Pēdējās Dienas

So I am back home in the US of A, and not completely happy about it.  Of course it is nice to be back with Nick and my family, and to sleep in my comfortable bed again, but I really miss Latvia.  It's been really hard to get myself to sit down and write this last blog post from the last few days of my trip, but now I am finally here, so here it is.

Tuesday was the day that I started preparing to leave Latvia.  I went to meet Egija in Old Riga for the last time.  We had fun shopping for last minute gifts and, of course, had some coffee at Kuuka cafe.  She also had me try the best muffin in the world from the coffee shop she used to work in.  It seriously was the best muffin in the world.  At the end of the day, we said our "see ya later"s and parted ways.

On Wednesday morning, Ruta, Lauris, Emily, and Liene took me to see Estonia.  It only takes about 4 hours to get there by car so we drove.  Oh man, Estonia was a little bit of a disappointment.  We drove first to Pärnu, a small town on the sea.  Pärnu was not very exciting, so we didn't stay there long.  We walked to the beach, but the beach wasn't any better than Jūrmala, so we left pretty quick.  After Pärnu, we stopped in Keila to see a waterfall.  This was definitely the best part of the day.  The waterfall was really beautiful and we stayed there awhile to take pictures by it.  That was a lot of fun.  Later, we left for the capital.  If you ask most people what the capital of Estonia is, they would probably say, "What is Estonia?"  There is a reason for this.  Tallinn, and the rest of Estonia, are incredibly dull.  We walked around Tallinn's old town, which looked similar to Riga's old town, but was definitely not as cool.  Riga is so warm and inviting.  Tallinn felt like just the bare bones of Old Riga without the character.  After a bit of walking around, we started to get hungry.  Our plan was that I would pay for their dinner as a thank you for everything they did for me all month.  So we looked at menus as we passed by restaurants, but couldn't find anything where a meal was less than €20, which is almost $30!  Most of the time, when you are in a capital city you can find a pretty wide variety of restaurants and prices, but there actually wasn't anything!  It was crazy!  So, after awhile, we decided to leave Tallinn's center and find something in the outskirts.  So we drove, and drove, and after awhile Ruta said, "Has anyone seen anything that isn't McDonalds?"  So, in the center there was only super expensive things and in the rest of Estonia there were only burger places.  After we came to the conclusion that Estonians don't eat, we decided to find some food in Salacgrīva, which is the town that Positivus took place in and is in the very north of Latvia.  Once we finally arrived in Salacgrīva, we found a reasonable restaurant and sat down, when we found out that the kitchen was closed.  What a disaster - it was my last day and I literally couldn't take them out.  At this point, any restaurant would be closed so we went to a gas station and I paid for their gas station dinner.  We laughed about it though, and it makes for a good story.  

Thursday was the day that I was leaving.  It was so sad.  I went to Brigita's house for a bit so she could give me some gifts to give to some family members and to say goodbye.  When I got back home, I started packing, and started freaking out.  There was no way all my stuff was going to fit in my suitcase, and even if it did, there was no way it would be under the weight limit.  After I tried to fit it all and failed, Liene stepped in and started moving everything around and rearranging everything.  Somehow, she got everything to fit.  We weighed my suitcase and, of course, it was too heavy.  So we moved some things to my carry-on and actually got my suitcase to be just about to the weight limit.  Ruta took me to the airport and my suitcase ended up weighing 22.6 kilos, when the limit was 23 kilos.  I was so lucky.  Later that day I arrived in Amsterdam and easily found my way to the Amsterdam's center without any problems.

