This week’s post: a collection of photos

A photo from downtown Old Riga.

Kristus Piedzimšanas pareizticīgo katedrāle, which is a Russian Orthodox church built around 1880.

Brittney walking down a sidewalk. And, yes, she is indeed standing up straight!

Latvia's Freedom Monument. Built in the 1930s, it has been the lasting symbol of Latvians' desire for freedom, including during Soviet times, when it stood just as now for fear that demolishing it would lead to uncontrollable protests.

Brīvibas iela, one of the main streets near our apartment. The Freedom Monument is in the distance.

The Kārlis Ulmanis statue. For those who do not remember, this is the politician I am researching.

Riga's city hall

This is where we live. First we go through the driveway on the right, which opens up into a courtyard/parking lot...

Here, then, is where we live.

And here is our kitchen. We like our apartment quite a lot, but are very bummed that we do not have an oven. In addition, I am afraid that I might have brain damage by the time we leave because I keep smacking my head into the exhaust fan above the stove.

A view of Old Riga from the Dom Square. In the distance is Svētā Pētera Evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca, or St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

This is our house plant. Can anyone tell me the name of this plant?

An image from the 20 year anniversary commemoration of those who died on the barricades in January 1991.

To help you better understand the significance of this week’s commemoration services in Rīga, here is a brief and overly simplistic history lesson: Once Mikhail Gorbachev announced in the late 1980s the new Soviet policies of glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”), which aimed to reform the Soviet Union into a more transparent political entity with a market economy and more cultural autonomy, many minority ethnic groups, including the Baltic peoples, decided to test the boundaries of these new policies to discover if the Soviets were still willing to crush nationalistic revolts, like had been done in 1956 in Budapest and 1968 in Prague, just to give two examples. Well, in short, what Gorbachev and other Soviet leaders soon discovered is that these reforms led very quickly to demands for complete national autonomy, with the Latvians and others declaring their independence in 1990. But, to fast-forward a bit, in January 1991 Gorbachev decided to use the Soviet forces inside of the Baltic States, along with pro-Soviet supporters, to storm key government buildings and communication centers in a last-ditch effort to regain control. This decision was first carried out in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and the key battle centered around the television and radio tower, where more than 1, 000 people gathered to form a human wall. Sadly, the Soviet forces decided to break through this make-shift human barrier with tanks, a move that cost fourteen lives, as many were literally run over by the tanks. Once inside, the Soviets then forcibly took control of the tower and pulled the plug on independent broadcasts, but not before the host announced to his brothers and sisters (and the world, which was caught up in the events of the first Gulf War) that: “…It is possible that they can break us with force or close our mouths, but no one will make us renounce freedom and independence.” A few days later, then, a similar plan was attempted in Rīga. But after hearing about what had happened in Lithuania, the Latvians decided to set up more imposing barricades, as seen in this picture.

The defense was first called for by the Popular Front, which organized a demonstration against the atrocities in Lithuania that was attended by over half a million people. Between January 16 and January 21 tensions escalated. Ultimately, though, the Soviet forces never successfully regained control. Yet, sadly, on the night of the 20th a number of barricade fighters, including two policemen, two journalists, and a schoolboy, were killed in sporadic fighting.

Flowers and candles in honor of those who died while defending Latvia's freedom in January 1991.

Rigas Doms cathedral, where the commemorative service was held.

The Latvian National Opera House

I had to throw this photo in so that mom can see how well the pasta cutter works. Here I made homemade pasta with chicken and an asiago cream sauce.

23/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Es esmu latviešu medmāsa (I am a Latvian nurse)

It is hard to believe that we have only been here two and a half weeks. It has really started to feel more like home, other than the language situation. 🙂 However, I started my Latvian lessons this week and I am already picking up on a lot more (I was able to come up with the title of my post all by myself). 🙂 I still struggle to pronounce the words, but I am trying and with LOTS of practice, hopefully it will get better. In that sense, I have to remind myself that we have only been here two weeks.

