One thing I learned was how to throw a tomahawk. Throwing tomahawks can be fun if you know how to. We also learned the types of fires there are. Lean-to, tepee, and log cabin are the types. The last thing I learned was how to pitch a tent. It is useful when you are on camping trips.

We arrived here on Sunday afternoon. We spent that day getting familiar with the area around our apartment, although most of the area around our apartment was remarkably wet due to the heavy rain. We are about two blocks from Independence Square where the Orange Revolution took place a year and a half ago. We discovered a great Ukrainian restaurant in the building next to ours, and we have had meals there several times throughout the week. It was great food at a great price.

Monday brought more rain along with some snow, so we took the chance to explore the inside of some churches around our apartment. The most impressive way St. Sophia church, named after the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul. It was built by Yaroslav the Wise in the 11th century after Ukraine converted to Christianity under the influence of the Byzantine church. The church has some remarkable frescoes that are still intact, although the church was turned into a museum by the Soviets. St. Sophia was lucky, at St. Michael’s at the other end of the boulevard from the 11th century was torn down by the Soviets. It has just now been rebuilt, and we had a decent view of it from our apartment.

By Tuesday, it had warmed up a bit, so we headed to the Caves Monastery.  This monastery was also founded in the 11th century and is a rather large complex overlooking the Dniper River.   The monks dug out caves to live in and there is now a huge complex of caves and tunnels under the monastery.  Monks were also buried in the caves, which naturally preserved their bodies.  This led to the conviction that they were saints.  We got to go down into the caves for a tour.  You have to carry candles to see and you are surrounded by mummified monks.

Wednesday we were supposed to head to Zolotonosha to visit some students.  Unfortunately, we arrived at the bus station five minutes after the only bus to Zolotonosha had left.  So, we used the day for a walking tour.  We got to see the Golden Gate (famed in song in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition - Movement 15).  It is the main gate from the 11th century fortifications of the city.

Thursday was without a doubt our best day.  We spent the afternoon at Andrew’s Descent, a winding road the follows the route Andrew (the first Christian preacher here) used to climb the hill of Kiev to plant a cross.  There were tons of souvenir shops with nesting dolls, Soviet memorabilia, and Ukrainian t-shirts.  We also went to the Ukrainian Museum of National History, which had some interesting displays on the Scythians.  That night, we went to the Kiev Opera Theater to see the ballet La Corsaire.  The kids had a great time.  The entire walk back to the apartment saw them dancing and spinning to their hearts content.

Today we had to be out of the apartment by noon, but our flight was not until 8:40 pm.  So, we stowed our luggage at the train station and headed to the Zoo.  It is not the most impressive zoo in the world, but this may be in part because they have started putting up some of the animals for the winter.  But we did get to see some tigers, alligators, ostriches, and — oddly enough — American bison.  The cages and pens were not the most secure places.  Neighborhood cats were wandering in and out of cages.  It was fun to watch the ostriches chasing the cats.

They are about ready to board the plane, so I will go ahead and post this.  We won’t get back to Vilnius until around 11:30, which means we won’t get into Klaipeda until 2:30 am.  This will require a lot of coffee.  Check back here in a few days when we will have some pictures from Ukraine posted in our photo album.

We left after class on Friday, arriving in Vilnius around 8:00 pm. We stayed in an apartment in the Old Town, which was cheaper than getting a hotel. We were just off of one of the main boulevards and everything was within walking distance. That night we walked to an Azerbaijani restaurant that was quite nice. Food in Lithuania is usually not spicy at all, so it was great to have a spicy meal. We then wandered down to a British style pub and chatted for a little while.

The next day, we headed out mid-morning. Our first stop was a nice cafe in the Jewish section, where we had some coffee and pastry for breakfast. We then took some time to explore, ending up down on Gedimino Prospect. We found a nice Czech restaurant for lunch and I had a delicious goulash. To top it off, I had a glass of absinthe, a liquor which is illegal in the United States. Any drink that you set on fire before imbibing is fun.

We then did what anyone would do when looking for a fun afternoon: we went to the Museum of Lithuanian Genocide. It is housed in a building that served as the KGB headquarters and prison during the Soviet period. Prior to that it was the Gestappo headquarters during the German occupation in World War II. The basement was kept the way it was during the Soviet period. The KGB left very quickly when the Soviet Union collapsed, leaving behind their equipment and documents. They have it set up to give a good sense of how prisoners were treated, how they were housed, and the torture methods that were used. Over 1000 people were executed here. It made me rather ill being there, especially knowing that my own goverment is engaging in similar practices right now. The upstairs is a museum on the Soviet occupation and the Siberian deportations.

