Priecigus Ziemmasvetkus...Merry Christmas

A Very Merry Christmas 2007 to all our friends and family.

On Sunday December 9 we went to Zvannieki with the vicar of the Anglican Church and had a Christmas feast with church congregation members and Zannieki residents. Zvannieki is a crises care home for children in the Cesus region of Latvia about a two hour drive from Riga out in the countryside reached by dirt roads and set in a large open field. On the two hour drive Bob had a good opportunity to discuss with the vicar children's services in Latvia. He is still working at understanding what services are available and what the needs are for his students of social work. I have been doing some shopping at the Christmas markets which are set up in the various laukums (squares) of vecriga (old Riga). Bob finished his teaching schedule for December last night and we leave today for Germany. We plan to spend Christmas week with the Limans, Bob's German family from his American Field Service year during high school, 1961.

We are flying Ryan Air and hear it is quite something....We plan to be back in Riga for New Year's. So to all our many friends and family a very Merry Christmas....be safe...be joyful ...and be hopeful ....

Coffee with Ambassador Katherine Todd Bailey

The Fulbright group was invited to the Ambassador's Residence for coffee with Her Excellency Katherine Todd Bailey from Kentucky. She is finishing up her term as Ambassador and a new appointee Charles Larson from Iowa is awaiting senate confirmation. She related some of her observations and accomplishments during her term here in Riga. Check out the link to the US embassy in Riga for complete information. http://riga.usembassy.gov/

lietus ....rain

I have another story for you for today.

It's been a few days since we've seen any sun here--maybe a week or so, but cool to cold temperatures is one thing. Today had an extra, added dimension--very wet, intermittently very heavy, very cold rain. When I got home on Saturday after teaching all day, I discovered I didn't have my thumb drive/flash drive, the essence of my teaching with all the powerpoint presentations in the right order and the right revisions, etc. I
stewed about it for awhile but of course everyone was on their way out when I
was leaving Attistiba and I knew there was no one to contact over the weekend. I had also left my umbrella on my desk.
It was 4 a.m. or so when I woke up this morning and I knew I wasn't going back to sleep. By 7:30 I was getting bundled to go
out, to go to school and see if I could find the flash drive before someone else did--assuming that it really was still there where I'd taken it out of the
computer and not in some ditch having fallen out of a pocket when I took out a glove or my keys. Long johns, my winter hiking boots, three layers
on top with two zippered up to my chin and my winter coat with hood up, I
went out into the weather. It was still dark with street lights on--wretched
weather!! I could take a tram to my usual tram stop, then change, but I looked
at the first one that went by and it was sardine-like packed with people. So,
despite the intermittently driving rain I decided to walk the 15 minutes to my usual stop. There are three or 4 blocks of stores, shops and restaurants, then a very long park block before Latvia University then the shortcut to my tram stop at the National Opera.
Puddles here are a real hazard--cars come whizzing by on
the street, catch a puddle and easily spray the whole sidewalk up to the buildings. I've learned to walk on the right going down and coming back, as close the buildings as possible. I did not get plastered but there were one or two close calls, and the poor woman walking in front of me--like the Gatorade shower a winning football coach gets at the end of a successful season. I got to the street crossing just before the park and thought I could hear music through my muffled hood. By this time I'm mumbling to myself in my mind, "What idiot kid has his radio turned up that loud, or his window open--on a day like
today??" I looked but then street noise drowned out any other sounds. The
sound seemed to return, a little clearer the second time, a trumpet maybe,
coming from the park—there was street musician in the park, in the dark, in his usual place playing a song...................that I recognized. It did take me a while to come up with the name of the song--I had the jaunty tune and the rhythm first so that I was humming the Burt Bacharach(sp?) number. Then the artist singing, B.J Thomas and finally "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head." By that time I had a grin from ear to ear and I laughed out loud. The grin??? Still there all day long. Oh, I did find my flash drive exactly where I had left it in the classroom, remembered my umbrella, managed to avoid a puddle-splash drenching and did dry out and get warm a couple times during the day--what a great day!
Bob

A Challenge to our Readers

Sunday December 2, 2007

Often when we leave our apartment and walk the streets of Riga we observe new sights. Last Sunday we saw Latvian flags with a black ribbon attached and have not figured out the significance of the black ribbon. We do know the flags were out for Proclamation of Independence Day on November 18 and on November 11 for Remembrance Day...but didn't notice black ribbons on those days. In one of the parks we saw people ice skating on a rink and Christmas decorations were everywhere....however.....