Well, this week was full of new experiences for me. I started volunteering three days a week at a family practice clinic that is a 15 minute walk from our apartment. It is a small clinic, and the doctor only works around five hours a day. However, she is absolutely wonderful and has a good relationship with her patients and likes to take the time to explain things to me as well. About half of the patients that come in speak English, so that is really helpful. And if they don’t, she translates for me.  The doctor also spoke with a nearby laboratory and I think I will go there in the upcoming weeks to help draw blood. Flu season has hit hard here, so we are seeing a lot of patients and the lab is really busy, so hopefully I can help reduce the work load in some way. This week I also met with another physician, who is a board member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) which strives to promote patient advocacy by educating the public on the rational use of pharmaceuticals. Ultimately, the NGO is attempting to make patients more educated health care consumers, which is something that  I plan to do as a nurse practitioner, so I was encouraged by what they are trying to do and plan on getting more involved, including perhaps collaborating on some research, once I am done with boards. 

Anyways…it has been a very productive, inspirational week for me and I think there will be plenty of things to keep me busy. I even felt comfortable enough this week to try shopping on my own. I was so excited and I think I shocked Jordan when I went shopping one day and actually bought things without his help. The shopping is interesting here. You basically have to go to a different shop for everything you need, so that has been an experience. But there are tons of shops in the downtown area where we live, so it is not too inconvenient…

Jordan and I had a fun experience last night. We went to Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte at the Latvian National Opera, which is about a 25 minute walk from our apartment. Neither of us had ever been to one, i.e., to an opera, so it was quite surreal to be at our first opera at the beautiful, old opera house in Riga. The combination of acting, singing, and music all synchronized together to illustrate a story is just amazing and such an awesome thing to see. However, we did not realize how long of an evening it would be — we got there at 6:45 and got home at 11:15. It is quite cheap to go (you can get tickets starting at around 3 lats, or 6 U.S. dollars), so we plan on seeing a few different things while we are here. Maybe a ballet next month…

Well, we had a reprieve from the snow, but it is back. We walked around all day yesterday while it was snowing. I was on a sugar and caffeine rush nearly all day long because we decided first to check out a donut shop in the morning where we had donuts, tea (for me), and coffee (for Jordan). It was the nicest donut shop we have ever been to; it had tvs and a huge wrap around couch. After we did some studying we decided to then walk around some more and found a cute bakery that sold muffins, baguette sandwiches, and soup; we decided to eat lunch there since this is the first cafe that we have found which sells deli-style sandwiches. The bakery is owned by a Danish man who speaks English, but very little Latvian. Actually, this was a welcome discovery for Jordan because after Jordan ordered our food (in Latvian) suddenly this baker (the Danish owner) came from the back and started to talk to us in English, which naturally made Jordan think, “Geez, is my Latvian that bad?” But of course then we found out that in fact he only speaks English. Anyway, it was quite funny to watch him get very nervous when his Latvian helper had to leave for a few minutes while he was left to manage the store without her. Later in the day we met a fellow Fulbright student at a bakery where we had yet another pastry, this time a Latvian version of a cinnamon bun, and tea (for me) and coffee (for Jordan). So needless to say that is the most sugar and caffeine I have had since we got here. But we found all three places to be unique, so I am sure we will go back again. And speaking of food, we are now off to the store, so bye for now.

The coffee shop for our balcony (each level of the hall had a coffee shop where people gathered during intermission)

23/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Babel, an addendum

Outside of the main market building, which is to the right

Considering the tone of my last blog post, I thought I should attach an addendum to let everyone know that I am very much enjoying our stay here in Rīga. As Brittney mentioned in her last blog post, last week was quite enjoyable because we were able to meet up with a few people that I know here in town. First we went to dinner (supper) with Valters, whom I first met at a Baltic studies conference back in 2008. Not only is Valters a super nice guy with a fun personality (he has already discovered that it is fun to tease Brittney [“the doctor”] about his fondness for cigarettes), but he is also a great professional help, given that he studies the exact same era of Latvian history that I do and knows quite a lot about Kārlis Ulmanis. So Brittney, being the good sport that she always is, sat their patiently and listened while Valters and I discussed vitally important and enthralling topics, such as “why the world would fall apart without historians.” Really, that was one of our discussions…Anyway, we had great fun at Lido (a very popular restaurant known for its rustic furniture and decor, folk music [see the videos below for some Latvian folk music], and hearty Latvian cuisine), and Valters has been immensely gracious in helping us feel welcome. Then on Wednesday we met with Iveta, my Latvian teacher from last summer. We met her at Mārtiņa beķereja and had a wonderful time chatting over coffee, tea, and pīrāgi, a very popular Latvian snack that reminds me of mom’s bunwiches, but with a bacon, onion, and cabbage filling. After we finished at the bakery Iveta then remembered that I enjoy wine, so she took us to her favorite wine shop, Hanza. Our stop there was quite interesting for me because Iveta casually mentioned to the owner that I know some German. Then, before I knew it, the gentleman was going on and on explaining to me, in German, all about his shop and wines. My German certainly wasn’t perfect, but I did manage to converse for some time, and, well, now I know that I can buy some fantastic wine (we purchased an unbelievably good Silvaner, which is nearly impossible to find in the U.S.) and brush up on my German all at the same shop. Needless to say, we plan on going back often, and even signed up for the chance to attend a private tasting with some winemakers from Germany.

