Klaipeda doesn't smell like most cities. Most cities that I have been to have an industrial, built-up, commercial feeling and smell to them. That's not the case here. In fact, I feel like rather than living in a large Lithuanian metropolis (with a whopping 250,000 people), I feel almost as if I am part of a quiet kingdom tucked seemingly unnoticed into the woods. When I walk the streets of Klaipeda at night, I smell basically one thing. Wood. Burning wood. Fire. Campfire. Forest. It's contagious--it's like living in a cabin, in the city. It's almost ridiculous. But it's part of what I love about being here. This isn't really a metropolis--it's more like a local gathering between the trees and coast. I'm looking forward to when it's warmer so that I can go to the beaches during the day, taking the ferry to the Spit, and simply walking through the forest. It's so quiet and calm here. Yeah, there is traffic, but in reality, it's like a quiet, dreamy town.
Today I walked to school by myself, which I actually really enjoyed. But I came across two things that made me slightly uncomfortable. They were at two separate places during my walk. Not uncomfortable in that I felt afraid, necessarily, but rather, uncomfortable that they are so open and uncovered. The first was a Swastika. I've seen them before, and I've seen them painted on buildings, even at times in the States. But this was different. This was in the older part of town, by the University of Klaipeda, right down a residential alley. What happened is that I made a wrong turn and walked into an alley of old, dingy flats on one side, and old sheds on the opposite side, to my left. The sheds are formed like the garages at Fountain, simply a long connecting row of sheds. Spray painted to my left was a black swastika, right in plain sight and open. It was painted on brick and was slightly deteriorated, leaving me to believe that it has been there for a while. The area that I found it in was occupied by Germany during the War, and it is near where the main German hub was. I don't think it is that old, but it is unsettling to know that Nazism is still around here in this part of the world.
The next thing that I saw was somewhat related, but different. Once I got out of that alley and was back on the main road, I saw spray painted on an old building in huge letters "JUDEN!" (which is the German word for "Jews.") The place where I walk through every single week had previously , and still has to this very day, the remnants of oppression. Even to the point of murder and genocide. It is not a pretty picture. But that is part of the reason as to why I am here: I am here to discover, study, and learn about the culture of Lithuania, including the dirty parts that time hasn't yet covered.
Welcome to Klaipeda.
January 14, 2010
January 12, 2010
Fog and Potatoes
There's something awesome about living on the coast. Looking out my window, I can see the sleepy town of Klaipeda as it prepares itself for the cold night. The fog is rolling in off the Baltic Sea, almost like a blanket on our dreary, quiet little city. In the distance, next to the old office buildings and Roman structures you can see the now-empty streets laying wastefully in the background. There are lights in only the most obviously places--illuminating some street corners and roads, otherwise, it's a dark walk tonight from here to the coast.
Today I started classes. So far, they all seem pretty manageable. My hardest class will again be Greek. The problem is this: They have learned a very different way than I have, so now I need to backtrack in order to figure things out. In all reality, if I work well and keep a good pace, this semester shouldn't be too hard. Tomorrow, on my day off, I am going to run some errands, pick up a SIM card, and hopefully get some homework finished.
Also, tomorrow I need to cook something new for dinner. Bologna-esque meat with potatoes and carrots isn't going to do it for three days in a row. We need something new. Perhaps I'll even go to the big grocery store to buy food. The possibilities could be endless.
And to those who are asking, I will be going photograph taking tomorrow around the Old Town here in Klaipeda and will hopefully post an album on Facebook by the end of Wednesday my time.
Next big thing: Ferry to Sweden. More on that as details come in. Looks like Mid-February.
Today I started classes. So far, they all seem pretty manageable. My hardest class will again be Greek. The problem is this: They have learned a very different way than I have, so now I need to backtrack in order to figure things out. In all reality, if I work well and keep a good pace, this semester shouldn't be too hard. Tomorrow, on my day off, I am going to run some errands, pick up a SIM card, and hopefully get some homework finished.
