no warm water?

The first day was great. It started off a little strange when I went to go shower and we had NO hot water… I was so discussed from not showering in a matter of 30ish hours so I made do with filling up our small pans full of water, boiling them, and then dumping it on my head…. Dima came to pick us up and heard what I did and laughed because all I had to do was switch a little knob and it would have worked. So, im soooo glad that wasn’t going to have to be a daily ritual…

the girls and Dima, such a nice guy.
(and yes, thats me holding the best chocolate i have ever tasted in my entire life.....)

this was our first meal we had. soooo good.
 the soup was like basicaly chicken broth with cabbage and onions.
 cucumber with salt and seasonings, rice and sausage, and bread with jam.
 super delicious. if all the meals are this good, it'll be a cakewalk

after we ate we met the principal of the school, shes so nice!!!!
 this is all of us girls with all the supplies that we brought from america.
 these kids are going to have so much fun with all of us.

a sweet car i saw. dad, buy me it.

the most delicious thing so far.
 its a HUGE cake that is like, hollow on the inside.
its so good. its similar to a waffle cone from america but so much bigger, fresher, better.

these are our apartments we live in. ours is on the first floor on the opposite side of this picture. i cant get a good picture of our actual one cause the parking lot angle makes it so i cant get it all. hahha

we hung out all day and learned a bunch of procedures and had a few meetings.  im excited that my list-making skills came in handy because i helped make a job chart (mom, im helpful here!) we made a calendar that is full of things we are thankful for back home. there are many differences (obviously) from here and america. instead of focusing on all the things we HATE here and LOVE in america, we decided to have a calendar of all the things we are THANKFUL for in america to try and be positive while we stay here... i think that it will help a lot. also on sunday nights, we decided that we are all going to take turns doing a devotional type of thing. actually more like a "family home evening" so i am really excited for that. i love insight from new people. 

HERE!!!

soooo mother, father, and littlest brother bear all took me to the airport at 4:30 am (thanks again)the flight to chicago was really nice, it was a very small plane so it got kind of stuffy towards the end of the flight but it wasnt bad at all! i sat next to the nicest lady ever. she flies to chicago every 2-3 weeks for chemo treatments... she was seriously the nicest and coolest lady ever. i wished her good luck... i'l make sure to keep her in my prayers for sure. we took a train downtown and went to this yummy restaurant called au bon pain, super good! we just walked around a little bit and had to get back on the train to go through security again and such.

buying our train tickets

me sleeping, per usual

jacklyn, myself and holly.

the flight to frankfurt wasnt bad at all. i slept through most of it... they had lord of the rings (all three), almost famous, bucket list, as good as it gets, lady and the tramp, Pocahontas, and the list goes on. in my head i started stressing out and screaming, AH SO MANY GOOD MOVIES so i fell asleep instead. they woke me up for like 10 minutes for dinner which was semi good. it was good for plane food, but also not what i would have chosen to eat on a normal day! anyways, fell back asleep until we had like... 2 hours or so left. so i watched Parks and Rec (shocker i know...) and then we landed. we were supposed to meet up with our head teacher who flew in from san fran, but we couldnt find her so we went to eat and laid around waiting for our flight because we were all DEAD! a big thing in germany  is, they have these pre-made sandwiches, you choose what one you want and then they put it on a grill thing and cook it so it’s like a pannini.... SO GOOD! dang, i wish i would have taken a picture, oh well! 

anyways we hung out, got to know each other more, played a fun game and then boarded the plane.

 i sat next to this super interesting guy who has grown up in lithuania his whole life! so we got to talking and he was super interesting! (not bad looking either) he gave me his email to ask for various places to travel to. we got to talking and he asked me why i didnt ask for wine on our flight and i explained that i was LDS and i dont drink... we got into a very good discussion about what i believe... it turns out i would be a super awful missionary cause i didnt know how to explain what we believe in. i guess the quote "you cant convert people past your own level of conversion" has never rang more true.... i need to work on that.

frankfurt germany sunset.. this picture does NOT give it justice...

