Amongst the Waves

The title is two things. One-the name of a song by Pearl Jam. Two-a description of the following:
Some things can keep you going during your exchange year. Since you will only be in your country for a year, people want you to experience a lot! While I'm on holiday from school, I'm even busier. This past Saturday, my host dad took me to the northern part of the country and we went horseback riding! It was just like the tours on Mackinac Island where you just sit on a horse and are guided through an area, but it was still fun. The whole 'ride' lasted about 45 minutes. It was just through the woods. It looked very similar to Michigan.
Now I'm losing track of days here since its a vacation, but Monday I went to a city called Ukmergė to visit a girl who was in Minnesota last year, Kristina. Its a very nice city, about the size of Traverse City I think. Its nice, but there isn't much to do. I did get to talk to another exchange student who also knows English very well so that was nice! I met one of her friends too. We also watched The Hangover. I love that movie. I spent the night at her house and the next day (today actually) we went to Vilnius, the capitol, for a Rotary event. I wasn't sure what it was, all I knew is that there was bowling and it was the induction of an Interact Rotary Club. All of this didn't start until six, so we walked around the city. John (another exchange student here) joined us in Ukmergė and we met up with Natalie (also and exchange student) and one of her friends. We just wandered around the city, soaking up being able to speak fluently in English. We did go to McDonalds too! Now I don't really like fast food. I went almost all summer without eating it! But I looked at the menu and decided to get some french fries and a milkshake (vanilla). I don't know if this is what you do, but I dip my french fries in the milkshake. Its just so good! It was nice to eat and experience something similar like that. When we finally went to the Rotary thing, it wasn't much more that I heard. There were some speeches (in Lithuanian but translated to English), some food, and some people. It all took place in a bowling alley too! It was a very small ally, I think only eight lanes, but it was cool. I got to talk to some memebers of the club and we met the other exchange student here from Taiwan, Yu-Shan. I never got around to bowling since there were quite a few people and not many lanes, but it was nice.
I'm looking forward to the next few days now. Tomorrow morning I'll go to Klaipėda with a youth tourist group or something. Its a group of kids from Kaunas that travel during the holidays from school. We'll stay there for three days and two nights. I think we'll also go to another city closeby called Palanga. That should be a good time. I hope to have some good things to tell when I get back! I'll also post some pictures after this too. I have some on my camera, but I don't feel like putting them on my computer yet. I'll get to it eventually!