My hotel in Amsterdam was awesome, because so many aspects of it were so funny.  When I arrived at Hotel Nadia, I opened the door to an unbelievably steep staircase.  With my sprained ankle, I was so afraid I was going to fall down these stairs, but I surprisingly never did!  Once I got up the crazy stairs, I reached the reception desk.  The guy told me about the hotel and where my room was and everything and I asked him if there was Wi-Fi at the hotel.  He said, "yes, I need to charge your card."  I said, "oh, well how much is it?" and he replied "100 euro." 
Aghast, I replied, "What?? You have to be lying to me."
"No, it is 100 euro."
"For Wi-Fi???"
"No! For your room!"
He laughed so hard at the idea that I thought he was charging €100 for Wi-Fi and he instantly became my Amsterdam buddy.  We chatted for a bit and he told me where I could find good food and such and then I headed to bring my stuff to my room.  When I got to my door, it only opened about a foot, because there was a desk in the way of the door!  I squeezed through the door to find an incredibly cramped room.  I don't think I have ever been so glad that I don't have claustrophobia, because this room was so tiny.  The bathroom was the same, but it was only me and it was only for one night so it was just fine.  I also had a balcony overlooking a canal, which was pretty cool.  After leaving my things at the hotel, I left to explore Amsterdam.  I walked around for a few hours, checking out shops and taking pictures.  At one point, I was taking a picture and a guy came up to me and complimented my camera.  I thanked him and then he kept talking.  He told me about the Royal Palace that we were right next to and all the things I could see in Amsterdam in one night.  He asked me a few questions about my trip and where I was from.  I figured that as long as I was in a busy street and he was only talking to me it was okay to talk to him.  Then, however, he said, "Come on, let me show you around."  I laughed and said, "No way dude, I'm going this way now."  He tried to get me to go with him again but soon gave up.  Then, I went in search of some food.  Most places were closed, but I found a cafe with tables outside on a canal that looked good.  I had some decent food there and the waiters all seemed really sympathetic for me because I was alone.  I assured them that it was fine and I only had a one-night layover there.  They were nice though.  After dinner I kept walking around for awhile.  After walking for awhile, things started to get weird and I quickly realized that I had stumbled upon the Red Light District.  I saw what it was about and then soon left because it was getting dark and I didn't want to be there alone.  After a few hours of exploring, I headed back to my hotel and had a good night's sleep.

The next day was more of the same.  I woke up at 7 AM and headed down the hall to have some of the hotel's free breakfast.  It turned out that "free breakfast" meant bread and cheese, no toaster.  They didn't even have coffee, but luckily I had a coffee machine in my room.  After eating some bread, I went back to my room to sip coffee on my balcony, but sadly, it was raining.  By 8:30 AM I was ready to seize the day and luckily it had stopped raining.  After leaving the hotel, I went straight to the Anne Frank house, hoping to see where Anne Frank had lived and hidden when she was alive.  Unfortunately, the line was insanely long and I figured I didn't want to waste my one day in Amsterdam in line, so I moved on.  However, pretty much the whole city was closed until 10 AM, so I went to a coffee shop and got another coffee and sat in dome square for an hour and a half.  Friday in Amsterdam was not as exciting as Thursday.  I didn't really want to pay for the tram and wander too far from where I needed to be at 2, so I stayed around the same place I was in on Thursday night.  After spending awhile walking around, my ankle started to hurt, so I found another cafe where I could sit next to a canal and had some wine.  That was really nice.  At 2 PM, I took the airport shuttle back to the airport and got on the plane headed for Minneapolis.  The plane ride went smoothly, but I couldn't sleep at all again.  Customs was surprisingly easy and before I knew it, I was back home. 

My month in Europe seems like a dream now.  It feels like I never even left, and that makes me kind of sad.  I miss it a lot and am already thinking about when I will go back.  Just like last time, I definitely learned a few things. 

One of the biggest things I learned was who my true friends are and who is not a real friend.  I learned a lot about friendship and how to be a real friend.  I learned that I do have some really amazing friends and that I also have some really bad friends.  I think this was a really valuable thing to learn for me and I think it will help me with friendships in the future, both on my end and on theirs.  

I also learned that I have grown so much in the last two years since the last time I traveled abroad.  This time was so much easier - I knew how to solve problems and how to avoid problems.  I also feel like I have changed a lot since the last time I was in Europe.  I guess I am more responsible than I thought I was.  I also feel like I know myself so much better when I am away and out of my comfort zone.  I've learned so much about myself while being away. 

As well as learning things about myself, I have, of course, learned quite a bit of the Latvian language and culture.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty bad at speaking Latvian, but I'm a lot better than I was before, and that is improvement and I will take any improvement I can get.  I feel like I see Latvia in a new light now.  Some things are worse than I had previously thought, and some things are better.  

It was such an amazing trip.  I did so many things and I feel like it has made me a better person.

Positivus Festivāls

The weekend of weekends has come and gone.  It was crazy, magical, painful, repulsive, and wonderful all at the same time.  Positivus 2013 is definitely a weekend I will remember forever.

Friday morning I left the house in a downpour.  It was raining so hard and it was predicted to rain the entire festival weekend.  Awesome.  I was ready, though.  I had my rain jacket, rain boots, umbrella - I was not going to let the rain ruin my weekend.  No way.  I ventured through puddle after puddle until I met Carolyn, a friend from America, at a coffee shop.  We sat and chatted for awhile and waited for the rain to subside a little before heading out to meet Egija and her brother Sigurds so we could collect their stuff to carry to the festival in our car.  I was going to travel there in the car with Carolyn, Liva, her boss, and her friend Sabine, while my main festival companions, Egija, Sigurds, and Egija's friend Klinta, were traveling by bus.  When it was time for us to leave, we had so many things to do.  Liva had to pack her things, we had to pick up Liva's boss and Sabine, stop at Rimi for some groceries, and stop at the gas station.  Once we had finally done all of that, we were on the road by 4 PM.

