Sightseeing and Settling in

Wed-Sat.

Well, after 1 cancellation and 5.5 hours of delays, I finally made it! My first encounter with Lithuanian culture was in the airport bathroom in Vilnius. It is labeled WC for ‘water closet’. In Korea, I had issues in bathrooms because there were dozens of buttons! Here there were NONE. I had no clue what to do!
We had many people from LCC (Lithuania Christian College) greet us at the airport. We then settled in at a hostel and split up in groups to explore the city. For dinner I had my first Lithuanian dinner. I had grilled potato pancakes, raw salmon, and garlic paste. To drink I had sour buttermilk. I think it will take awhile for me to adjust to the food because it was hard for me to eat! The other food I have eaten has been really good!
The last couple of days have consisted of many tours! We went on a morning tour of a KGB (secret police) Soviet prison. It was during the holocaust and 9 out of 10 Jews in Lithuania were killed. We saw torture chambers and prison cells. We visited the U.S. embassy. Then we went on another tour of cathedrals. We got to go underneath a catholic cathedral and see the catacombs and burial places of kings and queens from a long time ago. On the tour we went to an amber museum (Lithuania is known for its amber).
We traveled a few km to Trakai, a nearby town with a famous castle. We walked around the castle and then ate the traditional food of that town- a pot pie with lamb inside. Then in the evening we traveled west to Klaipeda where LCC and our dorms are located. I have settled into the room but haven’t met my roommates yet!