Thursday morning everyone slowly appears at the dining room, ready to venture out beyond the grass fields and windowless grocery stores of Siluva. We await Antonas, our savior, and his yellow bus, our escape to freedom. We made the hour journey, arriving at a bus parking area with unique art on one of the buildings, making it quite easy to spot afterwards.
The group walked together to the main square to obtain maps of the city, then we walked down the main street, Vilniaus Street, which is lined by cafes, shops, boutiques, and lovely little shops. Jamie and I left the rest of the group to see some of the boutique shops while they continued on to look for a café. Although many of the stores appeared to be high-end, modern fashion boutiques, their prices were quite reasonable.
After walking to the end of the street, about a mile, we also felt the need for caffeine so we found a modern looking café. I loved the interior decorations, it was the perfect combination of a library and a cozy dorm room, but with a clean, white, modern style. The coffee was also delicious.
Since we had walked up and down the street, Jamie and I headed towards the Neman River to walk around, see some of the older architecture and churches along the way. With still an hour before lunch, we ran into Andrew and Shaun, then later Cole and Dan, and together walked to see the Kaunas castle.
For lunch, our group met up with the others (including Antonas!) at Berneliu Uzeiga, a Lithuanian restaurant. The most eloquent order was what Dan and Alycia had, an assortment of meat skewers, vegetables, and sauces, apparently very delicious and filling! After lunch, it was time to head back to Pakalne before the traffic would get too bad.
Those of us who decided to take advantage of the homestay grabbed our bags for the evening and headed to school, where we were greeted by teachers wearing red velvet dressed, and asked by the gym coach if we were ready for physical activity! The event was lovely, the teacher choir sang a few songs, and then the true entertainment began! Those who weren’t in heels and a skirt got to join in on races and games, and even I got to jump in for a traditional Lithuanian circle dance. After doing the Macarena, we decided it was time to meet our host families. I had already met Kristina, the English teacher who is familiar with my unique diet and promised to take good care of me. The other students were randomly paired with a host.
My night was wonderful! I went with Kristina and two of her friends/ English students, Ligita and Sonata, to Kaunas for dinner. We stopped along the way first for coffee, then also at a monestary where we were not able to go in, but we took a short walk in the woods. Over wine and a platter of hummus, we talked about the differences between American and Lithuanian culture, our discontent with American gun laws, and their practice of writing down wishes at New Moon and their insistence that the moon will make your wishes come true. Around midnight we drove back to Raseiniai. In the morning, I woke up to the smell of something delicious, and was greeted with hot porridge with fruits and raisins!
Dan, Brittany, Jamie, and Shaun stayed together after the ceremony and spent more time with the local students. They got to zipline and enjoyed multiple feasts of hearty food throughout the evening. They all loved their homestay families very much, and were received with open arms. In my opinion, this was the highlight of my entire trip because we got to see how families live in Lithuania and actually spoke to them, got a glimpse at how they perceive the world. If I ever travel to Europe on a similar trip, I would love to do a longer homestay for more than just a night!