Tent City

When we finally arrived at the festival, Egija, Sigurds, and Klinta were waiting with tent spots saved so we could all be near each other.  They had my ticket, but we had some problems with getting my ticket through.  Apparently, my ticket had already been beeped when my friends were getting their bracelets, but I hadn't been there to get my bracelet, so I couldn't get in.  We had to wait for a guy to give the check-in people the okay to give me a bracelet and let me in.  Sigurds waited with me by the gate while Egija helped bring all the stuff to the tent.  I didn't know if I'd be able to get in or not, but I was not going to let this ruin my weekend.  No way.  Finally, after half an hour, the guy called and I got my bracelet and I was in!  Now, my festival weekend had officially started.  Our group had four tents.  Carolyn, Liva, and Sabine were in one tent, Egija and Klinta in another, Liva's friends Antons and Rita in another, and me and Sigurds in the tent that I brought.  While everyone was setting up their tents, Liva, Carolyn, and Sabine's tent broke.  It looked like they were going to have to squish together with us in our tent.  Then, Egija and Klinta's tent broke.  Okay, almost everyone's tent is broken now and there isn't enough room for everyone to sleep.  Not going to let this ruin my weekend.  No way.  In the end, duct tape was purchased and everyone slept in their own tents.  Crisis averted.  Later, we headed across the road to where all the festivities were taking place.  We listened to some good music, went and hung out by the sea, and just chilled and drank for the night.  The last and biggest band of the night was Noah and the Whale.  I had never really listened to them before, but they were so good.  I will probably look them up later and listen to more of their music.

Lunch at the tent

After Noah and the Whale was over, we wanted to stay up and party some more.  We met up with Klinta's cousin, Madara.  Madara is so crazy.  She is a really personable person, but she was so drunk when we met her.  I actually don't think I even saw her at all during the weekend when she wasn't drunk... Regardless of her drunkenness, she was so fun.  We walked around and listened to a little more music while drinking.  Throughout the night, we ran into a lot of drunk people who we would sit and chat with for awhile before moving on.  Probably around 2 AM, we were walking in the grass, and I tripped on some uneven ground and fell, and sprained my ankle.  The pain was so bad, but, lucky for me, this is the third time in the last year that I have sprained my ankle, so I know the feeling really well and know when it's just a sprain.  Madara freaked out and took off for the nearest first aid station.  She came back with some bandage wrap and wrapped up my ankle, and, despite how drunk she was, she actually did a really good job.  She told us that she had told the first aid people what had happened and they said that I had to go to the station myself to get the wrap.  She told them that I couldn't go there, because I had sprained my ankle, and they told her that they wouldn't give her the wrap.  Then she told them that she was a doctor herself and knew how to wrap it.  They asked her what her name was and she gave them the name of her family doctor.  Probably just to get rid of this drunk girl, they finally gave her the wrap.  Madara to the rescue!  After that, my ankle was sore but Sigurds helped me to get around, so we still stayed out until 4 AM.  Not letting this ruin my weekend.  No way.

The Positivus crew

Saturday, we started off the morning slowly.  We woke up fairly late and got ready for the day.  Around 1 PM, we went to a school really close to the festival grounds where they were offering cheap lunch.  The food was actually pretty good.  After that, we headed over to the festival entrance, but not before Sigurds could get some ice cream.  We went to the gate, and Klinta and I got through, but Sigurds was stopped and told that he couldn't take his ice cream past the gates, so Klinta and I went back out so he could finish his ice cream.  Then, we went to the gates again.  Klinta and I got through, but Egija was stopped and told that she couldn't take her umbrella past the gates, so Klinta and I went back out so she could hide her umbrella.  Then we went back to the gates and the guard looked at me funny and said, "again??"  We all got through the gates this time and headed over to the second biggest stage to see a popular Latvian band called The Sound Poets.  They were so good.  Usually, Latvian bands are not very good, but this one I really liked.  After that, we hung out around the festival and listened to a lot of different music.  We also heard an older Latvian band called Jauns Mēness, or New Moon.  They were also pretty good.  After that we had to gather up all the strength we could for the most exciting part of the festival: Imagine Dragons.  I am so in love with this band and was so unbelievably excited to see them.  We stopped by the tent to eat some food and drink some beer and then headed back over to get our spots.  We got spots that were really close to the stage, which was really awesome.  When they started playing, I had so many amazing emotions running through my body.  This is what I love about good live music, and this is what it really feels like to be alive.  One thing I really loved about them was that they are still a pretty new band.  They only have one album out, so they were so amazed and grateful to see such a huge crowd watching them.  It was truly amazing.