Also, tomorrow I need to cook something new for dinner. Bologna-esque meat with potatoes and carrots isn't going to do it for three days in a row. We need something new. Perhaps I'll even go to the big grocery store to buy food. The possibilities could be endless.
And to those who are asking, I will be going photograph taking tomorrow around the Old Town here in Klaipeda and will hopefully post an album on Facebook by the end of Wednesday my time.
Next big thing: Ferry to Sweden. More on that as details come in. Looks like Mid-February.
January 11, 2010
Lietuva: Where is God?
You know what one of the best things about Lithuania is? God is working here. For a while (as in, circa five days), it was odd to be here in Lithuania because it seemed like every conversation was, in one way or another, superficial. Talking about our home institutions, majors, favorite movies….stuff like that. But what was lacking was a conversation really built on substance. My first night in Klaipeda, my roommate Ilya took me out to a pub in the Old Town called "Memerlis"--its an old building turned karaoke bar on the weekends, and a main hub of student traffic during the week.
While there, we had an awesome discussion about the work of the Gospel and the effect of our faith on the poor, and how our faith should be changing our culture. It was something that got me thinking. That was the first good conversation I've had while here.
Shorty after this, I began talking to another study abroad student, named Matea. Matea is studying in the States (PA) but she is from Bosnia-Herzegovina. It's really interesting to me to hear about her life and her faith journey. So, the three of us have all become good friends and it's been awesome to have some kind of spiritual community here. We've started praying every morning at 4A for our campus, our friends back home, and our families. Nothing important happens without prayer and it is awesome to me to have the formation of a spiritual community here.
God uses the simple ways to shame the wise, and the foolish to shame the strong. We are all simple, foolish people, serving a faithful God. What I love about the people here in Europe is that they don't feel like they need to know everything. They just feel the need to depend on God. That's something vastly different to home.
So, if you pray for me, please pray for the three of us as we start a little community of faith here. It's a hard place to be here: God is dead in Lithuania. Almost. Not literally of course, but He's dead to the people here. In closing I leave you with a piece from the Gospel Coalition, in response to our work as Christians among the suffering:
On the Doing of Justice and Mercy
God created both soul and body, and the resurrection of Jesus shows that he is going to redeem both the spiritual and the material. Therefore God is concerned not only for the salvation of souls but also for the relief of poverty, hunger, and injustice. The gospel opens our eyes to the fact that all our wealth (even wealth for which we worked hard) is ultimately an unmerited gift from God. Therefore the person who does not generously give away his or her wealth to others is not merely lacking in compassion, but is unjust. Christ wins our salvation through losing, achieves power through weakness and service, and comes to wealth through giving all away. Those who receive his salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost. We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way. The gospel replaces superiority toward the poor with mercy and compassion. Christian churches must work for justice and peace in their neighborhoods through service even as they call individuals to conversion and the new birth. We must work for the eternal and common good and show our neighbors we love them sacrificially whether they believe as we do or not. Indifference to the poor and disadvantaged means there has not been a true grasp of our salvation by sheer grace
While there, we had an awesome discussion about the work of the Gospel and the effect of our faith on the poor, and how our faith should be changing our culture. It was something that got me thinking. That was the first good conversation I've had while here.
Shorty after this, I began talking to another study abroad student, named Matea. Matea is studying in the States (PA) but she is from Bosnia-Herzegovina. It's really interesting to me to hear about her life and her faith journey. So, the three of us have all become good friends and it's been awesome to have some kind of spiritual community here. We've started praying every morning at 4A for our campus, our friends back home, and our families. Nothing important happens without prayer and it is awesome to me to have the formation of a spiritual community here.
God uses the simple ways to shame the wise, and the foolish to shame the strong. We are all simple, foolish people, serving a faithful God. What I love about the people here in Europe is that they don't feel like they need to know everything. They just feel the need to depend on God. That's something vastly different to home.
