Storks Return
Both in Latvia and in Germany the stork is revered as a symbol of good luck—and a sure sign of spring. The huge nests dot the landscape atop chimneys, barns, telephone or power poles, occasionally dead trees. In all of our travels outside of Riga since last September we’ve seen the nests—empty. This week I was out of Riga in Sigulda, 45 km to the East and the entrance to Gauja National Park, and Kandava about 90 km to the the West. In both directions the storks are visible, occupying nests, flying to and from feeding and water sources, preening or resting in fields.
Latvians call the stork a sacred bird; scientists call it a bird of prey. According to the web, the stork has settled in Latvia only during the past two hundred years. Every year about 10,000 storks come to nest in Latvia from warmer climates. The life of the birds follows its own rhythms and humans have no say, but they do look forward to having storks nearby and it is interesting that storks seem to build their nests as close as possible to people’s houses—sometimes on them.
April 18, 2008
rej

Weekend in Finland

Finland (3/28-3/31/08)
Some of you will recall that in 1960/1961 the Delbert Jolley family in New Castle, PA hosted an AFS (American Field Service) exchange student from Pargas, Finland. We’ve stayed in contact with Gunnar ever since with visits back and forth, letters, pictures and more recently email. Cheryl & I visited Finland in 1988 with 2 young children in tow. This year with son Andrew, who is visiting here for much of April, we flew from Riga to Helsinki, a 40 minute flight, to spend a long weekend with Gunnar. He’s still as tall and blonde and broad-shouldered as ever with a hearty laugh that can be heard at least 3 blocks away—or halfway across the island where he lives. I should add here that it was from Gunnar that I learned some important lessons about international affairs and knowledge—lessons it has taken me many more years to appreciate. Gunnar and I got along well throughout his year-long stay and still enjoy reliving some of those experiences and shall we call them—“adventures”. But fairly early on there were more serious discussions, even arguments, about the U.S., American-style democracy, and the institutions of the U.S. government. The short story is this—he, the foreigner, had more knowledge, was more aware, and was more accurate describing many aspects of the U.S. government and our democracy than I. I certainly couldn’t admit that to him then; in fact, may not have admitted it to him any time since. The observations are these: Europeans often know a great deal about the U.S., generally more than we know about any of their countries. The various perspectives of others are useful ways to learn about ourselves—if we’re open to listening and hearing. And, there is almost always some significant truth in others’ perceptions and perspectives.
The weekend trip?? It was great! Northern Europe including the Baltics and Scandinavia had received the first real dose of winter with 4-8” of snow just before our trip so there was still snow on the ground. We had plenty of time to catch up, walked around and across the island he lives on, had a sauna, went to Swedish-Lutheran church on Sunday morning, visited a boat-building museum, the National Museum of History, enjoyed the 3rd segment of Handel’s Messiah plus the Hallelujah Chorus in the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki, had a wonderful, very elegant meal in an old estate-turned-restaurant, and consumed 90 homemade “platter” (small, flat, Deee-licious, pancakes).
We’re already looking forward to Gunnar’s return visit in early May here in Riga!

Social Work Class in Smiltene

Smiltene: “Values & Ethics” Course
The structure of the social work program and course/class schedule at Attistiba are quite different from the program at UNH, but the classrooms, students and course exercises are much the same. The photos show a recent course on “Values and Ethics in Social Work Practice” taught at one of the satellite campuses in a vocational-technical high school site in Smiltene.
Photo 1: Social work classroom; 22 students in this class
Photo 2: Role play phone conversation between client and social worker
Photo 3: Juris Osis, translating the student role play during class
Photo 4: Group photo of undergraduate Smiltene cohort (students all working; all in
their 30s & 40s)
April 4, 2008
rej