Rhoda Shirk

HOME!

2008-07-15T20:54:00.001-04:00

It's the end of my first day home. I did laundry; I was much more excited about that than I ever have been before. I'm sure there will be photo slideshows at some point but I can't tell you when yet. When you see me, ask for stories or pictures. Thanks for paying attention and now this blog will probably lie dormant until something exciting happens or I travel somewhere else.

Berlin to Brussels to the Cliffs of Dover to Amsterdam to Northern Netherlands (Leeuwarden)

2008-07-12T04:46:00.003-04:00

There's been alot happening since the last post to say the least. And I have to say that Peter is taking a bit of my spotlight (as did Sarah before that :) so if you still care about me, read on...

We saw the "Memorial to the Jews killed in WWII" in Berlin. After Berlin we hopped our first nighttrain to Brussels where we only went to take a ferry across and see the cliffs of Dover. And it had to be a rainy, dismal day of course so we couldn't actually see them that well. We missed the ferry we were supposed to return on then the next one was delayed so we got back to Calais well after any trains were running to take us back to the hostel in Brussels. So we begged. Our ferry had mostly people taking their cars across and truckers with their semis so we asked everyone we saw for a ride. Incredibly, after only about 15 minutes, we found someone that had room for four people (like he was driving an SUV by himself room, not like if you can fit in a semi's cab room) and could drop us off outside of Brussels. So we ended up at a gas station on the highway outside of Brussels. After calling a cab (more like the guy working there called a buddy and asked if he wanted to make some easy money), we got to our hostel about 2am and got some sleep in real beds. It turned out pretty well all things considered.

Brussels to Amsterdam for the afternoon. We saw the redlight district (pretty busy for 3pm) which gives a whole new meaning to meat market. Women rent store windows and sit barely dressed in windows up and down the street.

On to Leeuwarden in Northern Netherlands where we had a couchsurfer to meet (we have taken alot of trains in the Netherlands and in the last few days in general due to last minute changes to the original plan of Prague). We did meet her pretty uneventfully (might be a first) and she, as all of our hosts, has been extremely nice and generous. Today she has offered to drive us to see Witmarsum (sp?) where Menno Simons lived and see the original churches.

This is probably our last day of actually doing much of anything. Our plan for a night train to Copenhagen then having the 13th in Copenhagen fell through because the train was full. So that means we spend most of tomorrow on the train then fly home the 14th! I really can't believe that it's about to end; it's been amazing!

It's a small world...

2008-07-07T18:25:00.002-04:00

In the middle of the Black Forest, on a hiking trail, we met a family that Nathan knows from Goshen. They invited us to dinner and acted as our hosts for the next few days. We were staying in a hostel in a castle so had no desire to cancel that but they fed us some, drove us to the best swimming holes, and drove us to our very early morning train (before the buses were running, early morning). We appreciated the taste of home (literally, she made us lasagna).

After the castle hostel and hiking in the Black Forest and swimming in the lakes, we moved on to a boat cruise up the Rhine River. It was a very relaxing day considering we were on that boat for over 11 hours. We saw beautiful countryside, vineyards, quaint towns, and old castles and cathedrals. We stopped in a hostel for one night in Cologne before coming to Berlin. We have seen the Berlin Wall already tonight and celebrated Jasmine's birthday. Tomorrow we continue our exploration.

Switzerland and Germany

2008-07-03T02:35:00.003-04:00

We did not do the kayaking or canoeing. Instead we took a train to Munich and spent the afternoon at the Dachau concentration camp. Very different day but good none-the-less. That evening was the Eurocup football finals and we went to downtown Salzburg into the "fanzone" to watch with approximately 20,000 other fans. It was a totally different sports experience than I´d ever had before. 20,000 people gathered in Salzburg. The finals were being played in Vienna between Germany and Spain but 20,000 people gathered in a different town in Austria to watch and cheer. Spain (the huge underdog) won 1-0. That was incidentally who we were cheering for (though that´s mostly because the people around us were cheering for them and we didn´t want to be the odd ones out).

