If you can access the pictures and I certainly hope you can. I've been working on it for 3 hours. The pictures are courtesy of Del and the uploading is courtesy of moi. Maybe one day I'll learn how to paste them directly into the blog. Advice anyone?https://picasaweb.google.com/118279613107347865536/TheNeighborhood1
IT WORKS!!! Thank you, thank you, patron saint of the technologically impaired, whoever you are and if you look after people who don't actually have patron saints in their church. You all know to click on each image to make it bigger, so I won't need to say that.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Day 13 - Important Discovery
Important discovery for me. Today, I learned that hot chocolate and hot cocoa are two very different things. I knew that cocoa and chocolate have different composition, but had always assumed that when ordering in a restaurant, the terms were interchangeable. Not so at the Yellow Submarine Pizza joint next to the Salvation Army where we go to church services on Sunday evening. We had a pizza that was quite good and stared at an ad for what I assumed was hot chocolate the whole time we were eating it. I asked the server, who spoke quite good English, if it was hot chocolate. She said it was not but they did have hot chocolate with nuts. We signed right on and in a few minutes she came back with two tiny cups with tiny saucers and tiny spoons. They were filled with hot, melted real chocolate, thicker than Hershey's syrup, with not one drop of milk in it and full of whole filberts or hazel nuts. Excuse me while I drool, just thinking about it. I about melted into a little puddle and bubbled. Thank goodness there was no whipped cream involved, or I surely would have. Feeling pretty sure that sticking my tongue into the empty cup would not leave a good impression, I settled for cleaning it as well as I could with the tiny little spoon.
The server asked us where we were from and if we were on vacation. We explained, and it turns out she is a student at the University. She wasn't very busy, so we had time to chat. She has visited Pensacola and wants to go back again. She loves the weather there. The Lithuanian people have a reputation for being reserved, but they certainly have seemed quite open to us.
The young woman who played the keyboard at church was a student at LCC, the other university, who is from Moldava. I had to look it up, or actually, Del did it for me. Her English was virtually unaccented. She had spent some time in Lawrenceville, Ga. and Williamsburg, Va. in association with a church group for whom she had translated when they had a mission group in her country.
It was a bright, sunny day today. Del took some pictures, and I will try to get them uploaded to Facebook and this blog. Keep fingers crossed. We had a successful Skype event with Daryl Lynn and Tommy (Del's sister). At first we had an audio problem, but they cleverly held up notes to ask and answer. Those school teachers, they can always come up with a back up plan. All those years of working with ancient equipment, I suppose.
Those of you who know me even a little bit, know that my reading over the years has consisted primarily of mysteries, and stuff for work. Now that I have EHJ, I have broadened my tastes to include books of other categories that I can download for free, but still, we aren't talking actual literature, for the most part. Occasionally, however, even in the stuff I read I come across an idea or phrase that is quite meaningful to me. Today, in a free mystery, the main character spoke of something as a "rocking chair moment." She went on to explain that those are moments you will want to remember when you are ninety years old rocking away. I got to thinking about what I would think of as rocking chair moments and was surprised at how simple so many of them are. What about you? Had you ever heard that phrase? Are you enjoying remembering some moments of your own?
Another helpful thing I learned from a mystery some years ago was that if you want to remember to take something to a potluck, put your keys in the fridge. It hasn't hurt my keys so far, but I can't promise it won't.
Only one short blast of fireworks last night, probably too cold and wet.
The server asked us where we were from and if we were on vacation. We explained, and it turns out she is a student at the University. She wasn't very busy, so we had time to chat. She has visited Pensacola and wants to go back again. She loves the weather there. The Lithuanian people have a reputation for being reserved, but they certainly have seemed quite open to us.
The young woman who played the keyboard at church was a student at LCC, the other university, who is from Moldava. I had to look it up, or actually, Del did it for me. Her English was virtually unaccented. She had spent some time in Lawrenceville, Ga. and Williamsburg, Va. in association with a church group for whom she had translated when they had a mission group in her country.
It was a bright, sunny day today. Del took some pictures, and I will try to get them uploaded to Facebook and this blog. Keep fingers crossed. We had a successful Skype event with Daryl Lynn and Tommy (Del's sister). At first we had an audio problem, but they cleverly held up notes to ask and answer. Those school teachers, they can always come up with a back up plan. All those years of working with ancient equipment, I suppose.
