Tallinn, Estonia 59 N 25 W

Over the weekend of January 12 to 15 Bob and I visited Tallinn in Estonia. Bob presented a lecture at Tallinn University on Monday and we had Saturday and Sunday to explore the Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Michael, a Fulbright professor from Rutgers to Tallinn University was our guide. It was interesting for us to see the similarities and differences with Riga.

The familiarity of the weather, cobblestones, public transportation tram and Rimi grocery store contributed to our being comfortable finding our way around. The differences seem to be a result Tallinn as a port on the Baltic for many ferry and tour boat lines. There was more English on the signs and people in the shops and hotel and restaurants seemed adept at English usage. We heard little to no Russian. Everyone seemed especially helpful and friendly. The people in the hotel, albeit a Swiss hotel, went out of there way to answer questions usually about tram routes and stops. Another outstanding example of this friendly helpfulness occurred on our tram ride back to catch the bus back to Riga. We were riding the tram with our luggage to the bus depot. I was following along with my slip of paper the count the five stops and listen for the names. At the fourth stop a woman on her way off of the tram says to me in English "It's the next stop and you walk across the street."

Amazing....The bus ride to Riga took about five hours. We experienced a little bit of history.

The Schengen Treaty removes border checks of the European Union countries. It was this December 21, 2007 that nine countries were admitted to the Schengen visa free zone. When we crossed the border into Estonia we could see the former gates and check points completely empty...no stop..the bus just drove on through. When we were in Germany at Christmas our friends there felt it was very positive to now have Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and two more.....It is good to be back in Riga.

Return to Riga....laimigu Jauno gadu 2008

Laimigu Jauno gadu 2008

We wish you all the best in the new year.....a year of promise and hopes....

I've heard there is a tradition in Latvia that during the Advent season one lights candles an additional candle each day and then on New Year's Eve as you blow out all the candles one at a time you blow away all of the worries of the old year. It is appealing to think of the New Year as a year of hope and good things to come.

Let's all keep the best memories and have a Happy New Year 2008

Christmas in Beedenbostel, Germany

Christmas in Beedenbostel was a wonderful week of visits with Bob's AFS family. We shared many memories of visits in the past, to Germany with Tina and Andrew when they were young and the visits of Mattias and Gudrun canoeing with Edie and Hutch , the many visits of Ota and Eve and of Mutti as well. Also of Lilli and Gunther to Tamworth....so many wonderful memories. We had wonderful German food, venison, red cabbage, quark and of course potatoes. I learned how to make herring salad with Mutti giving me the directions in German and we even had Gudrun's homemade pesto and the venison was from Mattias' successful hunting. We caught up with the children and met some of the grandchildren of the Liman clan having coffee in Brokel with Ota and Eve. Bob went with Mattias to his hunting grounds, no wild boar to be seen even though the trails were there. WE spent an evening in Celle with Rainer and Sabine and Thomas and Erika and Lilli and Gunther. We walked, we laughed, stayed up late and slept in. Heilige Abend (Christmas Eve) was especially beautiful in the church and at Mutti's with the tree and its many real candles lit for Chirstmas. We hope you all had a Christmas filled with the warmth and joy of family and friends.

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?