The next day we went to Zurich and met our host (a Catholic theologian that we found on a website devoted to free lodging, think Mennonite-Your-Way without the Mennonite). He was extremely nice and very trusting. Soon after we arrived, he gave us a good map and tips of where to go, told us that he had to leave for a few days, to eat anything we wanted, gave us the keys to the apartment and left. So we had our own apartment for the night. We saw where Felix Mainz was baptized, and where he had his "third baptism," where he was drowned in the river. Under our host´s advice, we went swimming in the river that runs through the middle of Zurich. The water was remarkably clean, deep, and fast moving. I had to swim full speed against the current to hold my position. Mostly we´d just float down and walk back up. At the end we even jumped off of one of the bridges (after we saw a local do it) We cooked supper at the apartment, the first real meal we´d had in awhile.

The next morning, Nathan and I set out looking for the Traufelhole while Mark and Jasmine saw more of Zurich. The Traufelhole is the cave that served as one of the first meeting places of the Anabaptists. We set out with one set of driving directions and some city names. We eventually made it to the right town and asked some women where it was. They talked amongst themselves and turned around and said they´d take us because it was a very long way on foot. One of them drove us close. We walked a little ways and found a sign explaining the sites. Then promptly took off in the wrong direction (in our defense, north on the map was pointing straight left and wasn´t clearly marked as such). We spent an hour walking out, around, up, down, and over the mountain before finally making it to the cave. Then it took less than 15 minutes of fairly simple walking to get back to the original sign. Let´s just say that we had a new appreciation for the original Anabaptists that did it all without the cleared trails and maps. Then we had to hitchhike back but we had another nice person pick us up pretty quickly and take us back to the bus stop.

That night we stayed at a Mennonite-Your-Way family in Bern. They were extremely hospitable and the homemade bread and jams for breakfast were heavenly.

Yesterday we came to Freiburg to visit a friend of mine from high-school (a German exchange student). She took us to a music festival where we got to try different food that she said we had to try while we were in Germany. We didn´t get to spend much time with her unfortunately since she is currently in the middle of a university term. We head on (to what we imagine as) some relaxing days in a hostel (looks like an old castle) in the middle of the Black Forest. Hopefully it is as wonderful as we are imagining.

Surprise! I have internet again so quickly

2008-06-28T14:37:00.002-04:00

Today was an amazing day spent hiking through the Bavarian Alps in Salzburg Austria! We took buses up to Hitler`s Eagles Nest and then got to walk around (jump from rock to rock near the edges of cliffs in the Alps) for several hours. It was also my first real near-death experience (don`t worry Mom, I`m alive and well). I chose a particularly bad route for one of my descents and got into very loose rocks and soil on a steep section. Now that its over, I must say I reacted quite well to the whole thing to figure out how to prevent my tumble over the edge of the Alps.

We were cheap and decided to not take a bus back down one of the legs of the several kilometer ascent. However, we also decided to be kinda lazy and therefore hitchhiked back to the train station. We got picked up by a very nice teacher from a school nearby who talked the entire time but was willing to stuff all four of us into the back of her car.

If we are`t too cheap tomorrow and several things fall into place, we might be kayaking or white water rafting in the streams running off the Alps! The streams are gorgeous and clear. We happened to see someone with a kayak today and I got an insatiable urge to kayak. The others seem to be favoring white water rafting (which for some reason I`m pretty sure I`d be ok with) so i`ll probably depend on price and convenience in timing.

In Salzburg we are staying in a very nice hotel (by our standards) but actually by accident since other reservations were lost and this was gotten last minute. However, we are making the best of it by taking enough food from the complementary breakfast to feed us lunch and supper also. And now that I`ve seen so much of Salzburg, it`s totally worth it.

Rome, Pisa, Venice, Salzburg

2008-06-27T13:47:00.002-04:00

Since I have very little time, those are the cities I´ve been in since I last posted. They have all been amazing and I am still having the time of my life. More pictures than any of you will want to see will be coming home with me but i won´t be able to post anymore. and on that note, I have two minutes left and must say goodbye to you all again.

Woke in London, about to sleep in Rome

2008-06-22T14:04:00.003-04:00

After a very long trip getting to London, we saw all we could in 2 days. Nathan had already spent a week there so his insights helped. All the other cities are gonna have to be us winging it :)

The highlight has to be going to Shakespeare's Globe Theater where we saw King Lear. We bought the cheap tickets (of course) which meant that we stood for the whole 3 hour performance. There is a yard in front of the stage (open, we almost got rained on but it stopped soon before the show started) and a ring of seats (covered) behind the yard. The yard supposedly holds 700 though I'm not sure I'd ever want to be there then.

