The past few days have been extremely hectic. We started a new week at our camp with a lot of new kids. There are some familiar faces, but mostly new. This time around though we have 33 kids and 0 volunteers! It is just Aftyn, Marija, and myself as teachers. In contrast, last week we had about 20 kids, but we also had a volunteer for each of us, which made it very easy to communicate with the kids and get our points across since we could rely on them to translate. Fast forward to this week and we are struggling...
Monday June 11, 2018
Marija joined us for lunch at the restaurant and things got a bit better. When we returned to the studio, we were able to organize the kids into their final groups (Aftyn took the older group that is pretty fluent in English, I took the younger groups who can at least understand me, and Marija took the very young ones who are still learning).
In the afternoon, we did some experiments. The first one was with Aftyn and was "Sink or Float" where we fill a large bowl and have a bunch of random objects and drop them in to see which will sink or float. My group did an experiment called "How strong is Spaghetti?" where we stuck a lot of spaghetti sticks vertically into a foam block and then set another foam block on top. We then would place an object on the top and see how much it would hold. This was not the best idea since all of the kids wanted to just eat the spaghetti and they made such a mess! Also, it was troublesome since we started the experiments kind of late and some of the parents were showing up early! The program is supposed to go until 5:30, but the first of the parents showed up at 4:40, while we were doing experiments. We never got to do a proper closing circle since we were missing so many kids...
After the last of the kids had gone, we cleaned up our messes at the studio and dragged ourselves home, beaten and battered. It was ok though. We already had plans to hang out with our new friend Marija! We showered, and then headed over to her place around 9PM.
During our bus ride, the transit authority got on to check tickets and apparently mine hadn't scanned properly. It was very scary since they were asking us questions in Lithuanian and we didn't have a translator. Luckily a bystander saw our complication and assisted us. I showed the transit authority my passport and we were able to explain our situation, and they just made us buy a ticket from the bus driver.
We had a great time chatting with Marija and her boyfriend and eating pizza. We chatted about life in Lithuania vs life in US, and many other topics. Unfortunately we had stayed past midnight, and that's when the buses stop. We attempted to get an Uber ride, but we kept getting an error message, so we decided to walk the 5km (almost 3 miles) back to our place. We finally went to bed at 2AM...
Tuesday June 12, 2018
We started our day by splitting into our groups and then headed down to the river for morning circle, snack time, and yoga.
After hearing about Monday, the studio's owner Aurelija stepped in to assist with our camp! It was so nice to have her there! She helped a lot with Aftyn's older group, and Marija was then able to help out with my younger group. We did some yoga and then headed back to the studio.
At the studio, we finally presented our rules and did some other activities. My group had a hard time with the morning worksheet since it was puzzles and sudoku, and I was unable to explain it properly. We also did mazes. Aftyn's group did the puzzles and sudoku, they had an easier time with it since they didn't have as much of a language barrier. Since it was a nicer day, we decided to take the kids to the playground for over an hour, then it was lunch time!
When we got back from lunch, we had the kids create fans out of half of a paper plate and some popsicle sticks for our photoshoot by the river! Once again we gathered all of our kids and marched them down to the river. We played some games while we waited for our photographer to get everyone's picture taken.
The day ended much better and we were able to have a legitimate closing circle with our respective groups.
Since Aftyn and I had no plans, we took this opportunity to go home and get some well deserved rest, falling asleep around 8:30pm... 😪
Wednesday June 13, 2018
Finally we are caught up to today! Today went much smoother than the past 2 days since we had a routine and groups already determined. We also had an excursion planned for the day to an "Illusion Room" that was somewhere in downtown Vilnius, but that wasn't until the afternoon.
After morning circle, we set the kids up with a project that involved marshmallows and toothpicks. The idea being that they would have to make complex geometric shapes. The kids loved having a project that allowed them to construct something with their hands, but then also being able to eat it once they are done! It was nice to see the kids having so much fun and I felt like I was finally able to connect with my group!
Once the kids had their fill of the marshmallow activity (literally, lol), we took them down to the river again to do some yoga and then play on the playground. 2 of our kids had tummy aches, so Aftyn took them back to the studio and they were picked up by there parents.
Lunch usually starts around 1:30, but we got there a bit early so we could make it in time for our excursion. A new volunteer, Laura, met us at the restaurant and it was a great feeling to finally have some more helpers! After a rushed meal, we scurried off to the bus stop.
The Illusion Room was so much fun! It had so many different illusions on display, and it was nice to be able to set the kids free and have them run around on their own. They enjoyed most of the attractions and had a grand time! The best part was their Mirror Maze. It was so convincing and all of the kids were freaking out! With the kids occupied, Aftyn and I were also able to have some fun with the illusions on our own. They have rooms setup that make it look like you are standing on the ceiling and couches that make it seem like you have been cut in half! 
It was such a great time for all of us. 😁
Now we are home and working on laundry. Its good to be back in a routine and have some full time helpers with the kids. Time for bed. Until tomorrow!
Love from Lithuania!
Checkout all of our photos in our European Adventure 2018 album:
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