Dispatches of the Jet-lagged

Okay, so buckle your seatbelt and hang on for this special late night edition of “Jet-lagged Jen’s” super-duper travel adventures!

First I should say how weird it is that as I’m typing this at 11 p.m. it is still quite light outside, and my frizzy hair smells like the salty Baltic sea. Even though I’ve been back less than 24 hours, my friend Nicole and I still found time this evening to catch the 8 p.m. ferry to Smiltyne and go for a swim. This was part of my need to refamiliarize myself with the beautiful places of Lithuania so that I don’t pine too badly for my dear Colorado. (Oh, but she is beautiful…)

This hasn’t been too hard since the trees that were barely budding when I left are now deeply green and leafy, and the sky today was clear and sunny. I can only hope this will be a norm. :) Klaipeda feels strangely both like home and like somewhere new to me. I don’t know how to convey this feeling except to say that I am conscious of the fact that I’m noticing differences (e.g. how skinny everyone is, the impracticality of the shoes) that I did when I first arrived last fall, but at the same time I already know where to go, what to buy at the grocery store, etc.

Coming back to Lithuania really did feel like coming home in some ways. Flying over the blue sea late Monday night, peering at the patchwork of green farmland and rivers, and then landing in Vilnius airport, I relished the sense of familiarity. It was a wonderful moment getting on the Air Baltic flight and hearing “Laba Diena” slipping out of my mouth in response to the flight attendant, as if it hadn’t been seven weeks since I’d used any Lithuanian!

Even more familiar was getting to drive from Vilnius to Klaipeda – not that I myself have ever driven that route, but driving is such a familiar sensation to me in the expansive west, where I spend hours in the car, watching the land turn beneath me. Driving the length of Lithuania late Sunday night, I was able to experience the land in one of the ways I do at home, and there was something very wonderful about that. That car-fueled sense of freedom and connection, I guess. Watching the forests and rivers and uzeigas slip by the windows, it dawned on me that this will be the first calendar year during which I will spend more time in other countries than in the States. My other times abroad have been spread across school years, so no full year prior has seen me outside the U.S. more than this one will. One thing I will say about driving though – it is probably better for all parties involved if I don’t drive a stick shift when they’re many other drivers on the road! It’s been awhile!