Vilnius Day 2 & 3

{Thursday May 10}

 Today we took a train to a place called Trakai with a lady named Lena that Reed knew. It was about a 30 minute train ride. Trakai was a pretty, little town. We went there to see a castle that is famous around here that everyone goes to see.

 

 The castle was really cool and pretty as you can see after that we walked around Trakai a little bit. Its just a cute little town.

When we got back to Vilnius I had to go to the bathroom so Lena took me to show me where it is. We go into the bathroom and it is both men and women's but a room on the right for women and a room on the left for men. There is a paper towel holder that both men and women get to dry their hands but you also have to get your tissue there to wipe with so Lena gets me some or else I would've walked in without anything. Immediately after walking into the room it reeks like pee so bad. Then when I walk into the stall this is what I see.

 At first I was confused thinking this was the men's but there were ladies all around me so this had to be right and now I understand why it smelt like pee so bad because I'm sure some people don't have good aim. I'm just super thankful I didn't need to go number 2. :) These bathrooms were super disgusting and when I went back to take a picture I had to search to find one this clean. Walmart has nothing on these bathrooms!


 Then we went to eat at a place called the Yellow Submarine. It was one of Reed's favorite places to eat. I got a pizzia with cucumbers. It was weird but pretty good.

 Then we met up with a member named Ganati. He was a super super nice guy and bought us some ice cream. He has a really cool conversion story and is just a happy happy man. Talking to people like him make me really thankful for what I have and especially the gospel in my life.

Then we went to see the church here. There were some people there so we were able to walk in and look around.

This picture was taken at almost 10. It stays light late here so we are able to hang out and walk around longer it is really nice.

 {Friday May 11}

We started our day by going to this Gadamino Tower. It was a good hike up to it but it was worth it. Not sure what the purpose of this tower was for but it was cool. On top of the tower is a really good view of the city. It looks really cool from up high.

 We ate lunch at McDonalds today. Super adventurous I know! We were meeting a lady here so we just ate while we were here.

 We went to some markets downtown today to look at a few things that we might want to take home with us. Afterwards we went to a lady's house named Galina.

 These are the apartments that EVERYONE lives in. They are all concrete buildings that the soviets built when the Baltic countries were under their rule. They are super old and super ghetto. Inside these buildings it is scary and stinky but Galina's apartment is remodeled so it was really nice inside.

Galina was a sweet sweet lady. When we got there she had fruit tea and little refreshments waiting for us, it was really cute. We talked to her for quite a while. She has a cool story as well. My favorite part of meeting all these people is listening to Reed translate back and forth. Everyone says his Russian is really good, I just love it. Leaving Galina's house made me teary eyed because she is just such a sweet happy lady who is thankful for what little things she has. She was so happy to see us.

We left her house to see Christina and her little family. Her husband is out of town so we weren't able to see him. It was fun seeing these kids and the funny things they do. The two little girls did a dance for us with their barbies.

We ended our day eating stat dogs with a coke. This is another favorite of  Reed's from the mission. His parents also fell in love with them when they were visiting with him. Their hot dog buns are awesome. It is a bun with a hole in the top so you squirt your toppings inside and then when you put the hot dog in the toppings squirt up so you eat it from the top and its super good and super easy to eat.

It was a super good day. We have been doing a lot of walking so by the end of the day my feet are just beat. But it has been a blast so far seeing a different part of the world and how these people act and dress. We have seen some crazy styles for sure. We are loving every minute of it though and I am just loving seeing Reed here.

Finally Made It-Vilnius Day 1

Wow it has been a long couple of days! We started Monday after I got off work around 5 pm because my friend Sheleeha was letting us stay with her. Along the way it started raining pretty hard then all of a sudden rain turned into ice which let to us sliding off the road a little bit into a bush. We were just glad that was it but hitting the bush put our car out of alignment which we later found out we had a hole in the wall of our tire which can’t be fixed. Once we got to Sheleeha’s house Reed changed the tire and we were so happy when we found out the spare tire in my car was a real tire instead of a donut.

 

We got to the airport first thing Tuesday morning and checked in and got going without any problems. Flight after flight we got more and more tired. Reed tried not to sleep because he thought it would help him adjust to the time change better I tried for a little bit then said forget this I’m sleeping and slept a little bit every flight, well as much as you can sleep with your neck cranked so uncomfortable.

We finally landed in Vilnius today at about 1:00 pm local time, which is 4 am our home time and boy were we tired! We had another streak of luck when we found out one of our bags didn’t make it. Dangit! They are in the process of finding it so we are winging it until then.  We were pretty bummed after our streak of luck but once we got out in the city we forgot all about it and starting having tons of fun even though we were both so exhausted.

We grabbed a bite to eat, walked around old town and saw some really cool stuff. As we were walking around Reed asked an older lady how to get to a place and she was so nice and got on the bus with us to show us where to go and took us there, it was so nice of her. I love listening to Reed speak Russian to people even if I have no clue what is going on. Reed asked another person for directions, this time a man. He was the same and just took us to where we needed to go. A lot of people have been super friendly to us.

We ended our LONG day eating again, pizza, while watching hockey.  It was a sweet day and it is really neat here. So far I only have 2 complaints. 1. Everyone smokes here, I mean everyone! Everywhere we walk someone is smoking and it’s hard to get away from it. 2. People seriously need to use deodorant. There was a young girl that was our waitress tonight and she smelt just as bad as the old man giving us directions. Its something you just can’t get used to and is seriously just gross!

All in all it was a good day. We are safe and having a good time. Now that it is almost 1 AM I better get to bed for a long day tomorrow

Update

Things have been pretty busy in the Harris home lately between school, church and work. Speaking of work, I've had some pretty fun work parties the last few weeks..

 Ok not really, but it sure is fun pretending. I love my job!

Last week Reed took me prairie dog hunting for the first time. Surprisingly it was really fun, don't judge me.

Reed and I recently got iPhones. It was love at first touch, seriously. We both love our phones and our phones love us back. I've always been an apple fan and its nice to add to my collection.

Last but not least we bought a Jeep Cherokee! Yes we now have 3 cars but we love it and it sure will be nice for the adventures Reed and I have planned for this summer. Rudy approved because now he has some room instead of riding in the trunk of my car (don't worry the backseat folds down for him to poke his head out) :)

In case you were wondering Reed and I officially leave for The Baltics in 4 days 3 hours 38 minutes and 15 seconds. Yes we are super excited, and we can not wait. Be prepared for a serious overload of posts because we will be there for 2 weeks, if we make our flight home which we are considering accidentally missing it.

Frances Canyon Ruin

 {Saturday April 28}

 Reed and I went on another adventure to a place called Frances Canyon Ruin. It took us a while to get there since our gps was taking us on some crazy oilfield roads but we finally found our way and it definitely was worth it. This is another Indian ruin just outside of Farmington by Navajo Dam.  We drove pretty much right up to the ruin and didn't have to hike far at all to get to it.

 The ruin is right on the edge of a canyon so it was a super pretty view. To learn more about this ruin go here.

Simon Canyon Ruin

 {Saturday March 31}

Reed, his brother Shawn and I went on a day hike to a place called Simon Canyon Ruin. It is a little ways past Aztec, NM by Navajo Dam. The hike wasn't very far but it was really cool. This ruin is on top of a 20 ft boulder which makes it even more cool. It was the perfect day and perfect weather for this hike.

 

 Isn't it cool?!