Spring Fever and a little Culture Shock

"As we grow in wisdom, we pardon more freely." -Madame de Stael

"May you come home rejoicing/at the wonders you have seen/may you come home rejoicing/once again to our doors." -For my Atlas community...

Hello my dear friends near and far,

Spring is upon us in Siauliai Lithuania! This is probably not news for you, whether you be in Colorado or in other parts of Europe, I think Lithuania is the last place to realize that is time to turn green. But the days are so long now (it stays light until 9:30 at least here!!) and it is getting warmer, almost too warm for a jacket. Lots of rain and plenty of beautiful flowers to look at as well. I hope wherever you are it is just as beautiful!

My Hungarian friend, Dora, and I returned from our epic H.A.N.G trip across Europe about two weeks ago...I wanted to blog about it earlier, but I had to jump right back into classes. This is the last month of school, so the projects are piled high! But words cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the trip (so I included pictures below, haha); it was once in a lifetime experience. It really warms every part of my heart to think that I got the chance to meet the families of some of my closest friends, see the places they lived and hug them one more time. I am truly thankful for every minute I had with Franci, Dora and Melanie. It was one of those times where I really understood how deep and unique my friends make our lives and experiences together. I am so absolutely grateful that I have friends loving enough to show me their lives and people they knew before I met them in Erasmus. And I am lucky enough to say that I got to spend time with locals, seeing real parts of countries that I truly love. It was absolutely indescribable. And to my friends Franci, Melanie and Dora...I cannot thank you girls enough for the kindness you show me. Whether it be this semester or last semester, you all have impacted me beyond any words I can write. Thank you for being open-hearts to me and thank you for being my friend. I am so blessed to know friends like each one of you. Thank you from every part of my heart...you make life so beautiful. I hope this trip will not be the last time I get to see each of you. And please, I look forward to the day that I get to return the favor to each one of you (meaning...get your butts on a plane and come visit me!!!)

So there are lots of pictures from the trip and lots of stories to each one. I feel bad because I would really love to tell you each and every story to the pictures, but I have decided to not tell you everything, just show you the places. I am sorry because I feel like I am not doing some favor to the grandeur and awesomeness of some of the places I got to see, but we all would be here for hours. So I hope you excuse me for a momentary laps into laziness... I just can't even begin to write every story down.

Now I am safely back home in Siauliai. It is crazy to think that the semester will end in about a month or so. I am working on a lot of final projects already! I hope to squeeze in a trip to Riga this month (I still am ashamed I haven't officially gone yet) and spending some time with my Erasmus buddies! Planning lots of traveling with my roommate Carolin for June and planning on traveling with Melanie in July. Very excited for what is to come next!

And a funny story I would like to mention...just when you think that you are adjusted to living life in another culture...they throw an Anthropology conference in your direction. Man, this was a culture shock, and I would like to say that it happens to a person even after 8 months. One of my teachers asked our anthropology class to help out in a conference to be held at the end of this month, and of course I eagerly agree (I need to learn to say the word NO). I meet with the women in charge and we agree on the presentation I would make. It had to be about education and my experiences, and though I thought it was a little off topic for me, I had no idea what was coming.

I struggle through coming up with something to present, education has never been my specialty. What I didn't prepare for was presenting in a Lithuanian high school, to all teachers who barely speak English, with no translator, and having to be toted around the school for half the day by a pudgy (but sweet) woman with a hair-do bigger than the state of Vermont (who also doesn't speak English). And my mother would have been delighted to know that every single woman in that building asked me if I cold that day because I was wearing a light summery dress. No, Lithuania, I am not cold. I promise. It ended up with a teacher forcefully draping her scarf on my shoulders and shaking her head saying: labai shalta (very cold) and walking away before I could give it back. I will wear a coat until the day I leave now because I was so embarrassed. But somehow we survived, somehow I found a way to communicate with my baby-sitter (and I think she really likes me), even though no one understood my presentation.


Oh it's still an adventure to this day!


I love you all and thank you for taking the time to read. Sending you my warm thoughts and I hope you enjoy the photos. Until next time (which I hope will be soon!) 

The first stop: Leipzig, Germany! Here Dora is with our dear friend Franci in front of a very cool second hand store!

On this street is the coolest University I have ever seen in my life, Franci, you are a lucky girl.

Franci and Boris's beautiful flat is the balcony all the way at the top!

Here is Boris with his childhood friends, these guys know how to throw a great party!

My team actually won this game, just to let you know  :)

Told you it was a good party!

Next, Dresden!

Love these two to death!

Then we visited Magdeburg to see Franci's family...

Here is the house that Franci grew up in!

And this gentleman was so kind to give us a tour of USSR vehicles in the Marienborn Museum. This was incredible because he just did it for us! It was amazing!

