I woke up at 5:30 for some reason this morning and did yesterday's blog, took a little nap and then we started in on the cleaning and the packing and weighing and repacking and weighing and on and on. We may come in okay with the weight. One of our bags is not as big as it could be, unfortunately, and that makes it harder. Third floor nieghbor Christine stopped by for a visit, which was nice, and then Mr. Rimas came down and shortly Mrs. Rimas came down to invite us up for tea or coffee. She had set a lovely table with cookies, a special Lithuanian candy, fresh strawberries and coffee and sparkling wine from Italy. What a sweet surprise.
After a bit more work, I set out to the market to say my goodbyes and buy Mrs. Rimas a thank you plant. I stopped by the meat market and my bacon man said in Lithuanian, "Six, no bacon today." I told him I had come to say goodbye because we were leaving, shook his hand and went to the plant vendors. I decided that I would also get small plants for my two favorite market vendors and stopped by to deliver them and tell them I was leaving. They seemed a little confused by the gesture, but once I got them to agree to accept them for being so nice to me, they seemed pleased. The lady who used to teach English hugged my neck and kissed my cheek. She is the lady who left her stall one day in the rain to show me a store where I might find what I needed. My last errand was to get a reusable Iki bag and a few little things to take Joris when we meet them at the restaurant.
While taking pictures of the statue in front of our house we met a really nice Swiss physician who had walked from Switzerland and was going to walk to St. Petersburg before taking the train home. He had walked between 30 and 36 miles per day since May 9 and planned to get to St. Petersburg on July 20. Three years ago he walked across the USA, ending in Boston where he had trained at Harvard. It took 7 months and he said he never had a single negative experience in all that time. Del suggested he might enjoy eating at Stora Antis, and when we got there, he was seated at the next table. Fortunately, he was able to find vegetarian items on the menu.
Adrone, Vladas and Joris met us at Stora Antis, and we were delighted to see that our table had been set with special napkins deorated with a flower. I thought that was sweet of them, since they knew it was our last night in Klaipeda. Joris was a perfect gentleman, all dressed up. He and Del shared kepta duona and then he had a small plate with things from everyone else. At one point,he told his mother that I had given him some of my food and she should give me some of hers. Dinner takes a while there, so I had brought a book and a color book and colored pencils and a matchbook motorcycle. We pulled out the motorcycle toward the end of the evening. As we were leaving, I pulled out a pad of sticky notes I had no use for, assuming his mother might use them, but when he saw them, he thought they were for him, said thank you and put them in his shirt pocket with his motorcycle. Apparently they have to hide sticky notes because he likes to decorate the house with them. Then, after hugs all around, we came home and now have to finish up the last odds and ends.
We will be glad to be home, but Klaipeda has in many ways become like home to us, so we will miss the city and especially the wonderful friends we have made. We truly are fortunate people. Now we need to set about building the kind of community in Villa Rica that we have built here. We were making progress in that direction, but knowing we had to leave so soon after getting there, made it a little difficult to really put my heart into it, to tell the truth. So, home again, home again, to wholeheartedly start the adventure of living in Villa Rica. Who knows what good friends and experiences await us there. Note to self: When you get that sappy, it is time to log off.
10:30 and bright as day, by the way.
After a bit more work, I set out to the market to say my goodbyes and buy Mrs. Rimas a thank you plant. I stopped by the meat market and my bacon man said in Lithuanian, "Six, no bacon today." I told him I had come to say goodbye because we were leaving, shook his hand and went to the plant vendors. I decided that I would also get small plants for my two favorite market vendors and stopped by to deliver them and tell them I was leaving. They seemed a little confused by the gesture, but once I got them to agree to accept them for being so nice to me, they seemed pleased. The lady who used to teach English hugged my neck and kissed my cheek. She is the lady who left her stall one day in the rain to show me a store where I might find what I needed. My last errand was to get a reusable Iki bag and a few little things to take Joris when we meet them at the restaurant.
While taking pictures of the statue in front of our house we met a really nice Swiss physician who had walked from Switzerland and was going to walk to St. Petersburg before taking the train home. He had walked between 30 and 36 miles per day since May 9 and planned to get to St. Petersburg on July 20. Three years ago he walked across the USA, ending in Boston where he had trained at Harvard. It took 7 months and he said he never had a single negative experience in all that time. Del suggested he might enjoy eating at Stora Antis, and when we got there, he was seated at the next table. Fortunately, he was able to find vegetarian items on the menu.
Adrone, Vladas and Joris met us at Stora Antis, and we were delighted to see that our table had been set with special napkins deorated with a flower. I thought that was sweet of them, since they knew it was our last night in Klaipeda. Joris was a perfect gentleman, all dressed up. He and Del shared kepta duona and then he had a small plate with things from everyone else. At one point,he told his mother that I had given him some of my food and she should give me some of hers. Dinner takes a while there, so I had brought a book and a color book and colored pencils and a matchbook motorcycle. We pulled out the motorcycle toward the end of the evening. As we were leaving, I pulled out a pad of sticky notes I had no use for, assuming his mother might use them, but when he saw them, he thought they were for him, said thank you and put them in his shirt pocket with his motorcycle. Apparently they have to hide sticky notes because he likes to decorate the house with them. Then, after hugs all around, we came home and now have to finish up the last odds and ends.
We will be glad to be home, but Klaipeda has in many ways become like home to us, so we will miss the city and especially the wonderful friends we have made. We truly are fortunate people. Now we need to set about building the kind of community in Villa Rica that we have built here. We were making progress in that direction, but knowing we had to leave so soon after getting there, made it a little difficult to really put my heart into it, to tell the truth. So, home again, home again, to wholeheartedly start the adventure of living in Villa Rica. Who knows what good friends and experiences await us there. Note to self: When you get that sappy, it is time to log off.
10:30 and bright as day, by the way.
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