We had our final exam which for some reason was not as long and much easier than the other exams.
Tomorrow we will have our 'closing ceremony' of the group intensive course. I am sad because Sonja will then be going back home to Germany. It has only been two weeks here, but already I feel completely immersed in Lithuania and with the people I have met.
However, as my dear friend Andrea said to me on the day I was leaving my exchange study in Canada; 'it is never goodbye, just see you soon.'
I have learned a lot from Sonja, we have great conversations about philosophies about life and people (she is a Social Worker back home). I feel in a lot of ways that we are both young at heart but in other ways, are perhaps 'old souls.'
Sonja told me yesterday that for some reason, on this trip, she thought about a friend that distanced herself from Sonja and her group about a year ago. Sonja could not understand why she was thinking about all of this all now, as such a long time had passed. We talked about how travel and being away from our normal environment, gives people a huge amount of opportunity to reflect on things on many aspects of our lives, like friendships and change, which can be healing and also scary. I encouraged Sonja to write a message to this old friend, with no agenda, but just to let her know that she cared about her and was thinking of her. I feel like these kind of messages are never bad messages that can be sent. Sonja told me today, that she did just that.
Today we visited the cultural centre in old town Klaipeda as they had a special display of masks that are used on Uzgavenes 'Pancake day.' Užgavėnės is a Lithuanian festival that takes place during the seventh week before Easter (Ash Wednesday). Its name in English means "the time before Lent". The celebration corresponds to Roman Catholic holiday traditions in other parts of the world, such as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Carnival.
Užgavėnės begins on the night before Ash Wednesday, when an Effigy of winter (usually named Morė) is burnt. A major element of the holiday, meant to symbolize the defeat of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, is a staged battle between Lašininis ("porky") personifying winter and Kanapinis ("hempen man") personifying spring. Devils, witches, goats, the grim reaper, gypsies, and other joyful and frightening characters appear in costumes during the celebrations.
The sun was shining today so we decided not to catch a bus and walk all the way through the old town.
I have been looking to buy a nice warm coat but all I have been able to find are these puffy, plastic looking (likely to be plastic actually) jackets. Everyone in Lithuania wears them but I think they make people look like thugs. I tried one on just to be sure, and I looked like a thug, a fat one.
We pondered across a shop in the old town that I liked the look of; it looked a bit 'boutique like' and immediately saw a jacket that I really loved. I looked at the price tag and it was 239 Euros (I hope you are not reading this post dad). I tried it on and all of the retail assistants fussed over me, and the jacket was so soft...it was Cashmere...and I needed a new jacket...and I am in Europe... So I bought the jacket and donated my other jacket to a nearby charity. :)
The shop was selling these puppies that looked like Chihuahua's, which was a bit wierd, but I gave the dogs a cuddle anyway.
The retail assistants were very excited to talk about Australia and were also excited that foreigners had come to Lithuania to do a University course. She went on to say that I probably won't need my jacket in Australia.I have to explain to a lot of Lithuanians that some places in Australia do actually have a winter. I guess our winter is still more mild than Lithuania's winter.
I seem to get a very warm response and lots of curious questions thrown at me when I say that I am from Australia, that my family are Lithuanian, and that I am in Lithuania to do a University course. It is really welcoming, and very sweet.
I also bought a second pair of boots today, with less heel and more tread, as I now realise that, as pretty as my current boots are, I cannot wall across ice and snow without slipping.
After we visited the mask displays today, we wandered through the old town to find a hot chocolate 'Kakava'. We went in to one fancy restaurant where we were led to our table. We looked through the menu and could not see Kakava. We asked the man if he sold Kakava. He said that he did not sell Kakava, but continued on to tell us everything else that we could drink instead. We told him that we didn't want to be rude but all we wanted to drink was Kakava. He then told us again that he did not sell Kakava. I think we were expecting that the waiter would point us towards a place that sold Kakava, but instead he just stood there waiting patiently and told us more about what we could drink instead of Kakava. Again, there was an awkward pause and we giggled, made our way out on our own accord and told the waiter again that we just wanted to find a place that sold Kakava.
We did find a place that sold Kakava, and we all ordered some delicious cake too. The cafe was warm, beautifully lit with lovely music playing. I feel so grateful that at this moment, I have had an opportunity to walk with freedom with new friends through a historical town, in a country where my a lot of my family roots and attitudes were born, swan in to a beautiful cafe, and enjoy each others company with great food and a warm drink.
I still have more individual lessons that I have chosen to do on Thursday and Friday, where I hope I will grasp some better grammatical skills.
Time for me to go, as I think Sonja and I are going to grab a meal and perhaps go to the cinema again.
Labanaktis.
Xo
Rasa
Labas Rasa! I'm glad you found a jacket that you like. A great idea, you won't regret it I'm sure! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Love from home.
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