So, if you pray for me, please pray for the three of us as we start a little community of faith here. It's a hard place to be here: God is dead in Lithuania. Almost. Not literally of course, but He's dead to the people here. In closing I leave you with a piece from the Gospel Coalition, in response to our work as Christians among the suffering:
On the Doing of Justice and Mercy
God created both soul and body, and the resurrection of Jesus shows that he is going to redeem both the spiritual and the material. Therefore God is concerned not only for the salvation of souls but also for the relief of poverty, hunger, and injustice. The gospel opens our eyes to the fact that all our wealth (even wealth for which we worked hard) is ultimately an unmerited gift from God. Therefore the person who does not generously give away his or her wealth to others is not merely lacking in compassion, but is unjust. Christ wins our salvation through losing, achieves power through weakness and service, and comes to wealth through giving all away. Those who receive his salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost. We cannot look at the poor and the oppressed and callously call them to pull themselves out of their own difficulty. Jesus did not treat us that way. The gospel replaces superiority toward the poor with mercy and compassion. Christian churches must work for justice and peace in their neighborhoods through service even as they call individuals to conversion and the new birth. We must work for the eternal and common good and show our neighbors we love them sacrificially whether they believe as we do or not. Indifference to the poor and disadvantaged means there has not been a true grasp of our salvation by sheer grace
Apparently, Bus Passes are not inter-linguistic....
Today was super productive. First of all, my school schedule is ridiculous, in a good way. I have only my Cross Cultural Seminar class on Mondays, which is with all the Study Abroad students. That class starts at 12:15, so besides that class, I have no need to be on campus at all besides then. My full days are Tuesday and Thursday, when I have four classes, from 10:15 until 6:15, so it's a very full day. But in all reality, my classes are going to be fantastic; I have Greek II, Intermediate German, Spiritual Formation, and The English Bible as Literature. In short: Fantastic classes.
But back to Today. I was able to get up around 9:30 for class. 9:30!! I haven't had a class that late in the day since…ever! This is the first time in that I have a class later than 9A.
The next greatest thing was realizing that the walk to school was not as difficult as I first imagined. It's pretty intimidating trying to walk thirty minutes from your new home to another part of the city with very few inclinations as to where you are going. But today we walked to school as a small group and we were able to find it without much trouble, which was thankful. I would describe my location as residential, downtown, harbor, and "of the people." I would describe LCC campus area as: uptown, wealth(ier), suburban. So it's like stepping into two different worlds as I travel from home to school.
Regardless of this, my one class was good. It's basically all about Lithuania and our experience and the whole class exists for us to process our experiences here and to write about them, talk about them, etc. It's actually a really good idea, I think.
One awesome thing about classes here is that all the textbooks are "rented." You check them out for the semester and then give them back. No buying books. No reselling books. Plain and Simple.
Other than that, I walked back to Karklu and even bought a pastry on the way back. There is an incredible bakery on the way home from school and the food is absolutely fantastic. I had a bit of trouble because the woman didn't speak English or German, but I was able to pull of the Lithuanian pronunciation enough to get the right item. It's really tough not speaking the language. Chances are, outside of LCC, only 1 in 10 will speak English, so I really need to work to make my language intelligible when I speak.
Today, was, however, my first journey around Klaipeda without a guide. Another Study Abroad, Andy, and I took the bus to Akropolis, a decently big shopping center, and, being hungry, we ate at a traditional Lithuanian restaurant: McDonalds. It was odd to eat a Big Mac (virtually the only meal they had). I remember now, though, why McDonalds is horrible. It's so processed and gross--I felt so much better before I ate it, but alas, it was nice to have something familiar again.
With stomachs full, we went to the shopping center and got our electronics: Internet cables and power adapters.
We went to the bus stop to head back to Karklu and attempted again to buy bus passes. Previously, we had tried to buy monthly bus passes, but the lady did not understand us in the least, so instead we just bought regular bus fares. Now, after delegating a bit, she understood us and gave us the right passes. So I am now the proud owner of a Lithuanian bus pass. This means that I can travel anywhere in Klaipeda with just one card and I don't have to worry about fares. Except maybe on weekends.