We then headed back into Old Town for dinner. We went to a Medieval restaurant, which had a wonderful menu. I had beaver for dinner, which is one of the gamiest animals I have ever eaten. We even finished off dinner with acorn coffee, a drink that is surprisingly good. The drunk Norwegians at the table next to us really added to the ambience.

Sunday morning we went to St. Bernadino’s church, a church where I had worshipped two years ago. The church building has not yet recovered from the Soviet period, and it gives you the feeling of worshipping in a bomb crater. But it was a great service. Although the sermon was in Lithuanian, the preacher was very animated, and it was inspiring to watch him. It was a standard Catholic mass, so even though my Lithuanian is barely passable we were able to follow along. That is one of the wonderful aspects of set liturgy: even in a foreign language you can keep up. We then found a Lithuania restaurant in a cozy little courtyard and had a nice dinner.

We drove back this evening and picked the kids up. It was a very refreshing weekend. It is a shame we have not spent more time in Vilnius. Usually on breaks we head out of the country to visit other places, so it was good to get to know our adopted country a little more.

If you want to see pictures from the weekend, check out the Vilnius 2006 album in our photo gallery, which can be accessed by a link on the sidebar to the left.

Both our children have begun classes at their respective schools. Emma in nursery school and Duncan in second grade. Here in Lithuania September 1st, the first day of school for everyone, is a VERY important day. The children all dress up in the best clothes (usually suits for boys) and they bring flowers into their teachers. There are ceremonies and speeches and even the parents dress-up and attend. It’s a big deal.

If I figure out how this blogging thing works, you should be able to see a couple of pictures of the kids taken on September 1st. If I had planned things better, they’d be in the same picture, but since their schools began at different times, they were in their dress clothes at different times. Either way, they sure are cute!

  If I feel loquacious again, I may offer another post soon. Blessings!

Yesterday, we went to the market here in Klaipeda and got a cat. Just today, I named her Abby, which is short for Acrobat (which she is). Ever since we got her, she has been jumping around, following toy mice, and batting at the chair legs. She is able to jump into the weirdest places. She jumped from the window sill onto the table. She also climbed onto a small wooden bar and was hanging under the table.

The day we got her, we showed her her new kitten house. It has two platforms for her to climb on, and two scratching post. One of the platforms has a toy mouse hanging from it, and she hung from the scratching post with all four paws off the ground in order to play with the mouse.

As you can see from the picture, she is black and white. I first thought about naming her Chessie (because she looks like a chess board). The white spots on her belly and chest are in the shape of diamonds.

She is a very friendly cat and very active. She explores every nook she can find. She likes to sit on the chairs under the kitchen table, where she feels safe. But she likes to cuddle too. One time, I took her off one of the platforms on her house and put her on my lap, and she stayed there very still and let me pet her.

Emma told me to write that she likes the cat too!

Over the weekend, Sphinx was never very active. We thought at first that it was because she was in a new place and was uncertain. But she was not eating, so on Monday we took her to the vet. He diagnosed her with a viral infection, which she probably got at the animal shelter. He gave her several shots and said she would probably get well, but by Monday night she was even weaker. I slept most of last night with Sphinx on my chest because she had no body warmth of her own. This morning she was completely lifeless and could not even stand up. We took her back to the vet, looked at her eyes (which were unresponsive) and said she would die soon. We had the vet put her to sleep to avoid suffering, as she was having trouble breathing.

We have since learned that although the shelter is run by the city, it is run as a for-profit business and the owners pocket most of the money. The viral infection that Sphinx had will probably kill a number of the kittens there and the owners will do little about it. We are looking into ways to advocate on behalf of the animals there and try to get some oversight from the city.

Duncan and Emma are understandably upset. Their first cat lasted only four days. Duncan is taking is especially hard. He requested that we have a funeral tonight, which we did. Our reading was from Ecclesiastes 3:16-22.

We have since located a better place for buying a cat, so we are going there tomorrow to try again.

Last night, we kept her in the kitchen. She had a lot of fun exploring the house today, though. She has been somewhat shy, but very cuddly. Just tonight, we found that if I tied a string to a stuffed mouse that we bought today, she would chase it. I am teaching her to hunt for mice.

We are a little worried about her because she is so skinny and she has not been eating much. But she has gotten more active tonight, so we are not as concerned. She is drinking a lot of water, and already knows how to use her litterbox. We moved it to the bathroom today and she didn’t notice, so she peed on a lamp in the kitchen.

