market, etc

Yesterday I walked to the outdoor market with a co-worker, Olena. We stopped at a pastry shop, and I got a bun w/ cottage cheese and raisins inside - very good! More bread-like than the pastries I'm used to at Rachel's, but still delicious!

"Bandele" means roll, so the shop had a bunch of different rolls, sweets and of course tea and coffee.

Across the street was the market. There was one section for clothing, one building with eggs and meat (including pig's heads and feet, and many other interesting items), and a couple outdoor areas for vegetables and flowers. I bought lots of vegetables b/c they are much cheaper here than in the grocery, and as I've experienced, much better tasting as well!

Right before crossing the bridge into Old Town, there's a monument that reads "One people, one world, one Lithuania". Susie told me that the crooked side of the monument symbolizes a small part of Lithuania that is still controlled by the Russians.

If you look on a map, just to the southwest of Lithuania is a small unlabeled state (Kaliningrad is a city in that region). That part of Lithuania is owned by the Russians so they still have a port on the Baltic Sea.

This weekend is probably going to hold more exploring, including my first trip to the Baltic Sea! I'm very excited about this!!!!! 

I'm still feeling a bit of jet lag - it's been hard for me to get out of bed in the mornings, but other than that I feel like I'm adjusting very well. I'm looking forward to more arrivals next week of the other RD's and new staff/faculty, and to get started on work. I also have a chance to take a class in Lithuanian this fall, which won't start for a few weeks yet - I've been told the language is very hard to learn, but I can't wait to start being able to read signs or order something at a restaurant.