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....