Pomegranates and Tortilla Chips Remind Me of Spanish Class

Those are two things I've had recently, pomegranates and tortilla chips. It made me think of Spanish Class! We had a lot of those days where we would spend the first half of class eating food, then the second half procrastinating. *insert sigh* Those were the days.
Anyway, to be honest, its rough here. Before this, I had never been homesick. I would even cry when I had to go home sometimes! I didn't know what it was or what it felt like, but now I do, and do I ever! At the conferences, the Rebounds and Rotex (past exchange students) talked about how everyone will get homesick, everyone will go through these phases, and on. I listened, but thought "I'll be fine. I can handle it.". Now, I might be able to handle it. It is, hands down, the most difficult thing I've ever done, but I'm working through it. Honestly, I would love to go home and start again, but I have a huge support team who is helping me through this. I also recieved a letter in the mail that really helped from my cousin Corey. If you're reading this: Thank you a ton! I got it on one of my worst days, so it really helped.
Moving on to some lighter notes:
Starting today is my Autumn holiday! I won't go back to school until Tuesday, November 2. Honestly, while I'm pumped to not have to go to school (its even more boring for me here. I barely understand anything!), I will have a lot of time free, and I have to try and avoid thinking of home. Being off Facebook helps. But I've found some things to do! I will be going to at least three different places in the country! Granted, the country is smaller than lower Michigan (I think), but its still something new and exciting.
Some interesting things I've done while here.
I have gone to the movies a few times. They're always in Engilsh! They just have Lithuanian subtitles at the bottom. The last movie I saw was Buried. I wasn't sure what to expect becasue I had only seen one trailer, but it was good. It was starring Ryan Reynolds (one of my most favorite actors), who was buried alive, in an old coffin in a desert in Iraq. He has a cell phone which the kidnapers gave him, and a few other things. The whole movie takes place in the coffin. It was interesting to see Ryan Reynolds in a more serious role, especially because the last movie I had seen him in was Van Wilder. But there were still a few funny parts. While on the phone with someone, He said that the kidnapper wanted $5,000,000 or else... When the person on the phone asked "Or else... what?" He said "or he'll take me to Sea World. What do you think?". Something only Ryan Reynolds can do. In general, the movies are about the same. The tickets are maybe a tiny bit cheaper than in America, but not much. When you buy the tickets though, you have to choose where you want to sit. On your ticket will be your row and seat number. You can't just walk into the theatre and sit wherever you want, unless the movie has started and there are empty seats. They have the same consessions as we do, popcorn, pop, candy, and such. Those are a little bit cheaper I think.
Another possible point of interest would be the public transportation. In the mornings, my host mom will drive me to school since it is close to where she works, but to get home and to go to basketball practices, I will take a bus or trolleybus. The trolleybuses run on electricity instead of gas! But to get the electricity, there need to be wires running above all the streets that they go on. Its not very appealing, but you get used to it and barely notice them after a few days. There are these two poles or something on the roof of the trolley that attach to the wires. I was on my way to basketball practice on one of these busses and the poles got detached! The trolley just stopped and everything was silent. That was until someone started blasting a Linkin Park song from their cell phone. It was no big deal though, the driver got out, reattached the poles, and we were on our merry way.
Well, this has been a pretty long post, but I want to share things with people. Also, I love writing, and writing these posts help me focus on the positive things. There will be more to come!
Peace!

Like a Rollercoaster Ride, Holdin on White Knuckles Like Woah, Woah

For those of you that have played Disney Sing It at the Amalfitano's house, this title should sound familiar. (Like Woah by Ali & AJ) This year, like I have been hearing since November, will be one of ups and downs. Each day has ups and downs. I'm getting through it though. I am changing too. I can feel it. I'm doing things the 'old Elsa' wouldn't normally do. Two come to mind right away. One: I'm filing my nails! I used to keep them painted all the time, I still am, but I would just cut them when they got too long. Now I am actually putting time into taking care of them. Two: I like shopping, it cheers me up! I used to hate shopping! You wander around stores, rarely finding anything, and the mall makes you thirsty. Now, I shop to cheer me up. There is a huge difference between shopping and buying though. I like wandering through stores, looking at clothes, but I don't buy things very often. I still buy something when I really know I want it. I don't think I'm changing drasticaly though, I still look the same, I still am messy and cluttered, I still can be pissy and irratable, but I am the Elsa of right now. I might not be able to define her, she is very different from the person who I though I would be eight years ago, and different from that person and the one I though I would be two years ago. It keeps changing, but nothing is going wrong.
This past weekend, my host dad took me to the seaside! We drove to Klaipeda, about two hours from Kaunas, then we took a ferry to the island of Neringa. Once on Neringa, we drove to the very small town of Nida. We brought our car on the ferry. It was very nice. On the island are dunes, very similar to the Sleeping Bear Dunes in good-old Michigan. This trip felt like I was in Michigan. We stoped to walk up a dune and we had to walk through the woods to get there. The woods smelled exactly like my dad's property in Cedar! I can't describe, but the smell is captured in our golden sleeping bags too! Nida was a mix of a few places. It was like Fishtown in Leland, a little of Glen Arbor, and a tiny bit like where I spent spring break in Florida, Sarasota. It was very nice and relaxing. I was also extremely close to Russia! Not the huge part of the country, just the small port on the sea, Kaliningrad. I had a good time.
Now this week has been interesting, and its not even half over (or half begun; trying to see the glass half full and empty...)! Monday, I woke up late and missed the ride from my host mom to school, so I got ready quickly and caught the bus and got to school about 20 minutes late. It was an off day for me. Then Tuesday, I was feeling sick, so I only went to two lessons, then just chilled at home. Around 18:00 (6 p.m.), I was getting really bored, so I decided to go shopping! I took the bus to a shoping center near my house, Mega. I wandered around for about an hour and a half. I bought a t-shirt that is pretty awesome! Its long, and it has random things from The Beatles on it! I haven't gotten to the best part though, it has pockets! Elsa loves her pockets! I also walked through the supermarket. I love the bakery section, there are these really good spinach bread things that I buy often. By the time I got home, I was feeling better, but wait! There's more! I was taking my coat off in the front hall, and something orange caught my eye. There were two orange things; letters! From Auntine! They were very nice. If you're reading this: Thank You! I'll try and write back, but I'm busy! Oh, and there will be fall colours, they're just starting!
In conclusion, things are going fairly well. I'm slowly learning the language from a book I bought. It is really helpful, despite the fact that it was made by someone who doesn't know english well. In one part, they say to work in 'pears' instead of 'pairs'. Whoops! But it really will help. Also, I think I'm going to take a dance class or two! So those of you who made fun of Taylor for taking hip-hop last year, I'm taking it this year! What now? I'm going to try and do that, along with basketball, which is also going well. Now, I leave you with a picture from my Lithuanian book: Thats right! Calvin!