On the way back we stopped by the Ikiukas (Mini-mart similar to a Mini-Cub foods) and I bought groceries for tonight. It's going to be a night of cooking in Karklu! They say that many students meet and make friendships in the kitchens because they all cook together, so today I will be doing just that. Fried potatoes and carrots, with sprinkles of cheese, and some friend meat. I have no idea what kind of meat it is, or if it is even meat, but we will find out. Guten Apetit!
Classes tomorrow at 10:15! Rock on!
But back to Today. I was able to get up around 9:30 for class. 9:30!! I haven't had a class that late in the day since…ever! This is the first time in that I have a class later than 9A.
The next greatest thing was realizing that the walk to school was not as difficult as I first imagined. It's pretty intimidating trying to walk thirty minutes from your new home to another part of the city with very few inclinations as to where you are going. But today we walked to school as a small group and we were able to find it without much trouble, which was thankful. I would describe my location as residential, downtown, harbor, and "of the people." I would describe LCC campus area as: uptown, wealth(ier), suburban. So it's like stepping into two different worlds as I travel from home to school.
Regardless of this, my one class was good. It's basically all about Lithuania and our experience and the whole class exists for us to process our experiences here and to write about them, talk about them, etc. It's actually a really good idea, I think.
One awesome thing about classes here is that all the textbooks are "rented." You check them out for the semester and then give them back. No buying books. No reselling books. Plain and Simple.
Other than that, I walked back to Karklu and even bought a pastry on the way back. There is an incredible bakery on the way home from school and the food is absolutely fantastic. I had a bit of trouble because the woman didn't speak English or German, but I was able to pull of the Lithuanian pronunciation enough to get the right item. It's really tough not speaking the language. Chances are, outside of LCC, only 1 in 10 will speak English, so I really need to work to make my language intelligible when I speak.
Today, was, however, my first journey around Klaipeda without a guide. Another Study Abroad, Andy, and I took the bus to Akropolis, a decently big shopping center, and, being hungry, we ate at a traditional Lithuanian restaurant: McDonalds. It was odd to eat a Big Mac (virtually the only meal they had). I remember now, though, why McDonalds is horrible. It's so processed and gross--I felt so much better before I ate it, but alas, it was nice to have something familiar again.
With stomachs full, we went to the shopping center and got our electronics: Internet cables and power adapters.
We went to the bus stop to head back to Karklu and attempted again to buy bus passes. Previously, we had tried to buy monthly bus passes, but the lady did not understand us in the least, so instead we just bought regular bus fares. Now, after delegating a bit, she understood us and gave us the right passes. So I am now the proud owner of a Lithuanian bus pass. This means that I can travel anywhere in Klaipeda with just one card and I don't have to worry about fares. Except maybe on weekends.
On the way back we stopped by the Ikiukas (Mini-mart similar to a Mini-Cub foods) and I bought groceries for tonight. It's going to be a night of cooking in Karklu! They say that many students meet and make friendships in the kitchens because they all cook together, so today I will be doing just that. Fried potatoes and carrots, with sprinkles of cheese, and some friend meat. I have no idea what kind of meat it is, or if it is even meat, but we will find out. Guten Apetit!
Classes tomorrow at 10:15! Rock on!
January 10, 2010
Address: So you may write me often
My dear friends,
Here is my address in case any of you who happen to be reading this desire to write to me. This is the address of my dormitory, so the mail will go straight to me. If you send me a parcel, I will be notified and will pick it up at the Post. But I do like letters. Even if you don't really know me. Postcards will be just fine as well.
Levi Tijerina
Karklu g. 5
LT - 94432 Klaipėda
Lithuania
Here is my address in case any of you who happen to be reading this desire to write to me. This is the address of my dormitory, so the mail will go straight to me. If you send me a parcel, I will be notified and will pick it up at the Post. But I do like letters. Even if you don't really know me. Postcards will be just fine as well.
Levi Tijerina
Karklu g. 5
LT - 94432 Klaipėda
Lithuania
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