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)

Youth Meetings -- Cesis

Youth Meetings:

We have had really good numbers with the weekly Youth Meetings. We meet on Wednesday night at 7:30. If the weather permits, we usually meet at Castle Park for some outside games and then return to our flat (less than a block away). We will have a short Bible study and other activities. We have one very accomplished pianist and singer, Emmija. She will usually play several of her songs (yes, she writes the music and words) and is very good.

The kids seem to be relaxed and enjoy coming to the flat. Some have to catch the bus home fairly early but many will stay until 10:00 or 10:30. We don't have a TV or stereo but we do have a laptop and internet. Some will play on that while the others seem to want to just sit and talk or act like most teenagers. They are good kids and we don't have many problems from them.

We don't have a lot of problems with the language since we almost always will have one person that can translate. We do miss however, having a true conservation where both parties can freely exchange their thoughts. When you have to go through a translator it just loses something. We are working on the language and are picking up quite a few words. Now, making sentences out of those words or being able to pick up those words when the Latvians are talking is another story.

Here are some pictures from the youth groups. Several of them are when they are playing a game that involves a chocolate bar, rubber gloves, wool-hat, a fork and a knife. You just kind of had to be there!

Thanks for reading!

Lats, Euros and Krooners . . .

In continuing the never ending story of our visa application, here is our latest installment:

As we prepared for our year in Latvia, we knew that we were required to obtain a visa, since we are going to stay longer than 90-days. The process entails a lot of paperwork, both on our part and from the Cesis Church. Everything from medical permits to housing leases have to be documented, signed and stamped.

Pastor Olegs has worked diligently to get everything prepared to be be submitted. We were informed that we could take our application to the Immigration Dept. in Riga (the capital city). Olegs made the appointment and we found out that we had been misinformed. We must go to an embassy in a foreign country and make application there. They will then send the application back to the Immigration Dept in Riga where we were trying to apply in the first place. Makes perfect government sense, right?

So, Agris (head of the deacons) said he would take us to Tallin, Estonia so we could turn our papers in at the Latvian embassy. This was great offer because it would save us a bus ride, etc.

We head out at 6:00am on Thursday for the 3.5 hour trip. Reinis, one of the young men is along with us as he is a pretty good translator. It is really a beautiful drive as the highway goes up the coast of Latvia and through the pine forests.

Before we left we had all double-checked that we had our passports but when we get to the border Agris realizes that he doesn't have the van's 'passport'! We tried all of the tricks for the border guard to let us through but to no avail. He wasn't going to let us proceed no matter what. I was wishing for Tony Garza who always takes care of these problems when we cross the Mexico border with the mission teams.

The only thing to do was to turn around and back-track to Cesis for the correct paperwork. We decided we would rather walk on the beach than to ride the same road we had just come on so we took a two-hour break and enjoyed the Baltic Sea.

Agris makes a flying trip back to Cesis, returns to pick us up and we make it across the border this time. We even brought a few smiles and chuckles to the same border guards who wouldn't let us across in the first place.

The next stop is for water and some snacks. The Estonian krooner is approximately .11 for one American dollar. So when you look at the price of bag of chips it will be like $7.50. It works out all the same but it is sure strange to pay $7.50 for a small bag of chips.

No further problems on the trip to Tallin; we're just having a good time going through the small towns, beautiful country-side, coastal views in some place. (there are no interstate type highways).

We reach Tallin and I really experienced the idea of muli-culturism. We stop for directions at a small store. I know the address for the embassy so I'm asking in English, Reinis is speaking in Latvian but the lady in the store is speaking Estonian. Finally, we get another lady and she is able to understand Russian which Agris speaks very well (had to serve in the Soviet army). So it is Russian, Estonian, Latvian, and English all being spoken at once! It was a pretty interesting conversation to say the least.

We get to the Embassy and there is a nice sign that informs us that they are only open from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Since it was already 1:00pm, I'm thinking the worst. There was a small buzzer on the door and we finally got someone to talk with us. She was very adamant that there was no one there to accept any visa documents. I finally told her that the Immigration Dept. in Riga had told us to come there. She then became very nice, unlocked the electronic lock and we were in. Sure enough, no one else was there but these two women. They were very nice and took all of our paperwork ... no problems. When it came for me to pay, she informed me it would be $400 in euros. Now, Latvia and Estonia are NOT on the euro system. I asked her if I could possibly pay in lats (I had brought enough especially for that purpose) and she said no, only in euros. It was euros or nothing!

We get directions from the embassy to the nearest bank. I have no idea how many lats it will take to get $400 euros. We go to the bank, I count out my lats and ask how many euros can I get for all of this? They tell me $375 euros ... so I look around for an ATM and they don't have one. She tells me where to go to find one. I hike down the street to another bank ... find the ATM. There is an ATM repair man working on the ATM next to mine. I ask him if this machine gives out euros as well as Estonian krooners? He looks at me with disgust and says that machine only gives out OUR money. Pardon me! So I withdraw a bunch of krooners and head back to the first bank. I exchange all of my lats for euros and then some of my krooners for euros until I reach the magical $400 euro mark. I'm sure hoping the nice lady was honest because I have no idea how much I gave her.

