And so it begins...

In short, this is the story of a girl attempting to learn her third language.

But you should know that with me, things are never short...my height excluded.

I can't remember how long I've wanted to learn Lithuanian, but I know it's been in the back of my head for a good, long while. Ever since my grandma told me that "As tave labai myliu" meant "I love you very much" in Lithuanian.

I've been running circles around putting the idea into action for at least six months, but the past few days have cemented my plan. I'm headed to Boston for spring break to visit my best friend, who goes to Boston University, and I was planning a side trip to NYC during a day she has filled with classes. I came across a website titled "Must-See New York City," and upon scrolling through it, found a link to Ellis Island's website. They have a free search engine that searches ship manifests and potentially finds your ancestors. I spent a good three hours typing and re-typing the names of my great-grandparents, but nothing I found was absolutely concrete. That's another project for another day, I suppose.

Whether or not I find the ship manifests, I know my great-grandparents came to the United States from Lithuania in the late 1800s or early 1900s and eventually settled in Massachusetts. My grandmother was born into a home where only Lithuanian was spoken, and it wasn't until she started attending elementary school that she learned English.

She eventually lived in Hartford, Connecticut, and Washington D.C. before moving to Middle America and living on a farm with my grandpa. By the time I came around, the only phrase she could still remember in Lithuanian was "I love you very much."

I know most people think I'm crazy, but for me, it's both a challenge and a journey. It's a way for me to connect to my roots and my ancestors. It's a way for me to remember my grandma and learn more about who I am as a person.

I know it's not going to be easy (especially because there's no Lithuanian version of Rosetta Stone), but I'm going to give it my best. The internet is a powerful tool, and I've found some pretty good resources thus far.

I've definitely taken advantage of the fact that I'm almost fluent in Spanish (after six years of study), and thought that learning a new language would be easy. Not so.

It will take baby steps, but I will get there eventually.

For now, I can say "I know Lithuanian," "I know English," "I don't know Lithuanian," "I don't know English," "Are you Lithuanian/English?" "Do you know Lithuanian/English?"

(All thanks to this great website and its link to a free audio lesson near the top!)

Hey, it's a start!