You're going where this summer?

The reaction that I get when I tell people what my summer plans are is pretty much the same no matter who I am telling. Everyone seems to be taken aback, shocked and slightly confused when I tell them that I am going to be spending three weeks of my summer in Lithuania. There are three questions that I am asked once the initial shock has worn off:

1. Where is Lithuania?
2. What language to they speak there?
3. Why, of all the places in the world did you choose Lithuania?

For anyone who is still asking these questions, the point of this blog is for me to answer them for you.

Lithuania is in North Eastern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic former Soviet states. For all of you visual learners here is a map of the area.



In Lithuania they speak Lithuanian. I do not speak Lithuanian but I do know how to say hello (Labas), thank you (ačiū, pronounced achoo), and I love you (as tave myliu). I plan on trying to learn some more useful phrases before I go.

The last, and most important question is also the hardest to answer. The simple answer is just that this was the trip that I was offered. One minute I was talking to Dr. Reardon about some classes that I wanted to take in the fall and the next he is offering me a scholarship to go to Lithuania. I am still amazed that I am actually going but yet I still am trying to figure out why I am going. My mother tells me there are no coincidences in life, only God's plan and I know that it is true because there is no other way this trip could have come together as perfectly as it already has.