Those of you who know me even a little bit, know that my reading over the years has consisted primarily of mysteries, and stuff for work. Now that I have EHJ, I have broadened my tastes to include books of other categories that I can download for free, but still, we aren't talking actual literature, for the most part. Occasionally, however, even in the stuff I read I come across an idea or phrase that is quite meaningful to me. Today, in a free mystery, the main character spoke of something as a "rocking chair moment." She went on to explain that those are moments you will want to remember when you are ninety years old rocking away. I got to thinking about what I would think of as rocking chair moments and was surprised at how simple so many of them are. What about you? Had you ever heard that phrase? Are you enjoying remembering some moments of your own?
Another helpful thing I learned from a mystery some years ago was that if you want to remember to take something to a potluck, put your keys in the fridge. It hasn't hurt my keys so far, but I can't promise it won't.
Only one short blast of fireworks last night, probably too cold and wet.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Day 12 - Exploring the Neighborhood
Today was drippy and that wet cold that seems colder than the thermometer claims it is, but with no bread in the house, we couldn't put off gearing up and heading out. I left a bit before Del and discovered that the new Iki opened today. It is small but only 3 short blocks from home. Del and I will both be glad that either of us will be able to run out when we run out without feeling we have to take the other to tote enough to make the trip worthwhile and without taking a bus. Best of all, they have canned tomatoes! I took a handbasketful of groceries home and then went back out to explore while Del finished up some work. We came up with the novel plan of having him use his new always turned on cell phone to call me on my new, always on and kept relatively handy cell phone when he headed out so we could meet and go to the Old Market together. If it works, it just may catch on.
I found a shop that sold hiking sticks, so I bought the kind that telescope and then went to the felting shop. The items took my breath away. They were truly wearable art. Some were knitted and then felted and some were needle felted, I think. I tried on every hat in the shop trying to find one to fit my huge head. That didn't happen so I bought a beautiful blue shawl instead. We have to get gussied up on Friday evening, so I will get Del to take a picture of it.
Then, can you believe it, the phone rang, and Del and I were able to find each other. Our first stop was at the Humana Shop where we found 3 gently used sweaters @ 80 cents US each. Our US friends had suggested that expats often donate things that might fit. The Humana does not quite measure up to the Discovery Shop or the Tallmadge Goodwill, but it certainly came through for us. We then went to the suspender vendor, who, for some strange reason, recognized us, to buy a second pair of suspenders.
Then home to Skype with DT&R. MP didn't care to speak. It is really neat. Great to hear their voices and see their faces. We could even see Rosa's dress designs. And Skyping is so easy even we can do it, after a brief tutorial from David. so give us a Skype when you get a chance. We are bettymae62.
Thanks to everyone who worried about Del. I have already tenderly hand washed two of the sweaters, using the I Love Lucy grape smashing technique to get the water out of them. Having sized 9 feet comes in handy (sorry, unintentional, I promise) for stomping sweaters in the bathtub. Okay, maybe that part isn't so tender. Even though Levi's dad gave me washing machine lessons yesterday, I did not dare tempt fate.
Wishing you all better weather and a good rest of the week end. Fingers crossed for fireworks tonight. It seems to have stopped dripping out.
I found a shop that sold hiking sticks, so I bought the kind that telescope and then went to the felting shop. The items took my breath away. They were truly wearable art. Some were knitted and then felted and some were needle felted, I think. I tried on every hat in the shop trying to find one to fit my huge head. That didn't happen so I bought a beautiful blue shawl instead. We have to get gussied up on Friday evening, so I will get Del to take a picture of it.
Then, can you believe it, the phone rang, and Del and I were able to find each other. Our first stop was at the Humana Shop where we found 3 gently used sweaters @ 80 cents US each. Our US friends had suggested that expats often donate things that might fit. The Humana does not quite measure up to the Discovery Shop or the Tallmadge Goodwill, but it certainly came through for us. We then went to the suspender vendor, who, for some strange reason, recognized us, to buy a second pair of suspenders.
Then home to Skype with DT&R. MP didn't care to speak. It is really neat. Great to hear their voices and see their faces. We could even see Rosa's dress designs. And Skyping is so easy even we can do it, after a brief tutorial from David. so give us a Skype when you get a chance. We are bettymae62.
Thanks to everyone who worried about Del. I have already tenderly hand washed two of the sweaters, using the I Love Lucy grape smashing technique to get the water out of them. Having sized 9 feet comes in handy (sorry, unintentional, I promise) for stomping sweaters in the bathtub. Okay, maybe that part isn't so tender. Even though Levi's dad gave me washing machine lessons yesterday, I did not dare tempt fate.
Wishing you all better weather and a good rest of the week end. Fingers crossed for fireworks tonight. It seems to have stopped dripping out.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Day 11 - I Wouldn't Feel This Honored If Asked to Dine With the Ambassador!