Next stop: Kecskemet, Hungary! With a big surprise to Dora's family!

Here Dora is with all of her family!

And then my turn!

Pictures from Budapest...

And this was the coolest museum ever! I really enjoyed how well done, thorough and thoughtful the House of Terror was...by far one of the best museums I have gone to!

And then our final stop to visit our dearest friend Melanie in Holland!!

Melanie and her cool chicken.

A sign prepared by Melanie's dad for our welcome party!

Teaching Melanie and some of her friends how to make S'mores!

Dora and I with Melanie and her family on Easter!

Off to Amsterdam!

Rijk's Museum!

I really love this girl!

And now for a very cool day in Utrecht! I wish I could study in this city!

And this is all the wonderful Dutch things I had the chance to bring home with me. I will cherish them always...

The H.A.N.G. Trip!

Hello friends near and far! It's been a long time, I know. So just a quick update on Siauliai...life here has been "labai gerai", or very good! Just trying to get through all my classes (I have a lot), keeping up with the newest movies with my friend Carolin, getting to know new people a little bit, welcoming old friends into a new flat, and smoking lots of nargile with Dora and Yusuf. It's starting to really feel like spring here and everyone is so excited. We are itching for the chance to go outside without heavy coats and to see green around the city again, it's wonderful! So, it's been a lot of fun here, but now onto a new adventure!

Tomorrow, my Hungarian friend (Dora, I mentioned her above) and I will start our trip...which we like to call the HANG trip. HANG is the first letter of each country we are going to visit! So we are first going to Germany (Bremen, Leipzig, Dresden) to visit some friends that we met last semester (my dearest Franci and Boris to be exact!)  We stay there for 5 or 6 days and then off to Hungary! This is the exciting part of the trip! Dora's family has no idea we are coming, so we are going to surprise them one day by just showing up on their doorstep! Can't wait for the chance to meet her family! And it's probably a good thing that they get to meet me face to face because Dora has been lying to them about our trip and saying that I didn't want to go to Hungary and that's why we are not visiting. So maybe they hate me, but at least I get to prove them wrong once we go! We stay in Hungary for a week then we are off to Austria! And we might have the chance while we are there to meet our Lithuanian friend Rasita and our Czech friend, Pauli-D. But for Pauli-D it will be a surprise too, so hopefully we can make this work! One night in Vienna and then we have a long train to my favorite place in the world, the Netherlands! There we will get to say hello to our wonderful and dearly missed friend Melanie from last semester too. We will get to stay with her family and explore Utrecht from top to bottom! So excited for the chance to see her again!

So this is a very exciting trip for us. All along the way we get to see familiar faces and met old friends. It makes me realize how far I have come from last semester, now I can go around the world and meet a friend. I am very excited for the chance to see old friends, meet new friends, and enjoy the spring season all around Europe. This adventure has been dearly needed in my life.

Of course I am a little sad because I am leaving poor Carolin and Yusuf for three weeks. I will miss them both so much, especially Carolin. But we have big plans to go to the movie theatres and have late Easters when I come back! (You all better be going to the Hunger Games premiere for me!) And I am also a little scared because this is the first trip that I planned a lot of the getting around, we are using Interrail again, like the big November Trip we took last semester. Except this pass is bigger and lots longer. I really am afraid that something will go wrong with the passes this time. And I am a little afraid to meet the families and friends of all of my good, good friends. I hope they like me and I feel comfortable and confident enough to be who I am around them! Cross your fingers for us! We need them!

SO anyway, without further ado, here we go! I am keeping a journal for everyday, like last time. So when I get back I will share my thoughts and experiences with you. Until then my dear friends, enjoy the emerging spring weather and see you in April!

Lots of love,
Sarah

P.S. Some German music you can groove to! Deichkind will be playing in Berlin while we are there, I wish we could go!

Seeed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yWU0lFghxU&feature=related

Deichkind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPJlyRv_IGI

Deep Thoughts and Deeper Questions

There is a lot of things I have been thinking about lately, and especially struggling with. And I am not sure how to fully express it yet because I feel like it doesn't make sense. I mean, I am half-way across the world right now, but I am so sad. There is a lot of pressure that I put on myself to create something extraordinary here. Because without that thought, it feels so dry and so empty. But right now I am at a loss for what will happen next. I feel like I am missing some extraordinary. I feel like I am being carried by everyone around me. Shouldn't I be the one to be giving so much more to everyone else?

But maybe I just need to shut up and be thankful for all that I've been given. More and more I am learning that I need to stop comparing this semester with what was last semester. They are different, and there is nothing I can do to change that. I've been spending a lot of time trying to devise ways to make it like it was before. But there are new, different people here and I cannot expect them to be exactly like my friends that were here with me last semester. And it's alright to not carry everything and everyone on my back. And I am figuring out that I should not stress so much about comparisons or "competitions" I make up in my head. This semester is good no matter what it becomes; as long as I am happy and I feel like I am doing right here then there is no one that would tell me different.

