feels like a long vacation :)

the
celebration of burning "lady winter" in hopes of spring :)
walking to church with good friends

thats my backyard ->
we matched lol
ok the background looks like a painting.. but it was real.. even even more beautiful in real life!
:)

sparks the senses

so a glance at wats going on these days...










buddy paul is teaching me piano !!!







Salt shaker conference ! (no words)






class with Raymond Powell :)

20 litas .. which is about less then $10
and on the right, groceries at IKI



and lovely Zane (pronounced Zawnehhh) making crepes!
and get this... i saw this at the store! (--->)






lithuanian milk


snowed on the way home
.... becca me and essa.. three mall-kuteers lol











and it even snowed.. but only lasted for a day and a half.. lol till the rain and wind came.. i love this weather lol..



this is my prayer...

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.I do not see the road ahead of me.I cannot know for certain where it will end.Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

ok i wanna share whats happening in my life so far :)

ok so i wrote this to my cousin and sent it to some other people but i finally got the urge to write down whats in my heart and on my mind.. so here it is lol.

spiritually, i'm learning a lot about the meaning of religion, ..

and it feels like i'm going back to the basicswhich are... : Love God , Love others...

where did all these traditions and darn culture things get in the mix?.......

and about church:

church is a meeting of a group of fellow believers who meet to praise God and carry each other's burdens in a home or outside or anywhere!...so...

wen was the last time i saw "church" fulfill that duty

and do you know what the word catholic means?

you should look it up some time.

hah ok ill tell you what i found out anyway.

it means Universal..

it means spreading the Gospel to all the nations.

thats the very root where all other denominations come from

...and somewhere along the line it got confused with saints and traditions and burning candles and insense.

being here surrounded by all these people who think different than me makes me not want to judge them.. but to love them more and learn of their culture and Love God together with them.. not like back home..

where i barely have any friends that are catholics or a different denomination loland being here makes me crazy about learning languages, and religions...

so that i am better equipped...i guess its the social work in me !AHHHlol...

im just taking a class on the church life and ministry. and i feel like everything i attached my self to the meaning of church, was very one sided, and it put more focus on "church details" then God, and everything about Christ and the Cross and his Gospel he so lovingly Brought to us :):):).

and that here.. if i wanna get Closer to God, there aren't many people to turn to.. i'm on my own with that one. which is good. cuz i've always sought enlightenment from people and looked up to people.. instead of looking most importantly at the source...

like today i caught myself alone.. and at first i was like, "oh no...what am i gonna do.." and then i walked outside and realized it was a beautiful day.. and was overcome with the urge to go jogging to the beach. and i realized God gave me time to spend with him...

so i went.. i changed and started straight for the beach.. it was the best breese i ever felt.. and i just spilled all my prayers and songs and worries to God. it took 20 min to jog there :)

i think i found my way of meditating :)there is so much more i can say..

so many new people i could share about that i have met.. but ill stop here and leave room for feedback :)

btw this is where i live now :)

God Bless you all!

so far, so good

Laba Diena!

aghhh sorry i havn't written anything.. i guess since i've been here i've lost interest in writing this blog. lol i dont' know how to explain but i guess my life has become much less of a screen communication and much more of a face to face interaction:). can you believe i don't use a phone? i'm probably gonna have to re-teach myself when i get back lol or maybe not

finally ye?

we are really enjoying it here...

our study abroad group at out together at HBH.. aka a really good restaurant :)
btw this was from the first week i got here.. lol

the restaurants here are sooo intriquitly designed and its like your in a theme park, inside and out lol
on the first week this is us touring our city, Klaipeda.. just checing out the sites to see

beautiful places

ok this reminds me of ukrainian colors!

we went to the Dolphinarium lol and their sea lions were from SAN DIEGO!

these are LCC Students and some of our new friends :)

my room!

this is our back yard .. see the dormatory building? thats where i live. this lake was frozen over when we got there and stayed frozen until just a few days ago.. its so wierd to see it moving lol.

but the boys in this pic are really walking in it!!

more to come in a bit

so Lithuania.. ye?

This is Lithuania :).

the particular city this picture was taken in is Vilnuis, with many many beautiful sites to see.

ok. i have to explain a little from here. i left for lithuania around 7am on monday(jan 7). got to Vilnuis(capital of Li) on tuesday at about 3pm. luggage was nowhere to be found lol. but the show must go on right? :) so we went straight to a hostel in downtown vilnuis where we would stay for about 3 days. we being the 24 study abroad students from the states :). i guess the point of going first to Vilnuis was to meet and bond with each other and tour the beautiful city together. because it is this study abroad group that will go together for spring break to russia :). yup guys.. its all part of the package :).

so come thursday morning (jan 10th :) which was my bday) we were on our way to klaipeda, my home for the next four months! and we have been getting situated, learning the area, getting familiar with the stores (grocery stores called Iki and Maxima) and making this place our home :). its been very exhilerating and exhausting to the point where the mix between jet lag and walking all day long makes you pass out when you reach the bed :). its all very wonderful.

i can't explain it except that my senses are being awakened. my passions for language and people and culture and faith are taking a whole new perspective and slowly coming alive!. i can feel my dreams stirring. i mean its just the beginning :).. but here i am. ready for whats to come(i hope).

so basically i love love love it here!

it was not what i expected. hah. i don't even know where to begin . plus being on the computer to reply to emails takes me away from soaking in the culture and life. so i really apoligize for not replying if i didn't, but i hope this blogger will be a good enough reply to your email. i am writing this for you :) (family and friends)

i miss you very much. but i am also learning that this is part of my journey...

to experience it, in a sense, alone, at least for a short time.

i've met soooo many people!!! everyone is amazing.

lol today was only the first day of school and so i'm a new born at this experience. this is not a missions trip, although i am realy hoping to find some opportunities here before i go back home.

what i am doing in Lithuania is Studying Abroad though a Fresno Pacific University program for anyone who doesn't know :). if you have any questions about that, email me lol. but i don't know how quick i will be able to respond. i think the best email to reach me currently would be amaymadee@gmail.com

and if by any chance you guys want to send me a letter , my address here would be:

Kretingos g. 36
Klaipeda LT-92307
Lithuania

but i just found out it costs a lot for me to send something so i think i will stick with emails :) and blogging.

i also have skype, if you want to call me for free through internet. my account is: amy.datsko

if there is any more info i missed on contacting me, let me know..

ahh i don't mean to make the focus on me, but i think it is much harder for me to reply to each person individually then through this blog. so i hope this will work out. :)

oh and for your knowledge, there is a 10hr time difference from california area to here(where i am) so for me it is only about 4pm right now.

putting all that aside, i'm really excited to see why God has brought me here. i know i have a lot to learn about trust and true faith, so i will keep you posted on that.

some more pictures :)

so here we are.. at the beginning of my journey here :).

i love you all and thank you so much for your prayers. God is with me :).

i just need to learn true faith in him.

until next time. lol i already have many more pics to post ;)