WINTER IS HERE!

It will be a cold week for the celebration of Latvia's birthday.

Here's the forecast for Riga; in Cesis we are usually a little colder:

Monday

Hi: 3°Lo: -1° Frozen Mix

Tuesday

Hi: 0°Lo: -3°Flurries

Wednesday

Hi: 1°Lo: -1°Light Snow

Thursday

Hi: 1°Lo: -2°Snow

Friday

Hi: 1°Lo: -1°Flurries

Saturday

Hi: 1°Lo: -2°Flurries

Sunday

Hi: -1°Lo: -4°Flurries

NOVEMBER 11

I'm not sure of the exact translation of the name of today's celebration but obviously it has to do with the ending of WWI. After that point in history, Latvia began its longest time period as a free country.

Tonight, the soldiers that train at a local army school led a torch-lit parade to a monument memorializing a rifleman serving in WWI. After the soldiers came many citizens of all ages with their own torches and candles. It was an impressive sight. Several hundred people eventually made their way to take part.

Losing and winning this country's freedom is still very much on the Latvian citizens' minds. Most can still remember when they did not have the freedom to march down the street or speak out against corrupt politicians.

At dinner on Sunday, one of our friends just sighed and said "I don't want to ever live like we did during the  'occupation'." Even after being here for quite a while, I still cannot even begin to know how much these people have suffered, how much they have lost and how their lives will always scarred because of their loss of freedom.

 

Here are a few shots from the night:

 

 

 

 

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!

On November 18, Latvia will celebrate its Independence Day. It is not unlike July 4 for the USA in some respects but obviously Latvia was not able to stay independent during those 90 years. That fact hasn't diminished how important November 18, 1918 is to them. The entire country will be celebrating this 90th anniversary of freedom for the next two weeks.

We knew that the Latvian president, Valdis Zatlers, was going to be in Cesis today. He was scheduled to speak in St. John's Church at a service to begin the country-wide festivities. Even though it was going to be a big deal, we had decided not to go mainly because we would have to get into the church very early to get a seat. Around 11:00 we bundled up to go out for a while and went to town center.

There we came upon a huge parade with lots of Latvian military bands, soldiers marching, dignitaries, etc. It was a very impressive display but we had evidently missed the remarks made by the president. Security was tight with Secret Service on the top of the buildings, guys talking into their wrist radios, etc.

Everything had started to break up and people were leaving. Laura and I were just milling around, acting kind of lost like we usually do, when we looked up and here comes Mr. President! I'm snapping pictures and then we realize he is shaking hands and we are in the line!

I'm trying to think of whether I should address him in the three words of Latvian that I know or just come out with some type of Texan phrase like "Hey, how ya'll doing?" or "How's your momma and them?" or even "Me and the missus here are shore glad to meet ya".

In the end, Laura just said "Hello" and shook his hand. I said "Labi Dien" (good day) while shaking his hand and then I managed to say that we were Americans. He replied saying Latvia was a great country to visit. I wanted to engage him in a little chit-chat about the world's economic problems, Latvia and Russia relations or even Obama but he was gone to the next hand-shake before I could mutter anything.

Wow, that was pretty neat! Now I know a bunch of you might be thinking "yeaahhh, right, sure you did", so here are the pictures:

 

 

Here he comes...Latvian President Zatlers, agents behind and to his right...

 

  A little closer....

 

 

Almost to us....

 

 

Getting close...don't panic!

 

 

 

Our time is over, on to the next handshake...

 

 

 

Here are a few other pictures regarding the event:

 

Secret service....

 

Parade in front of the Boys' Monument...

 

Secret service sharpshooters...

 

Security .... very unusual in Latvia to see a handgun...

 

Helicopter fly-over...

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

Fall has about fallen and winter is here. We had a big frost last night and predictions are for mid-to-upper 20's for lows the rest of the week. (But, I notice Latvian weathermen are not much better than American in predicting correctly.)

Anyway, most of the people have their wood in the sheds, such as these near our house:

 

NOT MUCH TO SAY

Here are a couple of shots that I've been playing around with.

The church-looking building is actually in a cemetery and was used for funerals. It would be a great 'new' church if someone had the money to restore it. The building is in need of lots of repair but has much character (like a lot of people I know!).

The other shot is of two iron crosses that have lost their foundation and now sit leaning upon a tree. These crosses are quite common for older graves here in Latvia.