After Imagine Dragons played, though, my asthma started getting really bad and I didn't have my inhaler.  I'm pretty sure 80% of the people at this festival were smokers.  Every second there was someone smoking near me and it was literally impossible to get away from it.  People would smoke in the huge crowd where everyone is so close together.  They'd blow their smoke right in your face without a care in the world.  It was so disgusting.  Klinta and Sigurds are also smokers, but at least they were considerate about it and blew their smoke away from me.  I wasn't going to let my asthma ruin my weekend though.  No way.  So I took all the mental strength I had to calm down my breathing so that I could be okay.  Compared to how I usually get when I forget my inhaler, I did a really awesome job at mentally getting my breathing under control.

Disgusting feet after Imagine Dragons

There were a few really disgusting things about Positivus, in addition to the excessive smoking.  People threw their garbage wherever they wanted, and there was trash EVERYWHERE.  I hate that.  Littering bothers me so much.  I don't understand why people can't just respect the earth and clean up their trash.  There were so many trash cans around, and it really is not that hard to pick up after yourself.  Also, after the first day, the porta potties were absolutely despicable.  Going to the bathroom was probably the worst part of the whole festival, including spraining my ankle.  But, anything that is so great has to have a few downfalls, right?  So, there is no way that disgusting people could ruin my weekend.

The last band of the night was Sigur Ros.  I was pretty excited to see them, too, because they have really good music and they are a pretty big band.  However, their concert turned out to be long and boring.  While their music is good, it is not quite right for a festival.  They have really chill and quiet music, and all of it sounds pretty much the same.  They didn't really seem like they actually enjoyed being there and didn't talk to the audience at all.  I think a huge part of being a big musician is crowd appeal, and if you don't do things to get the crowd excited or to show them how much you appreciate them, it's a big turn-off.  They were probably one of the only bands I saw where no one called for an encore, including a lot of the smaller bands.  After that concert, my ankle was hurting pretty bad and I was tired, so I headed back to the tent to get some sleep.

The XX

Sunday was the last day of the festival and by that time, I was so tired, not breathing well, in a lot of pain, and now had a cold.  No way I'm letting any of that ruin my weekend, though.  In the morning, we packed up most of our things because I was leaving after the XX would play around 1:30 AM.  During the day, we saw a lot of bands: French Films, Tom Odell, Darwin Deez, Michael Kiwanuka, and Two Door Cinema Club.  I really loved Tom Odell.  I only knew one of his songs, but all of the songs he played were so good.  Two Door Cinema Club was also really good, of course.  They were one of the bigger bands, but again, I only knew a few songs by them.  The end of the night was what we had been waiting for all day, though: The XX.  They are so amazing.  While I wasn't as excited about them as I was about Imagine Dragons, they were definitely in my top bands to see for the weekend.  The XX was the last band to play for the weekend.  Obviously, they were so good.  After the XX played, it was time to go.  It was sad leaving the festival, but I was also pretty ready to go and sleep in a bed again.  I got home around 4 AM and took a shower right away.

So many things went wrong this weekend, but I didn't let anything ruin my weekend, and you know what?  I had such an amazing time.  I will never forget the great friends that I made and the adventures I had in Salacgrīva, Latvia.  And, one of the best parts is that even though the forecast predicted pouring rain all weekend, it rained for like two minutes total.  How magical is that?  This was such a good way to spend my last weekend in Latvia.

Lidojums ar Putniem

View from the top of St. Peter's Church

Yesterday, I got really sick.  Like, really really sick.  I am going to run out of one of my medications soon, and when I run out I get really sick and dizzy.  It is on its way in the mail, so it should get here soon, but it is still a little bit scary.  Yesterday I didn't take my full dosage because I am trying to save what I have.  I left the house early in the afternoon feeling a little bit dizzy, but I figured I would be okay.  I met up with Egija in old Riga and we went to the top of St. Peter's church where we saw an incredible view of the entire city.  It was so beautiful.  Seeing that view just confirmed even more for me that Riga is the best city in the world.  However, when I was up there, I started to feel more dizzy.  We then went to go and eat some sushi and while we were eating, I just felt so sick and I was in so much pain that I had to go home.  I had to cancel my plans for the rest of the evening because of how miserable I was feeling.  Not fun.  On top of that, my body has just been freaking out and doing really weird things because of the time difference and travel stuff.  That's probably the worst part about traveling - how much my body freaks out.

