"Curtains for Karklu"

After Monday's pot luck dinner, we celebrated the closing of Karklu with an impromptu fashion show entitled "Curtains for Karklu." For those who have never seen the Karklu dormitory, let me paint you a picture. This building has been the home of many SLI teachers and students for the past 15 years. Each room holds four students, and during SLI, marrried and single teachers. Each night, teachers open their doors to welcome others in. People bring wine, snacks and chocolate and "party" in our own quiet way. It's our social network, much better than Facebook. In fact this Friday, the Karklu teachers are having an open house for those teachers housed in the other dorms closer to school. There is a keen ambiance of peeling paint chips, a fashionable Soviet platform toilet, a potpourri of different molds and the ever present multicolored flowered tapestry covering the windows, cupboards, closets and bedspreads. This fabric is more epidemic than August zucchinnis in Wisconsin.

So for the fashion show, teachers were inspired to use flowered fabric to design costumes, walk down the runway and show off their newly created fashions to the other teachers. What an amazing group of creative people. And it was an awe inspiring gala event. Hosted by Gigi [otherwise known as Jude] the models walked down the runway one by one as Jude narrated each design. In fact, she created many of the designs. Teachers showed up as ...Mary Jac showing off her Karloon Pantaloons, Ed as Hairy Karklu, Linda as the bequiling Carmen, Ed and Laura with Deals 4U, Shirley as the incomprehendable Lady GaGa, Rita as the Karklu pumpkin, Marg donning her Karklu graduate Cap, Paul orated in Slumber Toga, Sally strutted her Babushka outfit, easily recognizable in any Eastern European country, Monique turned her curtain into a Burka, Robin wore evening wear, David flew down the runway in his Captain Happy cape, Heather transformed into a genie recently released from someone's lamp, Molly walked down the aisle as a bridal gown accompanied by her father [Ted] and mother [Corrie] with Emma carrying the train. Steve fogot his costume [true to form], Vitas introduced the show as the Ghost of Karklu past and Erwin showed off the latest beach fashions. This charity event netted over 70 litas for the Rygas Orphanage.

A weekend at Nida

We took a few of our friends to Nida this past weekend. We jumped onto the ferry, waited on a taxi, and finally caught a bus to Nida fater a long but relaxing wait. Once in Nida, we ate lunch, shopped for amber and waded in the refreshing atmosp[here of Nida, a Door County-ish atmosphere. Whllie Jude settled down on the beach to read, I took our firend to the top of the dunes, 300 meters above the lagoon and overlook Kalingrad, a property of Russia. At the top of the dunes is a gigantic sun dial. We took lots of pictures--scenery, flowers, dunes and people. Then, we climbed down, met Jude and wandered through the village for a couple of hours. Around 6 pm, we caught a taxi. That's when the realy excitement startetd. Taxis like to travel fast, so they can get theor thier destinations, pick up more people and make more profit. Captialism in action. Traveling at 110 km [70 km speed limit] we would make the one hour trip in 30 minutes. Three kilometers from the ferry, the taxi pulled over. He had gotten a flat. Jude pulled out a picnic lunch and while the driver fixed the tire, the four of us ate lunch. It was a perfect break. Once the tire was fixed, we were on our way again. By the way the "new" tire looked, I was glad we only had three kilometers to go. We caught the ferry back and went to the top of the Klaipeda Hotel, a 12 story building to have dessert with a view. There's also the infamous toilet located on the 12th floor. When you walk in, it's got a great view. The walls are made of glass. So while you're doing your thing, you have a great view of the city. It's always fun taking newbees there. The reactions are always great.

A funny thing happened on the way home...

A funny thing happened on the way home...Jude and I were talking and walking when we had just crossed the street. From behind us, tires squeeled as though a car had turned the corner too quickly. Startled,we turned around and to my surprise, a tire was slowly rolling towards me. So, I ran over and stopped it, looked at Jude who was already walking over to pick up the four lug nuts in the road. The driver jumped from his car with a grin on his face. After I rolled the tire back to him, he thanked me--in English. Apparently, his tire was not sufficiently screwed to the axle, and when he turned the corner, his wheel kept on going straight after his car turned onto the side street. I don't know who was more surprised--the driver or Jude and me. Never a dull moment...

Judy's class

Last week, Jude ended her class by asking the students to write questions to her...Here area few of them:
Can you say about education in the UK or in America? Where did you get education? Which names are your kids? How long you live in Lithuania? Did you like the most in your life? Why do you like to learn us English? What can you explain about Lithuanian people? What is good is a summer? What about if I don't understand alot of the word in book?

Jude answered honestly them...but in well English. [Sam...my fingers ARE on the correct keys.]

