One Month

How in the heck have I already been in Vilnius for one month?! Time is flying by!!!! We are starting our 5th week of teaching today. Which is actually only a 4 day week because we don't have school Friday! We have our first 4 day vacation to Poland! Yay!! Then the next week is only a 4 day as well because no school the following Monday! Anyways...

So far, I've learned a lot and have learned to be grateful for a lot in the past month since I've been here.

#1: Everyone hates you. Especially the older people. No matter what.

#2: Say "laba dienna" to everyone. Especially the older people. They'll get mad if you don't. If you don't say "laba dienna" to them, they WILL yell at you.

Example: Annie and I were walking past this older lady, and we were not making eye contact with her, and she was walking very fast so we didn't want to bug her and say hi. So, we didn't. We pass her and she starts mumbling something and then we turn around and she is raising her fist at us and yelling something in Russian or Lithuanian. We don't know. Either way, they'll hate you. Just learn to smile and say hi.

#3: Homeless people WILL come UP to you and ask you for money. Ignore them, ignore them, ignore them. We have had multiple people literally tap us on the shoulder, and stick their hand out at us and beg for money. Half the time I feel like an idiot because I have no idea what they're saying so I just say "ah.. uh.. english?" and walk away. Then they get angry because you don't understand Lithuanian... again back to number 1 and 2, everyone hates you.

#4: Attitude is literally everything. You will have people start talking to you in lithuanian, and just have to smile and just hope they walk away. Kids will NOT listen to you and disrespect you, and you just have to smile through it and be nice and take a stand. Lesson plans will never go how you want them to, but making the best out of it and having a positive attitude will make your day better.

#5: Be grateful that you can flush toilet paper down the toilet in the United States.

#6: Be grateful for the dryer you have to dry your clothes. We are not given a dryer here and so we have to air dry our clothes and the humidity here makes them dry SO slow.

#7: Half the time you won't know what you're eating, so just hope its something nutritious

#8: People will start coming up to you and assuming you speak their language... just walk away and smile. Walk away and smile.

#9: When you ask for 3 scoops of ice cream, not expecting it to be that much and the lady asks if you're sure you want 3...listen to her. You will end up with actually the equivalent to like 5 scoops of ice cream and an upset tummy later.

#10: Expect the unexpected with what food you're going to eat. Sometimes you may just get potatoes for dinner in two different forms. Mashed and boiled. Not kidding.

#11: Be grateful for peanut butter.

#12: Get outdoors and explore more. You'd be surprised at the beauty surrounding you. I've found more joy in the little things life gives me than the bigger things.

#13: Live in the moment because you don't know when a child will bite you or lick you when you're doing a craft project... true story. Happened to me. Be happy, smile and roll with the punches... literally.

#14: Half the time your translators won't work in church so just read your scriptures or pretend you know what their saying. Either way, the spirit will speak to you.

#15: Read your scriptures every day and it will help you have a larger amount of patience for things that will happen to you through out the day. Heavenly Father loves you so much and wants to help!

I've learned a lot more and have learned to be grateful for a lot more things than I ever have before I came here. But, in the end I couldn't be happier and I couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity to be here. I continue to learn more each day. I love my kids I teach and I love Lithuania. My patience has grown a large amount. My attitude for things to not let them bug me has changed.

I can't wait to see what I will learn these next 3 months, and how much I will have changed.

I miss a lot of things and people, like my family, my dog and American Food. But right now, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here!

Heres to the next three months!