Here's your challenge:

What is the significance of this long, patiently waiting line stretching the length of pils iela? We saw it when we went in to church at 11 and it was four or five times longer when we came out at noon stretching in both directions. December 2, 2007.

More hints will be provided if you email us your hypotheses. Are you stumped?

Latvian/Thanksgiving Pot Luck

The Adventure of Pumpkin Pie Making in Latvia
or It’s a good thing I’m a science teacher

Yes, another adventure. How to make a pumpkin pie in Latvia. Bob and I invited several Fulbrighters for a Thanksgiving Pot Luck in Latvia. We held our celebration on Saturday the 24th since Thursday was a work day for everyone here. My contribution in the manner of traditions was to bake a pumpkin pie. Well, first we needed to find all the ingredients. Cream was no problem since Latvia has fine dairy products…but there was nothing to resemble Crisco which I always use to make my pie crust. I even considered buying a crust but after reconnoitering in Stockman’s, the most anglophile department store, I could only find pizza crust, puff pastry crust and a pre-made graham cracker crust….none of which would do. Finally we (it took two of us) found a block of Eve…”for baking and cooking”….80% fat so I tried a practice crust with some apples in it for filling. I had a flan pan for the crust and used a wine bottle for a rolling pin. Next of course for the big day was to make the pumpkin pie filling. No canned pumpkin or squash…..or spices in the grocery store…so off to the Central Market. We found squash…so of course …we had to cook it up and try it out weeks before the big day. In our dictionary we could find cinnamon (malts kanelis) and cloves (krustnaglina) but no luck finding ginger….we did consider going to the book store to look it up in a more complete dictionary and then Bob noticed ginger root (ingvars) on one of our shopping trips so by combining that with “malts” for ground we were on our way. We found both ginger and cloves at the large central market at a stall that was full of bins and bags of spices. Of course this meant we had to communicate our needs to the sales person both for the item and the amount, in grams, that we desired. Fortunately, she let us see and smell the powders to be sure we were purchasing the spices we needed. The next step was to make the conversions to use my tried and true pie recipe, (which Tina provided from home via skype) and get out the scale to weigh the ingredients. Fortunately our apartment came with a conversion chart. The cup of sugar was equal to 8 oz which equals 250 g and the cup of flour 5 oz equals 150 g….who knows what a cup of pureed squash equals so I estimated and yes two eggs were just two eggs. I found an ml measuring cup for the cream, the balance to measure grams and of course the conversion chart for oven temperatures which are marked on the stove as C degrees…..The pie was delicious and I felt a real sense of accomplishment. As one of our friends says “things take longer in Latvia”