 

 

OUTSIDE THE BOX

At our home church in Athens, Texas there has been a recent series of messages concerning thinking and being outside of the "box". Pastor Kyle Henderson always seems to come up with some memorable aids to help us remember basic truths.

At this week's Youth Meeting, Laura taught a great lesson using the same concept. She challenged the kids to not to rely on doing things in their spiritual life 'just because that's the way we've always done it". The kids really picked up on the main idea and had a good discussion.

Below is her visual aid. The kids made a box using all of the excuses for not thinking and acting outside of the box.

Freedom or imprisonment?

The choice is ours.

 

HOW TO EAT NACHOS

Last night at our regular weekly Youth Meeting, Laura served nachos for the first time. We had found some corn chips that were semi-good and she topped them with melted cheese and browned hamburger meat. She also whipped up some great salsa from tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.

When the kids had the chips and melted cheese on their plates, they just kind of froze. Some looked like they wanted to use a fork to try to eat with, others just didn't know what to do. Finally, I showed them how to spoon some salsa over the whole mound of chips and cheese and then munch away using your fingers.

That loosened them up (who doesn't like eating with their fingers?) and they were into the nachos like we were sitting in Athens at Taco Bell. I tried to get a couple of the boys to try the jalapeno peppers but that was asking too much for one night.

I'm thinking of the whole affair as just a teachable moment in culinary culture!

 

  [The way nachos are supposed to look ... not the way our Latvian homemade nachos actually looked!]

WE ARE TEMPORARY LATVIANS ONCE MORE!

After a few trips to Riga, quite a bit of money and almost two months time ... we have been APPROVED for another year of temporary residence in Latvia. Yes, sir! That's what I'm talking about!!

Yesterday we got our official Temporary Residence Permit that will allow us to stay here until September 1, 2009. Almost every foreign citizen can tell a difficult story about the immigration process. Rules change suddenly, papers are not accepted and papers without correct seals/stamps all play a big part in acceptance or rejection.

We are already planning when we should start the next application .... maybe in a week?

We thank God we have the permit, that we are legal and that we can continue to concentrate on helping the people of Cesis and Latvia. Thanks also to many of you that have been our prayer warriors in this episode. We always appreciate your prayers.

THE NBA -- IT'S FANTASTIC

 

Today was a very good afternoon to stay inside (rainy and cold) and watch the NBA.

That's right ... our friends Inese and Peteris have a new TV (Japanese) and satellite system (Russian). They pick up a gazillon channels (with two being in English) and it's fun to flip through and try to figure out what the Russian words mean.

Of course, my favorite stop was the NBA channel. Today's game was vintage NBA: Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz (1998 finals). It is rather unique hearing a Russian sportscaster commenting in an highly excited voice as Michael Jordan slams one home.

I'm hoping I get a few more invitations to come watch some games as the season progresses. It would be nice to watch a few games rather than read about them on Internet.

Loti paldies Inese and Peteris!!!

GREAT NEWS FOR OUR LATVIAN FRIENDS

President Bush announces Latvia's preparedness for Visa Waiver Program

On October 17 President George W. Bush invited ambassadors of the 13 candidate countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, South Korea, Greece, Cyprus and Malta) of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) to a White House ceremony to announce the US Administration's decision to admit seven of these 13 countries to the Visa Waiver Program.

Latvia was represented by Ambassador Andrejs Pildegovics.

President Bush officially announced the addition of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and South Korea to the Visa Waiver Program.

Most likely in approximately one month, travelers from these countries will no longer require a visa to enter the United States. The program currently includes 27 countries.

The President stated that the seven countries agreed to share information about security threats to the U.S. and that their citizens would use a new system that requires travelers to register online ahead of their visits to the United States.

President Bush emphasized that Latvia and the other 6 countries have fulfilled all requirements related to admission into the US VWP. Admission to the VWP will open new possibilities for interpersonal contacts, tourism and business development. The removal of US visa requirements is yet another example of the dynamic development of the Latvia-US strategic partnership.

WE HAVE THE BEST KIDS

Last night was the first youth meeting since we returned to Cesis. It was great to see some of the kids that we haven't seen in a while. A couple attend school out of Cesis, one is now working in Norway (visiting last night) and a few we just not seen in the week since we have been back.

We are about to start the study 'Purpose Driven Life'. It is one of the few books we can find in both Latvian and English. They seem excited about the challenges we put before them last night. We will now order the books and hopefully get started next week.

