Finally A Good Hair Day

For the first time in four weeks the weather (particularly the Humidity) finally cooperated with me. The humidity was low and it wasn't blistering hot. Basically the perfect weather to finally give me a good hair day. Weather complaints aside, I have been having a great time in Lithuania. Being in classes every day for 8 hours is so hard. It is even more hard when all you want to do is go out at night and have fun with the crowd. Of course we all still live it up but it can make for a hard morning to get through. Not gonna lie, I fell asleep in one of my classes last week. There is a picture on facebook to prove it. Lesson learned, don't try to keep up with the Portuguese because those kids can out do you every time, and make it to class the next day. Our international experience is a little different than most. We have not met any Lithuanian friends beside the group of student council members who have been taking us out a couple times a week. There are seven American students and about 20 Portuguese so we are definitely overwhelmed. I have definitely warmed up to the Portuguese, they are just terrible students when it comes to shutting up in class...get my drift? But they are fun to chat with and hang out with at all other times. We have gotten pretty close to one guy name Tiago Martino. We usually call him Martino. His English is very good and he is funnier than Sh*t. When he gets shocked he'll say, "Reaaaally". It's hard to describe in written text but God he's funny to be around. Just don't try to wake him up, even if accidentally, he'll swear and yell and be royally mad! It's hilarious but the first time it happened to me, I was trying to turn off his laptop and he woke up and glared at me and I ran out of the room! He's so scary lol. There's also a girl named Matilde, she has a fashion blog where she posts pictures of fashion and looks that she likes. It's kinda inspiring me to start my own blog. Blogging is fun even if no one is reading it. I've met interesting people and it is fun to exchange stories and see the differences in our cultures. For example, all you Americans out there, try to explain to a Ukrainian how important July 4 is to us. They do not get it. To them it is just another day. July 4th came around and us Americans hunted down fireworks and were going crazy in preparations. No one else understood why this day was bigger than Christmas! It was crazy and eye opening. I have never had to explain what July 4th is let-alone, what ranch dressing is, or what sarcasm is. Sarcasm is completely lost with internationals. I am constantly pausing to apologize and clarify that I was being sarcastic. Americans often do not get how different cultures truly are and in our daily lives there are some many things that I thought I would never have to explain to someone. I dare you, explain what ranch is....yeah it's hard.

It is also cool to see the relaxed culture. Going for drinks and dancing with your professors is completely acceptable. Last week we got drinks with one of the ISM professors and a staff member. Following drinks we went to a karaoke bar with them and I sang for the first time in my life. Here they completely separate work from private life. Nothing that happens outside of class will ever be considered within the building premises. It is awesome because we have made deeper connections and feel more comfortable about being ourselves around them. The night before we left for Estonia we went out with our professor and stayed out until 4 in the morning. It was crazy, crazy fun. I have officially made stories that I can tell my grand children about and the list just keeps growing. For instance, after class today, I am renting a Segway with one of the other students, Anson, and we are going to ride around Vilnius. Who else can say that they have done that? It is an amazing experience and I am so grateful to walk to class in the morning with such beautiful architecture to look at with the morning sun shining perfectly on the buildings.

Last night we went out for Lithuanian food with the students from ISM. We went to this little restaurant just off a main street down from the school. We were in this little dungeon and we all were able to order pure Lithuanian food. Carly and I decided to get two things and split them so we could try more. We tried potato pancakes with Curry, kinda tasted like ranch! Perfect! Then we tried the traditional Zeppelins. It is a gooey potato mash that is smashed around some meat. And served really greasy. Honestly it was decently good with the meat but the potato by itself was not so hot. Everyone had a few drinks (more for Portuguese) and we all bonded and had a lot of fun!! I am excited to keep these nights going. Tonight the Portuguese are cooking a traditional Portuguese dinner for us. We are all praying its not chicken blood in rice....

Sorry for keeping these long the past couple posts, but I should be posting more often and keeping them shorter.

Cheers from ISM