18.novembris no Riga

Latvian Independence Day
Sunday, November 18, 2007
We had checked the billboard earlier in the week and knew about many of the events scheduled to celebrate Latvian Independence so we were not surprised to find all manner of audio-visual high tech equipment, risers and a widely-spaced police line at the site of the freedom monument on Sunday morning, all in preparation for the ceremonial laying of flowers at the base of the monument. We had good viewing spots on the curb about 100 yards from the monument as the dignitaries began to gather—Saeima (parliament) representatives, several rows of ambassadors (including, we believe, our own), military, business and cultural leaders and then a large group of common people—old, young, parents, children—all carrying flowers to lay at the base of the monument. Some were large wreaths of roses and greens with ribbons in the colors of that State’s colors. Others were a simple stem or three or five—many reds and whites, the Latvian national colors.
Just before the beginning of the ceremony, the (embattled) Cabinet President arrived, sirens and lights flashing, loud-speaker on the lead car blaring, private security front and back as he made his way to the front of the procession. The President was the last to arrive—a much less noisy entrance, but with the usual cadre of secret service types around. Once he took his place the military band played a reserved processional as the procession moved forward with wave after wave of people stepping up to the monument, pausing, then laying their wreaths and sprays before moving aside to let others come. The ceremony concluded with the playing and singing of the Latvian National Anthem--although without any of the loud, wild cheering that usually accompanies ours. No speeches in the morning; they were to come later in the day.
As the dignitaries dispersed, the President began to make his way toward his waiting car stopping along the way to shake hands with people in the crowd. Just before he got to our position, he turned as if to cross the road to the other side, then turned back. Cheryl first, then I shook hands with him and in English exchanged brief greetings and good wishes before he moved on. It was a privilege; a symbol of a shared value of independence we feel celebrating the 4th of July at home and November 18th here in Latvia. What kept running through my mind all day long were the words to the hymn, This is My Song, printed below and sung to the tune Finlandia.
Lloyd Stone, 1934
This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,A song of peace for lands afar and mine.This is my home, the country where my heart is;Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.But other hearts in other lands are beating,With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.But other lands have sunlight too and clover,And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,A song of peace for their land and for mine.
May truth and freedom come to every nationMay peace abound where strife has raged so long;That each may seek to love and build together,A world united, righting every wrong.A world united in its love for freedom,Proclaiming peace together in one song.

In the afternoon we join thousands along the river road named, “11 November Boulevard” to see a parade comprised of military units. We went back to the closed river road in the evening for the fireworks display that brought to a close the outdoor festivities. It was an independence day celebration to be remembered! rej

Rezekne

Teaching Social Work in Latvia


Last Thursday was a difficult day for me in the classroom and it’s my hunch most who teach can relate. It was the first day of a new course, albeit one I have taught regularly at UNH for more than 25 years. I was working with a new/different translator, a young business student from Riga, who was also translating for the first time in any subject. The content included a fair amount of theory and technical use of a number of words everyone already knows in English—the word “empathy”, for example that turns out to be the same in Latvian as the word for “sympathy”. The Eskimos have 3 words for snow; the Nepalese have 3 for rice. In English we use “empathy” and “sympathy” to describe variations of commiseration. The Latvians have one word for the concept. In retrospect it’s no wonder there were blank and bemused looks as I tried to describe the importance of the difference in social work practice. The theory was also tough to present and the harder I tried the less successful I felt. Stories and illustrations fell flat or became so convoluted in the telling that I stopped myself and the translator midway through several to start again or in some instances just move on. The power point slides and outline made good sense to me when I put them together, but not to this group of students, or me, in the after-lunch 4th, 5th, 6th hours of the class. On Thursday evening I was quite discouraged.
Friday and Saturday were better—actually much better, but the Thursday experience has me thinking, a lot. I’ve thought about foreign teaching, teaching through translation, the critical necessity to connect with the value/knowledge/skill needs of the students in their context. The bottom line? Some power point slides will be revised, others removed. I will re-think the presentation of the content and re-structure the mid-term exam—“reasonable” wrong answers on multiple choice questions are sometimes difficult in English. This is a class taught in Latvian but with many native Russian speakers, several of whom bring Latvian/Russian dictionaries to class for exam days. Overall, I believe most of the students are learning some things; I’m the one learning a lot!
Nov 19, 2007

In the photo above Bob is with other American social workers, Latvian translators and the International Programs coordinator of Attistiba. It was taken when Bob presented a paper on International Adoption at the Riga Stradins University early in November. The other images come from our trip to Rezekne, a city in the Latgale region of Latvia east of Riga toward the Russian border. We stayed here at the Hotel Latgale while Bob did the 3 day intensive seminar course in Social Work Practice which he reflected on in the posting above. I was able to explore Rezekne. Rezekne is on the main road from Riga to Moscow and Warsaw to St. Petersburg. It was bombed heavily in WWII because of its center as a transportation hub. I was able to visit the Latgale Culture and History Museum which had an excellent display of pottery beginning in Neolithic times. The statue of Mara was erected in 1939 with the inscription United Latvia. It was removed and returned twice during Soviet times and finally destroyed. However it was recast by the son of the original sculptor and erected once again in the square in 1992. It's original message to celebrate the liberation of Latgale from foreign rule still resonates today.