Okay, you ladies out there can guess from the title what happened today. Brook, Levi's mother, came down to ask for what she called a huge favor. Seems some emergency meeting had come up at their university, that both she and Darius had to attend. The mixed snow/rain was coming down sideways because of the wind, and Levi has the sniffles. Could she impose on me to stay with Levi for an hour? After hugging her neck, not literally, I assured her that it would not be an imposition. I told her I had wanted to offer my services, but had not wanted to offend them since they had just met us and there had been no time for her to run a background check with Interpol or anything. She laughed and assured me again that she would never bother me except in an emergency. We will have to have a little talk about my broad definition of emergency as relates to babysitting - lunch with the girls, broken fingernail, etc.
Levi and I had a wonderful time, except that he had the nerve to fall asleep on me. He is only 9 months old, but seems quite advanced according to what I remember from the infant /toddler scales. Do 9 month olds usually imitate feeding toy animals with a spoon? I left assuring them that Del and I would expect them to have a date night quite soon. They asked if they could pay me. Of course, I said no, but that I would be delighted to pay them anytime they wanted to go out.
For the rest of the day we both worked on our courses. We had planned to explore, but the weather was just not cooperative. Still better than Ohio, but not what I would want to slog around in, too wet and windy.
Have a great weekend, everyone. My fingers are crossed for more fireworks if the weather improves.
Levi and I had a wonderful time, except that he had the nerve to fall asleep on me. He is only 9 months old, but seems quite advanced according to what I remember from the infant /toddler scales. Do 9 month olds usually imitate feeding toy animals with a spoon? I left assuring them that Del and I would expect them to have a date night quite soon. They asked if they could pay me. Of course, I said no, but that I would be delighted to pay them anytime they wanted to go out.
For the rest of the day we both worked on our courses. We had planned to explore, but the weather was just not cooperative. Still better than Ohio, but not what I would want to slog around in, too wet and windy.
Have a great weekend, everyone. My fingers are crossed for more fireworks if the weather improves.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Day 10 - Nice Quiet Day
Sorry the blog got derailed yesterday. Thanks, Dianne, for getting me back on track. I need all the help I can get with equipment, especially yesterday. Not only did I fail to post the blog I wrote, I managed to reduce Del's sweater selection by 1/3. Yep, he had 3 sweaters here, and now he has 2 sweaters and an armed sofa pillow cover - so long as the pillow is small. I don't know what button I pushed, but that washer turned into a front loading felting machine. Del took it well, bless his heart, or mine. Now I'm on the look out for a plus sized men's store or a nice Lithuanian person who knits really fast. We met a fellow last summer who raved about a lady here who knits dog hair socks. He said they were so wonderful he bought a dozen pairs. Brings to my mind fleas and smell of wet dog, but maybe I can find her and commission a sweater. Del has been wanting a dog.
Del had his first class today and came home tired but feeling pretty good about it, I think. He has around 24 students, one of them a guy. Librarianship is not a high priority career for men over here - low pay and status, probably.
I spent the day doing a little cleaning up, preparing handouts for next week and making our first pot of soup. Those lovely canned tomatoes were calling me. I had planned to explore the neighborhood, looking for a felted wool shop and a fabric shop we saw the other day, but it drizzled a good part of the day, so I decided to stay here with my own felting project. Maybe I should make slippers out of it. This is a no shoes inside culture, and it is considered polite to have a collection for slippers for guests.
Oh, I almost forgot. Today started with a bit of excitement. The doorbell rang, and since the outside building door stays locked, I assumed it was a neighbor and opened the door. Imagine my surprise to find a uniformed policeman standing there. I don't know how he got into the building, but there he was. (You're right, doors have peepholes for a reason.) His English was beautiful, so I had no trouble finding out that he was looking for our absentee landlord. I had the name and address on our rental agreement, so I gave it to him. Nosy as I am, I asked what was wrong, and was told he had been driving too fast. Whether that is true, or whether it's just what police officers tell nosy people, I don't know. He asked my name, but declined my offer to show him my passport. Hopefully, he won't tell the landlord how he got the address. We do not want to end up homeless in Lithuania. By the way, the police department here must have a good looking requirement. Both this man and the group of 5 or 6 we passed on the street the other day certainly were. Actually, most of the people we have seen are quite attractive.
Good luck to you all who are freezing over there. Enjoy those snow/ice days.
Del had his first class today and came home tired but feeling pretty good about it, I think. He has around 24 students, one of them a guy. Librarianship is not a high priority career for men over here - low pay and status, probably.