anyways, we got picked up by a guy named Dima, which is going to be the man who takes us around and helps us out while we are here in lithuania. he seems like a really nice and good guy. i was so nervous that they were going to lose one, or both of my suitcases but it was all okay because they didnt!!!

i felt like i was in harry potter, and you know i loved that!

so much luggage everywhere.... ultimate tetris game

we went and converted our american dollar to lithuanian lit. nifty looking eh????

 and then went directly to our apartment. which is adorable. its super old fashioned and quaint. One of the girls that I get along with very well (jacklyn) and i have to share a bedroom and our room is super small so we decided to sleep together in the same bed, on a blowup mattress. (they sleep on futons here, not mattresses..) i told her typically have to buy me dinner before ”sleeping with me....” she laughed. hahaha we had to rearrange our entire room... you wouldn’t believe how small it is.  i will have to remember to take pictures tomorrow. 

xoxo stevie

ps, im already grateful for american toilet paper...

(sorry its in all caps, i dont know why it is like that, and it wont let me change it...)

the beginning of goodbyes

i am sorry in advance for the length and a million pictures in this post. but i have to say what i need to say so oh well!i am surrounded with people who love and care about me, and i couldnt feel more grateful! its so funny how preparing  for this whole trip has brought ups, downs and quite strange emotions. but my days in america are coming to an end. and i have been able to say some really loving and memorable goodbyes. 

a quick get-together at my friend taylors house.
 him and his roomates are such a good time and i will miss them all dearly.

ahhh, my very own samwise. i love him, and i love our little silly and innocent chats. im so excited to hear about how much he has loved/hated high school while i am away

livtokill and steviekicks. ahhh how i love her so.
 one of the most kind and genuine people i have ever met, i will miss her a lot!

my friend ali got a lot of our friends together for a dinner to say goodbye to me, how sweet is she?!
 these are some of the people who went to dinner but then also, she had people over to her house after and so many more people came to say goodbye to me. i am truely blessed

brother bear. i love him so much.
 hes starting college this year and i am so happy for him to break away and do what he needs to do to better himself as a person.
 i hope everything works out just how he would have wanted it to. 

why lith?

you have no idea how many people ask me when i tell them i am going to lithuania, they say one of the next few things...

-wheres that?
-lithuania?! (all sorts of confused face, voice, etc.)
-did you actually CHOOSE that?!
-WHY!????

i guess i dont know why i chose lithuania.... while talking to the administrator person she asked what location i had been interested in. she started reeling off the different places i could go... russia, china, ukraine, mexico, thailand and then she said lithuania. i immediately said "ill go to lithuania" without even really thinking about it... i got off of the phone with her and went straight to google to find out where it even was. i dont know even to this day, but it just feels right. there is something there that is just waiting for me, i just know it!

here it is on a map. small, one of the baltic states, surrounded by cool places, why WOULDNT i go there?!

anndd here we are...

my first post, of my first traveling blog, of my first living experience away from salt lake city utah, of my first being with NO ONE i know... and the list of "firsts" goes on. 
as of today, i am seventeen days from departure and the date keeps getting closer and closer it seems... i am slowly packing and getting odds and ends together for me to help teach but the list never seems to end...

my flight information came a week or so ago and i am so excited. i will be flying to chicago (never been) for layover for a few hours and then flying to frankfurt germany (also, never been) for like ten or so hours... we are going to be checking our things into lockers and wandering the streets of both places and soaking all that we can in that short amount of time. oh the joy!

i am very excited. it will  be full of many more firsts, and new things. new friends, new places, new food ect. i am hoping to be able to have enough time at least a few times a week to be able to update this blog and hold your interest for a few moments or so... we will see what time brings.

although i dont know what it will be like or how busy i will be, i would LOVE your emails of encouragement or, if you realllly want to make me happy, written letters of love.
 -my email is: steviezelh@gmail.com 
 -my written address is: 
Dmitri Konikov

For: Stevie Z. Hansgen

Karaliauciaus g. 13 B-15

Vilnius, Lithuania

(i dont know what it means, other then i know for me to be able to get it, you have to write it exactly like this...) 

xoxoxo