Because it's days like these when I feel like the worst person in the world, and I spend more time feeling sorry for myself than I do opening my eyes and seeing all the goodness around me. I have friends that will chat with me for hours about how I feel (both back home and here); an amazing roommate that teaches me German, Russian, cooks me tons of food and cappuccinos, and I have kind new friends that give me soup out of the pure kindness of their hearts. It is more than clear to me that I am not alone. I am just frustrated that I refused to see this before now. So this is me FINALLY letting the stress go. It's ok. Everything will be ok. This semester will be just as special and life-changing as the last, except it is going 's to be different and that normal. I am loved and I will share this love still no matter what, that's the important thing I am learning.

This is the soup that my dear friends Esin and Gokce just brought to me that made me realize that I was being a d-bag. Thanks for helping me see how stupid I was being...

A new semester in Lithuania!

Hello friends near and far!

So now I have made my way back to Siauliai. It's a little surreal still because it feels like I am just slipping into an old life I just left behind. But I am excited for the new semester and can't wait to tell you more of the adventures I have going on! 

The great thing about going home was being able to see all the familiar faces and hold all the people I have missed so much finally! I can't tell you how much better it was to talk to people face to face instead of over skype! I got my camera fixed while I was home (or, well we bought a new lens) and it has been AMAZING to have it back!! Part of me cannot deny the liberty in not having to worry about "capturing the moment" on my travels, but then I find more and more that I cherish the memories in photos. So I am excited to keep working on taking better photos and remembering all the wonderful things going on in my life.

And you remember how worried I was about London and being alone for awhile? Well, like usual, it was all for nothing. London was perfect, expensive, but perfect. I think it was very good for me to have exposure in doing things alone, especially something big like traveling and exploring a city by yourself. I discovered some power within myself that I never really noticed before. Yes, I CAN do all the things I need to do to survive in a city I don't know. But I also learned that I really do prefer traveling with at least one other person. There are some things about traveling alone that are just too difficult to do alone. And just having a companion with you makes a world of difference sometimes; you have someone to talk to when you are on a bus, someone to take pictures with, someone to always eat with. It's better, for me at least. 

But my dear friends Miguel and Gonzalo made all the difference for me in London. We got to explore and laugh our way through the suburbs of London. I always love going to the suburbs of big cities sometimes. It always proves to show a charming side that you don't notice in all the hustle and bustle. We went to really cool places like the Seven Sisters, which was a cliff face that was absolutely gorgeous!!! I couldn't believe my camera was dead that day! So mad at myself! And we went to Brighton too and I learned that hipster town was were the Kooks grew up. And suddenly, everything in my life came together. Seriously, if you are a hipster in the need for a home...go to Brighton. They are waiting for you.

After paying 319 pounds to get my luggage to Lithuania (that's about $500 btw....I almost died) I arrived home! The taxi driver screwed me over and dropped me off at the wrong place. But it still felt good to be back in a place that I knew. Now its just been a waiting game in Siualiai for everyone in the Erasmus program to arrive. My new roommate, Carolin from Germany, is an absolute sweetheart and yells at me all the time for not wearing socks. She gave me an amazing book to read, called "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet". It's a fun book to read because everywhere in the margins are cool drawings and side stories...love it! She is also teaching me both German and Russian...so all in all, she's awesome. 

I have a lot on my mind lately about what I what I want to make this semester become...because it is so different. And I feel a little lost right now because I don't see it all coming together. I am searching for deep cultural encounters, for spiritual connections, for learning new things....but I feel stuck in the old routine of a life I made last semester. And I feel like it takes so much more strength for me to reach out and far too much responsibility to try to carry the weight of everyone here. I have lots to figure out still, obviously.

But I have some questions that I have been asking myself a lot lately, and maybe soon I will have some answers for them. I'll share:

1. How do you want to be seen by everyone this semester?
2. How can you make this semester better than last?
3. How will you make sure your heart is healthy?
4. How will you make sure you become better from this?
5. How can you help people more?
6. How do you want to use this experience in your life?
7. What is the purpose for this time in your life?
8. What do you want to learn from this?
9. How will you make deep relationships?
10. How will you love those around you better?
11. How will this change how you love in the future?

The first picture I took with the new lens!

Pictures of Christmas with the folks first!

Jacob and I painting our viking ship together!

The countdown to the Olympics!

The Royal Albert Hall. My mom and I watched a video of Adele playing there.

Sarah Redman was supposed to write her protest letter to this...

A bad picture of the Dali I got to see! I love him!