Embassy life

The milk here tastes different. It makes me think of when we used to get milk directly from the farm. We could taste the difference when the cows were moved from the barn where they just ate hay to the pasture where they ate fresh grass. Maybe that's why the milk, yogurt,cheese, and dairy stuff taste different- the cows eat something different here. We buy a liter of 1% for about 1.29litas (about $.45) in plastic pouches like the ones we were first introduced to in Canada many years ago.
I entitled this post "Embassy life" because that's what I wanted to write about. Last night we attended a Halloween themed birthday party for a girl in Jarom's class at school. The party was held in a large house rented by the US State dept. for a foreign service officer (like James)on the outskirts of the city. The house was about the size of James's house but a different layout and a larger yard. The family there has a large yellow lab dog. The families in attendance at the party all had kids at the American School of Vilnius. That title is somewhat misleading because the school is actually run by the Lithuania government but the majority of the funding is from the United States and everything is taught in English. James was appointed to represent the American embassy on the school board. Unlike the schools our grandkids have attended in other countries, about half of the students here are Lithuanian. Their parents pay for them to attend this school because they feel it's better. At the birthday party were a family, who happen to live next door to James, from Sweden. The dad works for a Swedish communications company and they moved a little before James's family, from Lebanon. Another family there was from Germany. The dad works in the German embassy. Most of the other families connected to the school are somehow related to the embassy, a Marine officer, other foreign service officers, and then some Lithuanians. I have noticed, not surprisingly, that many couples connected to the embassy consist of individuals from different countries. As a result, most of the kids are at least bilingual then they pick up smatterings of languages from the countries where they live.
In general, the social life of embassy-related people is like it is everywhere: it revolves around the kids' school and activities, co-workers, and church. This evening James has been asked to speak at the wedding of a couple of members of the Lithuanian speaking Vilnius branch (they were recently separated from the Russian speaking branch just to make things more manageable). He will be speaking Lithuanian as he does when he conducts at church. He is a counselor in the branch presidency; the president is a native Lithuanian. There are LDS churches all over the world. Branches are congregations which are smaller than wards. James also teaches institute which is a class on Tuesday evenings for college-aged students. (In Amman, Jordan, James was the branch president.) James generally speaks more Lithuanian than anyone else in the family. Susanne knows enough to drive and do necessary shopping and communicate whatever is necessary.
On Tuesday we will go to the embassy where the kids, who have been driven from school in the embassy van, will trick or treat going from office to office. Halloween is not celebrated in Lithuanian. Thanksgiving is also not celebrated here(obviously) so James and Susanne are planning a celebration similar to what they did last year. They will invite all of the missionaries serving here (about 10) for dinner. It will be fun!