I spent the day doing a little cleaning up, preparing handouts for next week and making our first pot of soup. Those lovely canned tomatoes were calling me. I had planned to explore the neighborhood, looking for a felted wool shop and a fabric shop we saw the other day, but it drizzled a good part of the day, so I decided to stay here with my own felting project. Maybe I should make slippers out of it. This is a no shoes inside culture, and it is considered polite to have a collection for slippers for guests.
Oh, I almost forgot. Today started with a bit of excitement. The doorbell rang, and since the outside building door stays locked, I assumed it was a neighbor and opened the door. Imagine my surprise to find a uniformed policeman standing there. I don't know how he got into the building, but there he was. (You're right, doors have peepholes for a reason.) His English was beautiful, so I had no trouble finding out that he was looking for our absentee landlord. I had the name and address on our rental agreement, so I gave it to him. Nosy as I am, I asked what was wrong, and was told he had been driving too fast. Whether that is true, or whether it's just what police officers tell nosy people, I don't know. He asked my name, but declined my offer to show him my passport. Hopefully, he won't tell the landlord how he got the address. We do not want to end up homeless in Lithuania. By the way, the police department here must have a good looking requirement. Both this man and the group of 5 or 6 we passed on the street the other day certainly were. Actually, most of the people we have seen are quite attractive.
Good luck to you all who are freezing over there. Enjoy those snow/ice days.
Day 9 - I Made It - Woo Hoo!
Somehow I managed to save this but not post it. Thanks again for all your good thoughts.
Today was the big day, and it started beautifully. The nice English speaking taxi dispatcher called me at 6:50 to say the cab was on the way, and it showed up at our front door at 6:59. It was misting outside, so I was pleased to be riding instead of walking to the bus stop. He dropped me off in front of the communications building at 7:15 for about $3.30 plus tip, which is not really expected here. I had plenty of time to get my breath and get set up for the 8:00 - 9:30 class. There were 9 women from early 20's to my age, all of whom believed they did not speak English. Clearly they don't mean the same thing when they say that as when I say that I do not speak a language. What they meant was they know quite a bit of English but are not confident in speaking. My lesson plan was somewhat elementary for them, so I had to improvise. The teacher learned more than the students did today, I'm afraid. They were very gracious, however, and perhaps a little surprised to find that learning English included acting out action verbs and a reading activity from Bruce Lansky's Girls to the Rescue Book # 1. This is a modern version of fairy tales in which girls are the problem solvers, not just pitiful little things. Free from Kindle - you'll love it. We took turns passing around EHJ and my little laptop, but the journalism professor introduced me to some projection equipment after class that I can use next week.
The 10-11:30 class had 10 members, 9 women from early 20's to 50's and one man, probably in his late 50's, the dean. He won my heart because he introduced himself using his first name, but I called him by his real first name - Dean. He was a wonderful sport and did not seem to mind that some of my activities were sort of silly. This group benefited from the things I learned from the first class, so things seemed better from my point of view, anyhow. It turns out that when I asked the participants what they most wanted to practice, what they all mentioned first was essentially accent modification/reduction and then listening skills, so the course I took and my language and articulation background will be very helpful. I am so relieved.
So, to make a long story short - as though it weren't already too late for that - as Del always says when I ask him how a speech went --"Nobody threw nothin or nothin." Afer all that moaning everyone, especially Del, has had to put up with. Shame on me for not having confidence that people would understand I was doing the best I knew how.
Having been too worked up to sleep much last night, I dragged myself in from the bus stop, threw myself down on our wonderful big sofa and was asleep in about a minute and a half. Del got to work on his lecture to the tune of snoring from this delicate creature, or so he says. If I were a normal napper, I would go to bed, but, for some reason, it is hard for me to take premeditated naps. They have to just sneak up on me while I'm reading or resting my eyes. Two and a half hours later, I woke up, and we went out to dinner at a little place around the corner. Squid rosotto with Baileys for dessert for me. Yum. Now I'm going to have a some wine, from a glass, in case you are wondering and get ready for bed.
Thanks so much for thinking of me today. Hopefully the angst queen is off duty, at least for a while.