Now we are in Rome. We flew in this morning after a very uncomfortable (and short) night in the airport for our 7am flight. We were rather tired so limited our day and came back to the hostel relatively early (7pm-ish). We saw the Colloseum and 2 cathedrals. We did come into Rome in time for the heat. It was 90s F today and we spent all afternoon walking in the sun.

Our hostel is in a residential part but very conveniently located to the central metro station. We have been eating lots of bread, peanut butter, nutella, and apples. That has been all I ate for the last 4 days minus the rice/beans/tomato I just had for supper. Oh and our last night in London we ate out so that those that like fish 'n chips could try it in London. (I had chili con carne which was also amazing, it even came with basmati rice!)

I finally did get sick with a cold. It has been draining, just annoying. My nose is either stuffy or running but I'm still going strong. It's been a nice change of pace to switch to a smaller group of people that I knew before this whole thing started. I'm hearing lots of China and Scotland stories as well as getting to relate Lithuania ones.

PLACES SEEN:

London: Tower Bridge, Tower of London, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circle, National Gallery, King Lear performed at the Globe Theater, Big Ben, the guy protesting in front of Parliament for the past 7ish years, the Thames, Westminster, guards in funny hats (they didn't look too thrilled about all the picture-takers, and yes, we did get a picture with them too), Old Bailey (for all those who've seen V for Vendetta, we quoted it while we saw it, and yes I heard the 1812 overture playing and saw some explosions, actually in a side chapel at Westminster someone was playing the 1812 overture on the pipe organ!)

Rome: (so far) Colloseum, St. Mary church, St. Peter in Chains church (they have chains they say held Peter during one of his several stays in jail)

London!

2008-06-21T03:53:00.002-04:00

I reached London safely after a long day in the airport and on public transportation. We met up successfully with the others in our second traveling group and the worst part of the day was that the hostel had lost our reservations. However, they let us sleep on the floor in their lounge/kitchen for a much reduced price which was fine with us.

On a sadder note, I think I am getting a cold. Not very fun but considering I remained healthy while everyone else was getting sick, probably not too bad. We have today to see the rest of London (as if that were possible) before we spend the night in the airport to catch our early morning flight to Rome.

Orthodox

2008-06-15T11:49:00.002-04:00

On Sunday a few of us adventurous souls went to the Orthodox church. The meeting time (7:45am) to catch the bus discouraged some of the people from coming. I have never been to a service like that before. Orthodox use icons . They appear everywhere in the church and people will light candles for them and kiss them. The "service" mostly consists of a pastor reading a scripture and a choir (unseen though one of our LCC classmates was in it) singing/chanting with occasional responses from the crowd. There are only a few benches at the back for the old babushkas to sit on so most people (including many old babushkas) stand for the 2 hours or so. We stood out a bit since we were not crossing ourselves and bowing on cue. Us females has to wear a scarf or something to cover our head.

On Friday we had our final in class. The main question was asking us to write an essay on the difference between "tourists" and "travelers". The past 6 weeks, I have been a traveler. However in the next 3, I will be hardpressed to not allow the touristy side in. Today was our last class. We collected back the equipment, talked about checking out of our dorm rooms, and filled out evaluation forms (and took a group picture, our first one). Its rather sad to think about packing and leaving. We're all trying to visit a few of our favorite spots one last time. Tonight will be our last night at the jazz club. This afternoon, our last cup of tea at our favorite small cafe.

We leave early Thursday morning. Some of us will be staying awake all night. Since we are so far north and quite near the summer solstice, it will be dark for only an hour or two. We will probably pass the night with dutch blitz, upon which we have hooked several of the LCC students as well as some EMUers who hadn't played before. We fly out of Palanga to Copenhagen about 7 am (and Palanga is an hour drive so we leave before 5am). The group sits in Copenhagen for 5 hours then flies to DC. I sit in Copenhagen for 10 hours then fly to London to meet the ones I am traveling with for the next 3 weeks.

I am nervous for the next 3 weeks when things are not planned to a tee and there's not someone to take care of things that pop up. I am sure I will enjoy it but it will be much more hectic than the past 6 weeks have been and more stressful. After I leave LCC, the updates will probably be less often as my internet access will depend on individual hostels and cafes.

Foods tried: pork (the waitress accidentally called the ostrich "pork" when she brought it out so the one who ordered pork got ostrich and the one who ordered ostrich got pork so no one got to know they were enjoying ostrich)

Fun fact: ostrich is twice as expensive as beaver.
: could have called ahead and ordered crow, too bad we found that out too late (or was it...?)