View from the sky

Today, I took my full dosage of my medicine and I feel 100% better, which was good because today, I got to fly with the birds.  Last month, Lauris gave Ruta a certificate to go hang gliding for her birthday, so today seemed like the perfect day to do that, and I went too!  It was a little bit different from traditional hang gliding, because it had a motor so that we could take off from the water, and instead of actually hanging there, there were two seats - one for the pilot and one for me.  I went first, and it was so cool.  There were some thunderstorms today, and I flew right before the rain.  When we were up in the air, I could see the rain far away - it looked like a huge cloud of mist covering absolutely everything.  Then, it came closer and closer until I started to feel a few drops where we were.  The pilot also did a couple of "tricks" where we would turn on the side and then just free-fall for a second.  (Omi, don't freak out - I'm writing this blog now so I did survive!)  Being up there was such a thrill.  I loved it!

Dzīve ir Skaista

After returning to Riga from Stockholm, I had a couple of much needed days to get some homework done.  I am taking two online summer classes this summer and I was so behind on them because of my travels.  So, I spent two entire days working on my homework and now I am mostly caught up and can breathe a little for awhile.

Brigita's birthday bash

Saturday was Brigita's big birthday party.  She invited family and friends from near and far, and many of them didn't even know each other.  There was a ton of people there and everyone was either speaking Latvian or Russian, so I didn't understand much while I was there.  Every once in awhile I would be talking to someone and hear, "Emily!"  I would turn around and see Brigita beckoning me so that I could meet some more people that I was related to.  I met a lot of people, most of whom I have no idea what their names are.  It was good, though.  It was really interesting to meet all these new people and find out that I am related to them and how I am related to them.  Brigita also loved my present and she was so excited about the gummy worms that Mirdza gave me to bring to her.

The perfect Black Balzams tasting location

On Sunday, Ruta took me to the mall to go shopping.  That was fun because the mall we went to was really huge and had a lot of interesting stores.  Afterwards, I met Egija in old town.  I did some shopping and got some gifts for people and then we went to a cafe and sat outside and had some drinks.  I really love just sitting outside with friends here.  I feel so at peace and so blissful.  It's just perfect.  While we were chatting and sipping, I mentioned that I have never tried Black Balzams before.  Black Balzams is a traditional Latvian liquor that is typically used either for recreational drinking or for medicinal purposes.  It is supposedly really helpful for if one has a cold or digestive problems.  Obviously, since this is such a traditional thing, I had to try it.  So, we headed over to Rimi, got a small bottle of Black Balzams and also a small bottle of Black Currant Balzams (flavored) and then walked to the river where we found a perfect place to sit and chat and drink Black Balzams.  I tried one sip and it was so horribly strong, so I couldn't have any more.  I could see it being mixed with something or on ice cream, but by itself it is not good.  Not good at all.  Then I tried the Black Currant Balzams.  After trying the traditional, I didn't have high hopes for this one but it was actually not bad.  So, now I can say that I have had Balzams.

Monday was a good day.  In the afternoon, Ruta, Emily, Liene and I, and also a couple people who I think are from Belarus, all went to Jūrmala.  It is always so nice sitting by the sea with the wind in my hair.  We were there for probably an hour and a half, just sitting and enjoying the sea.  It was Emily's first time seeing the sea, so that was pretty exciting.  She was so intrigued by the sand.  After the beach, we went back to Riga and I went straight to old town because it was Egija's namesday!  We had a pretty chill night, but it was so great being with good friends.  The first bar we went to was a small one, and when I got there I was a little hungry so I wanted to eat something.  The bartender was talking to me and asking what I wanted and I wasn't really sure yet, so he said, "I know what you want.  I will go and make it." and then walked off!  I was so surprised and a little bit nervous about what he would bring back for me, but after 10 minutes he came back with a panini-type thing and it was really good!  Apparently he really did know what i wanted.  The rest of the night was so nice, just hanging out with friends and talking.  I am living such a good life right now.  :]

Good friends, good beer, good life

Ghost town

Today was so good too.  Ruta, Liene, Emily, and I went to the Botanical garden for a little bit, which was so nice.  It is so beautiful and magical there.  We walked around for awhile and then I took the tram to meet Egija in the city center where she works.  She and I went to a cafe and had some amazing coffee and I had a really yummy panini.  Once again, I had tried to communicate with the waiter and he didn't really understand me so what I ended up getting was a surprise.  But, once again, it was so good.  After eating, we took the bus to the neighborhood that Egija lives in.  It was so interesting seeing such a different side of Riga.  This neighborhood at one time was where the richest people lived.  Now, it is where some of the poorest people live.  It also at one time was where Jews were forced to live and stay during the Nazi era.  Now, the town looks like a ghost town.  There are so many old buildings and many of them are completely abandoned.  The town is creepy but it was actually really awesome.  I love taking photos of old things so it was a really perfect place to do a photoshoot, and that is what we did.  It was such a good time, just walking around.  Later, we headed back to old Riga and walked around a bit and did some shopping.  Overall, it was a really great night.