11.11.2007 Lacplesa Diena and Rembrance Day

Remembrance Day for the UK and Latvia falls on Latvia's Lacplesis Day. Lacplesa is the mythological national hero of Latvia, the bearslayer who, according to Modris Eksteins, "awakens his people from endless sleep, destroys the evil spirits and restores the Castle of Light. He creates the State, protects it from its enemies, and is a model father." One of the sculptures on the freedom monument shows Lacplesis slaying the bear. As soon as we walked out onto lacplesa street, where our apartment is located, we saw Latvian flags flying. On our building were the flags of Latvia in the center with Estonia and Lithuania as well. Latvian flags and banners lined the streets. We went to church at St. Saviors, the Anglican Church which has services in English where representative of the British Embassy presented a wreath of paper poppies. We saw the flowers and candles at the freedom monument. At a concert we heard Latvian folk songs such as Meness mena saules meitu. The concert ended with a singing of the National Anthem. We walked towards the pils (Riga castle which is now the president's residence) along 11.novembra krastmala and saw all of the candles lit balanced in nooks and crannies of the rough hewn stone wall in remembrance of all peoples and all wars for freedom.

Latvian (Riga) Fashion

3.novembris doma laukum Riga

There is an all-too-familiar ring to the t.v., newspaper and in-person stories of government and political-party scandal and corruption here in Latvia. Two cabinet ministers were recently relieved of their duties because of alleged malfeasance, the head of the security and corruption division of the government has been suspended—apparently because he was too conscientiously attending to his duties, several of the largest political parties overspent during recent elections and are being held accountable (“fined”) for those misdeeds, the ambassador to Estonia was arrested last week for drunk driving in the Estonian capitol, and the recently elected president lacks much of the charisma, leadership or savoir faire of his predecessor. Even the U.S. ambassador spoke out against government corruption and in support of democratic principles in a major policy speak three weeks ago that many Latvians said was “meddling” and others indicated was atypical for U.S. ambassadors.
Several opposition parties and their followers called for and staged a demonstration yesterday in the Dom Laukum (central cathedral square) of Riga. It was a cold (low 30s), snowy morning but by 11:00 a.m. the streets heading into the square were filled. The news coverage last evening indicated a crowd of more than 7,000 in spite of the weather. In the pictures you can just make out the large stage and enclosed bleachers that held a 200-300 person choral group. The large video screens on either side of the stage made it possible for many to see what was happening. There were lots of relatively brief speeches given by women and men—even the President attended and spoke, presumably in support of the current government. Since it was all in Latvian we caught an occasional word or two but not much of the detail. Some of the speeches evoked a chuckle or cheer that started near the front of the crowd and occasionally spread to our location on the edge.
There was a significant and visible police and emergency-personnel presence and all of the streets leading into the square were closed to traffic, but there wasn’t any atmosphere of rowdiness, or threat of violence that would require police intervention. All-in-all it was very orderly. The speeches were interspersed with choral numbers—2 or 3 at a time of the more than one million recorded “dainas” (folk songs) in the Latvian song books. Often some in the crowd joined in. I guess we expected a lot of students and young people, but if anything the crowd consisted of middle-age and older adults along with students and even many families with young children.
It’s been a long time since Cheryl & I went to a demonstration—some time in the early 70s on the Boston Common or at Arlington Street Church in Boston, I think. It’s but one example of democracy in action. rej

Oktobris

Some images of oktobris in Latvija and October at home.....

the Daugava River and courntryside on the road to Daugavpils, Mt. Chochura in New Hampshire from the back field at Reigate courtesy of Ted, and the bridge and pilsetas kanalis near Brivabas.

