My First Month in Lithuania

Before coming to Lithuania, My tutor Zivile had already informed me that the country would be cold so I needed to prepare. Therefore I brought a lot of winter clothes for myself. However; When I came to Lithuania for the first time, I had never expected that much cold! Winter literally came here on October! The weather was freezing and it seemed that I was the only one who felt cold.

When I arrived my home in Sirvintos, I was happy to see my new home. It was a nice and cosy home. Next day was Sunday so I walked around the town and saw this beautiful church.

In Sirvintos, there is no light pollution so you can see all the stars at night. I was shocked when I could see all the stars in night time because I had never seen so many stars in Ankara due to the light pollution.

In my first day at the youth centre, everyone was so welcoming. I met everyone and played games with teenagers. I met also Turkish volunteers Refik and Furkan who are great.

Next day, we went to a middle school which is called ``Sirvintu Atzalyno Progimnazija`` to explain our Youth Centre and what ESC (European Solidarity Corps) is. It was my first experience to meet them and they also had fun with us!

I was excited when Ukrainians came to our youth centre. We introduced our youth centre and they presented their youth centre activities.  We spent great times together.

On my first Thursday of this month, we went to Musninkai. We played games and did activities that we prepared earlier. The teenagers of Musninkai were so kind and eager to join all activities.

For the first time in my life, I have experienced a Halloween party which was amazing! I was a witch and told fortunes for everyone. Vilte and Dovile, who are also teenager volunteers in youth centre, prepared every Halloween activities. It was a great time. We spent over the night in the youth centre.

I learn that 31st November is Remembrance Day in nearly all European Countries. People go to graveyard in that day and clean their loved one graves and light candles for them. We also went to graveyards and cleaned unknown graves and soldiers’ graves together. It was a nice and magical experience for me.

At weekends, I mostly go to Vilnius and discover mesmerizing old town. They are old churches and cathedrals. Also, all state museums are free on last Sundays of every month. You can explore the museums such as The Palace of Grand Duke of Lithuania, KGB Museum. You can attend all rituals in churches on Sundays.

You should also visit the city Trakai. You will be amazed by its nature and history. You can make your own special coins in the famous Trakai Castle.