We also had a request from a parent to move our meetings to Friday nights. It certainly doesn't matter to us but I was skeptical the kids would give up their Friday nights to spend them at Youth Meetings. They never cease to amaze me as all but one said Friday night was great with them.

The only problem is now they can stay at our small flat as long as they want ... "NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!"

 

Here are a few pictures of last night's game - Lifesaver On A Toothpick relay. You have to pass the lifesaver between the two people using only a toothpick each, no hands allowed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO COME 'HOME' TO CESIS

We feel like we now have two homes -- one in Athens, Texas and one in Cesis, Latvia.

When we arrive back in Cesis from a trip to Texas it can take several days before we really feel 'adjusted'. Some of that adjustment is due to jet-lag but most is just due to the differences in culture and our life-style. Some of the more noticeable changes might be:

 

-- Availability and selection of food products -- Now you can look at either of us and know we are not on the verge of starvation. BUT, coming from a small town where there are restaurants, fast-food places and grocery stores on every corner, the change is striking when you reach Cesis. There are about 5 places to eat in Cesis but they all serve the same type of food (Latvian). Unlike Texas, there are no Mexican, hamburger, Chinese, Italian, deli or any of the other myriad types of food choices. Accordingly, the grocery stores have a limited selection as well. A couple of choices for your main, everyday products and that's it. When you are used to Wal-Mart or Brookshires with all of their choices, the Universal Veikal just doesn't have the same appeal.

 

-- Lack of television -- We firmly believe that we accomplish more in Cesis because we don't have a TV to monopolize our time. After we return from the TV occupied world of our Texas home it is a big adjustment to go cold-turkey on the TV watching.  It probably takes us a couple of weeks to forget about flopping down in front of the TV to waste an hour or two on the latest Cops/CSI/Dirty Jobs/DIY network/reruns of Andy Griffith shows. Now if I could just get a remote control to carry around and click then maybe my addiction could be contained more easily.

 

 

-- Loving on our dogs -- As hard as I have tried I can't get Laura to let me have a dog in Cesis. In Texas, we are crazy about our dogs and enjoy being with them.  I shouldn't tell this but Laura actually lets them have a small scoop of Blue-Bell Ice Cream on special occasions. We can always email and phone the boys but even though we have the smartest dogs in the world, we can't get them to send email regularly. It looks like I will just have to continue bugging Laura until she gives in so I can have a Latvian dog as a pal. [Zoe on the right and Jasmine on the left.]

 

-- Weather -- The Indian Summer was really nice (80's as highs / 60's lows) when we left Texas. When we arrived back this time it was  late fall. It just seems like we had put up our winter clothes yesterday and now we are wearing coats, scarves and winter caps again. We have had a couple of nights close to freezing and only into the low 50's during the day. It is kind of like missing a couple of months...going from very warm to very cool overnight. Plus, we have already begun to build daily fires for heat in our stove.

Don't take any of the above in the wrong manner.

We enjoy the cultural differences, we enjoy the difference in people and we enjoy trying new things. We are blessed to be be here and experience all that we have.

God has made it clear He doesn't want His church to be just one culture, one race, one color or one nation. Living here has helped us to understand that idea on a daily basis.

BACK IN CESIS!

We are back in Cesis after a spending the month of September in Athens, Texas. We had scheduled this trip home so that we could spend time with our family and more specifically, attend our son Adam's graduation from the Art Institute of Dallas. We had to leave Latvia a little earlier than planned because of visa difficulties but the extra time in Texas was great.

What did we do while we were in Texas? Here is a partial sample:

1] Survived one hurricane (Ike)

2] Braved the traffic of Austin, Houston and Dallas on several occasions

3] Ate Mexican food 13 times.

4] Ate several cartons of Blue Bell Ice Cream (is there any other kind?)

5] Had a major operation performed on one of our dogs. (Everything turned out great!)

6] Attended a college graduation (Yea Adam!)

7] Spoke at Mission Emphasis at FBC-Athens

8] Attended a 50th Wedding Celebration (congratulations to the Finchers!) and a Texas BBQ

9] Worked on our boys' cars to get them ready for winter

10] Watched a couple of Dallas Cowboys games (on TV!)

11] Networked with college coaching friends on trying to get some of our Latvian players scholarships

12] Went on a great barge ride one night around Lake Athens. (Thanks to our friends Lee and Susan)

13] Met with the good folks at WorldConneX to update their involvement in our activities

14] Worked a few hours on our lawn to try to overcome some of the neglect inflicted upon it while we have been away

15] Scoured every Goodwill Store that we came across in search of cheap books to bring back for our enjoyment (English books are hard to find here and expensive)

16] Packed, re-packed, and re-packed again trying to get everything crammed into our baggage. (We still left some things behind.)