Music in the Streets

Street musicians are an occasional site in many US cities. Here in Riga they’re a daily source of walking-music in and around the parks and streets of Old Riga. This morning, for example, on our way to church we were serenaded with an accordion version of “Hernando’s Hideaway” as we crossed the main plaza near the Freedom Monument. His right foot, with a beer can filled part way with small pebbles attached keeps the beat. Even before the sound has died away, we hear the plaintive strains of “Summertime” played by the trumpeter in the small park behind the amber sellers and their carts of wares—no accompanying foot tapping beat in this case. On our return through the square, in her usual spot in front of a store front across from the amber sellers is the small, but surprisingly spry and energetic, grandmotherly woman, dressed in native garb, dancing, by herself, to folk tunes playing on her small boom box. We thought at first she might be some kind of advertisement for the store, but that’s clearly not the case. She’s just there, dancing regularly whenever it’s not raining hard. One other regular performance is provided by two young girls, one certainly still a teen; perhaps both. They were absent today, but usually play classical music—Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi. The older plays the cello, the younger the violin. In each instance there’s an instrument case out for the occasional coin provided by passersby. The variety and texture of the music here is a wonderful tapestry reflective in many ways of the culture and traditions of the country, as well as the more recent movement for the restoration of independence. “The Singing Revolution” is the name of a book and a recent documentary. It is also the commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1990 that led to the regaining of independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuanian (Wikipedia). Singing folk songs, citizens of the 3 Baltic countries formed a human chain linking their capitols against the tanks of the Russian army. Here in Riga the musical tradition continues, in concert halls and cathedrals and in the music of the street musicians we hear daily.
rej

Latvian National Opera

On October 11 Bob and I attended the Latvian National Opera's new production of Carmen with world renowned Latvian born mezzo soprano Elina Garanca....amazing. I had never been to an opera but am familiar with the music and story line of Carmen, well what a gala production. The production is new this season and the premiere was earlier in October. The Theater was not as large as symphony hall in Boston and we had wonderful seats in the loge area second row. The seats were velveteen covered with wooden carved backs and armless chairs in the loge area. The theater is ornate and gilded absolutely wonderful. From the loge we could look down on the stage, the orchestra pit and the main floor seating area. It had had it's own cafe refreshment area with tables and chairs as wellas a separate coat check area. The production was wonderful. It was presented as taking place in Cuba. The program notes said the Habanera is actually a Cuban/African rhythmic dance that was all the rage in Europe at the time Bizet composed the opera. Bizet refused to visit Spain but the librettist did. When it was first written the musciains of the symphony said the score was impossible and the actors were shocked they were expected to dance as well as sing. To say the least the opera was not well received in Bizet's time. But in Riga it was wonderful. The curtain was a Cuban flag, Act I was a busy street scene in Cuba outside the cigar factory. There were school boys with their red neck kerchiefs as well as a full chorus of street vendors and soldiers. Act II a tavern with neon lights and a picture of Che behind the bar. Escamilio was a boxer, so the toreador was translated "fighter" and all the words and the fans and the adoration fit. The third act was the waterfront in Havana with the painted sunset of Havana with it’s sky line of tall buildings and the wall, the Malecon, mid stage. The Gypsies were bandits/smugglers assembling a make shift float/raft to put into the water to pick up their take. Act 4 was outside a sports arena....Escamilio's boxing trunks were the Cuban flag design. The music was wonderful, the singling amazing, the costumes and staging fantastic. It was great. I spoke with another woman who had seen the opera earlier this month and she thought because of the different staging and taking the opera all the beauty was gone, there were no Gypsies, or toreador or Spanish costumes. We were prepared for the differences. I really enjoyed the "new" interpretation and as everyone has said Elina Garanca is an actress, a dancer and a marvelous singer. We are so fortunate to be able to attend this production of Carmen featuring her since she only gave three performances.