We hoof it back up to the embassy, hoping the lady is still there and is going to buzz us in again. We get inside, give her the money and she tells us she will send all of the paperwork back to Riga and we can check there in a few days for approval. How much simpler would it have been to save everybody the trouble and just let us turn it in there in the first place but .... then we wouldn't have had the adventure of the great visa escapade.

A great trip back to Latvia ensued and we stopped again on a nice beach. Agris (an avid wind-surfer, by the way) decided to go swimming, while Laura, Reinis and I were beach combing. A good meal and we were back into Cesis by dark.

Loti paldies Agris and Reinis. We'd never had made it without you!

Stay tuned for the next episode!

Trash etiquette

So, one of the great differences we have found between the USA and Latvia is -- garbage collection. As a US city-dweller, we had become accustomed to just putting our trash can near the curb and two days a week the garbage truck comes by and collects our trash. A simple, well-thought out process.

It's not so easy in Latvia. There are no personal trashcans! You cannot put your trash bags on the curb. You cannot put a trashcan outside on the curb for the trash man to pick up while you are gone. No, the procedure is much more complex here.

First, they do have trash collection 5-days a week. However, the truck comes at different times so you have to be aware of the daily schedule. Second, you have to take your trash to the truck when he arrives. It doesn't matter if you are 92-years old and live on the top floor ... if you want your trash in that truck, then you'd better get it down to the street. Third, the trash truck driver is strictly that ... a driver. He does not pick up any bags, boxes, or anything.

My driver's name is Aivars. I know that because he has it in the window of the trash truck. Evidently it is a pretty sweet job. Nice green truck, just drives around all day, knowing that the entire trash collection process is dependent on you. Sometimes, (usually on Friday nights) he even has his wife (I'm assuming here) in the cab with him.

None of this would be so bad if you knew exactly when he would arrive. The procedure is that around the time he is supposed to be there, everybody starts congregating in the street near the pick-up point. There are many people that I only meet on trash day, so it does have a sort of community effect. We all stand around looking at each other's trash and then when the majestic Aivars shows up, it is a mad dash to throw your junk into the truck first. Some of these older Latvian ladies can move pretty fast, let me tell you. If you don't get there first, then you have to wait until Aivars compacts the first load before you throw yours in.

Now, I'm not one to complain. But I know that Aivars saw me running down the street with my trash bag. I'll admit I was a couple of minutes late but I didn't hear him until he had started to compact the load. By the time I got my shoes on, grabbed the trash bag, and ran around the house to the street, he had started down the way. I'm thinking that he has to stop soon but he just kept on truckin'. I don't believe I was singled out because I was an American, I think he was just teaching me a basic of Latvian culture---don't be late for trash pick-up.

So, Mr. Aivars, I won't make that mistake again. I'll be there early with all of the other Latvians, waiting and hoping that you won't be late. But please, just don't leave me running down the street again ... it's embarrassing when all of the old ladies are laughing and pointing at me!

Here is a picture of Aivars and his trash truck as it speeds by our flat window:

Hockey In August

On Monday we traveled to Valmiera (only about 30-minutes away) to see a couple of our young friends (Reinis and Edgars) play in a hockey game. As we have maybe seen one hockey game (on TV) in our lives, it was an enjoyable experience.Valmiera was chosen over Cesis a couple of years ago as the site for an Olypmic training facility (hockey hall, great basketball courts, weight-rooms, etc.). They use it for a lot of international games and the Latvian national teams all train there. It continues to amaze us how big all types of sports are here. Their facilities sometimes rival what we have back in the US, while a lot of other needs go unmet (The same as the USA). The biggest difference here is that the sports facilities are not constructed by the school districts. They are supported by local and national taxing authorities, therefore they are used by all of the citizens, not just school-age athletes.

Here are a few pictures:

UPDATE AND PICS

Just a quick update from the past few days:

• Youth Meeting -- we had a great time this week as we had 8 teenagers (3 from our church and 5 un-churched). With all of the other activities (vacations, visiting 'in-the-country', etc.) going on, we were really pleased.


• Visas -- we have now found out that we don't have to go to Estonia, that all of the paperwork can be taken care of in Riga. Evidently, since we were invited by the church to come it is different if we were just wanting to come on our own. Olegs goes first to complete his section and then we will follow for a Friday appointment.
  
• Ladies' Bible meeting -- Laura only had two this week for her group ... we continue to pray for more interest as well as motivation for the church


• Orphanage -- preparations continue for meeting the back-to-school needs of the youngsters there. Hopefully, we will be able to buy the supplies in the next week or so and get them delivered by September 1
  

Here are a few pictures we took early this morning on our walk around the castle, park and other areas.

Have a great weekend!