Market

2008-06-10T01:50:00.002-04:00

I went to the market yesterday to try to get some more pictures for my photo essay. I also had a great day shopping there! Almost every stand had strawberries (my plastic bag of strawberries didn't do so well in the heat until I got them in the fridge but they still tasted good). I also found apricots; they were tiny so I'm pretty sure they were locally grown. Also meadowtea. There is a 5liter jug of meadow tea in our fridge right now (though I doubt it'll last much longer, which is why i bought two bunches and can still make more). It was the first time I've ever paid for meadowtea but I was still immensely happy about it.

I have also discovered several thrift stores here. They are alot of fun to look around. It's also the only place I've bought any clothing; I found a great pair of pants to replace my jeans which are ripping. 1. it's cheaper(though not as cheap as our thrift stores, maybe like our consignment shops) 2. the sizes run bigger which is great because the styles are meant to be worn skin-tight 3. it has other styles than the skin-tight ones in most of the stores. Because of this, it's possible that the clothing is getting shipped here from somewhere else.

In general here, you pay alot for very little material when it comes to clothing. As a whole, it's one of the most immodest places I've ever been. Yesterday an LCC student came to class wearing a sports bra, no shirt. It's also common to see shirts with holes everywhere or jersey material (not necessarily bad shirts but often no shirt underneath.) High heels and short shorts/skirts is common also.

I only have 1 week left in Lithuania before I start my whirl-wind tour of Europe. Nathan is already in London and Jasmine leaves soon for some time in Scotland before meeting us. Super excited, but also a bit nervous about this part that I hopefully planned well.

More photos

2008-06-07T02:56:00.002-04:00

Facebook is nicer for photos so I'm adding some there instead of on blogspot. Everyone can see them at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24661&l=d7aa2&id=767764439

Tuesday night...

2008-06-04T12:58:00.002-04:00

Last night, Tuesday was indeed another visit to the jazz club. I was adventurous and tried beaver for supper. It was a distinct flavor but really not bad. Most of the people with me tried it and agreed that "it is good but....it's beaver." The knowledge of the food seemed to be the biggest obstacle. I expected it to be small pieces in something else but it was a fairly large roast of beaver.

Next week, I may try to ostrich.

Baltic capitols in 8 days...

2008-06-01T04:41:00.002-04:00

It was indeed a whirlwind tour. They had something scheduled for us most of the time and ran us all day. We had very little free time to catch up on sleep or explore the cities.

We started in Riga, capitol of Latvia. We stayed in a hostel in the old part of town. I think it was my favorite of the capitols though it may have been because that was the only place we had any freetime. We went to the national opera house in Riga and saw a dance school's recital; dancers from about 7 to 20, mostly classic ballet though also some Celtic dancing and modern ballet.

I have ant bites all over my ankles from walking barefoot in the woods that is home to many ant hills. It also houses many Soviet statues that were put up in Lithuania then removed after their independence.

We also saw several Holocaust sites. One had 5 circles; 4 were used to burn the 80,000 bodies that had been shot and buried near by in an attempt to hide the evidence. The last one was used to break up any bones that didn't burn. The other site was Fort IX (the last fort built around Kauna). It was built by the Lithuanians for a prison, taken by the Soviets to house prisoners before deportation, taken over by the Nazis and used as a killing site and mass grave, and then again back to the Soviets for a prison. It was a prison and hard labor camp that housed 100 or so soldiers and prisoners. When the Nazis took it over, they used it to kill 30,000 Jews.

We also saw the KGB headquarters in Vilnius with the cells where they would process dissidents before deporting them to Siberia and other prisons for hard labor or execution.

Away from the depressing moments- Dad, I have a something for you to build. Twice now I have gotten to play on some amazing swings. It was a wooden sqaure hung with stiff arms from a frame. We stood two people on each side and some could sit in the middle. It was a workout to get those things going but then they could get pretty high and were so much fun.

Photography-wise: I took lots! Did some night shoots in Riga and Vilnius. In Vilnius, I also did some photography at a skate park which was fun and hopefully produced some good stuff. There will some long hours on the computer now to put together the many assignments we were supposed to be finishing on this trip.

juice update: pear is not as good as it sounds
habit I'll need to break once home: stepping into a crosswalk whether or not a car is barreling down (they stop unless the no-walk sign is on then DON'T WALK)

I won't have internet for the next 8 days so read slowly...