Whenever we get discouraged in Cesis, God always helps us to focus on something that recharges and fills us with enthusiasm. This time, that encouragement came from our family, our friends and our church at FBC-Athens. It is always a thrill to again be a part of a church that is so mission minded and generous with God's blessings.

Thanks to everyone for a great trip. You always help us to realize how important Cesis is, not only to us, but also to you.

WE SURVIVED IKE !

 

As most of the world knows, Texas was hit hard by Hurricane Ike.

Ike came ashore in Galveston which is about 250 miles from where we live in East Texas. Most hurricanes or more likely, tropical depressions will make their landfall and then weaken significantly before they make it as far as our home in Athens.

Ike, however, was different. At one time, it appeared he would come straight up from Galveston, through Houston and right over Athens.

My brother and I spent Friday cutting limbs and getting our house and yard ready for high winds and the certain rain.

Due to the wonders of modern television, we were able to watch as Ike came ashore. It wasn't long until our weather changed and we started getting quite a bit of rain and wind. To our good luck, Ike's path changed to the east and it looks like we missed the worst part by about 35 - 40 miles. There were lots of trees uprooted, power lines down and damaged roofs just a few towns away. We are thankful we were spared.

We were glad that it worked out that we were able to be here with our boys to ride out the storm. It would have been really hard to have been trying to keep up with how things were going in Texas if we had still been in Latvia.

Thanks for all of the prayers and concern from our friends in Latvia. We really thank you for remembering us. Please continue to pray for the people of the Texas Gulf Coast and others that have been affected by this huge storm. There is much clean-up, repair and rebuilding that will be taking place as Ike has left his mark on a huge area of Texas.

HOME TO TEXAS

 

A couple of small visa problems encouraged us to move our flight home up a couple of weeks. I assume all countries' visa regulations are cumbersome but sometimes in Latvia it would be humourus if it wasn't so serious. The agents we are working with do not know the English language as well as they think they do and that complicates matters even more. As their guests, we try to be non-confrontational as we discuss the documents but ultimately it is entirely in their hands whether they accept our documents. New regulations seem to have a way of popping up without anyone being aware they have been added.

We had one date that was incorrect on a visa document so we have had to delay our submission. We will get that corrected and submit the documents from the US. I would like to say that next year we will know better (we said that last year!) but I think it ultimately just comes down to how business is done. We must expect delays and new requirments and live with it. We will enjoy the  extra two week with our boys and other family.

Olegs picked us up at 3:00am in Cesis for the trip to the Riga Airport. It was a very nice 44 degrees....low humidity; great jacket weather.

We had no problems until we started to leave Amsterdam. After we had settled in our seats and adjusted ourselves for the 10.5 hour trip to DFW, the pilot informed us that the cargo hold door had a malfunction. I don't know jack about planes but I do know that an open door could create a small problem when you are at cruising altitude.

We deplaned, loaded up on free water, waited for three hours and then boarded the replacement plane. After that, it was a great flight.

We arrived at DFW at 4:00pm and the pilot informed us it was 97 degrees. When I stepped off the plane I think it was close to 218 percent humidity.

Steve picked us up and we headed to Whataburger for our first American burger fix to feed our addiction. Mexican food is next on the wish list!

The boys had done a fairly good job of keeping the house presentable this time but all of us spent the Labor Day holiday working in the yard getting it trimmed up.

We are glad to be home. We have a lot to accomplish and are looking forward to visiting with friends and family.

Adam (our next to oldest) will graduate at the end of the month from Art Institute of Dallas. We will be there for that big accomplishment.

Stay tuned as we update what is going on in Texas.

Paldies!

3-PUNKT CAMP Day 6

Last day of camp!

We were scheduled to start our skill challenges early today but we decided to postpone for an hour or so. The USA men's basketball team is playing Spain in the Gold Medal round at 9:30am so we are going to watch the game on the one (and only) TV that we have.

This has really worked out great. Each coach spoke one day during camp to the entire group about a topic. My talk on Wednesday was on team work. I went into what a makes a great team, sacrifice, goals, team-player concept, etc.  I also spent time comparing and contrasting this year's USA basketball team with the 2004 Olympics team that we sent to Greece. I had a few video clips prepared that we could watch and the kids enjoyed seeing them. It was good to see that what was emphasized for the 2008 team led them to success (team work).

