55PM and we are packed. (and unpacked and repacked, several times, for that matter)  We have weighed the bags on our handy dandy suitcase weigher, and all are within the 50 lb. limit.  We kept having to rob Peter to pay Paul to make it all work out.   Now we are going to do the last cleaning up and hopefully get to bed before the sun comes up. 

We managed to Skype successfully with the kids, so we will hope to hear from you fellow Skypers.  My name is bettymae62.  I figured I would be able to remember my age when I retired.

Keep a good thought for the travelers.

Ready Or Not!

  Ready or not, Sunday is the day, and I am in full “swivit.”  As glad as I am that Del is going to realize his long time dream of living abroad for a time, and as much as I know I will enjoy learning so many exciting things from the experiences we will have and the people we will meet, this is going to be hard.   It probably would have been easier if we were still in Ohio, but having lived near Rosa, and David and Tracy, of course, for nearly a year has spoiled me.  In over 42 years of marriage, 4 hour's drive is the closest we have lived to family – except for the year Del was in Vietnam, and that doesn’t count.  Until we moved here, we had  never been able to  have dinner with  any of our family  and then everyone go home to sleep in their own beds.  It has been so nice.

I think I am pretty much packed, but Del still has a way to go.   I’ll finish the last minute laundry tonight, and tomorrow we will attempt to get this house in some semblance of order.  Bless our hearts.

 The workmen finished the last thing on our list and left about 6:30 tonight.  They did a great job, and it is so nice to have so many things done, even though it was a bit stressful having people in the house while trying to get my ducks in a row, or more accurately, finding my ducks so I could put them in a row.  When you come to visit, the door bell will work, the lights in the second guest room will work even if the hall light is not on, there is a rail all the way down the steps, you can use the ceiling fan in the first guest room without sleeping with a ceiling light on, etc.

By the way, I have meant to ask you to forgive my punctuation/spelling failures.  I have forgotten what I once knew about the paragraph, I never understood the semi colon, I can't type worth a darn, and my spelling is getting worse by the day.  It is a great disappointment that spell check just does not care about some things,  which explains why I once almost sent a report to a doctor that explained that my student demonstrated frequent bowel substitutions.  (vowel)

Please say it with me, we will make it, we will make it, we will make it.

  

It's Crazy Around Here!

Trying to catch up with our to do list after being snow/ice captives for 8 days has been interesting, to say the least.  Our dentists, bless them,  rolled three appointments into one for me and four into two for Del, so that took Wednesday from 8 to 2 for both of us, with Del to go back on Sat.  Wednesday night, we went to Mableton to go over financial things with the kids. Thursday, we went to sign Georgia wills, bought stuff for Del and went to Lowe's to get stuff for a stair rail.  Del  also got his hair cut.  I start today getting cut and dyed, and then I have to get packed and clean the house.

About that trip to Lowe's - it reminds me of my friend who bought new curtains for the guest bedroom and three months later had recarpeted and painted that room and remodeled the kitchen.  Her husband had a little trouble understanding when she explained that the new curtains just made things look bad.
In our case, it all started with having some new dead bolts put in.  While Richard was working, we mentioned some of the other quirks we have lived with since we moved here.  For instance, we could not figure out why the doorbell  and the lights in the second guest room only worked part time.  After a few weeks we realized that they worked fine if the upstairs hall light was on.  Seems the folks who wired this house must have done it after they drank their lunch.   We also have no railing on the first six steps  to the second floor, etc., etc.  Before long, the list we had for Richard was longer than my arm, and his crew has been here since Tuesday.  Del kept saying it would be great if we could go ahead and get such and such done while they are here.  I figure they will leave about the same time we do on Sunday.  We seem to have a habit of getting involved with projects at the worst possible time.  Remember when Steve the Painter finished painting in Akron at 7 PM the night before Del went to Cleveland Clinic to get Daryl Tom, the 20 some pound tumor,  removed?