2008-05-23T08:45:00.004-04:00

We went back to the jazz club, Kurpai, this week. Tried something new, banana pancakes/crepes which were delicious. Then Erin and I splurged on desert, also delicious. We got ice cream with berries and "hot chocolate with chili." It was actually melted chocolate with chili peppers in it- absolutely phenomenal.

The nosleep-night shoot that I was looking forward to came and went without a little less excitement than I was expecting. We timed it for the full moon but it was slightly cloudy and the moon never got very high in the sky. We did get some sleep, returning to campus abit after 3am (when it was ever so slightly starting to get light). None of the four of us were very worried about safety though I think we had enough other students in the group worrying for us. All four of us were photo majors and proved to have fairly level heads so Jerry didn't try to stop us.

On Wednesday night, I rather obviously couldn't watch the NBA western conference finals (Go Spurs!) so I had to settle for watching the United Champions League (soccer) finals at a local pub. It was the first time that two English teams, Manchester United and Chelsea, had faced each other in the finals. There were very vocal fans there and the whole atmosphere was energizing, not to mention the game which went into double overtime and had to be decided on penalty kicks. The poor restaurant staff had to stay open an extra 45 minutes until the game actually ended.

We leave tomorrow for a whirlwind tour of Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius (the capitals of the Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania). The 15 EMUers are going as well as the 10 LCC students in our class. We are staying in hostels most nights and have lots planned: from Soviet missile silos, Holocaust sites (we don't generally hear about the Baltic states in regards to the Holocaust but it's where the Nazis "perfected" their techniques before moving to Poland to use gas chambers- they wiped out something like 95% of the Jews in some places), the Hill of Crosses, a medieval feast, and sites where the Baltic states relatively recently(1991) staged demonstrations (violently suppressed) to get their independence.

Favorite juice of the week: plum

More pictures...

2008-05-20T11:27:00.004-04:00

Soviet era vehicles at HBH

Night shot of the ship/cafe in Klaipeda
the Lithuanian appetizer served everywhere, a fried bread with a cheese/garlic sauce

a swing at HBH that most people enjoyed greatly
HBH was a restaurant as well as having playgrounds with some rope course-like things, minus all the fancy safety things. This was about 7 feet in the air with only the ground below to cushion a fall.
A standard tourist shot of Jason

A kid that we met on the train bridge. He was very outgoing even though we had no common language

Soft sand + many stairs x 2 hours = painful calves

2008-05-18T13:46:00.003-04:00

I learned something about myself which is good to know; I am competant in other cultures and able to function across languages.

Today Erin and I (Erin is my roommate from EMU, I had had some classes with her but didn't know her too well- she's cool and very like me) went to do a photography assignment. In class, we had dropped a coin on a map then had to go to that street corner and take pictures. So we had to buy bus tickets ourselves, figure out which bus we wanted, and when to get off. Erin had no idea so she said she was just going to follow me (I ended up getting off a block late but oh well). Then we hopped a different bus to take us to a restaurant where we had to order in Lithuanian (point to a picture and say "prasom", please).

Yesterday was a long day, and tiring. We went to the coast of Lithuania onto the "spit" of Neringa (a narrow strip of land off the coast, part Lithuanian, part Russian) and to the town of Nida. We had all day there to explore the beach, dunes, and small picturesque town. Several of us spent several hours hiking the sand dunes. They are very steep and eroding so no one was allowed on the sides of them. There were instead stairs to climb up to the stable, somewhat flatter area (imagine the stairs down to the river only slightly steeper and about five times as many). Then after hiking the dunes for two hours, we descended again and finally stopped moving. Our calves were trembling and are really sore today; soft sand is killer.

Finally more pictures

2008-05-16T11:00:00.004-04:00

This is Anika square (I have no idea if I spelled that right). It is in the heart of old town Klaipeda and has a statue of Anika in the center. The building behind where I took this picture was one where Hitler spoke. He orded that Anika be taken down since she had his back to him. After Lithuania's liberation, she was put back up.

Routine

2008-05-15T06:33:00.003-04:00

First things first... thank you mom and dad for raising me to avoid all this drama and homesickness junk. (It was a minor crisis when the computer lab-which has reliable and free internet in our dorm- started following the posted hours meaning some students could spend no more than 12 hours in it.)

