Last Saturday, Dad and I went to Webelos camp. This was the first time I had gone. It was up in New Hampshire. The camp is a day camp to teach Cub Scouts things about being a Boy Scout. I got a patch for attending. You can see it to the right.

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 are at the airport in Kiev getting ready to depart. Actually, we are already ready, but the plane is not. We are delayed for about an hour, so I thought I would take this time to blog about our fall break trip to Kiev, Ukraine.

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.

Stephanie and I just got back from a fun weekend in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Steve and Betsy Dintaman, who used our car this summer, offered to keep the kids for us. This meant we could be out late and do grown-up stuff.

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.

My first blog ever. Kevin thought I’d never get around to it. Well, you know how it is with old fogies like me. This new technology is intimidating. For my first post it seemed apropos to discuss first days - of school that it.

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!

It’s the great cat hunt, take two!

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!