Oh well, my mother used to say that I wasn't happy if I wasn't worrying and rushing around in a "swivit" at the last minute.  Don't know if "swivit" is a word, or how to spell it, but that's what she used to say.

No Longer Snowbound!

After being stuck in the house since Jan. 9, Del was finally able to get our cars out of the driveway on the afternoon of the 17th.  It was not an easy task, because our attempt to get out to the dentist on Sat. had left one car only inches from the deep ditch which directs water from the hill into the lake instead of over our yard and touching the other car -only a tiny scratch.  If you look at our driveway and what we have to do to get into, and out of, our garage, you will have no trouble believing me when I say we bought the view and the house came with it, or understanding why we park in the driveway.  We love  the house, but it does have its quirks.  More on that later.
Those of you who know Del at all know that being unable to run free is very difficult for him.  We are very different in that respect.  If I want to know if a store has a doflicky, I call and ask.  He goes to the store to check.  The only other times he has ever been cooped up this long have involved surgery and the good drugs, so he was beginning to get that look in his eyes.  When he discovered that our milk had turned, he had to find a way to get out of here.  Once I realized he was going to break out, I did ask him to bring  take-out, however.  I can’t think when I’ve cooked for 8 days straight.  Del is always willing to take his turn with cooking, but his primary cooking tools are the phone and the car, so he was at a disadvantage this week.

Sunday is the big day, so the next few days will be something else.  We will make it, we will make it, we will make it.

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Who would have thought it?

Who would have thought that the most difficult part of getting ready for our trip would be getting a "vacation override" for the medications I take each day?  If you are planning a trip which will require you to ask your insurance company for one, start working on that immediately!  We started working on this in early December and finally got approval this  morning.  To be fair, the process may have been more complicated because the University of Akron changed insurance companies Jan. 1, but I would still start early.

To those of you who are associated with UA, Lucille in Benefits was wonderful in getting this through as was Lisa C. at Orchard Pharmaceuticals (the new mail order place for UA).  I would recommend that you contact them if you need assistance.

We are still up to our gizzards in snow by southern standards, not so much by Ohio standards, of course, but the sheet of ice makes it even worse.  They have closed the roads in our subdivision again today.  There are about 1700 houses, but we are out in the country with hilly, curvy roads.  (9 miles to the grocery store, for example) We are more than supplied with food, however, because I shopped for company that was supposed to arrive on Monday. (They are snowed in in North Carolina with relatives.)  I do love appetizers.

Talk to you soon.

It's Official!

The Visas for Lithuania have arrived, the plane tickets have been purchased, we have our shots and most other t's have been crossed and i's dotted (except for the ones we have probably forgotten), so unless you take into account the empty suitcases, we are ready to begin the adventure of a lifetime.

I decided to start this blog for two reasons - to keep touch with you all while we are away, and to help me remember details of our life in Lithuania that I might otherwise forget.

For the one or two of you who have not already been subjected to our story, Del was chosen to be a Fulbright scholar and will be teaching in the library school at Klaipeda University for five months. ( Klaipeda is a port city and is reported to be quite beautiful.)  In order for me to stay the entire time, I am required to have some function other than Del's wife, so the University asked me to teach English as a Second language to faculty and staff at the University.  I had assumed that I would be asked to volunteer in a primary school, so let's just say that on Wednesday's, you will probably hear my knees knocking together all the way from Klaipeda.  I've asked for advice from a professional, attended a course on accent modification and bought a backpack full of materials,  so let's just pray that I don't humiliate myself, the State Department and the citizens of the United States.  I dreamed last week that no one showed up for the second week's class, but I had eaten spicy food quite late that night, so I am going to pretend that caused it.

My goal for this week, aside from the whole packing thing, is to learn to import pictures to this blog.  Now don't laugh, relatives, I figured out how to download pictures taken in 2008 from my camera on Saturday, so there is hope.