October Roberts teaches in Smiltene and Daugavpils

Bob has taught the Ethics in social work course in Riga for three groups and has taken it "on the road" to branch campuses of Attistiba in Smiltene and in Daugavpils and today he is in Rezekne. Smiltene is a small village of about one hour north east of Riga dating back to 1359. We stayed at a guest house on the grounds of a local technical school and ate in the cafeteria for lunch, scene above and at the guest house for breakfast and dinner. It is in a lovely location of a former manor/estate set on a hill above the village. Attistiba provides Bob with a driver and an interpreter so the logistics of the trip are very smooth. The photo above shows the guys when we stopped at a kafejnica . Daugavpils, as you can tell from the photo of the Russian Orthodox Church, is influenced by its proximity to Belarus. We stayed in a lovely hotel, one year old, with internet connections and a fine restaurant. The menu showed the Russian influence with beet soup and stuffed cabbage. Even the bottled water came from Georgia, a former soviet republic. Daugavpils is the second largest city in Latvia. We had hoped to visit a former fortress built to repel Napoleon's armies on their way to Moscow but the time and weather didn't cooperate. However it is visible on google earth and we could see the vast size and evidence of the earthen works. The drive along the Daugava River on the return to Riga was scenic with the sun setting over the river and the evidence of fall in the color in the leaves.

Street Scene in Riga

Parallel Parking—Riga Style
Parking space in Riga is as tight as almost any place in the world. Think Boston on a Red Sox or Celtics game day or UNH almost any Monday through Thursday class day. Riga is a city of almost one million people, just under half the population of the country. The Old Town, like some parts of Boston, consists of small, narrow streets with no on-street parking. Unlike Boston, there are no public parking garages that we’ve seen anywhere in the city. Until independence was reestablished here 15 years ago, there were significantly fewer personal automobiles in the country. Since independence auto sales in Latvia, including many high end vehicles, have boomed. Parallel parking is often a challenge even for those of us with lots of driving experience. Have you ever tried to sideslip into a parallel space that was just a bit too short for the vehicle? Oh, add to the picture an absence of parking meters and no clearly demarcated, white-lined spaces on these streets. Rigans do pay for parking—there are ticket boxes every half-block or so, but nothing to designate one space from the next. So, when faced with this situation, here’s the Riga approach. Pull up next to the car either in front of or just behind the space you’ve decided to occupy. Angle the car headfirst into the space if you’re approaching from behind, or back into the space from the front so that in either case one wheel of your vehicle goes 3-5 feet up onto the sidewalk. If there’s room, proceed in drive and reverse to move the vehicle into a parallel position. If the space is small, leave the car angled with one corner a few feet onto the sidewalk. The accompanying picture illustrates the technique. They do use wheel “boots” for illegally parked cars, a gaudy hot pink color, but I’ve yet to see one on an angled-in “parallel-parked” car.
rej

Jurmala....The Baltic Shore

Tuesday Bob and I took the train from the Central Station in Riga to Majori to walk along the beach on the Baltic Sea. It was a warm, sunny day and we were able to relax. We passed people biking, walking, pushing baby carriages, a school group playing soccer and others sitting with faces lifted to the sun. After a lunch we took the train back to Riga and bought saldejums, ice cream, in the park.

It was a wonderful day.

Centraltirgus....Central Market

To get a sense of the vastness of the Central Market try this link to google maps and you can see the five large pavilions each one dealing with a different product: meat, fish, produce, cheese and clothing. These pavilions in Riga were built in the 1930's and each is 12m high and covers 75,000 square meters following the design for Zeppelin hangers. Inside are the various counter areas not unlike the deli in our supermarkets. Outside the pavilions are permanent rows of stalls and open areas with benches to display products. The flower rows are extensive and the berries and mushrooms are plentiful. We were told that some of the first laborers to emigrate to Ireland from Latvia were the mushroom pickers. The indoor stands are permanent and some of the people behind the outdoor benches have only a few items. Some of the benches were empty, so we wondered if on Monday some people don't come to sell products. One elderly man had only two containers of raspberries, and several locations had a with a wide variety of mushrooms including chanterelles and morels. Some of the flower sellers had permanent stalls and other flower sellers like the two women in the photo look like they brought in flowers from their home gardens. The fish came in all combinations, salted, seasoned, frozen but mostly fresh; mostly salmon but also eels, herring, trout, cod and caviar. In the meat building everything was available from liver to chops to pig's heads. We bought a bouquet of flowers, dill and a cauliflower. I plan to return with my large cloth shopping bag for the produce looks fresh and the prices are good. It seemed many Riga citizens were doing their shopping here at the Centraltirgus.



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