Some fall pictures . . .

The best time of the year in Latvia is fall! Here are a few shots. The first is some of the great vegetables that our friends keep us supplied with from their gardens. The next one is of the castle grounds, close to our flat. The third is Rigas Iela, one of the old, beautiful streets that lead down to the original gate when Cesis was a walled city. The last is a shot of an oak tree with St. John's Church (Lutheran) in the background.

Trash truck tie-up

If you remember from one of my previous posts, 'Trash Etiquette', the simple act of taking out the trash is really not too simple in Cesis. Yesterday was another example of that humorous difficulty.

About 4:55 we (all the people with trash) start gathering at our spot on the corner. You have to get in line early or you will have to stand and smell the trash truck as everybody else pitches their garbage in before you. So, we're all waiting for the truck and we can see him down the hill a little ways ... but he's kind of halfway turning across the street and isn't moving. We keep looking and finally somebody says that they think the truck has been in a wreck. We keep peering down the street and sure enough, that's what has happened.

Now, this is an busy street but it's just big enough for 2-lanes. Traffic is beginning to pile up because he has both lanes blocked. We're just standing and looking until one elderly lady says something (I don't know the language but I picked up the nuance!) and everybody grabs their trash and starts walking down the hill. So what do I do? I grab my trash and I follow along ... there we go like a bunch ants, marching single file down the sidewalk with loads of trash. I'm fifty-two and I am the youngest person there by about 20 years.

By the time we get to the crashed trash truck site, traffic is tied completely up. Latvian drivers are very impatient and they evidently dislike the trash trucks anyway. Drivers are jumping the curb, going up on the grass, honking...making new roads. There we are, the ant line, throwing our trash in the back of the truck while complete chaos is going around us. The trash truck driver is on his cell phone, yelling at his boss or somebody. A bunch of kids that had been on a field trip to the castle are now coming over to see what the mess is about and they are all in the way. In the midst of all that, people are coming from all of the other trash stops up ahead on the route and throwing their garbage in. I couldn't do anything but just find a safe spot to stand and laugh. It was one of those times I truly wished I had my camera.

I can't wait until Monday .... it's trash day again!

Scenes from Cesis

We had the pleasure of a visit from a group of Americans from Washington State today. They are here for some mission work in another region of Latvia but wanted to see some of the sights in Cesis. Laura and I played tour guide to some really nice people. As you can see from the next to last picture, we have become friends with the Sean Connery of Latvia! Here a few other random pics.

Central Market

All good Latvians go to the outdoor market on Friday ... so here are a few pictures from our trip today. Flowers, honey, smoked fish, clothes, fishing supplies, shoes, boots, antiques ... you name it and you can find it here. Lots of good vegetables . . .

How about some rabbit stew?

There is always good food in Latvia and they are usually very big on it being fresh, no preservatives, no chemicals...which we are glad to be a part of.

Sunday we had the most-preservative free meal of our lives. Inese was kind enough to ask us over after church. The entire meal came directly from her garden in the country even down to the rabbit. Yes, that is right...the main course was stewed rabbit.

The potatoes, tomatoes and cucumber salad, carrots and onions in the stew .... everything came straight from the garden to the kitchen. Even the dessert, which was a whipped apple concoction topped by fresh milk was made solely from the products Inese had brought in from the country.

Now, about the rabbit. They raise a few of these rabbits in the old stone barn there on the country place. They are fun to play with and all the cousins take turns feeding and playing with them. But, on a farm everything has a purpose. This rabbit's purpose was to make a mighty fine meal for a bunch of hungry Baptists.

Reasons Why We Like Latvian Septembers

--Wimberley's Top Ten Countdown--

--10- No more sweating on buses that don't have a/c

--9-- Big carrots!

--8-- Cool strolls in the evening (better take your jacket!)

--7-- No more sunrise at 3:00am and sunsets at 11:00pm

--6-- Basketball games start in September! **

--5-- The apples are ready to be picked

--4-- Splitting firewood (and actually using your wood stove)

--3-- Trees already beginning to show reds, oranges and yellows

--2-- School is back in session and the kids are in school but we aren't!

--1-- Basketball games start in September! **

** Yes I know it is on my list twice ... but it deserves to be!! **

Scenes from the weekend!

Here are just some pictures from some events around Cesis this past weekend.

Roller-skiing, 3-on-3 basketball (all of these boys were in our camps), Maija Parks rainbow, some huge carrots from our friend's garden, the shoes of our Youth Meeting kids (you don't wear your street shoes inside of a Latvian house!), Laura and Anete.

Thanks for viewing!

The first day of school . . .

Being educators ourselves for over 30-years there is always a certain amount of interest in seeing how other school sytems function. Naturally, we are very inquisitive of how the schools operate in Latvia.

We have been asking around for a couple of weeks, mainly to our youth group and other students, about what to expect for the first days of school. We kept getting answers like a 'parade' or 'fun' or 'it's just school, you know?'. Last week we even visited and toured a middle school and met with a principal and some of the teachers. No one seemed stressed out, upset or in a hurry (unlike their counterparts in Texas before their first week).

So, the big day arrived on Monday. To say they do things differently is a mild understatement. First of all, they do have parades. Depending on the age group the students may march only around the school or the older kids actually march all the way down to the city center and have a brief ceremony and march back (see the photos below). The first day is actually called 'The Day of Learning'.

About 9:30 or 10:00 on Monday morning we began to notice a large amount of kids all over town. Some were with parents and I could tell they were getting the last of their school supply list purchased but many were just hanging out and having fun. We caught up to a couple of young friends and they told us they only had to go for 2-hours (2-classes) on the first day. We thought that was pretty strange but they stuck to their story. I'm guessing here, but I assume the idea is to slowly get the students back into school-mode, you don't want to rush them or they might blow a brain gasket or something.

The rest of the first day is spent having a good time around town until 3:00pm. All the students head to Maija Parks for a 'fun-party'. Free food, music, games and give-aways are all part of the action. This goes on until 7:00pm when a free music concert kicks-off in Castle Park. Several bands are there to entertain and it lasts until 11:00pm.

Next day arrives and we're thinking surely they will get them back into the 8:00--3:45 grind. Nope, seems that on the second day you only stay until 12:00. You have now met about 3/4 of your teachers and you are slowly getting back into the swing of things because there are no parties or concerts scheduled for Tuesday night.

Today was day-3 and the kids had to stay ALL-day. Can you imagine the hardship that must put on these poor kids? Wait! The kids say that today will be an all-day affair but it is also 'sports-day' and they will have competitions between the classes in several different games.

We have Youth Meeting tonight so I am very interested to see what is on the agenda for the students at school on Thursday and Friday. It is going to be very interesting to see the differences in our systems as we go through the year.


We can only hope that George Bush and his band of educrats don't talk this government into the NO LATVIAN LEFT BEHIND law.



(click on picture for large view)