I also spoke on how God wanted them on His team. We run into so many different ideas here about who and what people think God is. I shared with them some of God's real attributes and I hope I was able to encourage them to seek Him. A few of our campers are Christians but only a handful.

As we watched the game, the USA team didn't let me down. It was a great game and the kids enjoyed seeing some of the players that we had talked about on Wednesday.

After lunch, skills challenges and award ceremonies we are headed home. It was a great camp and I know the kids enjoyed themselves. For the first time in a long while, I did not have to worry about taking care of all of the details. I could concentrate on coaching and let someone else take care of all of the other things that go into holding a successful camp of this size. It was definitely nice for a change of pace.

Now, it is good bye to the kids, exchanging emails address and heading home.

An hour by bus to Riga, get to the train station, then two hours by train to Cesis. I'll be home by 8:30pm and maybe Laura will have some good homemade Latvian food for me!

 

Watching the USA - Spain basketball game on Sunday morning...

3-PUNKT CAMP -- I'm Going Pro, Baaabbbbyyyyy!

What a great day!

The Riga Barons men's basketball team is the best pro team in Latvia and compete very well throughout the Baltics (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania). We knew they were going to send some coaches and players out to the camp on Saturday.

The original plan was for them to come to the camp and demonstrate using their players and coaches. I happened to be working with the oldest and most skilled campers when they arrived. We were running our drills and the pros and coach just stood and watched. After a few minutes one of the camp organizers came over and said that the pros were NOT going to run their drills. I'm shaking my head and said that just doesn't make sense. He said no, YOU are going to take the pro players and our campers and run YOUR drills with them.

It didn't take much convincing to get me to coach pro players! One of they guys was the MVP of the league and is a really good player. The others were good guys as well.

We brought our entire groups of campers to the gym from the other locations and had them watch the skills and drills. Our campers that were running the drills with the pros were, of course, impressed that they were on the same court with the pros. The intensity level picked up to say the least!

We ended the practice segment by scrimmaging using a combination of pros and campers.

Afterwards we were able to play some shooting and dribbling games for smaller kids and then the players addressed the group. I don't know what they said but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to the Barons for taking time to do this. We appreciated it so much.

I've had the opportunity to coach good high school players. I've even had a few Div. 1 NCAA players that I've been lucky enough to coach. Today was the first time I've had the opportunity to coach pro players on the floor. As I've always said -- "Great players will make an average coach look pretty good!!"

Barons player

Speaking to the campers...

 

Three of the Barons receiving their camp shirts....

 

Latvian professional league trophy...

 

Campers, pros, trophies....

We're practicing celebrating winning the championship!!!

3-PUNKT CAMP - Day 2 & 3

Everything is going fine in Valle. We are beginning to settle into a routine and the campers are picking things up well.

Wake-up is at 7:30 and then we all meet on the soccer field for a game of 'American Bulldog'. It's a good way to get the kids moving and the blood flowing. Basically, the 'dogs' try to catch the 'non-dogs'. If you are caught, you become a 'bulldog'. For an old guy like me, I did plenty of watching. I don't want to have to go to the slimnica for knee surgery!

Next is breakfast in the school cafeteria. Breakfast is different in Latvia but usually good. A 30-minute time for a devotional, encouragement, etc. follows breakfast.

For the rest of the day the players are working on a rotating basis in 5 different areas: 2 trainings, 1 discussion, 1 free sport and 1 physical development. Each session is 1.5 hours so the campers are worked hard.

The older campers stay in a dorm like setting (2 stall bathroom for the entire group -- no showers here, must use the ones in the gym). The beds are former steel army cots but the mattresses are ok if you stack about three together. I've got a couple of soccer coaches as roommates. Limited English, limited Latvian...lots of short sentences and head nods. They don't snore and I'm hoping I don't snore TOO loud!

The younger campers are staying classrooms in the school buildings attached to the gym. The other American here has a young group of 14 campers all in one room. They sleep on the floor. Lots of giggling, farting noises and toothpaste pranks. I think we will work them quite a bit harder tomorrow so maybe they will settle down and sleep tonight. They are really good kids though. We don't have to worry too much about them. In fact, the organizers have brought 16-ounce boxing gloves to settle disagreements!

A few pictures of some activities:

(Liene - plays on girls under 18 Latvian national team)

 

(Daily devotional time)

 

 

Some our younger campers battling it out...

 

(Valle Vidusskola)