Where Does the Time Go?

I still can't believe I'm here. It seems like five days ago, I was freshly a sophomore, and making plans to take over student council with Joe. He would be president, I would be vice. A day or so later, my dad had an eye doctor appointment and he asked Mrs. Seeley about the exchange program. She gave him an application even though it was due the next day. We quickly filled it out, and it was turned in a day late, but it still went through. I secured an interview that Sunday, and later that evening I got the call saying I was going to be an exchange student. I can remember walking into school the next day, late because of an appointment, and as soon as I opened the door to the math room, I was greated by everyone yelling "¡Hola!" because I had told a few people the previous night, but at St. Marys, if one person knows, everyone knows. I don't know how time between then and now passed so quickly. This all was over a year ago! Random moments from the past year keep replaying in my head. Whenever I hear Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons, I flashback to the road trip to Mackinac Island on one of my last days in the States. I will randomly remember things also, like how much I hated being on crutches. I think time slowed down for those 6 weeks. I was sick during part of that, and I remember laying on the couch, with a fever of 104, and waking up and seeing math equations. I can't explain, but I have a vivid memory of that. I can also remember things said that are still quoted randomly such as "Elsa! You crimped your hair??! Why didn't you curl it?" or "If we all don't do it, they can't fail us all". This whole year has been a blur, and after all that hard work, I'm here. The 18 page application that could only be filled out in BLUE INK, the constant trips to Meijer for a passport picture, than another, and maybe a third, and the checking and rechecking of the application. I was looking at a few pages of it that I have here with me, and I realized there was a huge mistake on it though! We typed my cell phone number wrong. The last four digits are listed as 3137, not 3731 like its supposed to be.
I am enjoying my time here, and its hard to believe how long I've been here. I'm still getting used to things. I'm still tyring to make friends, pick up the language, and get used to 'city life'. I think Kaunas is very similar to Leelanau County, in the way that everyone knows each other. I could go anywhere in the city right now, and I would probably run into someone I know within an hour. Its crazy, but true. Sleeping has been a weird thing for me. The past week or so, I would wake up with a start at 3 in the morning. I have no idea why, it happened at least 5 nights in a row. I could fall back asleep after (of course), but it was odd. I also dream of being with my friends in the States. Last night, my dream consisted of a small group of friends at a bonfire, but we left the fire and were laying near a road, just looking at the stars, when a school bus drove by and took off, like a plane does, flew around, and then landed again. I have NO idea why I drempt this, but the main point is I was with my friends. Its tough, I don't really want to go home, but I want to see everyone! Weekends can be rough for me because I don't have much to do, but I try and keep busy. I'm reading Mockingjay yet again, and writing. Tonight, my host mom and I are going to see Going the Distance at the cinema. It takes time, but I know I will be making a post similar to this in June, saying how this year flew by even quicker than the last. It just needs to take off, like the bus in my dream!