Lithuania: Day15

The date is April 23rd 2010. We were scheduled to head home on April 19th. Due to a volcanic ash cloud we have been detained for several days. Right now we have booked tickets to go home on April 27th, but everyday we hope to get a call for a standby flight so we can get home earlier. I almost don’t know what to say besides that. I know. I know we are lucky to be stuck in hotel and not in an airport, but now that planes are flying again it seems MORE unfair that we can’t go home yet.

AND we’re tired. Do you know that extremely exhausted feeling you have at the end of vacation when all your clothes are dirty and all you want is to eat a home cooked meal and sleep in your own bed. Now imagine that feeling but then you have to stay for 8 more days. Lithuania is a nice country. The people are great. Vilnius is a very cool city, but it isn’t home. We’ve seen almost all we can see, we’ve definitely shopped all we can shopped, we’ve walked the streets everyday, we‘re sick, we‘re run down, many of us are out of money and we all have school and work to get home too. So were ready. We keep saying to each other “Do you remember cell phones?” “How about reality TV?” “Do you remember Starbucks?” “Oh! And white bread and not having pasta for breakfast” “Pizza and hamburgers and taco bell” and “Target”. *sigh*

Our Lithuanian has gotten better….a little. I’ve at least learned how to ask someone if they speak English and I know how to say coffee which is key for me. I can also say please and good instead of just thank you all the time. Thank you is Achoo and for the first week all I would say is Achoo Achoo Achoo. If someone brought me my food I’d say Achoo, if I bumped into someone I would say Achoo. If I met someone new I would say Achoo. People were beginning to look at me funny..

We’ve all grown much closer. We have grown to be almost like siblings. Lots of inside jokes and lots of laughing and hugging and trying to take care of each other. But also, like siblings, there has been lots of little bickering and some short tempers…we’re all a little on edge I think.

We watch a lot of youtube and check our facebook a lot. Skype is our new friend and is helping with the longing we have to see our friends and family. We sing a lot of little songs as we walk (which we do a lot of). Also here in Lithuania they seem to LOVE American pop music circa 2000. It is a relief for us I think. But sometimes the music makes me laugh. I’ve never heard so much Backstreet Boys in my life. I was grooving to some Outkast at the Kebab-o-bell yesterday.

Today one of the local universities hosted a pantomime and movement workshop for us. I went to the Pantomime one and it was a lot of fun. We did lots of isolations and some traditional mime work. We taught them some Boal games and got mixed up in the most impossible knot ever. They were very kind and there was talk of getting beers with them tonight which I think would break up the monotony that has become our everyday life.

Otherwise we are kinda sad. We miss our friends, family, boyfriends, and girlfriends. We are worried about our jobs and schoolwork. We want to drive our cars and text our friends. We REALLY want to see our friends in The Fantasticks! perform. We wanna get home, but right now all we can do is wait. If the airline says there is a chance to fly standby we have to be ready at a moments notice. Who knows what the odds are of that, but everyday we hope for good news. If not, we will head home on the 27th. 4 days from now.

Meanwhile if you read this…Send us a facebook message, email, skype…money. Anything helps.

Performance, Party, and a Volcano

Hello There!

OK- internet was scarce in Siauliai- so I know it seems as though I have blogged twice in one day, but this is only an illusion.nce

Our performance went very well... There was a nice energy and they laughed and clapped and were a very generous audience. The piece as a whole was interesting - it was a mixture of scenes with natural dramatic arcs and some that sort of represented a specific playwright or a specific genre, songs, monologues. But I fear for a foreign audience it may have been hard to follow some of it. Either way- we all felt very good about the performance and Amy and Qadir even won acting awards. It was lovely.

After our performance there were many other performances and workshops- some better than others, but all of them interesting or different or offered some new perspective. And the people. All the people have been so wonderful! I met wonderful folks from Turkey and Latvia, Lithuania of course. After our performance we were definitely in party mode and enjoyed the nightlife well into the morning. I talked about theatre and culture and learned new languages (which I was terrible at) and very drank a bit of Vodka (its very tasty here) and at a late night Kabob. Which us American's so fondly called Kabob-o-bell. All of which I paid the price for later. :/

Skipping ahead....we are in our last days here, but have been indefinitely delayed by Volcanic Ash. We are all a little upset about it. Our time here has been wonderful, but we all really miss home. I will write more later- as I am sure I will have some extra time. Say a little prayer- do a little "no ash dance" so we can get home soon!

Wednesday's Blog

I am writing this late Wednesday night in Siauliai Lithuania, although I know I probably won’t post it until later.

We had a very full day. We woke up early- pasta salad and crepes filled with hot dogs and served with sour cream for breakfast. I have enjoyed many of the food we have been served here, but pasta salad for breakfast every morning is not necessarily my preference.