Other than that, the highlight of the week for me was our trip to the Vidzemes tirgus (market), which Brittney posted a picture of in her post below. It’s hard to describe the nature and atmosphere of this market, but I guess one might compare it to the farmer’s market in Lincoln, except that it has a more “business-like” atmosphere and is held every day of the year (except Sundays).  The market is divided into sections, with a meat, dairy, and vegetables and fruits section inside, while the clothing, flower, and household good stands are outside of the main building (see right). All I know is that it’s a good thing that we enjoyed going to the market, because here we go to the store or market nearly every day, since we only have a mini-fridge and the food has very little if any preservatives. As a result, though, we both agree that the quality of the food here seems on the average to be better than what is generally available back home. But what stands out the most for me is the incredibly high quality of the dairy products here. The milk actually has a taste, and the butter is exceptional, with a typical  butterfat content of 80% or higher. And although I’m sure I could find it somewhere, I have yet to even see margarine. On the whole, groceries here are somewhat expensive for us, but only because of the low value of the U.S. dollar. But even then, we have discovered that bread, olive oil, butter, pork, sun-dried tomatoes, pasta, oranges, clementines, and good chocolate all are significantly cheaper than back home.

Finally, I thought that everyone might like to hear some Latvian folk music. One of Latvia’s official slogans is that “Latvia is the land that sings.” This is quite true in fact. For example, every half decade Latvians join together at the song festival park here in Riga for a multi-day celebration of Latvian music that is known as the Latvian Song Festival. This festival is extraordinarily important to Latvian nationalism and has been a part of Latvian culture since the nineteenth century. In fact, even during Soviet times the authorities did not dare to ban this sacred tradition. And as a result the Latvians used this opportunity to renew their nationalistic spirits and aspirations. In particular, Latvians came to a sort of organic understanding that since they were not allowed to perform their national anthem, they would instead adopt the song “Pūt, vējiņi” (“Blow, Wind, Blow”) as their call to national unity and independence. Here, then, is a performance of that song from the last song festival in 2008. I hope it touches you as it does me, as every time I hear it I am nearly moved to tears.

On a more uplifting note, here is my other favorite folk song, titled “Es nenācu šai vietā” (“I did not come to this place”)…By the way, they were singing this at the Christmas market when we were there and, because I love the song so much, I started to sing along, which made Brittney laugh since I very rarely sing. 🙂

19/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Babel-like confusion in my head…

Our first full week here in Riga has been a challenging one for me, as I am only growing more frustrated every day with my inability to speak as fluently as I would like. Languages are such a frustrating yet intrinsic part of our life, and it is so humbling to one day board a plane in a country where you are highly educated and articulate only to then some hours later touch down on another piece of this earth where I bump into children who are more proficient at expressing themselves. When I think about this sudden onslaught of confusion and frustration, it’s as though I have been transported back to the biblical city of Babel, where God ostensibly caused humans for the first time to speak a multitude of languages (with the idea that they would then be more submissive and reliant on Him), after he grew angry at what he perceived to be a sort of post-Flood human arrogance when he observed their united efforts at building a tower not so much in His image but rather one that was to serve as a monument to human cooperation and ingenuity. One can only imagine the mass chaos that ensued that mythical day, and, though I am most certainly exaggerating to some extent, that was frequently my state of mind this week.

For me, the experience is more than anything a frustrating and humbling one. Personally, there is nothing more frustrating than repeatedly being unable to express to others exactly what is in my head. After repeated incidents of stumbling through a sentence because you suddenly discover halfway through that you are still thinking in another language and cannot then remember, or simply do not know, what it is you want to say in the other language, one then becomes quite reticent, as this is the only way to not feel all the time like you are banging your head against a wall of mispronunciations and unknown words. Without a doubt, it is this tendency to become taciturn that I daily have to fight against, as I will never improve by avoiding conversation.  But it is the frustration, the incessant and compounding frustration, that wears on me the most. Some days it looms over me like the low-hanging, dark clouds of Riga’s sky, and as a result I become mentally exhausted, to the point even that I begin to stumble when trying to speak in my native tongue, something which I experienced Friday night when Brittney and I met Kevin (another Fulbright student) for a glass of wine at a tapas bar.

