Lithuanian Adventures, Continued

by "Flat" Cauli IV

Flat Feline Foreign Correspondent

AND

Shay Laws

English Teaching Assistant
Vincas Grybas Gymnasium
Luksiai, Lithuania

While playing a pick-up basketball game with my new Lithuanian friends, I pulled a paw muscle, which sounds worse than it actually is, but it prevents moi from typing this report.  By the way, I scored eight points (including two dunks), had 12 assists, and pulled down nine rebounds.  I'm short, but I can really jump high!

Miss Shay came to my rescue by offering to type an "open letter" to my eager readers around the globe.  She concisely captured the excitement of our adventures around her school with her students.  So, without further ado, I turn the blog over to Miss Shay.

Labas, friends at the Mooresville Public Library! 

My name is Shay, and I am so excited to be hanging out with Flat Cauli and showing her around Lithuania! She arrived the other day and spent a few days recovering from jetlag (it's a long trip all the way from Indiana to Lithuania! I think Flat Cauli said that she was on the plane for over seven hours! Wow!) 

Now that she is nice and relaxed, Flat Cauli is ready to start going on some adventures. To begin her trip, she came to Luksiai Vincas Grybas Gymnasium with me to meet some of the students who sent their friends Flat Geidre, Flat Aiste, and Flat Dovydas to visit her in Indiana. The students showed her around the school and told her a little bit about its history and what it's like to be a student there today.

Here is a picture of our school. In Lithuania, "gymnasium" is usually the name given to a school that has grades 9-12 (like an American high school). Our school is a little different because we have an elementary school and middle school partnered with the gymnasium. That's why our school has students from 2nd grade to 12th grade (children in Lithuania go to Kindergarten until they are 6 or 7; that's why elementary schools start in the 2nd grade). Flat Cauli is hanging out mostly with the students in the 8th grade, but she's making friends with everyone. You can see in the picture that it has been snowing here. Usually in the winter, there is a lot of snow. It has been pretty warm here, though, this year, and this is the most snow we've seen yet!

Here is Flat Cauli visiting the students and making new friends.

Some of the students showed Flat Cauli around school.  Here she is next to the trophy case.  Our students are very accomplished. There are some awards for basketball tournaments that the school has won, music awards won by the choir, dance trophies from different competitions, and academic awards from when students won Olympiad and Informatics competitions.

Not only do our students win competitions for sports, music, and academics, but they are also great artists.  Student art decorates the halls of our school.  Here Flat Cauli is with one of her favorite pieces.

Flat Cauli likes all of the plants that we have around our school. It is very popular for people in Lithuania to have plants in their houses and offices, so of course we have a lot of plants throughout the school. Here is Flat Cauli playing in one of them!

Flat Cauli  took a break in the computer lab to check her email.  Then she went to watch some basketball. 

Flat Cauli isn't our only visitor right now.  We also have Flat Kiana from Las Vegas visiting us.  They wanted to go outside and play in the snow, but we had to tell them that they'd have to wait until after school.  We had to get back to our lessons! Here they are by the big windows so that they could look at the snow!

That was our first day at Luksiai Vincas Grybas Gymnasium together! We can't wait to go on more adventures! 

Talk to you soon,

Shay

Now that, my friends, is how you write a travel log.  Many thanks, Miss Shay, for filling-in for moi as special correspondent while my paw recovers.  Maybe it was dunking the basketball that strained it.

"Flat" Cauli IV

Flat Feline Foreign Correspondent

Reporting for Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  How huge a sport is basketball in Lithuania?  Check out this amazing finish in a game between Zalgiris and Lietuvos rytas.  That's some fantastic playing!  Are all basketball games in Lithuania this exciting?