Stokholma, Zviedrija

Evening at the beach in Jūrmala

On Monday, I went to Jūrmala with Egija and her friend Klinta.  It was so nice to go and sit on the beach, with the wind in my hair.  We took the train and it only took about 20 minutes to get there.  When we arrived, we got off the train, got some ice cream, and headed toward the sea.  Shortly after we had picked out a spot and sat down, a bird pooped on Klinta!  She freaked out and ran to the sea to wash it off, and then showed Egija.  Egija laughed at her and went to go change into her swimsuit.  When Egija came back, she told us that a bird had pooped on HER!  For the rest of the evening, I was so nervous that I was next, and the birds were just waiting for the perfect moment.  Luckily, I never was pooped on.  Don't be fooled, though.  The birds were just planning out their attack on me...

Stockholm, Sweden

The next day, I headed out for Stockholm, Sweden.  I will admit, my trip to Sweden was not the best.  I was traveling with Sanita and her parents and we took a big ferry.  The ferry was kind of like a small cruise ship.  There were restaurants, bars, a store, everything.  I had never been on a ship like this, so it was kind of exciting.  The ship left at 5 PM and arrived in Stockholm the next morning at 11 AM.  In the morning, we ate breakfast in a cafe that had a view out of the front of the ship.  The way into Stockholm was so beautiful, because the ship was maneuvering between thousands of small islands.  The area reminded me so much of Voyageurs National Park, where I go camping every summer with my dad and my brother.  When we got to Stockholm, however, it was raining so hard.  For the first half of the day, we took a bus tour, but the tour was in Russian, so I didn't understand anything.  It was nice to see the city in a dry place, though.  After the tour, we were left to explore the city on foot.  But, because of the rain, we didn't see much.  I didn't get very many pictures because I didn't want to get my camera wet and I didn't see very much of the city because I was always looking down at the cobblestone trying not to slip.  After awhile, we just decided to go back to the ship an hour early because it just wasn't worth it to be so miserable in the pouring rain.  The way back to Riga was not as fun as the way there, because everyone was tired and cranky.

Even though the trip itself wasn't so great, there were a lot of positives.  Stockholm is a seriously beautiful city.  It is in such a nice part of the world and it is so green.  I would really love to go back on a sunny day sometime.  I also feel like my Latvian improved a lot on the trip, because Sanita's parents don't speak any English, so I had to communicate a lot in Latvian.  Sanita was always translating for me, so I knew what was going on and was able to listen and follow the conversation a lot easier.  I have started speaking Lat-glish now, which I think will help a lot in my learning.  I am using Latvian words when I can, and after some time passes, I will hopefully be able to fill in the blanks where I am currently using English.  I am learning more and more every day and it is becoming increasingly less overwhelming.

When I got back home today, I was really tired from the trip and came into my room to chill.  It is now Thursday and the birds have had three days to plan out their attack.  I was sitting on my computer and uploading my photos, when, all of a sudden, a big black bird flew through the window into my room!  I screamed and Lauris came in, wondering what had happened.  He shooed the bird back out the window and all was good again.  It was so crazy.  Now I am just hoping that that was the extent of the birds' attack on me...

Cilvēki

So I realized the other day that many of you reading this might not know who the people I am writing about are.  So, I thought I would make a "people guide" to avoid confusion.  Here is a list of all the people I have written about or might write about in the future that I know of.

Irma (Omi): my grandma
Mirdza: my great aunt
Brigita: Omi and Mirdza's cousin (if this is wrong, someone correct me, because this one I'm not 100% sure about)
Gunārs: Brigita's husband

Lauris: Brigita's nephew
Ruta: Lauris's wife
Emilija (Emily): Lauris and Ruta's daughter

Sanita: Ruta's younger sister
Liene: Lauris's younger sister

Evita: Brigita's daughter
Sophie: Evita's daughter
Sabine: Brigita's daughter

Ilze: Brigita's niece and Lauris's cousin
Dainis: Ilze's husband
Emils: Ilze and Dainis's son
Gustavs: Ilze and Dainis's son

Egija: Studied at UWEC for 2012-2013 year
Laura: Studied at UWEC for 2012-2013 year
Rūta: Studied at UWEC for 2012-2013 year
Liva G.: Studied at UWEC for 2011-2012 year
Anete: Studied at UWEC for 2011-2012 year

Mārtiņš: Studied at UWEC for 2011-2012 year

Liva K.: Latvian-American student at UWEC

Justin: Rūta's boyfriend
Carolyn: American friend from UWEC

Paulis Lazda: Latvian professor of History at UWEC

Irene Lazda: Retired Latvian professor of German at UWEC, also my Latvian teacher

If I think of any more people or write about anyone else, I will update this specific blog post rather than posting a whole new blog post.  I hope this helps!