Back to the orphanage for bubbles and sausages

Twice during SLI, Kel invites students to visit the orphanage. Teachers invite their students to participate, and if there is room, the teachers come along with them. For this sojourn, eight Lithuanian students came with which was nice because they could speak with the kids at the orphanage. Other members from Kel's Vineyeard community were also there. The SLI students were great, taking the lead without too much coaxing on our parts. Jude had made bubbles and shared how we had used them at the orphanage before. The SLI students from Jude's class were naturals with these kids. Steve and I played a little two-on-two with some 12 year olds, who soundly trounced us 20-11. Others were playing frisbee, drawing with chalk while Kel set up the bar-b-que for grilling --yes more sausages. Even though it drizzled for part of the afternoon, the drizzle was refreshing, especially after running around. We spent about two hours with the kids before packing up and driving back to LCC. Next Saturday, we go back for some baseball...

Saturday...a day in the gardens [sodas]

On Saturday, Kel and Sharon took us by car to visit one of their friends, Vaida, at her summer garden. Many of the Lithuanians have a plot of land where they grow all their vegetables, fruits and flowers, a peaceful sanctuary in the country. Vaida has an exceptional garden, filled with flowers, fruits trees [apple, cherries, currants] and a huge garden with herbs, strawberries, lettuce, zuchinni, dill, pumpkins and more flowers. She also has a well. In the picture, I drew my first bucket. She called it her "wild west" well. Later, I noticed that she had immersed a pump attached to a garden hose for watering her flowers. Kel and I went to a used lawnmore shop and bought a gas lawnmore to give to her for grass cutting. Kel and Sharon visit Vida every so often to help her out with her gardens since her husband died 5 years ago. Instead of taking orphans with them this time, they took us. Kel and I mowed grass and trimmed around the bushes while Jude and Sharon weeded gardens.
When we first arrived, Vaida shared the "mandatory tea" with us. So we had tea, some salami/cheese hot sandwiches, homemade cake and shots of brandy--all before 11. Then, Vaida took us on a tour of her gardens, sharing sweet raspberries with us. Then, we worked. At about 3:30, Kel started the fire, and Vaida brought out turkey breasts and zuchinni from her gardens to cook over the fire. While waiting, Vida made a salad, all with lettuce, onions and tomatoes from her garden. Then, she brought out a pot of boiled potatoes [at least 20] for the five of us...and we feasted for the next two hours. Kel hinted that I ask Vida where she worked. She said she worked for a CIA-like group in Klaipeda. Both Jude and I didn't know if we heard her correctly. She repeated again the CIA; she was in charge of the secrets. I then asked if she was a Lithuanian James Bond, and she chuckled saying her colleagues were the James Bonds. After we finished eating, we listened to the buzz of the bees in the vines under the awning where we were sitting. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The infamous bar-b-que

On the first Friday evening of SLI, the teachers cooks sausages for the students. It's loosely called a "Bar-B-Que." I say loosely because there is no bar-b-que--there's sausages, cucumbers, ketchup and an odd assortment of Lithuanian chips. A couple of the teachers cook the sausages and serve them to the students. In any culture, free food draws people. The students from the dorms came, and some of the older students brought their families. The RAs brought out some bean bag toss games, tug of war, and then the always popular line dancing, led by one of the Canadian teachers. The party starts at 6 and ends whenever.
The kids in the photo belong to Tim and Heather St. Peter and Kim and Andrew Stave. Kim and Andrew have been at LCC for 9 years. Tim and Heather are from the States and join us every summer for SLI.
This event ends a very tiring first week of school.

A day in our life at Summer Language Institute

There are two types of teachers at SLI: morning and afternoon teachers. Morning teachers spend three hours teachng English using an integrated approach--reading, writing and speaking with some grammar and conversation/discussion, depending on the level [Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Pre Intermediate and Beginners--for each of these groupings, there are about three levels. Afternoon teachers prepare one lesson and repeat the lesson three times with different classes.
Jude and I both teach in the afternoons. Jude teaches three sessions of PreIntermediate Reading and I teach three sections of Advanced Reading.

During lunch break on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is "Soul Outpost," a time to come together outside in the front of the school and sing songs, hear someone's testimony and sing more songs. It's a great time, and the students love it.

In addition, Jude and I lead a "movie and chat" session on Tuesday and Thursday nights. We watch a movie like "The Social Network" and then discuss friendship, ethics, and Facebook practices. The idea is to get the students thinking, listening and talking about a common shared topic. Students can also choose to go to a "book discussion" or a Bible study. On Monday and Wednesday evenings, students have tea and games after supper. All of this takes place at the school campus. Both students and teachers choose to participate in all, some or none of the after school activities.

After we are finished each day, we walk back to our dormitory called Karklu, about a 30 minute walk each way. So, days get to be long. However, the sun does not set until 11 pm, so as long as there is light, there is activity.