But then I think about Jean-Dominique Bauby’s story and my resolve to begin my quest anew is renewed. For those of you who are not familiar with his amazing story, Bauby was the former editor of the world-renowned fashion magazine Elle, who in 1995 suffered a devastating stroke which left him in a coma for some twenty days. When he awoke, he was completely crippled, except that he was able to blink his left eye. But the amazing thing about Bauby’s condition was that his hearing and mental faculties were left unharmed. He could think and reason as sharply as ever, but he was unable to communicate at all (a condition known as “locked-in syndrome”), at least at first. You see, eventually his speech therapist devised a reordered French alphabet which corresponded to each letter’s average frequency of use, and with this system Bauby was able to communicate by blinking his eye when his communication partner reached the letter that he wanted to use to form his word of choice. Unbelievably, Bauby used this system to write his memoir (which was translated into English as “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”). The book was published in 1997; however, sadly, a few days after it received rave reviews in the French press, Bauby succumbed to an infection and passed away. To me, Bauby’s ability to fight against what must have been the most frustrating of all human conditions is incredibly inspirational, and I often think of him to remind myself that anything is possible.

By way of closing, perhaps I will share another thought that has been rummaging around in my head this week: when will the United States do something about gun control and mass shootings? One suddenly has to think quite seriously about these sorts of topics while living abroad because as an American people are always curious to hear a “native’s” point of view about these stories that are flashed across the televisions and on the front pages of newspapers here in Europe (for example, just see this BBC article which seeks to explain to Europeans why Americans think the way they do: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12158148). Beyond the rather annoying, childish nature of whom we should blame for the recent events in Tuscon, or even the school shooting in Omaha, what aggravates me the most is that we continually fail to engage in a substantive conversation about why we have so much gun violence in America and how best we might curb it. Just take into consideration for a moment the following numbers compiled by the Brady Campaign. According to their statistics, in one year there are 17 gun-related deaths in Finland, 35 in Australia, 39 in England and Wales, 60 in Spain, 194 in Germany, 200 in Canada, and 9,484 in the United States. Of course those countries are smaller, but even if you make Germany, for example, the same demographic size as the U.S., the number only increases to around 550. I just do not understand how we can look at those numbers and think that the answer is to allow congressmen and, well, all of us to tote around semi-automatic weapons for reasons of self-defense. How will more guns on the streets solve anything? Perhaps I am crazy, but if we are going to devote our lives to ensuring that America is the land of the free, then should we not do everything in our legislative and cultural power to ensure that we do not have to live in fear that someday we might bear witness to a mass shooting? Without a doubt, then, it is the continuation of our violent status quo that is most difficult to both comprehend and to explain to non-Americans.

16/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 3 Comments

You can’t help but smile on a blue-sky day…

To give you an idea of why we could sleep all day, just observe this picture taken in mid-afternoon

Sveiks (greetings)! Well, it is hard to believe that we have been here for over a week now. It has been a very good, productive week for us! Our biggest obstacle so far is getting up before 9 am. The sun does not come out until around 9 am and then even so, it is mainly overcast so you never see the sun and then it goes down around 4:30. So needless to say, without the sun peaking through in the mornings, we could sleep all day.

Anyways, so on to the wonderful things about this week…We have found a few grocery stores that carry most things that we desire; so that was a huge blessing!! We are quite happy that we will be able to eat more of a variety. However, we have to get over our stinginess because the exchange rate kills us and we hate to pay double for what we would pay in the states. We are still discouraged by the meat situation. They smoke most of their deli meats and fish, so that is something we are getting use to… The joke was on me this week — I thought we had found a precooked chicken breast in the deli section and I thought we could slice it for lunch meat…Well when we sliced it open it looked like those cheese and bologna loafs and it tasted like a hot dog. 🙂 Then we went to an open air market (which is inside in the winter–see below) and we tried to buy what we thought was something like polish sausage and it turned out to taste ok, however it had quite a smokey flavor and the texture was strange and almost mushy like. I told Jordan we probably did not want to know what we were eating. 🙂

Speaking of food, we met with Jordan’s Latvian contact this week and we ate at Lido, a traditional Latvian restaurant. The restaurant is interesting because it is like a cafeteria, but the food was really good and it is always busy with lots of people. They eat very hearty meals; Jordan and I both had different types of meat and potatoes. We ate goulash at the university on Friday and it was so tasty. Americans need to learn how to make goulash the European way!