Valodas Mācišanās

The last few days have been a little bit busier.  Thursday and Friday were so unbearably hot, but Saturday and Sunday the weather was perfect!  It was a little hot in the sun in the daytime but there was a nice breeze that kept things cooled off.  When it was so hot, I felt so bad for the singers and dancers who had to wear those warm folk costumes all the time and sing and dance in them.  During their rehearsals, so many of them fainted from the heat.  I couldn't believe how much inner strength and pride these people had.

On Saturday, we went to a big orchestra concert in Dome Square that was part of the Song and Dance Festival.  There were so many people there watching the bands and orchestras.  We listened for awhile, and then went to a cafe to sit for awhile.  Later, I met my friends from Eau Claire.  We did some shopping and then Egija and I walked around Vecriga.  We went into a bar called Ala and found a bunch of the singers from the festival singing traditional folk songs.  I was so surprised to see this, because the singers had been singing all day.  I would've thought that after a full day of singing and hearing the folk songs, they would want to hear anything else or do something else.  But no, after they were done singing at the festival, they just went to the bar to sing some more.  I have never seen such a strong love for one's country and traditions.  To me, it is so beautiful.

Good friends in Vecriga

Later that night, we met up again with Liva, and had a little bit of food at Ezitis Migla.  I had potato pancakes with jam and sour cream.  So yummy.  After eating, we met again with Laura, Rūta, Justin, Ruta's brother Kristaps, and his girlfriend Andra.  We went to the bar across the street and it wasn't very crowded.  So we all sat down in an empty room and just chatted and drank beer.  Sitting there with amazing friends made me feel so happy.  Good friends and good beer in the best city in the world, how could I not feel elated?  That was such a good night.

Song and Dance Festival parade

On Sunday morning, Liene and I left to go to Brigita's house, where we met up with a bunch of other people to go to the parade for the Song and Dance Festival.  The parade was fun at first, but it was mostly just people walking by representing all the regions of Latvia.  The parade included everyone who participated in the Song and Dance Festival, so needless to say, it was an insanely long parade.  We stood there in the sun for three and a half hours, because we had to see Ruta, Lauris, and Emily at the end.  Riga was the last part of the parade.  When we saw the sign for Riga, we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  No sign of Ruta or Lauris.  All of a sudden, after so long, we heard "Čau!"  and saw Ruta and Lauris walking by.  None of us had noticed them and no one was able to catch a picture.  We freaked out because they surprised us, and laughed.  After the parade, I was so exhausted because the sun had completely drained my energy.  I ate some food and drank some water, though, and then I was feeling much better.

Ligo concert

Later that night, Ruta, Lauris, Sanita, and I went to the Ligo singing concert.  This is the biggest and final concert in the entire festival.  It was seriously insane.  There were 18,000 people singing all at once, and even more watching.  It was such a beautiful thing to hear and made me so proud that this is where I come from.  The song and dance festival is such a big deal and there is nothing else like it in the world.  It's like the music olympics of Latvia.  So crazy!  Once most of the concert was over, we left and came home to watch the rest on TV and get some sleep.

While I was out with my friends on Saturday night, we were talking about Latvian traditions and they were saying how much they hate amber, because it is everywhere here.  Until now, I have always felt a little sad that I did not grow up learning all the traditions and folk songs and the language.  However, now I am finding that this is so much more special to me since I am discovering it for myself.  I am making the effort to find out who I am and where I come from.  I am learning the traditions for myself rather than having it forced upon me.  That makes me love it so much more.  Granted, if I had learned the language when I was young it would've made it a lot easier on me now.  Oh well.

Vecriga

That brings me to the big question everyone keeps asking me: How is the language learning going?  The simple answer would be that it is hard, overwhelming, and emotionally taxing.  My friends are speaking Latvian most of the time, and I usually try to listen and understand, but after so long of listening and thinking, I start to feel so so tired and end up just zoning everything out.  I know that being immersed in the language is the best way for me to learn it, but it is so hard when I am working at it the entire day.  Sometimes, not understanding anything makes me feel homesick and emotional.  However, I luckily have some experience in this language learning thing, and I remember that this is exactly how I felt the first few days in Spain.  So overwhelmed and tired out.  But Spain got so much better.  So, I have hope that it will get better and I will start learning quicker.  I just have to give it some time.

