"Do you want to eat OUT?"

Although we are getting somewhat better with the language we have a long, long, long way to go before we could even be considered at the kindgergarten level.

Case in point:

At Laura's Bible Study on Tuesday night, she wanted to propose to the group that the next meeting could be at a local restuarant. She thought a change of scenery would be nice and the ladies here don't have many opportunities to just be by themselves and enjoy fellowship.

So, she asks "What would you think if we maybe went out to eat next week?" ... nothing but silence! Again, she says "You know, we could all meet here and then go somewhere in Cesis and have a meal out." Nothing but silence and quizzical looks. Finally, she says "I just thought you might want to eat out together since we all have families to take care of. It would just be this group eating and having our lesson."

Eventually, one brave soul said "Do you mean we are going to meet and eat OUTSIDE?" Remember it is still below freezing here most days! They didn't want to tell Laura she was crazy but it just did not translate that they were going OUT to eat.

We run into those grammtical problems often...the best we can do is to laugh and start over.

Cesis, Riga, McDonalds, Concert, Uh oh!

"I Thought You Knew What Time The Bus Left!"
or another "Cesis Big Adventure"

We have made a goal of trying to do something (concert, movie night, youth service, etc.) special each month with our Youth Group. Certainly we still have our weekly Wednesday night meetings at our flat but we want to expand what the kids experience.

So, this past Saturday night we decided to take a group to a concert at St. Matejas Church in Riga (the capitol city of Latvia). They were having several Christian contemporary music groups to perform. The highlight was supposed to be the first group (I have no idea what their name is) as they were going to record their music live for a CD.

We had a group of 11 kids show up at the train station for the 2 hour trip to Riga. All of these are really good kids and we enjoy being around them. Once we got into Riga, the first stop was McDonald's (strategically located across from the Central Station). We went from offering to pay for anyone's meal that needed help to amazement at what these kids ordered. They had all eaten at a McDonald's before but it is still a big treat for them. The record was 5 hamburgers eaten by Eduards. Several of our slim, no fat anywhere girls, ate a burger, fries, large cola, McFlurry (malt) and anything else that could get their hands on. American kids might have to take a backseat to these Latvian teen-age eaters.

Next it was off to St. Matejas. The decision came down to walking 30 minutes through downtown Riga in 34 degree weather or spending .50 apiece on the tram. We were outvoted so it was a cool, brisk 30 minute walk (fueled by massive amounts of American hamburgers and fries).

The concert was great. The first band was very professional and the CD was recorded both in audio and video. Everybody had to turn off their phones (a big sacrifice for Latvians). Luckily for us they had the lyrics projected on a screen so Laura and I could practice our language skills. The only problem was when the guy running the computer got mixed up on the lyrics and put up the wrong slide. Then you have two Americans singing words they don't know at the wrong place in the song.

After the first group, we had several more bands that played a few songs each. Latvians are great singers and musicians. Most of the groups have the usual drums, bass, and guitars but some also added horns, sax, and other stringed instruments. All of it was done very nicely and we even were able to see a couple of the guys that came to Cesis for our Youth Concert back in November.

Now the fun started. Eduards had left to take his sister to the bus station as she does not live in Cesis. The plan was to leave St. Matejas about 9:45 for the walk (!) back to the Central Station, meet Eduards and catch the last bus back to Cesis. The bus was to leave at 10:30...no problem. After we had walked just a few blocks, Eduards came running up the sidewalk, completely out of breath (remember, we had to turn our phones off!). Once we got him calmed down, he informed us that the last bus leaves at 10:00 not 10:30! We had maybe 5 minutes to make it. Nope, we're NOT going to make it.

After a couple of minutes of thinking, we decided we could go over about 3 streets, catch a city bus out to Teika where we could beat the Cesis bus to the last bus stop on the edge of Riga. That sounded like a good plan but when you've got a bunch of teenagers running down the streets at 10:00 with two old codgers trying to keep up with them, I could see either a heart attack or a car-pedestrian accident just waiting to happen.

The next plan was a stroke of genius. Why not just hail a cab (or two or three) and take us to Teika? So just like in the movies, we got a cab and told him where to go and we had to get there FAST before the bus. We went tearing through Riga and I was praying we would make it, we would all make it since we'd split up, and that I would have enough money to pay for all the cabs and the bus tickets.

No worries! We made it with a couple of minutes to spare ... I had enough money for the cabs (but I still think that the old guy jacked up the price as soon as he heard my Texas-Latvian!) and the bus arrived, right on time.

The next problem was the size of the bus. We all lined up, ready to buy our ticket from the driver. There were also others waiting for this same bus at this stop. We could see this was not the usual big bus but one of the smaller ones. Eduards kind of says under his breath "I don't think all of us will make it...the driver doesn't have to let people on if they have to stand up." So, Anete was upfront buying the tickets for all of us and somehow she sweet talked the driver into letting us all on. A few of us found seats, others sat in laps but we were all on-board and headed home to Cesis. We were even entertained by two drunk guys heading back to Sigulda after a Saturday of partying in Riga. Sometimes it is a blessing to not know much of the Latvian language.

We arrived in Cesis about 12:00. Laura and I breathed a big sigh of relief, I didn't have to worry about trying to call parents that don't speak English and tell them their child was going to have to stay in Riga overnight because I couldn't read a bus schedule. The kids just laughed about it all (when it was over!) because I think this kind of stuff happens all the time.

Great concert, great kids, great adventure and a great God that helps us daily to find our way ... even when we are lost and foolish!

We hope you have a great week!

THE LATVIAN CULTURE

We are often asked about the culture of Latvia. Some the most obvious differences to us are the ones that probably came about because of Communism and Soviet domination. Now this is strictly unscientific and obviously there are exceptions.

Secrecy is still very much a part of the Latvian daily life. The younger you are the less likely you would do all of the following but it is pretty much the norm regardless of age:

1) Most people do not introduce themselves by their first and last name ... usually only their first names. You may get to know them by their last names after you have established a frienship.

2) Most people are not open about where they work, where they live, etc. For example, your landlord will probably come by and receive the rent money directly from you. He probably will not ask you to bring it by his place of work or his home. (That would allow you to possibly know too much.)

3) Until you are well known to the person, you will not be invited to their home. It is not because they don't like you, it just goes back to the idea of secrecy.

4) You have to be careful about greeting people too warmly that you don't know. Example: in church, a visitor may not feel comfortable with the members asking their name, are they new in the community, etc. We certainly do not have any visitor cards to use for follow-up because that would be too intrusive in their society.

5) In stores, you are almost never asked "May I help you?" by the sales clerk. Sometimes it will not even be acknowledged that you are there. Again, they aren't being rude but they don't want to invade your space by asking questions.

For two Americans that are pretty open, it is hard to understand their way of thinking. But, when you study their history and some of the hardships they encountered you can defintely see how these attitudes inside of their culture have developed.

Sometimes we shake our heads and wonder why they do certain things. Then, someone will patiently explain the background and it doesn't seem as strange anymore. Altough we understand, it does make it difficult for us to move into their culture, develop new friendships and conduct business. It is never easy but at least we are beginning to understand a little more clearly.