Okay, I have so much catching up to do on here so here we go.
We'll start with Thursday. As it was our last full day in Spain, some friends and I got churros and chocolate before heading to school to check our grades and talk with our professors. My grades ended up being a lot better than I had expected so I was really happy. They will transfer well to Eau Claire.
Friday was graduation day. We all dressed up and took a million photos and got our diplomas. After getting our diplomas, we had a little party to celebrate graduating
but more for saying goodbyes. We all took another million photos and once it was time to go, we all said our goodbyes. It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone I spent the last five months with and some I might never see again. When we left to go home, I finished packing all my stuff and soon had to leave for the airport. Saying goodbye to Kelly and Dioni was the hardest. I can't believe this semester is already over. It seems so unreal. I went to the airport, checked my luggage, and left to begin my journey to Latvia. The flight was about two and a half hours. When I arrived in Charleroi, I had to check into my hotel for the night. However, it was about 11:30 pm and when I looked at my confirmation letter, it said that check-in after 11 was impossible. I tried calling them but they wouldn't answer, tried getting a taxi but they just told me to go away. I did not know what to do. I thought I would have to spend the night in the airport. Suddenly, a woman came up to me and said something in French that I didn't understand. When I said I didn't speak French, another woman came up and started speaking to me in English, asking what was wrong. I told her my story and her friend tried calling the hotel. Of course, like before, they didn't answer, but she tried again and they did answer. She talked to them in French and then the English-speaking woman told me the hotel people would wait for me outside of Door 2. So I went to door 2 and a big black van came up with a paper that said "Hotel South" in the front. It looked really sketchy, but I didn't really have anything else I could do. A guy came out, saw that I was still upset, and said "Hi, I'm Kevin. I'll be taking care of you okay?" So he took me to the hotel, set up a time to take me back to the airport in the morning, arranged a wake-up call for me, and then asked me if I was hungry and wanted anything to eat. I really hadn't eaten much that day so I said yes. He then showed me to my room and then showed up five minutes later with a tray containing two sandwiches with the crusts cut off, a bowl of grapes, a melon with the skin cut off, a bottle of milk, and a bottle of water. I asked him if I needed to pay for it and he said "No, of course not. It's the least I can do." I was shocked at how nice he was.
I woke up three hours later at 4:30 am and got ready for my early flight to Riga, Latvia. I went to the airport, got on the plane, and arrived in Riga two hours later. I was picked up by Lauris (family member), Ruta (Lauris' girlfriend), and Krista (another family member and also the only one of them I'd ever met before). Lauris and Ruta are both 25 and Krista is 12. They took me to the apart
ment I'm staying in and then we got brunch, where I met Janis (close family friend). After brunch, Lauris, Ruta, Krista and I decided to drive to Sigulda, where you can see the beautiful countryside. So we went to Sigulda, but not before picking up some Latvian beer. We saw a beautiful view of Sigulda and then Krista suggested we try out a ropes course that was in Sigulda. It started out pretty easy. There was a lot of ziplining which was fun. But then it got a lot more difficult. I definitely got to work my biceps a lot. It was very physically straining, but really fun nonetheless. We were joking that right when I came to Latvia, really tired from only having three hours of sleep, they took me right away to work out and go to "Latvian boot camp." I did really have a good time, though. It took us about three hours to do that and then we went to see a castle for a bit, which also had a great view of Sigulda. After that, we saw some caves and made a few more stops before getting dinner. We went to a great restaurant where I decided I love Latvian food. It is especially good after having to eat Spanish food so much. Once we drove back to Riga, we were all really tired from the rope climbing and such so they took me back to the apartment to rest and get ready for another day of exploring Riga.
Today (Sunday) was my namesday! It was really exciting that I actually got to be in Latvia for it. I woke up, very sore from the day before, got ready, and then headed out with Lauris and Ruta. Both of them are really awesome. Lauris is always super funny and Ruta is so good at showing me around. They're both really nice. We started out the day with a ferry ride along the river. After that, we walked to the freedom monument, which was right next to a park where we got ice cream for my namesday. After that, we went to a hotel where from the 26th floor, we could see a beautiful view of Riga. Next, we took a tram to Lido, a big restaurant where we could pick and choose whatever we wanted to eat. We ate there, had some beer, and then headed back to the apartment. About ten minutes after arriving there, Janis came to pick me up and take me to Jūrmala, which is on the seaside. He and I drove there, he showed me the fancy houses, and then we walked along the beach. He is a
really interesting person to talk to. He's super nice as well. After seeing the sea, we walked along the main street and then sat down for a drink and talked. Then, we didn't really know what to do so he introduced me to his dog. His dog, named Chico, is crazy. He was jumping all over the place and barking but he was a really nice dog. He took me back to the apartment around 10 pm. It was a really great namesday. I am loving Latvia a lot. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would. I'm so glad I decided to extend my trip and come here.