Today was the big day, and it started beautifully. The nice English speaking taxi dispatcher called me at 6:50 to say the cab was on the way, and it showed up at our front door at 6:59. It was misting outside, so I was pleased to be riding instead of walking to the bus stop. He dropped me off in front of the communications building at 7:15 for about $3.30 plus tip, which is not really expected here. I had plenty of time to get my breath and get set up for the 8:00 - 9:30 class. There were 9 women from early 20's to my age, all of whom believed they did not speak English. Clearly they don't mean the same thing when they say that as when I say that I do not speak a language. What they meant was they know quite a bit of English but are not confident in speaking. My lesson plan was somewhat elementary for them, so I had to improvise. The teacher learned more than the students did today, I'm afraid. They were very gracious, however, and perhaps a little surprised to find that learning English included acting out action verbs and a reading activity from Bruce Lansky's Girls to the Rescue Book # 1. This is a modern version of fairy tales in which girls are the problem solvers, not just pitiful little things. Free from Kindle - you'll love it. We took turns passing around EHJ and my little laptop, but the journalism professor introduced me to some projection equipment after class that I can use next week.
The 10-11:30 class had 10 members, 9 women from early 20's to 50's and one man, probably in his late 50's, the dean. He won my heart because he introduced himself using his first name, but I called him by his real first name - Dean. He was a wonderful sport and did not seem to mind that some of my activities were sort of silly. This group benefited from the things I learned from the first class, so things seemed better from my point of view, anyhow. It turns out that when I asked the participants what they most wanted to practice, what they all mentioned first was essentially accent modification/reduction and then listening skills, so the course I took and my language and articulation background will be very helpful. I am so relieved.
So, to make a long story short - as though it weren't already too late for that - as Del always says when I ask him how a speech went --"Nobody threw nothin or nothin." Afer all that moaning everyone, especially Del, has had to put up with. Shame on me for not having confidence that people would understand I was doing the best I knew how.
Having been too worked up to sleep much last night, I dragged myself in from the bus stop, threw myself down on our wonderful big sofa and was asleep in about a minute and a half. Del got to work on his lecture to the tune of snoring from this delicate creature, or so he says. If I were a normal napper, I would go to bed, but, for some reason, it is hard for me to take premeditated naps. They have to just sneak up on me while I'm reading or resting my eyes. Two and a half hours later, I woke up, and we went out to dinner at a little place around the corner. Squid rosotto with Baileys for dessert for me. Yum. Now I'm going to have a some wine, from a glass, in case you are wondering and get ready for bed.
Thanks so much for thinking of me today. Hopefully the angst queen is off duty, at least for a while.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Day 8 - An Unexpectedly Good Day!
Rosa used to say, "This was the best day ever!" n and today turned out to be just about that. It started out to be a nose to the grind stone day getting ready for class tomorrow. I worked pretty much all day on it, Del was out meeting with the University Librarian so I had the place to myself until after 2. He had had lunch out, so dinner was to be left over spaghetti. Then Darius from upstairs (Levi's daddy and Brook"s husband) came to say that he had use of his university's car for a big grocery store run if I would like to go. Needless to say, I accepted with all the excitement that only those who have shopped according to what they can carry on a bus can understand. Darius introduced me to a store that is on the bus route from school, and it was the best we have been to. It had canned tomatoes, so I can make soup. Yea! I bought 6 big cans and some little cans, and canned beans and 6 litres of milk and a coke and 2 huge bottles of water and frozen vegetables and ice trays and ice cream, and lots more. It was wonderful. Of course, we will probably have to put some of the stuff under the bed, but I have tomatoes! It would have taken us at least 4 trips to the store to get all that heavy stuff, and we probably wouldn't have bought some of it. I now define a luxury as something we don't really have to have that I am willing to carry, or get Del to carry.
The other highlight of the day was figuring out how to get EHJ to download books here in Lithuania. It is amazing what reading the directions will do for a person.
Don't tell Del I said so, but some times he is quite clever. I called the taxi service our contact person recommended only to find that no one spoke English, so I could not make arrangements for tomorrow. Del suggested I call one of the hotels and ask if someone could recommend a taxi service that might have English speaking employees, and I am all set up. The part of me that just loves to worry keeps wondering if they really will show up, of course.
Well, you all think of me before you go to bed tonight, because who knows how tomorrow will turn out. Hopefully there will be no crying. Phooey, I knew there was something I forgot at the store - straws for my wine bottle.
The other highlight of the day was figuring out how to get EHJ to download books here in Lithuania. It is amazing what reading the directions will do for a person.
Don't tell Del I said so, but some times he is quite clever. I called the taxi service our contact person recommended only to find that no one spoke English, so I could not make arrangements for tomorrow. Del suggested I call one of the hotels and ask if someone could recommend a taxi service that might have English speaking employees, and I am all set up. The part of me that just loves to worry keeps wondering if they really will show up, of course.
Well, you all think of me before you go to bed tonight, because who knows how tomorrow will turn out. Hopefully there will be no crying. Phooey, I knew there was something I forgot at the store - straws for my wine bottle.
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