We also met with Jordan’s Latvian teacher from this summer, who has agreed to tutor me twice a week. I start next week so I am very excited to learn the language. Right now I think I know about the same as a 2 year old! I am trying though, and I can at least pronounce and recognize 10-20 words, which when we came I could only say 2 words! You learn quick in the grocery store, the first time I found skim milk (vajpiens) I was trying to bargain shop so I grabbed a different one, I thought, and Jordan saw it and asked why I was buying buttermilk. 🙂 That would have been gross when I went to eat my cereal!

We also tried out the public transportation, which seems pretty straightforward and easy to use, and ventured out to the Latvian State Historical Archive, where Jordan will be doing most of his research. While we were there, his colleague took us over to Rigas Stradina University, where I met with an affiliate in the international studies department in hopes of finding volunteer work. I should know sometime next week if there will be something for me to do there. I also have contacted the two physicians that I corresponded with before we left and am meeting both of them next week to discuss volunteer opportunities and Latvian healthcare.

We ended our week on an amazing note. Saturday the sky was blue and we could see the sun! This is the first time we have seen the sun and blue sky since we arrived! Even though it was in the low 20s we decided to spend the afternoon walking around because it was so good to get some sunlight!

Well, this week will bring lots more adventures I am sure. Everyone say a prayer for me as I venture out on my own (I know I will be fine, it is just scary to not have Jordan there in case I encounter someone who does not speak English)! I hope you are all well and I wish you could all be here to share in our experiences!

A panaroma of Riga from our walk on Saturday **please note that you can click on any picture to enlarge the size**

16/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

In the middle of the world on a fish hook…

Labdien (good day)! Well, this is my first entry as a blogger so bear with me while I learn how to do this. I’m sure you will quickly be able to tell the difference in my writing style as compared to Jordan’s writing 🙂 We hope that between the two of us we will be able to paint a good picture of our experience living in Riga. With that being said, I will now bring you up to speed on our experience thus far…

So after 3 flights and 24 hours we groggily landed in our new, beautiful home, Riga, Latvia. We were quickly astonished by the amount of snow in the city and the size of the icicles. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with myself for spending the money on decent snow boots and a very warm, yet stylish, bomber hat. Anyways, there is not anywhere to put the snow so it gets piled up on the sides of the street and the piles are my height or taller. When you walk around the city you have to look up at the roofs quite often and walk near the road because icicles will randomly fall down and I’m quite sure it would not be a pleasant experience to get hit with one. There are also men who go around and scoop snow and ice off the roofs everyday (see the image below). The man who does our apartment roof has woken me up twice now!

Speaking of apartment, we are slowly settling into our new home. We live right downtown near lots of shops and restaurants, which is quite nice. We don’t have to walk far to get groceries, or anything for that matter. We live in a large old building that is tucked in the middle and behind other shops. Our apartment is definitely cozy, but is furnished enough that it has a homey feel to it. After some cleaning, unpacking, and rearranging, it is starting to feel more like home. Our landlady has been a blessing. She got Jordan a cell phone to use and is hoping to find a phone for me and she took us for a little tour to show us some nearby places to eat and shop. She has rented to other Fulbrighters so she is a wonderful hostess.

There are some things that we’ve had to adjust to. We have two electric burners for a stove, but yet no oven which is a bummer for Jordan because he loves to bake bread, but the bread here is amazing so I think we’ll survive. However, after a little grocery shopping, we’ve realized that food is somewhat expensive and of limited variety. So I’m not quite sure what our diet will consist of. Thus far, we’ve eaten oatmeal, pasta, dumplings, and salmon which have all been good. I did freak out the first night we tried to get groceries because I couldn’t read the nutrition labels and that is how I usually buy groceries. So we had to translate how to read the label so I at least know a little about what I am consuming. I think we’ll eat a lot of whole grains; there seems to be an abundance of barley, rice, and oats and they are fairly cheap. We have to go to the grocery store every few days because Europeans have mini-fridges, not much cupboard space, and you only buy what you can carry home. So hopefully within a few weeks the grocery shopping won’t be so daunting.