We loaded the bus to head to the Baltic Sea. We had several stops….Hill of Witches, the place where the birds poop, the sand dunes, a beautiful (and enormous Lagoon) and finally the Baltic Sea.

The Hill of Witches was basically a path through the forest with wooden sculptures, like totem poles almost carved in them witches and kings gnomes and other figures. It was pretty cool. Amanda, Amy and I went with our guides Algirdas and Erika and we had lots of fun being entirely inappropriate.

Next stop was the place where birds poop. I still don’t know what this place was called, but it was basically a look out to a bunch of trees where countless birds have created their nests. It is two main breeds of birds and it is the largest population of these kinds of birds in the whole world. It was interesting and YES, there was LOTS of bird poop.

Then to the Sand dunes- which was really cool. Beautiful- we could see the lagoon that is connected to the Baltic Sea. Although I really thought it was the Baltic Sea because it was water as far as the eye could see. Amanda and I took a jog down the long trail and sat by the dock of the Lagoon and looked out over the water. I know its cliché, but it really down remind you how small you are and reminds me how lucky I am to see some of the world.

Next stop was finally the Baltic Sea. I was tired and had to pee ( I am not much for going outside or porta-potties or the whole in the ground toilets that keep popping up here and there. The sea was fantastic. It looked as though we were the first to be to this particular part of the beach since winter ended. We ran around and played in the sand. I took of my shoes and admired the sea. And Steve…..crazy Steve Hartman came prepared with his bathing suit and stipped down and jumped right in. Incredible. It was freezing- I still don’t know how he did it.

Back to Siauliai and we are all a little tense to perform tomorrow. We are the first performance of the festival and I at least am feeling a little ill-prepared. It will be wonderful I am sure, but right now I am nervous.

Meanwhile I am feeling thankful to be an American. I am thankful for late night restaurants, wifi internet, cereal, movie theatres, and starbucks. I appreciate the chance to observe the culture here, but it reminds me how lucky I am to be American.

Labas= Hello
Acio (achoo) = Thanks
Prasau= Please

Monday Evening in Lithuania

Already it has been quite a trip. Yestarday was our first full day in Siauliai. We were greeted by our "guides". Erica and Aldagus. They are both very nice and speak very good English. We watched a dance performance of Romeo and Juliet. It was fun. That said, Romeo and Juliet should perhaps not be "fun". They spoke some dialogue in Lithuanian and danced to all American songs. Including some Elvis, a little Backstreet Boys and the most dramatic moment to Endless Love. Yes, that's right....Endless Love. Then Romeo didn't die- which was a little confusing, but it was fun!

Last night we went to the Student Club. Could you imagine a venue for music that was run by the University. It was great. The band was great, our new Lithuanian friends were great- we danced, we had a great time....What was not so great were the bathrooms. Apparently the building was one build by the Russians and therefore the toilets were holes in the ground. Big holes- like a toilet seat, but that's it. You had to pop-a-squat and hope you had good aim. And there was no toilet paper. Luckily Kathleen had some kleenex's so we survived, but next time I may just hold it!

Today we went to the Hill of Crosses- which is this sort of incredible place right outside of Siauliai. It was a small hill where people for decades have placed crosses. During the time when Lithuania was under Soviet ruling they tried to tear it down, but each time the Hill of Crosses returned and with more vigor. It is not so much a religious spot (in spite of the countless crosses and Jesus's) but a place that represents faith and suffering.

We had a 4 hour rehearsal today. We are all tired, so it was a little rough going, but we know what work we need to do and I know we will get it done. This really is an incredible group of actors, so I am not too worried. We perform on Wednesday which is a little earlier than we had originally thought, but it will be ok! In general I would say Siauliai is great. There are parts of the city which are very nice, but like Vilnious there are parts of the city which are very run down. Not as much graffiti, but worn out.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Baltic Sea. Very Exciting!!

We made it!

Hello Friends and Followers-

Here is a cast list for this adventure to make reading my blog for those NON-Univ. of Nebr Omaha peeps.
The Girls: Amanda, Amy, Kathleen and Julia (that's me!)
The Boys: Andy, Chris, Steve, Qadir
Our Fearless Leader: Scott

That said...
We made it to Lithuania!

It was a LONG day and technically right now we are passed the 24 hour mark. We departed Omaha at 1:34pm- flew to Chicago- two hour layover there- then a 8 1/2 hour flight to Warsaw, Poland- about a two hour layover there and then a one hour (or so) flight to Vilnius. After some dinner and sightseeing and a beer with friends the local time is 9:51pm Sat. Apr 10th.

Flight to Chicago was nothing. Easy as pie. I fly a lot so I am well trained in swiftly getting through security and promptly falling asleep on the plane. The flight to Warsaw was a bit different. Sitting in one place for 8 hours is tedious. I slept, I read, we played 6 degrees of seperation, what would you rather (you know...would you rather fall to your death from a cliff or from a bridge, etc), played UNO. I won both games of UNO and I think the boys were frustrated and so we quit. Ha!