Today, we went out and got her a cat house and scratching post. But so far, she prefers to use us for scratching. She likes sleeping in her house. It has platforms above it so she can climb.

I have always wanted a cat. I was told for my birthday last spring that I could get a cat, but since we would be gone for the summer I had to wait until now. We are going to bring her back to America next summer when we come back. This last summer, we got a cat carrier, so we are prepared for the trip.

My conference ended on Wednesday, and I took the train from the university down to Budapest. Stephanie and Duncan arrived from Vienna around 5:00 pm. Stephanie’s aunt and uncle had graciously offered to keep Emma, who would could not have cared less about seeing yet another foreign city. This freed us a great deal, since we didn’t have to come back to our apartment for her naps and we could stay out later. We have seen very few European cities at night, since Emma always has to be in bed.

Instead of a hotel, we are staying in an apartment. It is about six blocks from the Danube and is very conveniently located. It is in the section of the city that was the Jewish ghetto during World War II.

The first night, we went down to the Danube and took a dinner cruise. First, let me point out that the Danube is surprisingly not blue, no matter what you might have heard. It is the same color of green that most rivers are, although the Danube flows so quickly in Budapest that it tends to be brown.

The dinner cruise was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Budapest is incredibly beautiful. As we cruised up the river, it was still light, so we were able to see a lot of the buildings. After we went up and around the Margarite Island and began to cruise downstream, it was dark and all the buildings were lit up. It gave us a completely different view of the city. The city is even more spectacular at night. To add to the magic, there was a full moon hanging low over the Danube directly in front of us as we headed down the river.

They also had a live band on the cruise. By band, I mean one guy on the keyboard and another who alternatingly played a saxaphone and a pan flute. Some of the music selection was interesting to say the least. For instance, I have never associated the song Chattanooga Choo-Choo with Budapest. Their rendition of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana left something to be desired (I danced to it anyway) and their closing song of My Heart Will Go On from the move Titanic made me worry that the boat would sink, but overall the music added to the ambiance.

The next day was spent on Castle Hill. We hiked to the hill and then took an inclined railway to the top. The Castle Hill (which contains the palace) is on the Buda side of the river, which is the touristy part. We spent the day there seeing the palace, the Fisherman’s Bastion, and the St. Matthias church. The church was the site of the coronation and weddings of the Hungarian royal family before the Austrians took over. The Fisherman’s Bastion just behind the church was a protective wall overlooking what used to be the fishing area below. There was a man there with a hawk that he would let people hold, so Duncan and I took turns being falconers.

That night we went to a traditional Hungarian restaurant. Duncan was reluctant to try goulash, but one he tried it he fell in love with it. He is now making Stephanie search the Internet to find a good goulash recipe. He also ended up eating it for lunch today. The restaurant also featured a gypsy violinist playing traditional songs.

Today we spent the morning at the Great Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world (after Temple Beth-El in New York). It has a Holocaust memorial in the garden that is made up of a metal tree. Each leaf on the tree represents a Jewish family that was killed in World War II. The synagogue was only three blocks from our apartment.

We then had to head to the railroad station. This was the only part of the trip that did not go as planned. We got there with over an hour to spare. This turned out not to be long enough for me to get through the line to get a ticket. After 45 minutes, only seven people had be served, and I will still six people from the window. So, we just hopped onto the train, hoping to be able to buy tickets there. We could, but only as far as the border with Austria. There, we needed to buy another ticket, but we only had Hungarian forints and the ticket seller only took Euros. Fortunately, he allowed us to stay on the train and buy a ticket once we got to Vienna.

We are now back in Vienna and are looking forward to several days of sight seeing here. Check out the pictures from out trip to Budapest in the photo album section, accessible by the menu on the left.

We will be here until Saturday. I have a faculty retreat on Thursday and Friday that will take up the better part of both days. We then leave for Austria to visit Stephanie’s aunt and uncle in Vienna. I will leave Stephanie and the kids in Vienna on Sunday to take a train to Budapest, Hungary, where I will be attending the European Society of Biblical Studies annual conference. Stephanie and the kids will join me on Wednesday for two days of sight seeing. We will return to Lithuania on the 16th.

Since we have finished our time in Maine and have come back to Massachusetts, I thought I would share some of our photographs from our vacation. If you click on our photo albums link to the left, you will find an album containing pictures from Maine 2006. Both Stephanie and Kevin’s families had a chance to visit, so there are pictures of both sides of the family there. Enjoy!