First Heavy Snow - Cesis

Winter arrived on Monday! With temperatures falling the last few weeks and a few flurries of snow on Saturday, we knew that the real stuff wouldn't be too long in making an appearance. It started snowing Monday morning and was still snowing into the night. These are some pictures from a nearby park and the area right around our flat. The people look at me a little funny when I am out in the snow taking pictures ... for them it is just a way of life.

Stay warm!

First Heavy Snow - Cesis

"What do they live on?"

Laura and I have been volunteering at the local soup-kitchen. Cesis Baptist Church and St. John's Lutheran Church share the opportunity of providing a noon meal for those that would otherwise go without.

This is truly a soup-kitchen as that is all that is served. Most of the diners are elderly but a few are just down on their luck. None on them can speak any English but they always want us to sit down, eat and talk with them. We try to hold a conversation but with our Latvian skills it is mainly just nodding our heads in agreement with whatever they are saying. They seem so appreciative and we wish we could communicate with them better.

The first day we were there the soup-of-the-day was 'sour' cabbage. It seems that they take cabbage, leave it outside for a few days to ferment and then bring it inside. Inside, you cover it up and let it ferment a while longer. I can pretty much eat anything (and I usually do!) but I just couldn't go with the sour cabbage soup.

The other people working there started laughing and they told us one of the very old ladies saw we weren't eating the soup or the bread. She turned around and asked one of our Latvian friends "They don't eat sour cabbage soup or black bread -- what in the world do they live on?". It seems this is a national soup and everyone but picky Americans love it.

It is starting to get much colder here and some snow flurries. Maybe tomorrow we will have some pictures of a fresh snow-fall.

Keep safe!