Movies and chat

Tuesday night, Jude and I had dinner at the school and then got ready for our first movie and chat. We show a movie and then discuss the themes found in the film. Our first film was "Once," a modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin. Featuring Glen Hansard from the Irish band "The Frames," the film tells the story of a street musician and a Czech immigrant during an eventful week as they write, rehearse and record songs that reveal their unique love story. The movie's song "Falling Slowly" won an Academy Award for Best Soundtrack in 2006. The first part of the film is shown on Tuesday and then finished on Thursday night followed by disussion. "Once" is a great film to discuss, especially focusing on the suble love affair between the couple through their music. We had a full house the first night as you can see in the photo. If you're interested, you can hear the music at the following address: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/ Our next film is "Leap of Faith" with Steve Martin and the "Chariots of Fire." Our purpuse is to get the students talking and listening to each others; responses.

Even though the weather has been between 72 and 80 degrees, it's been extremely warm in the classrooms. By the day's end, we are quite withered and wet. The first floor windows only open a crack, so with all the students, it does get warm. Classes have been great, students are doing their homework, and the teachers are really ahving a good experience. Nadine, Becka's friend from high school, has been woring at the orphanage on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and then jumping a bus to get tothe school for her afternoon classes. She's been great with kids. Next Tuesday, Sharo, who works with the orphans all year, is taking Nadine to a needl exchange which will be a new experience for her.

Tonight, we had dinner with Roman and Ksenja. He works at the university in IT and she works in our dorm at the desk. She just came off a 32 hour shift, no overtime. Get this, they took us to a Chinese restaurant. It's located in a mall on the main street of Klaipeda not far from our dorm. The restaurant closes at 10 pm but the building closes at 7 pm. In other words, you can only get to the restaurant by walking through the parking lot under the building and walking up the back stairs. And, not many people know that. Needless to say, we dined alone.

Coming up: the orphanage on Saturday and my bucket list on Sunday.