This was by far the longest flight I've taken. I know I know there are longer flights, but still... Hours 1-3 I was doin' good. Playing games, reading, looking over my lines, napping on and off. Hours 4-6 I was squirmy. My hips began to ache, my neck was stiff, I was sleeping on and off, but none of it satisfying....especially when I am awoken by the flash of Steve taking a picture of me. Hour 6-8.5 Ok. Back to reading and sleeping, but by this time I had a headache that lasted through the next flight until I had two cups of coffee at a restaurant in Vilnius. Regarding coffee...I really do have an addiction.

Fast Forward a bit and we are in Vilnius. Vilnius is an interesting city. In "Old Town" It is cobbled streets and lots of beautiful buildings dating back earlier than the 1500's. We passed no less than 4 professional and amateur theatre companies including a children's theatre and a puppet theatre. I find it thrilling and kind of incredible. The interesting thing about Vilnius (and perhaps the rest of Lithuania) is that there is a ghost of communist Russia that is lingering. It lingers in some of the unattractive buildings that turn up around most corners and it lingers in a sort of rundown quality that exists on every block. There is graffiti EVERYWHERE. We were most impressed with the graffiti artist named Solomon who didn't so much draw any graffiti but sign his name on every wall on every street. The intriguing thing is that in spite of this ghostly quality and general rundownedness (is that a word- well it is now) everyone looked young and hip and beautiful. I think I saw one man who might have been homeless...or he just felt like a shopping cart was the most convenient way to tote his personal items.

We are all back at our hotel now. Checking facebook, email, etc... Tomorrow we head to Siauliai where the Theatre Festival will take place and where we will be spending the majority of our trip. We are a little sketchy on the details- when they are picking us up, what our transportation is, etc...BUT I do know there is a continental breakfast in the morning- so other than that I am content.

I love to travel. My favorite way to travel is with no agenda. Just show up and do whatever needs to happen. In my real life I am not so great at this. I am sucked into my to-do lists and schedules, work, school... you get the idea. But on vacation I am the most laid back I can be. As long as I get to eat good food and see new and interesting things.

I feel really thankful to be here with such an incredible group of people and am looking forward to the rest of the trip!!

Stay tuned....

Blogging Again

I am leaving for Lithuania on Friday. When I tell people I am going to Lithuania mostly they respond with "Where is that?". I tell them it's in the Baltics and they again respond with "Where is that?" Then I respond with...northeast of Poland. And still they are confused.

Nevertheless, I am leaving for Lithuania on Friday. I am excited. I have seen pictures and read articles, but still have no idea what to expect from the country itself.

There is a group of 8 Univ. of Nebraska Omaha students going and we will be attending and participating in a theatre festival at Siauliai Univsersity. All semester we have been collecting scenes from American plays and on the final day of the festival we will be performing for them.

We had thought we were going to be housed in people's homes, but it ends up we will be in a dormitory/hostel situation. I have mixed feeling about it- I was looking forward to being a part of the daily life of some of the locals, but on the other hand it will be easier to communicate with the group and keep erratic schedules without interfering with a host family.

Meanwhile I have an MEGA-ULTIMATE TO DO LIST that I have less than 48 hours to complete. So I'm gonna get to it. Check in here for the next 10 days as I plan on blogging throughout the trip!

My grandmother lived into her 90's. Admittedly the last few years of her life were quiet and sad, spent sitting in a home. But those first 85 years she was healthy and active. I think about that sometimes when I think I am getting old. I am 27. Yes- my mother had two kids by now. Yes- many of my friends are married and having babies. Yes- I am just getted started on a questionable career path that could potentially lead me nowhere. But I am not yet old.

That said. My age is not the point of this blog. I organized, wrote and performed in a really exciting show the other night. I had a high I had not had in a long time. Followed by a long night of merriment it was (although a strange day) a good one. But I woke up the next morning not feeling so happy. I woke up feeling the opposite of happy, which is, I guess, sad. I woke up so sad. I woke up missing everything I had ever lost in my life. And all day I went over the list again and again. Missing everything from friends and lovers, to experiences, youth and hope...everything including the night before. Which as wonderful as it was, I could never have back. And I missed it.

And after a extended day of lingering in my own melancholy I realized that this feeling. This overwhelming, upsetting feeling could only get worse. The longer life is- the more things you leave behind- the more things you watch come and go. The more sadness you endure. Of course their is the other side of that. The more happy moments, the more exciting adventures, the more experiences....but those are things I am mourning the most. I miss all the happiness I ever had. Even in moments when I am perfectly happy.

Diagnose that.