Tēvu Laipas Koncerts

Dance concert

Today, we went to the Tēvu Laipas dance concert, which is part of the song and dance festival.  It was so cool.  There were thousands of people dancing, representing their beloved country.  The dances were all traditional Latvian folk dances.  I was pretty excited when I recognized a couple of them.  I am including a video that I took at the end of this of the very last dance where all the dancers came out.  The dancers were all amazing and all so proud.  One thing that I have always loved about Latvia, and continues to impress me time after time, is how united the country is.  It is such a small country, but everyone comes together to practice traditions and show their pride.  Community is such an important thing in this culture.  It’s such a cool thing to witness. 

Beer and friends in Riga

My days so far have been pretty chill.  Yesterday we went to see a concert in a church and then went to listen to some music and hang out while drinking some good Latvian beer.  That was fun because I got to see Ilze again and chat with her.  I also had the best ice cream ever!  It was home

made ice cream and so yummy.  Hopefully I will still be able to enjoy all other ice cream now.

Also, jet lag is kicking my ass.  

Es mīlu Rīgu

Dinner at Lido

Being back in Europe is so amazing.  I honestly feel like I never even left.  It feels so right being here.  Yesterday was a pretty chill day for the most part because of how tired I am.  I met Liene, Lauris's sister, and she was so sweet.  Ruta, Liene, Emilija, and I went to a store to get some jeans because I had forgotten mine, and then went to see Brigita.  Brigita is so great - she makes you feel right at home in a foreign place.  We had some lunch there and talked.  There is a food here called biezspiena sieriņš and it is so yummy.  It's like little mini cheesecakes.  Since I have been listening to so many people speak Latvian all the time, I can already feel my own Latvian getting better little by little.  I have been trying to say things that I can in Latvian instead of just English and I am really hoping that by the end of the trip I will be a little better so I can do well on my language assessment for my Fulbright application. 

Later, I met some of my friends in Vecrīga.  Laura, Ruta, Ruta's brother, a couple of Ruta's friends, and I took the tram to Lido for dinner.  Lido is a big restaurant that is set up cafeteria-style, so you can pick and choose whatever foods you want, but, unlike a cafeteria, this food is so good.  We ate dinner and then headed back to Vecrīga for some fun.  We went to a few bars and I was surprised to find that the beer here is so much stronger than in the US.  I came back to the apartment around 3 AM and it was already getting light out!  It is only completely dark here for about 3 hours per night.  So crazy!

Pirmās Dienas

Eiffel Tower

Well, I made it.  After a year of waiting, I am finally in Riga.  I've had quite the journey thus far and I'm pretty  sure I've never been as exhausted as I have been the last couple of days,  but of course, it is so worth it.  My flight to Paris went smoothly.  The plane was pretty cool because every seat was equipped with an entertainment pad where you could watch movies, TV shows, listen to music, play games, and more.  The woman sitting next to me only spoke French, so she was pretty quiet.  The only bad part of the flight was that I wasn't able to sleep at all.  By the time I would normally go to sleep, it was already morning in Paris.

Notre Dame

When I arrived in Paris, I was supposed to send a message to Evita so she would know when to meet me, but my internet wasn't working, so I just headed to where we planned to meet in the city.  When I got there, neither Evita nor Sabine were there, of course.  So, I went up to a couple, hoping they were friendly and spoke English, and asked to borrow their phone.  They were so nice.  When the girl's phone didn't work, the guy let me use his and I was able to reach Evita.  After just 10 minutes, she arrived.  We then went back to Evita's apartment and met Sabine.  I was so tired from the flight, so they gave me some coffee and breakfast and let me freshen up a bit before heading out.  After eating, Sabine and I left to see the city of lights.  She took me to see the Eiffel tower, some beautiful parks, the outside of the Louvre, and Notre Dame.  We did so much walking and by the time we got back to the apartment for lunch, I was so worn out that I just fell asleep.  Later, Sabine, Evita, and I ate some food and soon enough, it was time to go back to the airport.  Sabine took me back to the train station and once I got a seat on the train, I fell asleep again.  At the airport, while waiting for my flight, I fell asleep again.  I feel like I am really lucky that I never missed my stop or flight.  Once I got on the plane, I found that I was sitting next to a guy my age from California.  I told him, "I am going to sleep the whole way; I am so exhausted."  He seemed to understand my desperate need for rest, but for the first half of the flight he would not stop talking!  Eventually he did stop though and I got a little bit of sleep.

Good friends in Paris

My plane landed an hour late in Riga, but Ruta, Lauris, Emilija, and Sanita (Ruta's sister) were right there waiting for me.  They had already heard about my adventures in Paris and how tired I was so we went straight back to the apartment so I could finally get some sleep.  However, Emily wasn't tired so we were up for awhile talking.  I was surprised to find that it doesn't get completely dark here until around midnight and sunset is around 10:30 PM!

Needless to say, I slept very well that night.