I am having the time of my life! I get the independence to wander and discover on my own. And best of all (no offense to my wonderful friends who do crazy things for me repeatedly in the name of an art that they don't completely understand) there are people here who not only understand things like "f1.4," "8mm," and "zone plate" but also light up at their mention(there are a few of you out there that will understand those things). I can walk somewhere and stop all I want because the others won't go far or fast since they are taking pictures also. Unless we're walking with Jerry, because then most of us are almost running to keep up.

If I didn't feel incompetant going to Japan and having everyone there my age know at least two languages, I came here where everyone in the dorm (except the Americans) can switch fluidly between at least 4. The college is very international so Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Russian, German, and English are heard everywhere. Lithuanian is the preferred common language followed by Russian then English. Everyone is nice and will switch to English around us but somehow I still wish I could understand the German (hint, hint).

We do now have a paper with some phrases and words that we will probably need which is very useful. I could go to the market yesterday and buy veggies (though only in quantities of 1, 3, or 4 since I forgot the word for 2). I can say please, thank you, hello, and excuse me. I can ask for the check in a restaurant (which is very important here since they won't bring it until you ask for it, we stayed at one restuarant for an extra hour or so before we figured that out). Even without those words, I'm learning to function without a common language. It's not too hard, especially if you're willing to try new foods and just point to something on a menu or a bakery shelf.

Tuesday night four of us went to a jazz club/restuarant in the old city of Klaipeda. The music was phenominal, the food excellent, and the photo opportunities surpassed them both. We are planning to return numerous times with different equipment (also without Jerry so we don't have to power walk the 2ish miles back and can meander for some night photography).

One last thing, food related. They don't pasteurize or add as many preservatives as we do. My milk and yogurt are turning and have been open for well under one week. But their variety of juice more than make up for it. My most recent purchases, peach juice and a mango-peach-orange-grapefruit mix. Delicious!

Class

2008-05-13T07:51:00.002-04:00

My Mennonite frugality is being put to full use! We receive around 100LT a week (~$50). Unless we want to put more of our own money in, this has to buy all our groceries, restaurant bills, bus tickets, etc. Luckily bread, PB&J, juice, carrots, cheese, rice, and tea are about all I need. The strain is wanting to try more restaurants to get Lithuanian food but having to balance that with our budget. One idea several of us have started is going out only for an appetizer or dessert.

We have had two classes by now. They are every morning from 9-12:15. Then we are free all afternoon and evening almost every day. We are getting to explore the city and see the sights on our own which is a lot of fun. It also puts the initiative squarely on us to get out of our rooms and do things.

We had our first lessons with cameras today. It was fun seeing some of the LCC students excitement for getting the cameras! I just locked about $1000 of equipment in my room. Jerry gave me all the communal lenses to check-out to everyone (basically, I think, because he didn't want the hassle of checking them out to people, though I don't mind cause I have free access to them whenever I want!)

Tonight we are heading to a jazz club that is apparently one of Jerry's favorite places. After that I think a couple of us will stay downtown and start some night photography. Which means I should go take a nap. I have been to the library here and found several good books to read with many more waiting for me. I should have plenty of opportunities too since we will probably take more trips to the beach, cafes, or parks to just enjoy the weather and read. well, naptime, hope all's well at home.

Phil- get better so you can hike the trail so me and Sarah can join you
Sarah- cya on the AT in the fall!

Finally a few pictures...

2008-05-12T10:03:00.009-04:00

The group blog is available at lithuania08.wordpress.com

from the walk to our sauna on the beach (up to 194 degrees fahrenheit)

And for Phil (please identify the following)...

First day to relax and explore

2008-05-11T10:07:00.002-04:00

This morning we went to a church service that is held here at the college. The service was in Lithuanian with someone translating into English (the pastor's wife translated- she is Swedish and translated the Lithuanian into English, who knows how many languages she actually knows.) I recognized some of the same worship songs that we sing at home (Lord, I lift your name on high, Open the eyes of my heart Lord) and they even repeat them an annoying number of times too. Several other members of the group and I took a walk into the old section of Klaipeda and simply wandered taking pictures. It was nice to have the chance to slow down and snap some when i wanted too and they understood. We came across a race through the streets; many of the roads were blocked off and there was a band playing near the finish line. Tonight we're going to another church service at an English church that is frequented mostly by ex-pats and Americans living in Klaipeda. I am (of course) enjoying myself immensly and making new friends (so far mostly with others in my group- the classes don't start till tomorrow so some of the students haven't moved in yet and we haven't spent much time with them). I am making plans with someone to go on a night shoot (dark is between 11-4:30) sometime during the full moon and maybe even a second time when the international space station will be in view.