I think we have both adjusted to the time difference pretty well, so hopefully we can start getting into a routine. Next week I’m going to start looking for things to occupy my time with. I also should be studying for my FNP certification exam, but I’m too distracted by my new surroundings right now! We’re going to explore more of Riga this weekend so hopefully we’ll have good stories and pictures to post soon. Uz rēdzēšanos! (which means goodbye in Latvian, and I have tried over 50 times to say it and Jordan keeps telling me that it’s not right).

08/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Welcome to Latvia, Or Should I Say the Arctic…

Well, we arrived in Rīga late on Wednesday, and as of today, Friday, it seems as though we have fully recovered from the jet lag and are settling in nicely. Truthfully, it’s just nice to be somewhere with a bed after spending some twenty-four hours in transit. We got to the airport in Omaha at 5:30 in the morning, arrived at Newark International Airport at 10:30 EST, and then had an eight-hour layover, which was only made tolerable by the view of the New York City skyline (right). It turns out though that the layover was in fact much more enjoyable than the flight, as we were somehow unlucky enough to have a whole group of loud, busy people sitting in front of us. So, it suffices to say that by the time we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany some seven plus hours later, neither Brittney nor I looked as chipper as we do in the photo we took before boarding the plane (see below).

After another short layover in Frankfurt and a two-hour flight, we finally arrived in snowy, beautiful Latvia. I was expecting snow, and had even read that Latvia, like the rest of Europe, had already received an abnormal amount, but as our plane made its final descent into Riga and I gazed out at the frozen, snow-covered Baltic Sea, I realized that we were in for even more of a wintery greeting than I had expected.

But the weather isn’t all that bad. And, in fact, the snowy conditions even facilitated our first amusing experience in Latvia. You see, some staff at the U.S. embassy (who are Latvians) picked us up at the airport in this interesting-looking Dodge SUV/minivan (it is always interesting to see all of the models that are never released in the U.S.–the car companies seem to think that we Americans will not buy a small, fuel-efficient car). And on the way towards downtown, after the car had warmed up from the heater and our body heat, suddenly all the snow from the roof began to slide down onto the windshield, so that our driver could barely see out, which was a major problem since we were driving down Brīvības iela, one of the main streets heading north out of Old Riga. Then, suddenly, as our driver was laughing at his predicament, yet another chunk of snow slid down and completely obstructed his view. Hence, we came to a halt and he jumped out (whereupon he was nearly sideswiped by a BMW) and cleared the windshield.

Anyway, there is a lot of snow (as evidenced by the picture from one of the city parks near our flat) and it has caused a lot of problems here in Riga, not only for those driving cars, but even for those trekking down the sidewalks. Besides the danger of slipping on the snow and ice, one has to be even more careful of falling icicles (which can be quite massive in size, perhaps a couple feet wide or more and tens of feet long), as when they fall from eight or ten stories up they can be deadly. Here is an image of the ice hanging from the building opposite ours. And the even more interesting thing to observe is the guys who  crawl around all of the city’s buildings and shovel off the snow and ice, so as to prevent anyone from being harmed from falling, over-sized chunks. All I know is that they definitely earn every cent of their paycheck.

For me, in the few days that we have been here, the most enjoyable thing we have done is simply going out and exploring the city (my goal this first week is to help Brittney feel comfortable navigating Riga, so we have tried to be out and about a lot). It’s just so nice to be back in Europe, where one can encounter the unique experiences of looking at 700-year-old buildings, of the sights, sounds, and smells of the city, and of seeing such things as seventeen different languages on a package of pasta (I counted). Among all of those things though, perhaps the most enjoyable experience this week was checking out all of the Christmas decorations that are still up. I’ve read before that Latvians really know how to get in the Christmas spirit, but this year was extra special, seeing that Latvians were celebrating the 500-year anniversary of the Christmas tree (one of Latvians’ claims to fame is that they were ostensibly the first ones to decorate a tree for the Christmas season). Here, below, are a few photos of the trees and lights around town:

In case you are wondering about the rooster, it is one of the symbols of Riga.

Just north of the Freedom Monument and Old Riga

The Christmas market in the square of Sveta Jekaba cathedral

One of the city clocks with a special decoration for the 500th anniversary

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is a link to a video of Riga and the recent Christmas market:

08/01/2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | Leave a comment