We'll start with Thursday. As it was our last full day in Spain, some friends and I got churros and chocolate before heading to school to check our grades and talk with our professors. My grades ended up being a lot better than I had expected so I was really happy. They will transfer well to Eau Claire.
Friday was graduation day. We all dressed up and took a million photos and got our diplomas. After getting our diplomas, we had a little party to celebrate graduating
but more for saying goodbyes. We all took another million photos and once it was time to go, we all said our goodbyes. It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone I spent the last five months with and some I might never see again. When we left to go home, I finished packing all my stuff and soon had to leave for the airport. Saying goodbye to Kelly and Dioni was the hardest. I can't believe this semester is already over. It seems so unreal. I went to the airport, checked my luggage, and left to begin my journey to Latvia. The flight was about two and a half hours. When I arrived in Charleroi, I had to check into my hotel for the night. However, it was about 11:30 pm and when I looked at my confirmation letter, it said that check-in after 11 was impossible. I tried calling them but they wouldn't answer, tried getting a taxi but they just told me to go away. I did not know what to do. I thought I would have to spend the night in the airport. Suddenly, a woman came up to me and said something in French that I didn't understand. When I said I didn't speak French, another woman came up and started speaking to me in English, asking what was wrong. I told her my story and her friend tried calling the hotel. Of course, like before, they didn't answer, but she tried again and they did answer. She talked to them in French and then the English-speaking woman told me the hotel people would wait for me outside of Door 2. So I went to door 2 and a big black van came up with a paper that said "Hotel South" in the front. It looked really sketchy, but I didn't really have anything else I could do. A guy came out, saw that I was still upset, and said "Hi, I'm Kevin. I'll be taking care of you okay?" So he took me to the hotel, set up a time to take me back to the airport in the morning, arranged a wake-up call for me, and then asked me if I was hungry and wanted anything to eat. I really hadn't eaten much that day so I said yes. He then showed me to my room and then showed up five minutes later with a tray containing two sandwiches with the crusts cut off, a bowl of grapes, a melon with the skin cut off, a bottle of milk, and a bottle of water. I asked him if I needed to pay for it and he said "No, of course not. It's the least I can do." I was shocked at how nice he was.I woke up three hours later at 4:30 am and got ready for my early flight to Riga, Latvia. I went to the airport, got on the plane, and arrived in Riga two hours later. I was picked up by Lauris (family member), Ruta (Lauris' girlfriend), and Krista (another family member and also the only one of them I'd ever met before). Lauris and Ruta are both 25 and Krista is 12. They took me to the apart
ment I'm staying in and then we got brunch, where I met Janis (close family friend). After brunch, Lauris, Ruta, Krista and I decided to drive to Sigulda, where you can see the beautiful countryside. So we went to Sigulda, but not before picking up some Latvian beer. We saw a beautiful view of Sigulda and then Krista suggested we try out a ropes course that was in Sigulda. It started out pretty easy. There was a lot of ziplining which was fun. But then it got a lot more difficult. I definitely got to work my biceps a lot. It was very physically straining, but really fun nonetheless. We were joking that right when I came to Latvia, really tired from only having three hours of sleep, they took me right away to work out and go to "Latvian boot camp." I did really have a good time, though. It took us about three hours to do that and then we went to see a castle for a bit, which also had a great view of Sigulda. After that, we saw some caves and made a few more stops before getting dinner. We went to a great restaurant where I decided I love Latvian food. It is especially good after having to eat Spanish food so much. Once we drove back to Riga, we were all really tired from the rope climbing and such so they took me back to the apartment to rest and get ready for another day of exploring Riga.
Today (Sunday) was my namesday! It was really exciting that I actually got to be in Latvia for it. I woke up, very sore from the day before, got ready, and then headed out with Lauris and Ruta. Both of them are really awesome. Lauris is always super funny and Ruta is so good at showing me around. They're both really nice. We started out the day with a ferry ride along the river. After that, we walked to the freedom monument, which was right next to a park where we got ice cream for my namesday. After that, we went to a hotel where from the 26th floor, we could see a beautiful view of Riga. Next, we took a tram to Lido, a big restaurant where we could pick and choose whatever we wanted to eat. We ate there, had some beer, and then headed back to the apartment. About ten minutes after arriving there, Janis came to pick me up and take me to Jūrmala, which is on the seaside. He and I drove there, he showed me the fancy houses, and then we walked along the beach. He is a
really interesting person to talk to. He's super nice as well. After seeing the sea, we walked along the main street and then sat down for a drink and talked. Then, we didn't really know what to do so he introduced me to his dog. His dog, named Chico, is crazy. He was jumping all over the place and barking but he was a really nice dog. He took me back to the apartment around 10 pm. It was a really great namesday. I am loving Latvia a lot. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would. I'm so glad I decided to extend my trip and come here.
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