Lithuania at last!!

2008-05-09T03:53:00.003-04:00

We arrived at Lithuania Christian College around 3pm Thursday (that's 8am Thursday morning your time). We left Dulles at 5:15pm Wednesday, flew 8 hours to Copenhagen, spent 5 hours in the Copenhagen airport, flew 1 hour into Palanga, then got on a small bus and drove to Klaipeda. We were instantly bombarded! We had a walking tour of Klaipeda's old part of town (cobblestone streets), ate supper at a Lithuanian restaurant, and took a bus to Acropolis (think Park City, all under one roof). It was, to say the least, an exhausting day (and by day, I mean 2 considering I barely slept Thursday night). Most of us were in bed by 10pm. It gets dark around 11pm and sunrise is about 5am.

We are staying the dorm. Each room has two bedrooms (2 people each) and a bathroom and shower. I am sharing a bedroom with another girl from the group (Erin Conefrey) and the other bedroom is taken by Olya (O-lee-ya). I unpacked and barely even have something on each shelf(I was the lightest packer :) This morning we got a tour of the college and some of the best (and closest) grocery stores and restaurants by one of the students, Zane (sane-a). There is a computer lab in the dorm and another in a classroom building on campus so I will hopefully update often.

Many of our meals will be on our own and so if we want to stretch our money, we can go grocery shopping instead of eating out alot. I will be eating alot of bread, cheese, fruit, and peanut butter. They gave us our own supply of dishes, silverware, and cooking pots to use while we're here and on each floor is a lounge and kitchen. We will probably try some group cooking but accumulating the necessary spices and ingredients for such a short time may be difficult.

I need to go find lunch for myself (bread, peanut butter, and carrots), then we are off to the ferry for a sauna on the beach!

Chad- in the Copenhagen airport there was a small mermaid statue sitting on some rocks, and I thought of you.

Before

2008-05-04T13:52:00.003-04:00

I leave on Wednesday, flying out of Dulles to Klaipeda with a stop in Copenhagen. Klaipeda is where Lithuania Christian College is located and where we will be based for most of the 6 weeks.

The leader of the EMU group will be teaching a class in photography which our 15 student group will be taking as well as 9 Lithuanian students. There will be side trips to other locations in Lithuania as well as Estonia and Latvia.

I am of course very excited but need to finish packing in my rather small backpack...

Web Design

2008-01-21T12:04:00.001-05:00

A website I designed is finally on the internet at www.giftandthrift.org.

My Websites

2007-12-14T11:32:00.003-05:00

For my Web Design class I had to do several websites. They can be found at www.emu.edu/students/res927/narrative
www.emu.edu/students/res927/

The portfolio2 one is a site about me and has examples of my work. The last one is for a local business called Gift & Thrift. It will eventually get put up at www.giftandthrift.org

Artist's statement

2007-11-14T11:31:00.000-05:00

Reality and its many manifestations

Reality comes from our experiences. My reality is a middle-class, Mennonite, white, young, American woman. This differs from others' sense of reality. My creating these images comes from this interpretation and my window of viewing will differ from someone with different experiences than me. A poor, Muslim, black, older, African man and a rich, Hindu, middle-aged Asian woman will see these very differently. I cannot begin to portray their reality; I merely present an image with my reality and allow the speculation to begin.

Imagination vs. Reality

How does imagination fit into our reality? As we grow up, our imaginations diminish and our sense of reality becomes more concrete. As an artist, this is something I am trying to avoid. Art that is based in reality has a very different feel than art based in imagination (think Dali and Picasso vs. Michelangelo). For my own work, this might mean the difference between this body of work and documentary work. There is, however, a delicate balance that needs to be struck between our imagination and our reality.

These texts reflect others' struggles to live in a reality that does not appreciate imagination to its fullest. Some fought it like M.C. Escher by showing "impossible" elements in an otherwise "realistic" work. Others couldn't tell the difference between the standard "reality" and their imagination and were insane by the world's standards. I took their thoughts, viewed through my window, and produced it in my own visual language. It becomes difficult to live in this world without a developed sense of reality, but it becomes boring to live in this world without a developed imagination. Reality can be questioned and changed; our window can change.

"going into delirium"

2007-11-14T11:27:00.000-05:00